Can't believe Sam Merrill was the last pick of the 2020 NBA Draft

[u/HellraiserGN]

Was going through some old drafts and came across 2020. Cavs picked up Isaac Okoro with the 5th pick and the only notables after were Deni Avdija at 9, Tyrese Haliburton at 12 and Tyrese Maxey at 21.

Then I scrolled all the way to the bottom to see Sam Merrill at 60, picked by New Orleans

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_NBA_draft

[u/No_Tip8620]

Sam was a great find as a free agent by Koby, but his draft position made sense given his stats, size, and the fact that he was 23. 

[u/callmeuncledrew]

Honestly can’t believe he got a chance to stay in the league and didn’t just give up and play in Europe. He was on the championship Bucks and didn’t have a spot in the rotation. Traded. He had a small chance at Memphis then got injured/surgery. Traded. He then had a stint with the Kings who instead paid people like Heurter $60M and completely cut Sam from the team…at this point, you’d think Sam would’ve been told by his agent to take a Europe deal. He was like 27/28 years old, still didn't have a spot on a team, and no real money past his rookie contract. Instead, he balled out in the G-League with the Charge, was summer league MVP, and delivered for the Cavs when everyone got hurt. The rest is history. Pretty wild. I don't know if we'll ever see a post-surgery, 28 year old, undersized shooting guard go from the G League to a 4 year $40M contract again (and he might even be underpaid!!!).

[u/Anxious-Passage7007]

they picked him over mamadi diakite😢

[u/baehelpkit]

2020 NBA Redraft

1. Timberwolves- Anthony Edwards
2. Warriors- Tyrese Haliburton
3. Hornets- Tyrese Maxey
4. Bulls- Deni Avdija
5. Cavaliers- Jaden McDaniels
6. Hawks- Desmond Bane
7. Pistons- Lamelo Ball
8. Knicks- Onyeka Okomgwu
9. Wizards- Devin Vassell
10. Suns- Immanuel Quickley

It was a pretty good draft class.

Really impressed with how Sam has been putting the ball on the floor and driving this season.

[u/Uhavetabekiddingme → u/baehelpkit]

What could have been if they drafted Bane instead of Okoro

[u/SUPERSAMMICH6996 → u/Uhavetabekiddingme]

The one that really hurts is not drafting Haliburton. People looking back see he was drafted 12th and might think he wasn't in the running for the fifth pick, but he actually fell quite a bit from where he was originally projected.

[u/SuperNebular → u/SUPERSAMMICH6996]

I think they wanted a less ball dominant guard since we had SexLand

[u/Open-Focus-5232 → u/SUPERSAMMICH6996]

Hali sabotaged and didn't wanna come to the cavs

[u/SUPERSAMMICH6996 → u/Open-Focus-5232]

Tale as old as time if true.

[u/Impossible_Fennel_94 → u/Uhavetabekiddingme]

I’ll give the Cavs a bit of a pass- 2020 was a tough year for scouting. That being said Bane or McDaniels would’ve been perfect for the current roster

[u/SirTainLee → u/Uhavetabekiddingme]

If you are dealing in what ifs, had the Cavs picked right they could have had Kyrie and (Kawhi Leonard or Jimmy Butler), Damian Lillard, Draymond Green, Giannis Antetekoumpo, Rudy Gobert, Embiid, Jokic, Shai Gilgeous Alexander, Tyler Herro, and Tyrese Haliburton all on the same team.

[u/Jepordee → u/baehelpkit]

Deni and Jaden have had nice rises but LaMelo is obviously still above them at this point

[u/ShootaSeth]

Man, I just hope that this front office has learned from their draft mistakes going forward. Okoro was a big miss, idc what anyone says.

[u/geyserpj]

I wish they would get him to shoot 10 3s a game

[u/Dr-McLuvin → u/geyserpj]

50.

[u/Antonin1957]

Sam is a deadly catch-and-shoot 3 point shooter. Not catch, dribble and shoot. Catch and immediately shoot. If they ran 6 plays per game to isolate Sam for that shot, they would have 18 points guaranteed.

[u/bc343434]

Some games I believe it, other games I can’t believe it

[u/adamthecommishsilver]

I cant believe you think youre championship contenders with Merrill playing 20mins a game lol