Five biggest surprises from the first round of the NBA Draft

The NBA Draft began without much drama, with the first picks going exactly as expected. But every draft has surprises, and here were the biggest of the night.

1. Morez Johnson Jr., Dallas Mavericks, No. 9

It's not just that Morez Johnson was picked earlier than expected, going to the Dallas Mavericks at pick No. 9. It's that Johnson will be immediately reunited with his college coach from Michigan, Dusty May, just one day after the Mavericks hired May to be their head coach.

There's little precedent for a head coach to essentially take his college players with him to the NBA, with the notable exception of Rick Pitino with the Boston Celtics in the 1990s. Pitino inherited former player Antoine Walker, then drafted freshman Ron Mercer with the No. 6 pick in 1997. The "Kentucky Celtics" had three losing seasons before Pitino was let go — though they didn't have a player like Cooper Flagg.

2. Ebuka Okorie, Detroit Pistons, No. 17

Ebuka Okorie led the ACC in scoring as a freshman at Stanford. He has great speed and balance and an incredible ability to get in the lane. He's also only 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds, likely to struggle with defense and finishing.

A strong defensive team like the Detroit Pistons that's often offensively challenged likely thinks that offensive potential outweighs the concerns, especially if Okorie can be an instant-offense scorer off the bench. That's why they gave up three second-round picks to get Okorie at No. 17.

3. Tarris Reed Jr., San Antonio Spurs, No. 26

It's clear how Reed would fit with the San Antonio Spurs as a strong, physical center who can back up Victor Wembanyama, while providing scoring and passing in the post. But it's not clear why they traded up from No. 35 to get him after drafting a different backup center, Jayden Quaintance, at No. 20. Perhaps this is insurance for Quaintance's knee issues that limited him last college season, but it's strange to add two non-shooting big men when they already have Luke Kornet — and need a real power forward.

4. Alex Karaban, Sacramento Kings, No. 29

Alex Karaban won two championships and went to another national title game in this career at UConn. He's clearly a winning player, but he's also clearly a limited athlete for an NBA player who has some work to do on his defense and shooting. The Sacramento Kings liked him enough to give up a future second-round pick to move up from No. 34, but Karaban would have been a reach at No. 34, too.

5. The relative lack of trades

The trades that happened in this draft were generally of the minor variety. The Memphis Grizzlies scooped up five future second-rounders to move down from No. 16 to No. 21, while the New York Knicks grabbed five seconds moving out of the first round entirely — and plan to trade No. 31 as well.

Perhaps all the teams waiting on the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade froze player movement. But for all the rumored players to be moving on — Trey Murphy III, any number of expensive Oklahoma City Thunder players — all the draft-night deals were made for cash and second-round picks.