4 Mistakes From the 2015 NBA Draft

There were some picks that a few teams may be regretting one year later. Here are four picks from the 2015 NBA Draft that look like mistakes.

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Complex Original

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Last year’s NBA Draft featured plenty of promising prospects. Karl-Anthony Towns, the 2016 Rookie of the Year, has already proven himself to be a star in the making while Kristaps Porzingis silenced the haters inside the Barclays Center that booed him on draft night. But there were some picks that a few teams may be regretting one year later. Here are four picks from the 2015 NBA Draft that look like mistakes.

D'Angelo Russell - Lakers - No. 2

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No one was expecting D’Angelo Russell to take L.A. by storm as the second pick of last year’s draft—in fact, his stats from last season are pretty respectable: 13.2 PPG, 3.3 APG, shooting 41 percent from the field in 28.2 minutes per game. However, in case you hadn’t heard, chemistry was an issue. Russell caught himself in the middle of a scandal in involving teammate Nick Young. Well, Iggy and Swaggy broke up earlier this week, and Russell has tried to make light of the situation with a new commercial starring him, Towns, Devin Booker, and Ben Simmons. Russell has lost his touch with several other teammates as well because of the situation, and there were even reports saying that the Lakers were looking to trade the point guard. If they could have done it over again, the Lakers may have taken Jahlil Okafor, who went third to the Philadelphia 76ers. But I guess they were okay with Roy Hibbert averaging 5.9 PPG and 4.9 RPG as their starting big man last season.

Jahlil Okafor - 76ers - No. 3

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Okafor had a very solid season for the Sixers last year—in no way was he a disappointment. However, he is still the second-string center for the team, and that may change if/when Joel Embiid comes back. And considering the Sixers also have Nerlens Noel that makes three young centers on the team and it's rumored that one of them will be trade bait. However, if the Sixers cannot trade Okafor or Noel they could have a big (no pun intended) predicament, especially since Ben Simmons will be getting lots of time on the floor. Emmanuel Mudiay may have been the better choice at No. 3 since the Sixers needs a point guard and Mudiay arguably had a more productive season than Ish Smith and certainly has more upside. 

Mario Hezonja - Magic - No. 5

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Hezonja struggled in his first year in Orlando. He had problems on defense, which is why his minutes went down later on in the season, and his 35 percent shooting from the arc didn’t help stay on the floor. And during his 17 minutes per game, he spent more tim passing rather than taking his shot. Hezonja is still learning the kinks of the NBA, being a 21-year-old from Croatia. The Magic also had four guards that they wanted to get as much playing time as possible, which hurt Hezonja. It also doesn’t seem like Aaron Gordon’s minutes will decline, either. Don’t tell the Magic, but Stanley Johnson had a much better season with Detroit, a playoff team, last year.

Sam Dekker - Rockets - No. 18

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Dekker only played in three games last year, mostly due to injury. However, it’s not like Dekker was injured after three games—he only appeared in three of the team’s first 11 contests. As the season wore on, Dekker made two trips to the D-League and considering Houston lacked a true power forward, Bobby Portis—who was taken by the Bulls—may not have been a bad pick at No. 22. The Rockets did draft Montrezl Harrel with their second-round selection, but Dekker was not a need.

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