2016 NBA Draft: Southwest Division Draft Grades

By Isaac Harris

Jun 26, 2016

Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Buddy Hield (Oklahoma) gestures to the crowd while standing with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number six overall pick to the New Orleans Pelicans in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

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Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Dejounte Murray (Washington) greets NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number twenty-nine overall pick to the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports /

San Antonio Spurs: Dejounte Murray (29th)

San Antonio had one pick going into draft night, and with that one pick they had arguably the biggest draft steal of the night.

Dejounte Murray, a 6’5″ point guard out of Washington, was projected many weeks before the draft as a lock for the lottery as some people thought he could be a better long term point guard than Kris Dunn. Projected by ESPN to go 10th to the Bucks just a week before the draft, Murray dropped all the way to the 29th pick in the draft.

San Antonio has two budding, young superstars in Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge on the wing and down low. The only young piece missing was a young point guard that could help transition out of the Tony Parker era.

Enter Dejounte Murray.

Murray fell right into the Spurs’ lap at 29 and you have to think they were ecstatic. Now the youngster can learn under Parker and eventually take the reigns in the years to come.

Draft Grade: A

Next: How Kevin Durant is Helping the Dallas Mavericks

The draft grades might seem high to some, but the Southwest Division did really well on draft night for the cards they were dealt with. You could even make the case that the division as a whole drafted better than any other division in the league.