At the 2019 NBA Draft is taking place at the Barclays Center on Thursday, the New Orleans Pelicans, without any doubt, selected Zion Williamson from Duke University. Williamson's teammates at Duke, R.J. Barrett and Cam Deddish also made the top 10 selects. Japanese forward Rui Hachimura was selected by the Washington Wizards with the No.9 pick, becoming the country's first player who was chosen in the NBA Draft.

Will Zion Williamson live up to his reputation?

How great is Williamson? ESPN believes he has the defensive versatility of Draymond Green, the transitional skills of Ben Simmons, the playmaking athleticism of Blake Griffin, the motor and rebounding of Charles Barkley and the post scoring style of Julius Randle. That may be exaggeration but the 18-year-old young man is unique, even in the NBA.

With a 2.01-meter height, Williamson has a weight of 129 kilograms – the only player who is heavier than that in today's league is Boban Marjanović, a 2.21-meter-tall giant. However, Williamson can do a lot more than picking physical fights in the paint. With monstrous athleticism, he is a true rim rattler and finished 62 dunks in the 28 games of his freshman season and most of them are good enough to be highlights. Moreover, Williamson can also launch coast-to-coast fast break handling the ball.

Of course Williamson has his problems. His shooting, especially out of the restricted area, is still unreliable. He only made 24 3-pointers in college and his free throw rates in 64 percent, both will be lethal weaknesses in today's NBA. Furthermore, his 2.01-meter height is good enough for an inside man in college basketball but too short as a power forward in front of the professional opponents. If he moves to small forward, Williamson's speed is not fast enough to defeat the league's wingmen. His weight is a risk on his knees too.

The good news for Williamson is that he will be joining New Orleans, which have no pressure to win right now. Meanwhile, he will be playing together with Lonzo Ball, a young point guard who is good at and loves passing, especially in transition.

Ja Morant can make Grizzlies faster

With the No.2 pick, the Memphis Grizzlies selected Ja Morant from Murray State University, the best point guard in the 2019 Draft. Though he somehow managed to keep all scouts finding out his great talents in high school and freshman season, Morant exploded in the 2018-19 season to drop 24.6 points, 10 assists and 1.8 steals, making himself the first player to finish a 20+10 season in NCAA history. Thanks to his explosive athleticism and aggressive play, Morant could earn 8.2 free throws per game.

Since the Grizzlies already sent Mike Conley away, the team can count on Morant to become their new leader. He has a rare combination (among rookies) of individual offense and orchestrating. His passing, especially in fast break, can speed up Grizzlies' game and probably help their 2018 No.4 draft Jaren Jackson Jr. put down some good numbers in the new season.

Morant must work on his turnover control. His 10 assists per game was nice, but committing 5.2 turnovers on average was also a disaster on the court.

Finally, Knicks have a star playmaker

The New York Knicks selected R.J. Barrett from Duke University with the No.3 pick. Unlike most U.S. players, Barrett established reputation at the international stage. He played for Canada at the 2017 U19 Basketball World Cup and, in the semifinal against USA, Barrett shocked the world by claiming 38 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. One year later, he made debut for the Canadian national team and scored 16 points in a friendly game against China.

With a 2.01-meter height and  2.08-meter wingspan, Barrett has the standard size of a wingman. Meanwhile, he is fast and flexible enough to play as orchestrator, which was his job in Duke. Of course he still has a lot to improve his game. For example, he relies on left hand too much and finds it difficult to make the right decision when game is on the line in the last five minutes.

All of these are tolerable to the Knicks. The team may be the most pathetic organization in today's NBA. They have wasted multiple lottery picks choosing the wrong players. The most promising Kristaps Porzingis was sent to the Dallas Mavericks. The Madison Square Garden is desperate for give their fans something to cheer for. Barrett, as one of the top stars in college basketball, is their guy.

Trades that involved picks kept happening before and during the 2019 Draft. Two of the biggest deals happened between the Pelicans and the Atlanta Hawks, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Phoenix Suns respectively.

New Orleans sent No.4 pick, No.57 pick, a future second-rounder and Solomon Hill to Atlanta in exchange for No.8 pick, No.17 pick, No.35 pick and a protected 2020 first-rounder. Atlanta used the No.4 pick to select De'Andre Hunter from the University of Virginia that won the 2019 NCAA Championship. New Orleans also benefited from the trade as they got rid of Hill's last year of contract (worth about 12 million U.S. dollars) and chose Jaxson Hayes from The University of Texas at Austin. Hayes is seen by many as the best center of the 2019 Draft.

Minnesota sent their No.10 pick and Dario Saric to Phoenix in exchange for No.6 pick, which they used to select Jarrett Culver from Texas Tech University. Minnesota choosing a 2.01-meter wingman while they have Andrew Wiggins, Robert Covington and Josh Okogie was probably another sign that they are tired of Wiggins.

Phoenix made a very interesting choice by selecting Cameron Johnson from UNC. The 23-year-old forward is the oldest rookie of the 2019 Draft. He was a top shooter in NCAA by shooting 630 3-pointers in his college years and enjoyed a 3-point rate of 40.3 percent. However, shooting seemed to be the only advantage he has. Johnson is 2.06 meters tall, about 95 kilograms heavy and has never been known for physical advantage. Besides, he kept missing games at the beginning of his college career because of injuries. One thing for sure is that his NBA career will not be easy.

The other big surprise in the Draft happened with the Washington Wizards which selected Gonzaga's Japanese forward Hachimura with the No.9 pick. One thing must be pointed out is that Hachimura is neither naturalized player nor nationality changer. He has been Japanese since he was born in 1998. His father is Beninese and his mother Japanese.

21-year-old Hachimura has 2.03-meter height, 104-kg weight and 2.20-meter wingspan, all perfect conditions for a forward player. In the 2018-19 season with Gonzaga, he could get 19.7 points and 6.5 rebounds per game and kept a 3-point rate of 41.7 percent. Hachimura also won the Julius Erving Award in 2019, which was only given to the best small forward in the NCAA.

Hachimura's size, skills and shooting range give him multiple possibilities in the NBA. He can be a 3D player, a rim protector in small-ball squad and stretch-out inside player. His priority includes increasing 3-point production, growing more muscles and getting used to the physical competitions in the NBA.

The following are the top 14 players selected in the Draft:

New Orleans Pelicans, No.1 pick, Zion Williamson, Duke

Memphis Grizzlies, No.2 pick, Ja Morant, Murray State

New York Knicks, No.3 pick, R.J. Barrett, Duke

Atlanta Hawks, No.4 pick, De'Andre Hunter, Virginia

Cleveland Cavaliers, No.5 pick, Darius Garland, Vanderbilt

Minnesota Timberwolves, No.6 pick, Jarrett Culver, Texas Tech

Chicago Bulls, No.7 pick, Coby White, UNC

New Orleans Pelicans, No.8 pick, Jaxson Hayes, Texas

Washington Wizards, No.9 pick, Rui Hachimura, Gonzaga

Atlanta Hawks, No.10 pick, Cam Deddish, Duke

Phoenix Suns, No.11 pick, Cameron Johnson, UNC

Charlotte Hornets, No.12 pick, P.J. Washington, Kentucky

Miami Heat, No.13 pick, Tyler Herro, Kentucky

Boston Celtics, No.14 pick, Romeo Langford, Indiana