DJ Newbill’s basketball career and life will take an important step forward by the completion of Thursday night’s NBA Draft.
If selected, the path to a professional career will become much clearer. If he goes undrafted it will likely open a new set of doors from Summer League and preseason tryouts to overseas play and time in the NBA’s Developmental League.
While what happens next is the biggest unknown of all, it is clear Newbill will be playing basketball again sooner rather than later.
Leading into tonight’s draft Newbill faces the comfort of knowing he has shown his skills to nearly half the league. In total Newbill worked out with 14 NBA teams, the LA Clippers calling Newbill back for a second tryout just a few days prior to the draft.
Newbill’s hope of hearing his name called Thursday likely lie with 32 picks, those associated with the 15 teams he worked out with. 19 of those picks are in the second round, a much more likely situation given the talented expected to go in the first. While 60 players will be drafted on Thursday the true number of opportunities for Newbill to get drafted is truly a smaller number. For example, he isn’t going No. 1 overall.
Perhaps the most interesting twist, the Clippers don’t have a single pick in the draft, so if they want to draft Newbill they’ll have to make a move for him. If not, a free agent signing after the draft is perhaps even easier for both parties.
But the NBA Draft is always unpredictable. Some players drop into the draft, other unknowns rise up a team’s draft board. Picks are traded and deals are struck.
So like many things in sports, the best thing to do is simply wait and see what happens.
And so, here are all 32 picks by teams associated with teams who have watched Newbill play. Those picks that are bolded fall in the second round.
- Lakers: 2, 27, 34
- Pacers: 11, 43
- Jazz: 12, 42, 54
- 76ers: 3, 35, 37, 47, 58, 60
- Suns: 13, 44
- Mavs: 21, 52
- Pistons: 8, 38
- Nuggets: 7, 57
- Houston: 18, 32
- Thunder: 14, 48
- Hornets: 56
- Hawks: 15, 50, 59
- Magic: 5, 51
- Clippers: No picks
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