There are a combined five Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State Spartans expecting to hear their names called during the 2014 NBA Draft: Gary Harris, Adreian Payne, Mitch McGary, Glenn Robinson III and Nik Stauskas. Where will they wind up? We’re tracking all of the developments surrounding those players here …
• Nik Stauskas: No. 8 overall to the Sacramento Kings
Stauskas lands in the top 10 and finds himself on a roster with some rising talent — Rudy Gay, Isaiah Thomas, DeMarcus Cousins and others. The Kings also have 21-year-old shooting guard Ben McLemore, who averaged 8.8 points per game last season, so it will be interesting to see where Stauskas fits in the lineup.
• Adreian Payne: No. 15 overall to the Atlanta Hawks
In what came as a bit of a surprise, Payne came off the board before his highly-touted former teammate, Harris. Payne will head south to join a team that starts Paul Millsap at power forward but that struggled with depth issues this season. They have very few players who can do what Payne does in terms of an all-around game. He’ll be a terrific addition to that bench, assuming he starts off there.
• Gary Harris: No. 19 overall to the Chicago Bulls
Harris’ draft slide ends at 19, and it appears he’ll wind up playing for Denver after a trade that brings Doug McDermott to Chicago. Harris has a chance to be an excellent, reliable NBA player because of his two-way game.
• Mitch McGary: No. 21 overall to the Oklahoma City Thunder
So … not too bad for McGary, as he lands in the first round on a team with title aspirations. The former Wolverine failed a drug test during this year’s NCAA Tournament — an allegedly random test given to McGary when he suited up with no chance of playing due to a back injury — and then entered the draft to avoid a one-year suspension. McGary recently said he’s at 80 percent so his ability to make it through an NBA season will be debatable.
• Glenn Robinson III: No. 40 overall to the Minnesota Timberwolves
The obvious discussion after this pick will be if Robinson made a mistake by leaving Michigan for this year’s draft. Always considered a fringe first-rounder, Robinson dipped several picks into Round 2 before being scooped up by the Timberwolves. Earlier, Minnesota took UCLA guard Zach LaVine in Round 1.
Unlike Robinson, LaVine will take home a guaranteed contract because of his landing spot. Robinson faces a tougher climb, though the Timberwolves are not exactly loaded at small forward — Corey Brewer, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Shabazz Muhammed among the current competition.
