Mikal Bridges' very awkward draft night, in 4 steps
This post has been updated to clarify that Quinn Cook spent four years at Duke.
Usually the saddest stories of the NBA Draft belong to the prospects who went into the draft with high hopes only to be left jobless (though that's often temporary and hey sometimes you don't get drafted and end up like Quinn Cook, being embraced by Steph Curry and Kevin Durant after winning a championship, for example).
But this time, the perhaps saddest story belonged to a first round pick who got drafted by the home team that EMPLOYS HIS MOTHER, only to be traded to Phoenix, which is not a team I would personally want to leave the 76ers for at this time (no offense Phoenix).
So how did this happen? A step-by-step guide.
1. Villanova swingman Mikal Bridges was drafted by the 76ers with the No. 10 pick
What a dream come true! Bridges' mom, Tyneeha Rivers is giddy on camera (rightfully so). "I'm so excited he's coming home!" she said, which is a very mom thing to say. But seriously, this was heartwarming.
"It's surreal," she added after being asked what it would be like to watch her son run out of the locker room every day. "I'm so excited."
2. Bridges gives a press conference talking about how much he loves the 76ers
OK, so draft night trades aren't unheard of. But it's a lot less awkward when the players are given a heads up that even though they're drafted by Dallas, for example, they'll be heading to Atlanta before they even walk across that stage to meet the Commissioner. Or at least before they have do all of their press rounds.
Let's all watch Bridges talk about his mom and his love for the 76ers a bit more when … reports start filtering out DURING HIS PRESS CONFERENCE that he's getting traded to the Suns.
3. The Suns select Zhaire Smith and trade him to the 76ers for Bridges and try to pretend this is all fine.
No offense to Smith, who is a fine draft selection.
4. Twitter is so mad. Philadelphia fans are shocked. 76ers coach and interim general manager Brett Brown tries to explain himself:
"The phones were active and we knocked back an incredible deal where we would lose him," Brown said after the conclusion of the first round. "We didn't rate it to be a godfather type of deal, something that would impact the franchise to the level that it would have to in order to trade Mikal, who we valued very much.
Bridges handles it pretty well though:
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