Valentine picked No. 14, Davis falls out of 1st round
Denzel Valentine was dropping on mock draft boards all week, the senior’s knees becoming a late concern.
Deyonta Davis continued to be projected as a lottery pick, the young freshman’s talent tantalizing teams with unknown promise ahead.
But nothing ever goes as scripted in the NBA Draft.
Michigan State guard Valentine ended up celebrating earlier than he anticipated, going to the Chicago Bulls with the No. 14 overall pick on Thursday night in Brooklyn, New York. The Lansing native and his family were glowing and overjoyed.
“I mean, you can never win, I feel like, in my place being a senior,” 22-year-old Valentine told reporters. “I just got better every year, and why is that going to stop now? You know, I feel like when I get to the next level I'm just going to keep on getting better. You just keep on getting better, those guys that have more potential than me, they're supposed to keep getting better, so I will keep getting better.”
MSU's Denzel Valentine goes to Chicago Bulls in 1st round of NBA Draft
Davis kept waiting. And waiting. And waiting. MSU coach Tom Izzo eventually moved over to sit with the 19-year-old at Barclays Center, caught by ESPN’s cameras giving his big man who left school after one year a pep talk as player after player went off the board before him.
And then the first round ended. Davis and his family left the green room before the 30th and final pick of the opening round, still waiting.
“As for Izzo,” ESPN’s Andy Katz reported from a few feet away from Davis’ table, “he said, ‘This is a cautionary tale for a lot of these freshmen who are leaving early.’”
Moments later, Davis returned. Boston selected him with the first pick of the second round, 31st overall, and reportedly will trade Davis’ rights to Memphis, pending league approval.
That one spot cost Davis a two-year guaranteed contract worth at least $2 million that Valentine will receive as a first-rounder. But he wasn’t dwelling on it, at least not outwardly.
“The pick doesn’t mean anything,” Davis told ESPN. “It’s how you come out and play. And I’m going to come out and play with a chip on my shoulder.”
While Davis’ anguishing wait dragged on, Valentine was gleefully making the interview rounds and soaking in the adoration and attention that comes with being a first-rounder.
Sexton High grad Valentine joins Everett High's Johnson (1979), Eastern High's Jay Vincent (1981) and Sam Vincent (1985), Waverly High's Marcus Taylor (2002) and Everett's Goran Suton (2009) as players who went from Lansing high schools and then to MSU before becoming NBA Draft picks.
“Congratulations to Denzel Valentine!” Johnson tweeted. “The Bulls are getting a good all-around player that can do a little bit of everything!”
Valentine, a 6-foot-5, 210-pound shooting guard averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game as a senior with the Spartans en route to winning six national player of the year awards.
Couch: Denzel Valentine's doctor says knee 'looks good'
He steps into a Chicago team that just traded versatile-but-oft-injured star guard Derrick Rose to the New York Knicks on Wednesday.
“He’s a terrific all-around player that knows how to play,” ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said of Valentine. “I heard the thing about the knees. I’m not crazy about all this medical stuff being discussed unless it’s real. … If you get seven great years out of Denzel Valentine, I don’t care what his knees look like.”
Valentine is Izzo’s ninth first-round draft pick during his 21 seasons at MSU. He also became both the 10th MSU senior to be drafted under Izzo and the fifth to be taken in the first round. Mateen Cleaves (Detroit) and Morris Peterson (Toronto) in 2000, Maurice Ager (Dallas) in 2006 and Payne are the others.
Valentine was asked by reporters what he learned from Izzo that will help him in the NBA.
“Definitely just being passionate and having that goal every single day you come to practice or every single day you wake up just having one goal in mind and letting nothing get in the way of it,” he said. “And that's how I'm going to be and that's how I was raised. So that's how I'm going to be for the rest of my life.”
Muskegon native Davis became Izzo’s third one-and-done player to get drafted. He eventually re-emerged and took the stage, sporting a Celtics hat. He shook Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum's hand instead of Commissioner Adam Silver's.
In Memphis, Davis will join current Grizzlies star Zach Randolph, who remains Izzo’s only player to leave MSU after one year and become a first-round draft pick.
Davis' decision will immediately be linked with Marcus Taylor and Erazem Lorbek -- two Spartans who left school early and fell into the second round. Taylor left after his sophomore season in 2002. Lorbek left MSU after his freshman year in 2003 and signed a pro contract in Europe. Neither has played in the NBA.
However, Davis does have a blueprint from another MSU player who suffered a disappointing draft-day drop. Draymond Green endured a similar fall in the 2012 NBA Draft before being selected by Golden State in the second round with the 35th overall pick.
“I think he is going to have staying power, even though being picked in the second round …,” ESPN analyst Jalen Rose said of Davis. “He’s raw, he’s athletic, live legs around the hoop. That’s what Memphis is going to need in a Western Conference that has gotten stacked as the style of the play in the league has passed them by.”
Izzo now has produced a draft pick for three straight seasons and had 18 players selected during his tenure at MSU. Adreian Payne (Atlanta) and Gary Harris (Chicago) were taken in the first round in 2014, and Branden Dawson (New Orleans) went in the second round a year ago. Both Harris (to Denver) and Dawson (to the Los Angeles Clippers) were part of draft-day trades.