UH senior guard Damyean Dotson goes to the Knicks with the 44th pick.
The University of Houston’s NBA draft drought is over.
On Thursday, the New York Knicks selected Damyean Dotson in the second round, the first UH player taken in the draft in 16 years.
Dotson, a two-year starter after transferring from Oregon, was the No. 44 overall selection. The 6-5 guard is the first UH player drafted since Alton Ford by the Phoenix Suns in the second round in 2001.
As a senior, Dotson was named to the American Athletic Conference first team after averaging 17.4 points and 6.9 rebounds while ranking in the top 10 nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (44.3).
UT center Allen heads to Brooklyn
Jarrett Allen, a one-anddone player for the Texas Longhorns, went to the Brooklyn Nets with the 22nd pick.
Brooklyn had the worst record in the NBA last season (20-62) and could have had the first pick in the draft if the previous regime had not traded it to Boston in 2013 in a deal that brought Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to the Nets. The Celtics also hold Brooklyn’s first-round pick next season.
Earlier this week, the Nets traded pick No. 27 and center Brook Lopez to Los Angeles for D’Angelo Russell and center Timofey Mozgov. Russell was the second pick in the 2015 draft.
Allen, 6-10, led the team in rebounds per game (8.4), blocked shots (51) and minutes played (32.1) and ranked second on the team in scoring average (13.4).
Bulls finally trade Butler to T-Wolves
The third time proved the charm.
After having serious talks with the Celtics last June and then several conversations at the February trade deadline, the Bulls took a deep breath and traded Jimmy Butler to the Timberwolves.
The blockbuster move, which netted the Bulls Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and the seventh overall pick for Butler and No. 16, tries to steer the franchise toward the younger and more athletic course management has touted since last June’s trade of Derrick Rose to the Knicks.
With the No. 7 pick, the Bulls drafted 7-foot Arizona forward Lauri Markkanen.
The trade also means the Bulls won’t pay Butler, a three-time All-Star and All-NBA player, a designated-player exception of five years and $200-plus million beginning in 2019-20 for which he would have been eligible with one more All-NBA designation.
Coincidentally, the Bulls were enamored with Dunn last June, which is why the serious talks with the Celtics occurred. The Bulls would have drafted the Providence guard with the No. 3 pick last June.
LaVine is rehabilitating a torn left anterior cruciate ligament he suffered in February. But he’s a high-flying talent who averaged 18.9 points in his first two seasons.
Knicks don’t deal, select Ntilikina
In the end, the New York Knicks did not trade Kristaps Porzingis. They did not strip down their team one more time in the Phil Jackson era. They did not make the huge headline move that seemed possible just hours before Thursday night’s NBA draft.
But what the Knicks did with the No. 8 pick in the draft was make an intriguing selection, picking Frank Ntilikina ,a rangy, 6-5 point guard who is 18 years old, plays professionally in France and told reporters that he thought it would “be great for me to end up here.” Now he has. Jackson, the team president, said a day before that he believed there was a good chance the team would grab a guard with its top selection.
That, of course, was all subject to a possible Porzingis trade, which might have greatly altered the Knicks’ calculations. But there was no deal, and Ntilikina will join a Knicks team starved for backcourt help. Derrick Rose, the incumbent point guard, is set to become a free agent and is recovering from another knee surgery.
Trio from Kentucky taken in lottery
Kentucky won the lottery. Bam Adebayo was the last lottery pick; he went 14th to Miami, joining De’Aaron Fox (No. 5, Sacramento) and Malik Monk (No. 10, Portland).
Duke had two players in the top 14, and nobody else placed more than one.
Twelve of the first 14 picks, including Adebayo, were oneand-doners.
That’s a trend that could slow after this year.
The NCAA has never really liked it, and this month, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the system as it’s currently constructed — where players can enter the draft after a year of college — is “not working for anyone.”
Mavericks fill need by picking PG Smith
Dennis Smith is the newest Maverick, going ninth to Dallas.
The North Carolina State point guard suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee as a senior in high school but rebounded to be newcomer of the year in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
He is an explosive player who has a tremendous vertical leap. He averaged 18.1 points per game as a freshman and had a pair of triple-doubles, rare for any college player.
The Mavericks were hopeful of getting a point guard with their pick and Smith was the fifth point guard taken among the top nine picks.
Hawks not rebuilding, GM says after trade
On a night the focus was on the future, the Atlanta Hawks insisted the trade of Dwight Howard was not the start of a major rebuilding job.
New general manager Travis Schlenk, who came to Atlanta from champion Golden State, said the deal fit his goal of maintaining roster flexibility “as we work to get this franchise going in the direction we want it to. This trade helps us, we believe, accomplish long-term and shortterm flexibility.”
Schlenk quickly added he expects the Hawks to remain competitive while retooling a team that won 60 games just two years ago, claiming the top seed in the East and reaching the conference final. This past season, Atlanta went 43-39 and was eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs.