NBA draft: Here's why De'Andre Hunter was still announced a Lakers pick
At this point, even casual NBA fans are aware that Anthony Davis is a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, and that it took a metric ton of young talent to obtain him from the New Orleans Pelicans.
Among that collection of young talent was the No. 4 overall pick in the NBA draft, which the Pelicans later flipped to the Atlanta Hawks for even more picks and salary relief.
And yet, when Virginia forward De’Andre Hunter was announced as the fourth overall pick at the draft by NBA commissioner Adam Silver, Hunter wasn’t given a hat from the team he would be playing for. He was wearing a Lakers hat.
The reason for that awkward look is that while the Davis trade — or at least most of it — has been agreed upon, the trade hasn’t actually been finalized. The trade will actually go through at some point in the coming weeks, but for now, it’s the Lakers who are technically making the fourth overall pick under direction of the Hawks.
The Hawks weren’t even able to celebrate landing Hunter on Twitter, opting for some subtle emojis instead.
🤐🤐🤐🤐
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) June 21, 2019
Hunter wasn’t the lone player in the awkward position of being interviewed while wearing gear for a team he will not playing for, as sixth overall pick Jarrett Culver was announced as a Phoenix Suns pick even though it was the Minnesota Timberwolves who controlled the selection.
It’s all an extremely silly situation, and something the National Football League draft picks don’t have to go through. Even if the players can’t be given the hat for their actual team, they should at least be given a general NBA hat or something.
Text from NFL coach: “Gotta get the NBA to change the ‘trade rules’ so they don’t keep sending these kids up there with wrong hats on - embarrassing.”
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 21, 2019
Fortunately, Yahoo Sports has Hunter covered.
fixed it.#NBADraft pic.twitter.com/U1Hlo6Jpyw
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) June 21, 2019
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