3. Many teams missed the boat on Keita Bates-Diop
Keita Bates-Diop was the Big Ten’s Player of the Year at Ohio State last season and in the days leading up to last month’s NBA Draft was being talked about by some as a late first-round pick.
But on draft night, Bates-Diop slid. And slid some more. And then when he was done with that, he slid again.
Blue Man Hoop
The Minnesota Timberwolves finally wound up taking the combo forward with the 48th overall pick and so far in Las Vegas, it appears he’s taking it personally.
Bates-Diop dropped 23 points on the Toronto Raptors on Sunday and followed that up with a solid floor game on Monday. His shot wasn’t necessarily there — he was just 4-for-11 and 2-for-5 from 3-point range — but in 34 minutes he was active, very active.
He grabbed six rebounds, picked off four steals and was in the middle of things all night. He was quick and correct on rotations, picked up switches well and was generally rock solid in defense.
Offensively, he was under control, played with a purposed and looked good and confident taking his shots, even though they weren’t falling.
He was a player that might have fit for the Nets at either No. 29 or No. 40, but there were lot of other teams that missed their chance on Bates-Diop, as well.
He seems pretty determined to make that hurt.
Next: 7 Hall of Famers many forget were Nets
Brooklyn will play at least two more games in the tournament stage, with their first game to be determined after the completion of play on Tuesday.