Generally speaking, the draft is basically in the 1-14 picks of the lotto area, and at the end of the first round, even the second round of the chance of success is much lower than the lottery area. But there is such a draft conference, subverting this tradition, in the first round of the last 3 picks of the players, basically have been seated in the core leadership position of their respective teams, and this magical draft, it is the 2019 class. At this draft, Zion Williamson, a beast forward from Duke University, and Jamalant and Tanhualang, were elected by Jamorant and RJ Barrett respectively, and these three noble rookies have indeed cashed in their talents in the past 2 years and become the core of their respective teams.
However, the three underdogs at the end of the first round of the draft also showed their good talents after 2 years of tempering. They were the first-round No. 28 show, Jordan Pooler from the Golden State Warriors, the no. 29 show in the first round, Kelden Johnson from the San Antonio Spurs and the no. 30 pick in the first round, selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers, and now play for Kevin Porter Jr. for the Houston Rockets. All three have the same characteristic, all through the efforts of the day after tomorrow, to win the current position in the core leader of the team.
First of all, let's talk about Kelden Johnson, the 1.98-meter-tall forward swing man, the arm span came to 2.06 meters, the first season of joining the Spurs, he relied on his own hard work to win the team's main rotation position, although it is a small forward height, but Popovich has fully stimulated the potential hidden in his body, more of him installed in the No. 4 position, but because the team's main big forward position was firmly locked by Aldridge, Johnson could only start from the bench most of the time. In 17.7 minutes of playing time, he averaged 9.1 points and 3.4 rebounds per game, shooting 59.6% from the field and shooting 59.1% from three-point range.
It is also Johnson's efficiency on the offensive end, but also let the Spurs determined to start to focus on cultivating this potential stock, last season Ade because of a foot injury gradually faded out of the team's starting position, and in the middle of the season after buying out Ade, Johnson also officially took the position, in the case of playing time climbed to 28.5 minutes, averaging 12.8 points, 6 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, also set a career high. In the current fierce preseason, Johnson also ranked second in the team's scoring list with an average of 15.8 points per game, and after following Popovich to the Tokyo Olympics this summer, Johnson should continue to be reused in the new season, thus becoming the core of the spurs' key team building.
And the No. 29 show Jordan Pooler, also by the heavens, it is reasonable to say that a mediocre guard like him who is from a humble background and does not occupy much of an advantage in height may not be reused in the Warriors, but the rookie season just encountered Curry's injury, Klay reimbursement, Poole also rose to the team's main rotation position in one fell swoop. Averaging 8.8 points per game, and last season Clay was once again sidelined by a torn Achilles tendon, and Poole continued to be fully trusted by Kerr, although in the early stage because of the unstable offensive state, he once encountered the dilemma of being delegated to the development league, but after the return, Poole was reborn, increasing the average score per game this season to 12 points, and the three-point shooting rate also climbed to 35.1% above the level. In the preseason that is currently in full swing, Poole is averaging 23.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game, winning the team's scoring championship, which has greatly replaced Klay Thompson and Curry as the warriors' new "tea brothers".
The last Porter, when he first debuted, was highly expected by the Cavaliers to rebuild the core of the team, but the various acts of death off the court became a cancer in the Cavaliers' locker room, and in order to get rid of this burden last season, the Cavaliers chose to sell it cheaply, and only received a second-round pick from the Rockets, and sent him out. After moving to the Rockets, Porter Jr. also played the best performance of his career, averaging 16.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game, which is likely to become the Rockets' "second Harden", and in the case of the Rockets' decision to refrigerate Wall in the offseason and let Porter and Green become the core of the team's reconstruction, the third-year student should indeed be glad that he left the Cavaliers who almost destroyed himself.