Biggest WINNERS from Round 1 of the 2024 NBA Draft? Perk picks the Timberwolves 🐺 | NBA Today

Biggest WINNERS from Round 1 of the 2024 NBA Draft? Perk picks the Timberwolves 🐺 | NBA Today

pair of French players went one and two with Zachary rash and to the Hawks and Alex SAR to the Wizards making this the first time since 2003 that the top two picks do not have college experience the Rockets followed those picks by taking Reed Shepard at three now the Spurs were busy drafting Yukon guard Stefon castle at number four to pair with Victor r banama Castle the highest drafted Yukon player in 15 years then they traded the eighth pick Rob Dillingham to the Wolves for a 2031 first and top one projector 2030 pick swap the Grizzlies took two-time winning Award winner Zack Edy at number nine the 7 fo4 Edy is tied for the third tallest top 10 pick in the modern draft era and add size to a Grizzlies team that ranked last in paint scoring last season but was the two- seed in the West in 2023 and Dalton connect was projected to go six overall in ESPN’s final mock draft but made it all the way to 17 where the Lakers took the Sharpshooter from Tennessee connect scored 780 points last season second most in Tennessee History trailing only Allan Houston all right I’m gonna start with you perk who do you think was the biggest winner in the draft last night can I straddle the fense to go winners that’s not a that’s not an answer but go for it I’m I’m going go winners right Minnesota with the kid rob you know best isolation play in college last year he’s a walking bucket I think you know Minnesota needs that we saw there in the postseason when they was playing against the Dallas Mavericks uh you know they need Anthony Edwards needed someone to go get a bucket like no no knock on Mike or Alexander Walker but you know you need somebody that’s a goget her so being there with Anthony Edwards the mentality that he brings the hard work that he brings and this kid just flat out got it Jamal Crawford said something uh a few days ago he said this kid already is going to have the of top 10 Handles in the NBA that’s how phenomenal of a talent he is with the ball in his hands then I’m going with everybody else the Lakers they won right getting the kid uh dton CL uh connect at uh 17 I thought he could have been easily top 10 uh shout out to one of my great friends Rashad Phillips he said he reminds him of Dan Marley you know the way is he’s able to get Buckets he’s not just a shooter right he does a whole lot of other things and he’s a dog and we need to bring out a uh uh leg you remember the song from a age ain’t nothing but a number because I feel like that’s why he slipped because of his age we make it such a bad quality nowadays that the dude can actually drink champagne legally that when he gets his name called like that’s a bad thing 23 years old look here’s I agree with you about D connect and here’s the thing I think this a home run both ways you look at it for the Lakers and for him here’s the thing Lakers needed a guy that they can plug and play you don’t have a lot of time to develop a 19-year-old kid when you got LeBron James at this stage of his career so that’s first we need a guy that can get rotational minutes right now Dalton connect can do that to perk’s point improves your shooting overnight they need that he’s also got bounce he’s athletic he’s tough he’s strong he can play through contact at The Rim now he’s going to be a little bit more limited at the NBA level early because of the usage rate of LeBron ad and Austin Reeves he is going to be more of a spot up guy if that’s the case who better to learn from than his head coach JJ reick learned how to move without the ball to create extra space for yourself extra time angles shooting catching the ball off dribble handoffs with a lean to your game all of those things that dton connect didn’t have to do a lot of and Tennessee cuz he had the ball all the time now he’s going to be playing off the ball more who better learn from a guy that made his career out of doing it so I loved this pick when I saw that draft room Zach right before the pick and they hadn’t said who yet they just said the pick is in and they showed their draft room and they were running around and and I thought JJ was going to dance up on the table I knew right then they got they were going for Dalton connect because that’s exactly the kind of guy that JJ reick knew he could make use out of well look 23 ain’t so old when the leader of your team is 40 like he’s he’s young for the Lakers and JJ settle down with the Whiteboard okay cuz like they said he’s already dra on the white board I’m calling BS on that saying that’s like telling me to back away from the dinner table that ain’t happening I’m down on the BS comment I saw come here’s what you think we’re talking we’re talking about what a great fit dton connect is on Lakers plug and play and all this before the draft every Lakers discussion was well you know they’re going to have three first round picks to trade in the offseason for like a big big offseason upgrade for a big star Talent LeBron and AD want to win now well one of those picks is now Dalton connect and we’re sitting here talking about what a great fit he is with the Lakers how we great how he’s ready to play right now for this team what does that do to their trade kind of conversations are they less willing to put that pick in play what does that do for the kind of players they can get involved in chasing in the off season what I it’s this this pick that was in the trade machine left and right is now a human player that the Lakers really excited about it’s very interesting little plot twist uh I do want to ask you uh because you watch a lot of connect this college basketball season at Tennessee he was projected to go higher he dropped to 17 what do you think the reason for that could possibly be I think strictly because teams there’s a lot of lack of consensus with this draft of who’s who up and down the board like you you will never see guys very when you look at different mock drafts of where they could go so as a result they were focused on that age component I really do believe that was the biggest factor that this isn’t a guy that you say okay two years from now he’s going to be exponentially better because he’s a young long wing and he’s 19 years old and we can just