[RolePlayer]

August 1rst, 2023

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After months of discussion, the NBA expansion draft finally happened. We now have an initial idea of what the Seattle Supersonics' and Vegas Venom's rosters will look like at the start of the NBA season. Both teams followed a relatively similar strategy, drafting young players who were either sitting on the end of teams' benches or recently drafted in the second round, hoping that some of these young players may develop into quality players and possibly even stars. The Bobcats in 2004 were able to find Gerald Wallace in the expansion draft, who would eventually become an All-Star player.

The Vegas Venom had the first pick of the expansion draft and they took Julian Philipps. Philipps was the fifth pick in the second round of the 2023 NBA draft, a great athlete who is very raw skill wise. The Sonics then selected another 19-year-old second-round pick in Leonard Miller. Miller has the defensive and rebounding foundations to develop into an NBA rotation player; it is his offensive skill level and poor fundamentals which caused him to be a second-round pick.

Both teams drafted players to use as trade chips to help them acquire some assets. The Venom drafted Derrick Rose, who they instantly traded to the Suns for Isiah Thomas and a 2024 second-round pick, along with Justin Holiday, who they immediately traded to the Celtics for JD Davidson. The Sonics selected Gary Payton II, who they flipped to the Indiana Pacers for two second-round picks, one in 2024 and another in 2026.

Two players taken by the Sonics which drew a lot of talk from NBA fans were Emoni Bates and Jeff Green. Emoni Bates was until just two years considered by most NBA scouts to be a generational talent and the "next Kevin Durant." His stock dropped massively after entering college, where he played poorly and had a plethora of off the court issues. Jeff Green is one of just two original Supersonics still in the NBA, Green is coming off a winning an NBA championship with the Denver Nuggets and will provide a veteran locker-room presence for the Sonics.

The Venom selected another recent draft pick in Mouhamed Gueye, Gueye at 20 years old has only been playing organized basketball for four years. At Washington State after speaking to NBA scouts, he took a major step during his sophmore year. Despite this Gueye like Julian Philipps is very raw as a prospect and will take some time to develop if he is to turn into a quality player.

The Sonics took a Gueye of their own, drafting Mouhamadou Gueye, an athletic, defensive-minded big who has shown flashes in the NBA G-League. The Sonics selected Darius Bazely a tweener forward who is a former first round pick and was once a rotation player and 13ppg scorer for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Nasir Little and Brandon Boston Jr who the Venom both drafted, are two other young players who have played minutes on quality NBA teams. Both have seen playoff minutes and had as scorers on their former teams.

The Vegas Venom had the first pick of the expansion draft and they took Julian Philipps. Philipps was the fifth pick in the second round of the 2023 NBA draft, a great athlete who is very raw skill wise. The Sonics then selected another 19-year-old second-round pick in Leonard Miller. Miller has the defensive and rebounding foundations to develop into an NBA rotation player; it is his offensive skill level and poor fundamentals which caused him to be a second-round pick.

Both teams drafted players to use as trade chips to help them acquire some assets. The Venom drafted Derrick Rose, who they instantly traded to the Suns for Isiah Thomas and a 2024 second-round pick, along with Justin Holiday, who they immediately traded to the Celtics for JD Davidson. The Sonics selected Gary Payton II, who they flipped to the Indiana Pacers for two second-round picks, one in 2024 and another in 2026.

Two players taken by the Sonics which drew a lot of talk from NBA fans were Emoni Bates and Jeff Green. Emoni Bates was until just two years ago considered by most NBA scouts to be a generational talent and the "next Kevin Durant." His stock dropped massively after entering college, where he played poorly and had a plethora of off the court issues. Jeff Green is one of just two original Supersonics still in the NBA. Green is coming off winning an NBA championship with the Denver Nuggets and will provide a veteran locker-room presence for the Sonics.

The Venom selected another recent draft pick in Mouhamed Gueye. Gueye, at 20 years old, has only been playing organized basketball for four years. At Washington State, after speaking to NBA scouts, he took a major step during his sophomore year. Despite this, Gueye, like Julian Philipps, is very raw as a prospect and will take some time to develop if he is to turn into a quality player.

The Sonics took a Gueye of their own, drafting Mouhamadou Gueye, an athletic, defensive-minded big who has shown flashes in the NBA G-League. The Sonics also selected Darius Bazely, a tweener forward who is a former first-round pick and was once a rotation player and 13ppg scorer for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Nassir Little and Brandon Boston Jr., who were both drafted by the Venom, are two other young players who have played minutes on quality NBA teams. Both have seen playoff minutes and have excelled as scorers on their former teams.

No team took a flyer on some of the bigger contract veterans who were potentially in the expansion draft such as Ben Simmons or Klay Thomspon.

It's likely both teams' rosters will look different come tip-off, as the teams are now able to sign free agents along with using the draft picks and players they acquired tonight in trades. However, in general, one can expect many of the players taken tonight to be on the Sonics' and Venom's roster when the season starts.