JARRETT ALLEN GETS FIRST-ROUND CALL BY NBA
Given ample time to develop, Allen has All-Star potential in Brooklyn if he adds bulk and his offensive skills catch up with his defense.
Jarrett Allen, All-Star. Not in the next couple of years, but in the near-future if he takes advantage of a buildfrom-the-ground-up situation in Brooklyn.
The Nets tabbed the Texas ex with the 22nd pick of the NBA draft Thursday, signifying a new direction after parting ways with 29-year-old center Brook Lopez. The Nets sent Lopez and No. 27 pick Kyle Kuzma to the Lakers for point guard D’Angelo Russell and center Timofey Mozgov.
Brooklyn isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The organization is still trying to recover from that awful 2013 trade that brought over-thehill All-Stars Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the team.
Allen will have plenty of time to develop. Expect Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson to play him at both center and power forward forward early while Mozgov plays post.
Of course, he needs to add some bulk to his 235-pound frame. He has the potential to develop an offensive game similar to that of a young Pau Gasol. He’s already better defensively than the two-time NBA champ because of his natural ability to block shots.
Expect him to be pushed around on the block his first couple of seasons while he works to get stronger. Thankfully, there aren’t as many backto-the-basket bangers in the league these days. LaVar Ball has pre
sided over his family’s basketball circus, but his son Lonzo going to the Los Angeles Lakers should bring an end to the sideshow.
Magic Johnson is running things in L.A. these days, and he won’t allow Dad’s theatrics on his watch. Lonzo has a great teacher, and I’m not talking about his old man, who deserves mountains of credit for helping his kid get to this point.
It’s time for Magic and head coach Luke Walton to take over from here.
The Chicago Bulls took a huge step backward when team President John Paxson and GM Gar Forman essentially gave away AllStar forward Jimmy Butler
and the 16th pick for slamdunk champ Zach Lavine (that’s all he does), point guard Kris Dunn and the seventh pick.
Not enough. Not nearly enough.
Butler is the fourth-best two-way forward in the business — behind world
champions LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard and Kevin Durant — and Chicago didn’t get nearly enough for someone of his talent.
The organization is going nowhere fast, hav
ing run off a tough-minded head coach in Tom Thibodeau and replaced him with Fred Hoiberg, a good college coach who at times appeared in over his head last season.
Now you’re on the hook for $24 million next season to a well-past-his-prime Dwyane Wade. MJ and Pip aren’t walk
ing through that door. With Butler coming aboard, the 31-win Tim-
berwolves are a playoff team.
Anytime you can add a top-15 player to a young lineup of Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins that’s coached by the guy who made him a star (Thibs), the future becomes bright. Thibodeau coached Butler for four seasons with the Bulls.
Butler is temperamental, but he thrived under Thibodeau’s disciplinary approach in Chi-Town. This young Big Three will be a huge hit in a Twin Cities area that’s lacked star power since Prince left us.
The Celtics could have taken Kansas swingman Josh Jackson with the fourth pick but went with Duke’s Jayson Tatum.
That decision might have come down to team President Danny Ainge flying cross-country from Beantown to Sacramento for a private meeting and workout with Jackson.
It didn’t happen after Jackson canceled last-minute.
It worked out for Jackson, who went with the next pick to Phoenix. He later said in the interview room that the three teams
that passed on drafting him will be “very sorry.”
Can’t blame Ainge for going in a different direction. Jackson is a tremendous talent on both ends of the court, but sometimes people’s actions speak more about them than any skill set. The Spurs got a bargain with Colorado combo guard Derrick White, who transferred to the Buffs for his senior year after three seasons at Division II Colorado-Colorado Springs.
They need to get younger in the backcourt, especially if emerging swingman Jonathon Simmons leaves.
White averaged 18 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists at Boulder. He also made 39.6 percent of his 3-pointers last season, coming very close to finishing 50-80-40 in the shooting categories. Leonard, his new Spurs teammate, accomplished the feat in 2016.