Talen Horton Tucker and Marial Shayok Selected in Second Round

With the 46th pick in the NBA Draft, Talen Horton-Tucker is headed to Los Angeles to join LeBron James and the Lakers.

He joins a short roster that’s primed for contending right away. Along with LeBron James, Talen will also share the floor the likes of Antony Davis and rising star Kyle Kuzma. The team finished with a disappointing 37-45 record a year ago and is looking at somewhere between $23 million and $32 million in cap space (depending on when the Davis trade is accepted) for adding more pieces come the opening of F.A. season in July.

Watching Talen play in Ames for a season was a journey for not only his skill set, but also fans a like. While showing moments of superb athleticism and a solid finishing touch, there have also been concerns about his slow release and lack of defense.

Horton-Tucker will be under the eye of veteran coach Frank Vogel and assistant coach Jason Kidd. While the Lakers have been in a very tumultuous state for the better part of the last decade, the LeBron signing showed promise of an organization headed in the right direction.

Hopefully Talen can find some rotational minutes early on with a roster that needs a guard that can hit spot up threes and create his own shot while LeBron handles the bulk of running the offense.

Headed forward, Talen will be a great rotational player and a prospect of raw clay that can be formed into a slash and kick wing or spot up three and D type shooter. He’s short in the tooth and has gobs of potential in his pocket.

To the surprise of many non-Cyclone fans, the Philadelphia 76ers took Marial Shayok with the 56th pick of the NBA Draft. Twitter reaction to the pick from Sixers fans was...mixed.

However, some cooler heads prevailed, as many fans also realized that Shayok is actually an incredibly good fit on the team.

Without a doubt, the 76ers have a really talented nucleus of players in Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris, and Jimmy Butler (for now). The problem is that their primary rotation only includes a few knockdown shooters, and only one that cleared 40% last season, Mike Scott. Tobias Harris and Jimmy Butler are both decent three point shooters at around 33%, but the Sixers needed more catch-and-shoot options, as well as someone that can create their own shot if need be.

In Shayok, they get both an excellent catch-and-shoot guy on the perimeter, and someone that can create their own shot off the dribble, as well as knock down their free throws at a high rate.

Last season when the Sixers needed a bucket, it usually involved Ben Simmons or Jimmy Butler slashing to bucket, or Joel Embiid working in the post. Those are all good options, but they all allow the defense to really collapse in and make things difficult. Now, Shayok can add a lethal shooting threat for drive and kick opportunities that could really open things up for Philly’s stars.

In the end, Marial Shayok could end up being one of the steals of the draft late in the second round.

Fortunately for both Horton-Tucker and Shayok, former Cyclones are no strangers to becoming successful out of the second round, as they join Georges Niang (50th), Monte Morris (51st), and Abdel Nader (58th) on the list of current Cyclones in the league that were selected in the second round of the NBA draft.