Michigan Basketball: Draft review and catching up with Wolverines in NBA

2016 NBA draft

2016 was an odd year, especially for the draft and more specifically with the lottery. It was the first year since the lottery started that every team received the draft pick they were designated according to their regular season ranking, meaning the worst team got the highest pick, second worst second pick, and so on.

It was also the year that one of Michigan basketball’s most promising and most injury-riddled players became available to the league.

Caris LeVert

Caris LeVert spent four seasons on the Michigan basketball team and in only one of those seasons he remained healthy. Every year, despite the injuries, Caris improved. LeVert scored 12.9 points-per-game his sophomore season, 14.9 his junior, and 16.5 during his senior campaign.

That progression showed Caris wouldn’t last long in the draft where he ended up at pick No.20. The Indiana Pacers traded away their 20th pick to the Brooklyn Nets.

LeVert is showing that same type of improvement, this time at the professional level. Caris averaged 8.2 points his rookie year, 12.1 his second, and 13.7 his third. Maybe in a few years ‘Baby Durant’ will be the leagues highest scorer.