Atlanta Hawks: Atl All Day Mock Draft 2.0 Full Draft Edition
21. Oklahoma City Thunder
Keldon Johnson: Forward – Kentucky
Height:6’6 Weight:216 Age:19.5
Wingspan:6’9 Standing Reach:8’8
Keldon Johnson is the third Kentucky player to be selected in our mock draft. He has many of the physical attributes, that are sought in a modern NBA forward. He can play both of the forward positions, but his unimpressive wingspan makes small forward his best spot. Johnson excels on defense and in transition. He is able to turn defense into offense and finishes dunks with power and authority. Johnson has shown a markedly improved shooting stroke, but he doesn’t shoot well when he’s not stationary. The Thunder need shooting wherever they can get it, but in this scenario they are taking the best available player, who is also a fit.
Keldon Johnson ranks number 19 on the ESPN best players available list. Jonathan Givony gives us this draft analysis on the game of Keldon Johnson:
"– Aggressive, versatile player on both ends of the floor. Powerful attacking in a straight line or in the open floor. Capable outside shooter. – Highly competitive rebounder and defender. Plays with toughness, intensity and confidence, and he has a good feel for the game. Improvement areas – Not yet a dynamic shooter at this stage, especially pulling up off the dribble or on the move. Has improved, but he’s still very streaky (30 percent from 3; 73 percent on free throws). – Powerful, but not an especially explosive athlete creating in the half court."
2018 Stats: Pts:13.5 REB:5.9 APG:1.6 STL:0.8 BLK:0.2 FG%:46.1 2P%:49.8 3P%:38.1 FT%:70.3
22. Boston Celtics
Kezie Okpala: Forward – Stanford
Height:6’10 Weight:210 Age:20.1
Wingspan:7’2 Standing Reach:8’1
The Boston Celtics select for the third time in the ATL All Day Mock Draft 2.0. There is a good chance that Boston won’t keep all three selections, but if they do adding another versatile forward is the right direction to go. This time they take more of a driving, cutting combo forward. Kezie Okpala is able to get to the basket, with his ball handling skills, long strides and long arm extension. Okpala has good leaping ability. He improved his three point shooting considerably in year two of his college career. He will need some time to develop, but could a great jack of all trades type wing, when he does.
Sports Illustrated draft guru Jeremy Woo has Kezie Okpala mocked to the San Antonio Spurs at pick 29 in his mock draft. He summarized the pick with this quote:
"The Spurs are not afraid of taking on long-term development projects, and Okpala possesses the type of size and athleticism on the wing their roster currently lacks. While he had an inconsistent year at Stanford and will likely require seasoning in the G League, Okpala’s best flashes are tantalizing, and the hope is he can add some value as a big, slashing wing who plays both ends of the floor. He’s still figuring out how good he can be, but as he starts to tap into more of his ability, he could return a lot of value in this part of the draft."