The 2015 NBA Draft was one of the most consequential for the Minnesota Timberwolves. They had the 1stoverall selection, deciding to select Karl-Anthony Towns over D’Angelo Russell (Lakers, 2nd overall) and Jahlil Okafor (76ers, 3rd overall). It was clearly the correct decision at the time.
Looking back, though, it is interesting to see who the first overall would have been if the draft were re-done today. There is a lot of talent in that draft class (as well as a lot of star power). There were also, however, a lot of players that flopped, such as Mario Hezonja with the fifth overall pick.
NBA Draft: Re-picking the 2015 class
The one thing lacking in the 2015 NBA Draft, looking back, is the lack of high-level role players. Compared to more recent drafts, there is a huge drop off after the top-10-to-15 guys.
Still, though, it is worth taking a look at the 2015 draft, seeing if teams really made the correct decision. For the Timberwolves, they ended up having both the first and second overall pick(s) on their roster – with Towns and Russell being two of their core players.
The Lakers and 76ers did not hold onto their players for long, with Okafor only playing two full seasons in Philadelphia, and Russell being traded for salary cap flexibility (and Brook Lopez) during the 2017 NBA Draft.
The second round of the 2015 Draft did, also, have some steals. Montrezl Harrell, Richaun Holmes, and Josh Richardson were all picked in the final 30 selections.
Let’s get into the re-draft.
The Miami Heat originally selected Justise Winslow with this pick – a prospect that was not expected to be available at that point. Winslow, a two-way forward from Duke, ended up having a decent career in Miami before being shipped to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for veteran Andre Iguodala (who helped the team make a finals run in the bubble).
NBA Draft: Re-picking the 2015 class
Instead, they select Norman Powell, a late-2nd round selection in 2015 that spent the first part of his career developing in Toronto. This past year, he was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Gary Trent Jr. Powell has been the third best player on a good playoff team (yes, better than Nurkic), and over the course of the past two seasons, has been averaging north of 17 points per game on excellent shooting splits of 48/41/86.
There are other players that could be considered here – one of which the Heat selected in the second round in Josh Richardson, who was good for several seasons. The past two years, however, he has clearly regressed (otherwise he may go even higher than this). Another player worth mentioning is TJ McConnell, a two-way rotational guard for the Pacers, who absolutely should have been drafted in 2015. Also: Kelly Oubre.
The Charlotte Hornets did a lot of things wrong with this pick. First, they needed a two-guard (Devin Booker was on the board). Second, the Celtics reportedly offered Charlotte four first round selections (one of which may have been the Nets’ 2016/2017 first-round pick).
And you know what they did?
The Charlotte Hornets went on to select Frank Kaminsky. Sigh. That’s a poor process altogether.
NBA Draft: Re-picking the 2015 class
Anyways, Kaminsky was downright bad for the Hornets, even when he saw playtime. Kaminsky couldn’t score inside nor defend – although he did bring high-level 3-point shooting for a big man. Sadly, he just didn’t do enough to justify a lottery selection, and the Hornets really regret selecting him over Devin Booker (and Myles Turner, too).
With this pick, though, the Hornets take Richaun Holmes in the re-draft. Holmes has been much improved over the past two seasons in Sacramento. While he outperformed his stock in Philadelphia, it looks as though he may be a franchise-caliber center – and he reportedly wants a 20-some-million-dollar contract following this season, one which he has averaged 14 points, eight rebounds, two assists, and two blocks per game.
Holmes is someone that the Hornets may look to target as a free agent this coming offseason, and he would fit their need of a center very clearly. Still, if they could re-do things, Charlotte absolutely is not selecting Frank Kaminsky with a top-10 selection.
There’s a lot that the Hornets could have done wrong with their 2015 first round draft pick – and they did basically every one of those things.
The Detroit Pistons originally spent the 8th overall selection on Stanley Johnson – someone that has not had much (if any) success in the NBA. They decided to select him over a player widely mocked to Detroit in Justise Winslow.
Failing to hit on the high-upside Johnson, the Piston instead select a unique player in Montrezl Harrell, who won 6th man of the year in 2019-20 for the Los Angeles Clippers.
NBA Draft: Re-picking the 2015 class
Harrell, who has averaged 13 points and five rebounds over the course of his career, is an elite inside scorer, crafty and more athletic than most big men. Harrell uses his strength to create open looks, and hits most of his free throws when he draws contact.
Montrezl Harrell only averaged 14 points per game this past season for the Los Angeles Lakers, but again, he is elite at what he does. The Pistons would be upgrading their frontcourt behind then-All-Star Andre Drummond, giving the Pistons an elite 6th man at the time. Honestly, whoever they pick here is better than who they ended up with in Stanley Johnson.
