NBA Draft Parallel Universe

by CardiacHill on Jun 24, 2025 11:56 PM EDT

Last year, Pitt watched DeJuan Blair and Sam Young go from projected first-round NBA picks to slipping into the second round. Tonight, it was WVU's turn as Da'Sean Butler and Devin Ebanks fell to nearly the middle of the second round.

Watching the draft tonight, I couldn't help but notice the similarities:

1. All four players were/are projected as NBA forwards
2. All four were projected to go higher (at least Butler was before his injury)
3. One player from each team had injury concerns
4. One player from each team was a sophomore and the other was a senior
5. Both players from each team were drafted back to back

It's really unbelievable if you think about it.

Both Young and Blair had fairly successful first seasons in the NBA. I don't know if Butler and Ebanks will duplicate that success, but it's fair to say they probably could have gone higher.

In other conference news regarding early entrants, Lance Stephenson also saw himself slip into the 2nd round and Mac Koshwal and Samardo Samuels weren't drafted at all. Ouch.

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