It was close, but Sherwood’s Archie Goodwin stayed in the first round of the NBA Draft on Thursday night.
The Phoenix Suns moved up one spot in a trade with Golden State to select Goodwin 29th on the next-to-last pick of the first round. Golden State obtained the pick from Oklahoma City.
Goodwin, a 6-5 guard who was the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s two time Mr. Basketball at Sylvan Hills, entered the draft after playing at Kentucky as a freshman this season.
“It was just a relief just to hear my name called,” Goodwin told the Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal. “It’s been a long night,so just to hear your name called is amazing, and it’s a situation I feel like I can play right away.
“Regardless of where I went in this draft, just to be picked was a blessing to me. I’m just going to take this in and continue to get back to work.”
BJ Young, a 6-3 guard who was Arkansas’ leading scorer the past two years and entered the draft after his sophomore season, wasn’t selected among the two round’s 60 picks.
Goodwin, 18, was the second-youngest player in the draft after Giannis Antetokounmpo, a forward from Greece who was picked 15th by the Milwaukee Bucks. Goodwin turns 19 in August, while Antetotounmpo turns 19 in December.
“When [Goodwin] came out of high school, he was projected as a top-10 pick, so you’re getting pretty good value at 29,” ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said. “He didn’t perform as well as everybody expected as a freshman, but he’s got that talent level.”
Goodwin was the only Kentucky player to start all 33 games this season and he averaged a team-high 14.1 points along with 4.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.1 steals.
While Goodwin scored 10 or more points in 25 games - including a career-high 28 against Morehead State, 24 against Ole Miss, 22 against Louisville and 20 against Georgia - he struggled with his perimeter shooting.
Goodwin shot 26.6 percent on three-point attempts (17 of 64) and was 7 of 38 against SEC teams.
“He’s athletic, he’s really good at transition,” Bilas said. “When he gets to the rim, he’s at his most efficient. He shoots 55 percent at shots near the rim.
“When he gets into jump shooting, that’s when his percentages go way down. He had to try to play some point guard this year … and that’s not his position.”
Bilas said Goodwin may have lacked focus at times this season.
“He’s 18 years old,” Bilas said. “You can’t expect everybody to have a killer instinct at age 18. He doesn’t shoot consistently from the perimeter, and that’s something talented players improve upon once they get to the NBA. It’s been proven over the years.
“Now if a guy’s shot is broken, then you can have a problem. That’s not him. I think he’s also got to take better shots.”
Phoenix was among 17 teams that brought in Goodwin for workouts.
“Obviously, he’s going to need to learn the game better,” Suns Coach Jeff Hornacek told Phoenix media after Goodwin’s workout. “He’s used to being a scorer. He can still be a scorer but he’s going to have to be, more the mental part of the game … a point guard. Really see the game, see how it develops, not only for himself but for his teammates.
“When you got a young kid like that, those are the guys you can kind of train. You can tell he has a feel.”
Young also entered the draft last year after averaging 15.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 25.2 minutes as a freshman but withdraw his name to return to Arkansas in the hopes of positioning himself to be an NBA lottery pick.
It didn’t work out well for Young, whose three-point shooting slipped from 41.3 percent (50 of 121) last season to 23.4 percent (25 of 107) as a sophomore. His overall field-goal shooting was 50.4 percent as a freshman and 44.8 percent this season.
While Young’s shooting percentage took a dip, he averaged 15.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 27.9 minutes and he was voted second-team All-SEC by the conference coaches for the second time.
Young hit game-winning shots in the final seconds to lift Arkansas to victories against Oklahoma, Missouri and Georgia this season. He also hit a crucial three point basket in the second overtime of a victory over Auburn.
Young scored a career 31 points against Florida as a freshman. That season he also scored 28 points against Connecticut. This season he scored 29 points against Arizona State, 27 at Missouri, 26 against Northwestern (La.) State and 25 against Syracuse, Tennessee and at Auburn.
NBA trades
Trades that involved selections in the 2013 NBA Draft on draft night: 1 - New Orleans traded the rights to first-round (No. 6) selection Nerlens Noel, c, Kentucky and a protected 2014 first-round pick to Philadelphia for the rights to the 76ers’ first-round (No. 11) selection Michael Carter-Williams, g, Syracuse; 76ers’ second-round (No. 42) selection Pierre Jackson, g, Baylor and G Jrue Holiday.
2 - Minnesota traded the rights to first round (No. 9) selection Trey Burke, g, Michigan to Utah for the rights to the Jazz’s first-round (No. 14 and 21) selections Shabazz Muhammad, g, UCLA and Gorgui Dieng, c, Louisville.
3 - Dallas traded the rights to first round (No. 13) selection Kelly Olynyk, c, Gonzaga to Boston for the rights to the Celtics’ first-round (No. 16) selection Lucas Riva Nogueira, c, Estudiantes (Spain) and two future second-round draft picks.
4 - Minnesota traded the rights to first round (No. 26) selection Andre Roberson, f, Colorado to Golden State for a future second-round pick.
5 - Dallas traded the rights to first round (No. 16) selection Lucas Riva Nogueira, c, Estudiantes (Spain), G Jared Cunningham and the rights to second-round (No. 44) selection Mike Muscala, c, Bucknell to Atlanta for the rights to first-round (No. 18) selection Shane Larkin, g, Miami.
6 - Golden State traded the rights to first-round (No. 26) selection Andre Roberson, f, Colorado to Oklahoma City for the rights to the Thunders’ first-round (No. 29) selection Archie Goodwin, g, Kentucky.
7 - Golden State traded the rights to first-round (No. 29) selection Archie Goodwin, g, Kentucky to Phoenix for the rights to the Suns’ first-round (No. 30) Nemanja Nedovic, g, Lietuvos Rytas (Lithuania)
8 - Denver traded C Kosta Koufos to Memphis for F Darrell Arthur and the second-round (No. 55) pick. Memphis selected Joffrey Lauvergne, f, Partizan (Adraitic League).
9 - Denver traded the rights to first round (No. 27) selection Rudy Gobert, c, Cholet (France) to Utah for cash and the Jazz’s second-round (No. 46) selection Erick Green, g, Virginia Tech.
Sports, Pages 19 on 06/28/2013