Johnson has spent the past two seasons on the Raptors bench, averaging four points per game in 86 appearances – a lot of which have come in garbage time. The Pistons are absolutely kicking themselves for not looking at other prospects – especially with some of the players taken afterwards.
The Denver Nuggets have found themselves in a good position lately. Led by Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, Denver finds themselves among the top-3 seeds in the Western Conference (something they have done two years in a row now). With the 7th pick in 2015, the Nuggets originally selected Emmanuel Mudiay – who played overseas in China rather than in college basketball.
Yeah… another regrettable selection here. Mudiay played five seasons in the NBA and was not signed for the 2020-21 season. He last played for the Utah Jazz, and has been with three different teams over the course of his five years.
NBA Draft: Re-picking the 2015 class
Instead, however, I have the Nuggets selecting Myles Turner. While Turner was a developmental big prospect, he really has shined in Indiana. Towards the beginning part of this season, Turner was on track to average 4 blocks per game (although that quickly slowed). Additionally, he is able to score both inside as well as stretch the floor beyond the 3-point line.
Turner is the perfect fit in the modern NBA, and would be able to play alongside Nikola Jokic (or come in when he was off of the floor) – a great fit for the Nuggets current core.
Denver has had a lot of regrettable draft decisions (similar to trading Donovan Mitchell to the Jazz in 2017 – and Mudiay was one of the biggest. Even so, they have showed that it is possible to build through the draft with several amazing selections and roster decisions (Jokic, Murray, Morris, Harris [who would later be flipped for Aaron Gordon]).
The Sacramento Kings made heads turn when they made the decision to select a pure center with a top-10 pick while they had Demarcus Cousins under contract – someone that was arguably the league’s best center at the time.
Vlade Divac had several decisions that were more than questionable during his time with the Kings. Selecting Cauley-Stein was one of them – although again, in comparison to the three players selected after him – I’m not sure anyone else they would have selected would have yielded a better result.
NBA Draft: Re-picking the 2015 class
Enter: Christian Wood.
Wood has really blossomed into a high-level NBA player after being an NBA journeyman – his situation is unlike any other player. After going undrafted in the 2015 NBA Draft, Wood started his career in Philadelphia, playing in 17 games for the 15-16 season. He then made his way to Charlotte, then Milwaukee followed by New Orleans.
Chrisian Wood finally found success in Detroit during the 2019-20 season, averaging 13 points, six rebounds, and one assist on splits of 57/39/74 – undeniably good.
Wood, wanting to “win”, would sign for the Houston Rockets (who proceeded to win the least amount of NBA games during the 2020-21 season), and averaged 21 points, ten rebounds, and two assists in 41 games – vying for (but not winning) the most improved player award.
Sure, Wood would not have fixed the whole ‘selecting a center’ issue with Cousins, but there is a non-zero chance a frontcourt between the two could have worked. Well, at least, before the trade (and injuries).
The Orlando Magic originally selected Mario Hezonja with the fifth overall selection in 2015. This one, like the last *checks notes* five picks, did not work out. Hezonja gave some shining moments, although they came towards the end of his tenure with the Magic (and some moments with the Knicks, as well).
Hezonja averaged almost seven points and three rebounds during his career, with purely inefficient shooting splits. He simply was not good – like not even rotational-player-on-a-bad-team type good.
In 2019-20, he played 53 games for the Portland Trail Blazers, averaging less than five points per game – and it looks as though the door has closed on an NBA career for Hezonja.
NBA Draft: Re-picking the 2015 class
Kristaps Porzingis, on the other hand, has had an up-and-down career. To start, he gave us one of Stephen A. Smith’s most legendary rants:
"“New York Knick fans were at the Barkley’s Center booing because we recognize that we have been hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray, run amuck, and flat-out deceived by Phil Jackson and the New York Knicks.” – Stephen A. Smith"
Other than that, Porzingis, has made an All-Star appearance, as well as finishing second in the Rookie of the Year race in 2015, just behind Karl-Anthony Towns.
The reason he isn’t higher is because Porzingis really has failed to affect winning at a high level over the course of the past two seasons. Watching him leaves you wanting more from the 7-foot-2 big man. He’s good – but not great. The Magic are doing significantly better than Mario Hezonja by selecting him – although there is a chance his contract becomes a poor value in Dallas moving forward.
The New York Knicks didn’t select a bust with the fourth overall pick when they decided to pick Kristaps Porzingis. Instead, they pass on him though because the All-Star guard D’Angelo Russell is available.
