The Latest from the NBA draft at Barclays Center in New York (All times local):
6:15 p.m.
BIG.
Then little.
That’s as good a guess as any about how tonight’s NBA draft will unfold. A consensus of scouts and draftniks expect the top two picks will be 6-foot-11 Karl-Anthony Towns, by Minnesota, and then 6-11 Jahlil Okafor, by Los Angeles, when things get started in about 75 minutes.
The last time two low-post players went 1-2 was 23 years ago, when Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning topped the 1992 board. Attribute that to either a scarcity of good big men over the past two decades, or a growing sentiment among the league’s front offices that “small ball” – relying on quick, spot-up shooters and versatile wing players at the expense of traditional centers – is the way to win championships.
Just don’t be surprised if the tide turns after Towns’ selection.
There’s more than a few last-minute trade scenarios swirling around along with a bounty of intriguing guard prospects fronted by D’Angelo Russell and Emmanuel Mudiay, who played in China last year.
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Litke contributed from Chicago