teach him how to play and he maybe maybe the guy will be 611 in two years he didn’t have that kind of upside to him what he does have is a guy that’s got a very long successful NBA career particularly because of his skill set like that that translates to the NBA right now and it’s always going to translate and I also just loved he’s got got an edge to him because he was a Target every night against that level competition and he loved it he don’t mind talking a little bit he gets after it he brings on the challengers that’s a guy that’s going to succeed I also love what he said when he dropped cuz he was sitting there you saw the look on his face his jaw started clenching up he had his eyes down you know what he’s thinking and you know what he said story of my life that’s exactly what I was going to say this is what I’ve deal dealt with my entire life he said every day I play in the league I’m going to treat it like this my last game this is an opportunity and and now that to me is the kind of guy you want from a culture standpoint a guy that’s a worker grinder never takes anything for granted that’s who dton connect is going to be Tim what do you make of the Spurs decision to add their draft capital in the 2030s which is a while from now rather than trying to add top in Talent right now 2031 pick I don’t know what I’m having for dinner right okay we got a 2031 pick that we’re trying to translate to look I look I don’t know exactly what the Spurs were thinking here um yet a 48 obviously didn’t love the draft enough to just take the pick that’s obvious right they got their guard with the four pick Stefan Castle I really like that pick a lot he’s got better size than Dillingham he can defend he might be an all League caliber Defender eventually uh can turn it to a nice lead guard obviously has to work on his shooting so they answered a need with the first pick at at the number four spot now you come down to eight and I guess they just didn’t love anybody on this board enough I love what Minnesota did how many teams could have the year that they had a year ago not have a pick at the top of the draft and get a player that I think is going to have an impact on that team this year despite the fact that they were one of the surprise stories in the league and the way they ran through Denver and everything else I think there are minutes to be had for Dillingham right now because he can score at the NBA level right now he’s a little undersized but he’s got great handle acceleration and he could flat out put the ball in the basket so I love this from Minnesota standpoint to totally agree I think it’s a win-win I do think he’ll play next year in Minnesota I think you mentioned Mike Connelly before I think you know as he gets older they’re just going to need someone to shoulder some of the load for him particularly in the regular season and Minnesota just does not have Avenues left really to add Talent like this they’re capped out their taxed out they’ve traded all their picks for goar except the ones they traded last night and legs I’ll tell you what the Spurs are thinking the Spurs are loading up on draft assets for when vikor wanyama is going to be in his prime they have a 2030 pick swap from Dallas they have a 2030 pick swap from Minnesota 2031 pick from Minnesota a 2028 pick swap with Boston and what they’re doing is saying hey in those years we’re going to be awesome we’re going to be picking 28 27 30 because we got the best player in the world at that time you guys one of you guys might be bad and we can flip and get a big asset at the top of the draft or near the top of the draft when WB is in his prime and what they’re also telling you is we’re not in a rush we’ve studied NBA history when you get these generational prospects like this and it happened with LeBron and Cleveland and it happened with Anthony Davis in New Orleans and you rush rush rush rush rush we got to win right now when you got veterans all around that model can burn out real fast we’re going to take it a little bit more slowly also we think this dude is so damn good Wy that we’re going to win 40 games next year regardless of what they do but but here’s the thing and and legs and I talked about this this morning off camera it’s another side of History too I hope the the Spurs are studying and it’s the guys that are 73 and taller when you go back and look at those guys they their careers had they it hadn’t been it hadn’t been that long like it wasn’t long career so when you have a guy like Victor wimba yamba and the season that he had as a rookie leading the league in Block shots like one could argue he should have been defensive player of the year when you look at the drop off from when he was on the floor to when he wasn’t on the floor with a uh Spurs rank offensively we know he has the complete package and he has show he’s showing us right now and he’s showing the Spurs that he wants to win now right he has an old soul we don’t we don’t we a we’re not hearing about vict going back back home to France like he’s staying in San Antonio he’s putting on muscle he’s working out with Jamal Crawford like he’s in the lab so when you have a guy like that that could possibly in the next year or two be the best player on the floor on both sides of the floor damn it you need to make it happen I don’t think the Spurs are done to be honest with you I don’t think they’re done they opened up cap space by getting out of that number eight pick they have a little bit more cap space I agree with you I think they’re going to get somebody somebody else to thread the needle of like we’re going to get a little better now but we’re not going to throw all our chips on the table what did Jay bis say last night I think we’re underestimating the Spur’s ability to uh Scout 11 and 12year old [Music]

NBA Today’s Kendrick Perkins, Zach Lowe and Tim Legler recap Round 1 of the 2024 NBA Draft as Perk declares the Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers the winners as Minnesota traded with the Spurs for the No. 8 pick to select Rob Dillingham. They also debate the fit for Dalton Knecht with the Lakers before diving into San Antonio’s decision to trade No. 8 in exchange for future draft assets.

0:00 Round 1 Recap
1:05 Kendrick Perkins
2:30 Tim Legler
4:02 Zach Lowe
6:40 Spurs trading No. 8

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