NBA Draft: Re-picking the 2015 class
Russell has had one of the more interesting careers for players in this draft, as well. He started his play in Los Angeles alongside an aging Kobe Bryant and budding Julius Randle. He was then traded to the Brooklyn Nets before his third NBA season, where he would become an All-Star at the age of 22.
Now, aged 24, he finished his first full season in Minnesota – one riddled by injuries to both himself and other players on the Timberwolves – but things are looking up alongside Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards.
D’Angelo Russell may not have been the best overall player left on the board for the Lakers at the time, but he was absolutely the correct pick in comparison to anyone else selected in the top-10 – or widely considered to be in contention to be picked. He has disappointed relative to his draft stock – sure. Russell simply is not the multi-time All-Star guard once though his future held – but he’s a damn good point guard – something that absolutely should not be taken for granted in the modern NBA.
While Russell wasn’t spectacular during his minutes this past season in Minnesota, there is still enough scoring and facilitation for him to not drop any further than this.
The Philadelphia 76ers originally selected Jahlil Okafor – widely believed to have been the second-best player in this draft class at the time – with the third overall pick.
Okafor has not completely flopped out of the NBA, but he certainly has not been a good player. Averaging 18 points during his rookie season, Okafor would quickly drop off, now averaging only five points per game on the second-worst team in the NBA – the Detroit Pistons.
NBA Draft: Re-picking the 2015 class
There’s a lot that makes you question why he failed, but a large part of it came down to the NBA changing – and Okafor was not a modern big – and his defense did not make up for it, either.
Instead, they select Terry Rozier, who has really exploded onto the scene for the Charlotte Hornets as of late. Rozier, who averaged over 20 points per game this past season, has become one of the NBA’s best shooters, scoring at clip of 39.6-percent over the course of the past two seasons.
Rozier was originally selected 16th overall by the Boston Celtics and was not really widely known until the 2018 playoffs, where he averaged 17 points per game. Still, he was buried behind Kyrie Irving in the depth chart – so he really shined in Charlotte when finally getting a chance to start in extended minutes.
Rozier signed a 3-year, $55 million contract with the Hornets in 2019, and it has seemingly paid off. It looks as though the Hornets have a long-term backcourt mate with LaMelo Ball so long as he chooses to re-sign following the 2021-22 season.
There are two members of the 2015 NBA Draft class that are far ahead of the rest of the pack – one of which is Karl-Anthony Towns.
Towns, a modern 7-footer, is an elite offensive weapon, developing his game from when he was at Kentucky. Towns was originally the first overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft – and it is fortunate enough that the Timberwolves did not miss on the pick. He has been incredible, earning All-NBA honors once in his career thus far.
NBA Draft: Re-picking the 2015 class
The Timberwolves, unfortunately, have been unable to build a competent team around Towns prior to this season – and even this year Minnesota was too riddled by injuries to do anything. Still, adding the 2015 Rookie of the Year to a Lakers team that still had Bryant – regardless of how old – would have been fun to watch – especially if LeBron James still made his way to the Lakers when he was a free agent two summers ago.
The furthest the Timberwolves have gone with Towns was the eighth overall seed – having to go up against the Golden State Warriors during the Jimmy Butler season – you know, before the outburst.
Still, Minnesota absolutely does not regret their pickup of Towns – and they might even select him first overall if given the option against anyone else in this draft class.
As stated, the Minnesota Timberwolves originally selected Karl-Anthony Towns in the 2015 NBA Draft. But if they could do it again, they likely would select Devin Booker, who actually played alongside Towns during his time at Kentucky.
The Suns originally were so, so much worse at teambuilding than the Timberwolves were with Towns. But that (mostly) ended when James Jones came in. Since then, he has surrounded Booker with the best bench in the NBA as well as veteran All-Star point guard Chris Paul.
NBA Draft: Re-picking the 2015 class
The Suns have been one of the best teams in the NBA this year and are currently facing off against the Los Angeles Lakers as the two seed in the Western Conference – that is a level of success that the Timberwolves could not even dream of achieving over the course of the past six years.
To be extremely clear, there is not a big gap between Booker and Towns, but if you’re starting a franchise, the choice is clear – it has to be Devin Booker.
A Booker selection would also mean the Timberwolves likely never make the Jimmy Butler trade – which was also an overall loss of assets – and you could possibly flip Zach LaVine for a different piece (or move on from Wiggins instead).
Karl-Anthony Towns is a great player. Devin Booker has just proven himself a bit more, on a bigger stage at this point in his career. The difference between Towns and Rozier could not be larger – and it is nice to see the Timberwolves finally have some success in finding players that mesh well with Towns.