Trae Young, not Marvin Bagley, should be the No. 1 pick in next year’s draft

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Real quick: Who was the No. 1 pick in the 2009 NBA Draft?

If you guessed Blake Griffin, you got it. If you knew that Hasheem Thabeet was the No. 2 pick that year, you’re a real basketball guy.

If you know where we’re going with this, then you already know that while Blake Griffin is a tremendous player, he doesn’t have two NBA titles and two MVP’s to his name.

Nah, those belong to the guy who was taken seventh that year, just behind Tyreke Evans (6-6, 220), Ricky Rubio (6-4, 190) and Jonny Flynn (KAAAHN!).

Steph Curry, the scrawny, 6-2 kid from mid-major Davidson, the same kid who turned the NCAA Tournament into his own personal coming-out party, dropped there because scouts weren’t sure if his blatantly obvious talent would translate to the next level.

They weren’t sure that this kid who had single-handedly carried a Southern Conference team to within a jump shot of the Final Four and averaged 30 and 6 in his junior year would make it.

Anyone with eyes could see how special he was. Anyone who doesn’t call a basketball hoop a “ring” could tell that he had a generational jump shot–and a penchant for knocking it down in big moments not seen in the league since the likes of Larry Bird.

My grandma knew Steph Curry was a special player in college.

And if she watched Oklahoma’s Trae Young play this season, she’d say the same thing about the 6-2, 180 pound freshman.

Like Curry, 19-year-old can pull up from anywhere on the court, has unreal court vision, scores as easy as he breathes, and is destined to lead the Sooners on a March run they won’t soon forget.

He’s the best player in college basketball.

So, will he be the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft?

Probably not. That’ll probably be Duke’s Marvin Bagley, or Arizona’s Deandre Ayton.

Nothing against those guys–Bagley is a special talent as well, and Ayton is a ripped, physical specimen–but when will NBA GM’s learn their lesson?

When will they understand that, especially in today’s game, it’s talent–and not height and weight–that wins games?

As a Sacramento Kings fan, I’m hoping it’s not this year, and I’m hoping his name still isn’t on that board when Sactown comes up to pick.

You can re-read this article in 2021, 2024, whenever (you know, assuming Time Warner hasn’t blocked RoundballDaily from the web in the absence of net neutrality rules).

We’ll all be looking back, wondering which players idiot GM’s took ahead of Trae Young.

And then we’ll shake our heads, and wonder how they can be so thick-skulled.

And then a seven-footer with some handle will come along.

And they’ll do it again.

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