Anthony Edwards Drafted No. 1 by the Minnesota Timberwolves

With the eighth pick, the Knicks selected Obi Toppin from Dayton. A 6-foot-9 forward, Toppin won virtually every national player of the year award after averaging 20 points and 7.5 rebounds per game while shooting 63.3 percent from the field as a sophomore. Toppin grew up in Brooklyn and attended Ossining High School in Westchester County.

“Me repping my city, it’s amazing,” Toppin said through tears in a televised interview. “A lot of people pray to be in this position, and I’m not going to take it for granted.”

Before the pandemic wrought havoc on the league calendar, the draft had been scheduled for June 25 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The draft was also preceded in recent days by a flurry of trade activity.

On Monday morning, the Knicks worked their way up the draft order by sending picks No. 27 and 38 to the Utah Jazz in exchange for the No. 23 pick and the rights to Ante Tomic, a 33-year-old center who has spent his entire pro career overseas.

Earlier in the week, the Milwaukee Bucks agreed to send a smorgasbord of players and draft picks to the New Orleans Pelicans for Jrue Holiday, one of the league’s top two-way guards.

The Bucks have been under immense pressure to upgrade their roster around Giannis Antetokounmpo, who will be eligible to sign a so-called supermax extension with the Bucks starting on Friday. Antetokounmpo, the 15th pick in the 2013 draft, has won back-to-back N.B.A. Most Valuable Player Awards and the 2020 Defensive Player of the Year Award.

The Los Angeles Lakers, fresh off their 17th N.B.A. championship, were also busy, agreeing to a deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder to acquire the point guard Dennis Schroder, one of the top reserves in the league last season.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/18/sports/basketball/nba-draft-picks-lamelo-ball-timberwolves.html