2020 NBA Mock Draft: Picks #25 and 26
It’s likely that Danilo Gallinari will walk in free agency, so the Thunder will look to shore up the power forward position.
Paul Reed is a Junior at DePaul and one of the older players in the draft, but he’ll be one of the most read to play immediately.
Reed will certainly not replace Gallinari’s scoring or floor spacing, but he can do two things well that usually translate to the NBA, rebound and block shots.
Reed grabs 10.6 rebounds per game, 2.6 blocks and 1.9 steals, numbers that should make him a solid rotation player in the NBA.
He would work well as a foil to Mike Muscala and would replace the boards and rim protection that they will lose if they let Nerlens Noel walk in free agency.
The Celtics hunt for a reliable big continues and Vernon Carey Jr. has the package of tantalizing skills that the Celtics will find too tempting to pass up.
Carey Jr. has the type of back-to-the-basket game that is rapidly going extinct in the NBA, but bigs who can score in the paint and grab rebounds will always have a place somewhere in the league.
Carey Jr. gets 17.6 points per game for Duke on 57.7 percent shooting and has a crafty game in the paint.
The problem is that Carey Jr. does not have a great NBA body, doesn’t rebound particularly well for someone his size and is not a great rim protector, though he does block 1.6 per game.
Carey Jr. is the type of matchup-dependent center who could come off the bench and give the Celtics a burst of scoring when they need it, but he might not be useful against smaller lineups, as he gets gassed easily and is not an end-to-end rim runner.