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A.J. Hammons has now seen his dreams come true. His name was just called in the 2016 NBA Draft
Dallas will select Purdue's AJ Hammonds with No. 46.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) June 24, 2016
By now we all know the story. AJ was a four year player that grew from a "disinterested" freshman into an NBA caliber big man. Here is what we said about him in our draft profile on him:
Concerning his NBA fate, however, we must look at his senior season, and it was a great individual one. The games where he was a ghost (and he had those early in his career) went away, and there were times where he was completely an utterly dominant on both ends of the floor. That is where he will have value in the NBA. He has the size and post moves to be an old school center, but he is a next level rim protector. Basically, Purdue's deficiencies on the perimeter could be erased defensively because of Hammons. He is a natural shot blocker that swatted everything within five feet of the rim. In fact, there were a few times where he courted a triple-double this season in points-rebounds-blocks.
It was a long wait for AJ, and an even longer one tonight, but his time has come. Do well, big man. We're cheering for you.
A.J. Hammons is the first #Purdue player to be drafted by the @dallasmavs.
— Chris Forman (@ChrisForman12) June 24, 2016
It's up to him, but AJ Hammons could be the absolute steal of this draft.
— Gregg Doyel (@GreggDoyelStar) June 24, 2016
Purdue's A.J. HAMMONS!!!!!! Selected 46 by the Dallas Mavericks. Congrats Little Bro!!!! Welcome to the #NBA #BoilerUp
— Carl Landry (@CarlLandry) June 24, 2016
The Mavericks select A.J. Hammons, a quality, physical backup big man https://t.co/6JZJwdTK6o
— Mavs Moneyball (@mavsmoneyball) June 24, 2016