UCLA Basketball Bruin Bites: NBA Draft Recap

Another NBA Draft is in the books, and another set of Bruin early draftees need to be replaced.  How do you replace a whopping THREE first rounders?  Like this?  No offense to Octeus.  Welcome aboard Jon!  Reports indicate you're a helluva perimeter defender and model citizen.  Good luck taking minutes away from the coach's son!  Speaking of the coach, in a snoozer for a teleconference, he finally commented on the great night for Bruins in the draft.

You can read post-draft analysis here and here, and take a fun poll on our three future NBA hoopsters here.  I'll give you the quick Cliff Notes:

• The Bruins had one freshman and two sophomores selected in the first round:  Zach LaVine to Minnesota at #13, Jordan Adams to Memphis at #22 and Kyle Anderson to San Antonio at #30,
• Zach is in line for a big pay day in the #13 slot.  Read approximatley how much here.  It will help get him through those long, cold nights in Minnesota.  He'll have three Bruin/Timberwolves friends, KLove, Shabazz and Luc and to help.  Unfortunately, KLove can't wait to get out the door as Minnesota is thought of as a bottom tier organization.
• In a surprise, Jordan Adams was selected before Kyle Anderson, but Moneyball-like analytics informed the choice for Memphis, and, in fact, they need a catch-and-shoot guard, and they got one.
  
• Kyle was made to sweat it out, but did get picked last in the first round in what might turn out to be a blessing in disguise.  The San Antonio Spurs are thought to be the best organization in basketball today.  Watch this video.  Although he wanted to go higher, Kyle wanted to play for the Spurs.
• Junior Nick Johnson from Arizona, PAC-12 Player of the Year, had to wait until the second round to get picked.  Jahii Carson and Jordan Bachynski of Arizona State didn't get picked at all.

In other news, as we head into a quiet period for college hoops, and I stretch a bit:

• The July Evaluation period starts on the Ninth. You may hear reports about the coaches on the road and who they are looking at. Read this from the NCAA if you are an extreme junky or really bored.
• Here's Scout's list of 2015 UCLA hoops prospect. It's a long list, but I'll boil it down. These guys have actually said we're on their short list: Diamond Stone (friend of Kevon Looney from Milwaukee), Stephen Zimmerman (Las Vegas Bishop Gorman - Shabazz' school) , Chace Jeter (Gorman as well), Prince Ali (same high school as Gyorgy Golomon) and Carlton Bragg.
• Louisville officially joined the ACC yesterday. Already one of the premier basketball conferences, the ACC added Syracuse last season and Louisville for next.
• Speaking of the ACC, don't you hope UNC is headed back into a s@!t storm again? The NCAA is reopening their investigation into academic fraud there. Former UNC guard spilled the beans to ESPN "Outside the Lines," and he said Roy Williams knew all about it.