Over the last two decades of drafts, the No. 19 pick has been an interesting mixed bag of relative hits, misses and All-Stars.
A few notes on the last 20 selections at that No. 19 slot:
– There have been two All-Stars: Zach Randolph (2001 draft, two selections) and Jeff Teague (2009 draft, one selection).
– There’s been a recent run of key role players: Saddiq Bey (’20), Kevin Huerter (’18), John Collins (’17), Malik Beasley (’16), Gary Harris (’14), Tobias Harris (’11).
– To be more specific, these 2021 NBA playoffs have been strewn with No. 19s: Huerter and Collins played crucial roles in the Hawks’ conference finals run, Teague is currently getting minutes in the NBA Finals, and Harris was the 76ers’ second-leading scorer.
– There have also been some whiffs: Luka Šamanić (’19, 36 games in two years), Sergey Karasev (’13, 95 games), Andrew Nicholson (’12, 285 games), and Quincy Douby (’06, 143 games).
– A few other players an NBA fan would have heard of: Avery Bradley (’10), JJ Hickson (’08 draft), Jerian Grant (‘15 draft), Hakim Warrick (‘05), and Dorell Wright (‘04).
One interesting candidate at No. 19 this year is Duke’s Jalen Johnson, whose draft profile we broke down over the weekend.