NBA Draft: Regrading all 30 teams for the 2019 NBA Draft
Regrading all 30 teams for the 2019 NBA Draft: C- Grades
Indiana Pacers: C-
Goga Bitadze (18)
The Indiana Pacers in 2019 were building a team around their young pair of centers in Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis. They then made the inexplicable decision to draft another center in Goga Bitadze, who has unsurprisingly been buried in Indiana. The Pacers continue to devote resources to the most replaceable position in basketball.
Even if you want to give them the “benefit of the doubt” in taking the best player available, they whiffed on that evaluation as well. Brandon Clarke, Keldon Johnson, Jordan Poole and Matisse Thybulle have all been better and play more valuable positions. The Pacers didn’t even pick the right center, as both Nic Claxton and Daniel Gafford have been better than Bitadze thus far.
LA Clippers: C-
Mfiondu Kabengele (27); Terance Mann (48)
The LA Clippers went into the draft with a late first and a middling second and came out with a rotation guard and a whiff. That statement is fine, if unexciting, but it hides the fact that the Clippers whiffed with their first-round pick and hit on the second-rounder.
If, for example, they had taken Keldon Johnson (went 29th) instead of Kebengele, the Clippers would have a forward-sized player they could trust in the rotation. He would be insurance in case Nic Batum leaves, and could likely even start by next season. Instead, they already cut Kabengele loose. Mann has turned himself into a tough defender who can occasionally get hot from outside.
Washington Wizards: C-
Rui Hachimura (9); Admiral Schofield (42); Garrison Matthews (undrafted)
In our 2019 NBA Redraft, Rui Hachimura and Garrison Mathews went back-to-back at picks 26 and 27. The represents a significant disappointment two years in for Hachimura, who has struggled to transition into being a role player. It also represents a significant hit on Mathews, a great defender and shooter they picked up after the draft. Schofield played only a handful of games as a rookie and was traded as a throw-in at the 2020 NBA Draft.