Winners and Losers of the NBA Draft
By Ashkan Motamedi
Winners
Chicago Bulls
They wanted Coby White the entire pre-draft process and he fell right to them. The Bulls get their point guard of the future to add to their young core of the future.
Atlanta Hawks
Hawks made an aggressive trade with the Pelicans and pulled it off. They got their guys in De’Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish fell to them at 10. They also picked up Bruno Fernando to be their center of the future as well rounding out a young lineup of Trae Young, Kevin Huerter, De’Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish.
New Orleans Pelicans
They are the winners of the night in my mind. Got Zion Williamson and traded away the four pick for more assets. Those assets turned into Jaxson Haynes and Nickeil Alexander Walker two great defensive prospects. To go along with their already new young core the Pelicans rebuild is an A+ job so far including this NBA draft.
Minnesota Timberwolves
The Wolves robbed the Suns and traded up to six and got their point guard of the future. Jared Culliver has the chance to be a star in this league. The Wolves rebuild goes on with Culliver now teaming up with star center Karl-Anthony Towns.
Rui Hachimura
Hachimura was the first Japanese player to be selected in first round of the NBA draft. He is now the golden boy of Japanese basketball good for him congrats!
Losers
Phoenix Suns
What on earth were the Suns thinking? They had the chance to get their point guard of the future or a great player at number six. Instead they trade back to the pick number 11 and only getting back role player Dario Saric? Worst part of the whole package was reaching for Cam Johnson at number 11 as well. They could have traded back again gotten more picks or assets instead they reached had the worst draft.
Philadelphia 76ers
This was a tough one because they got nice pick in Matisse Thybulle. However with so many draft picks they just kept trading back and trading away picks left and right. They had a chance to do damage in this draft with gaps on the bench and missed out.
Washington Wizards
They made solid picks but they all felt like reaches. In short story short get an actual general manager to run the operations. This entire pre-draft process was embarrassing from lack of interviews, confusing workouts of players and being a dysfunctional organization.
Bucks and Rockets
Both teams did not have a pick in the NBA draft with a chance to help build more depth. Therefore they are both losers and have to do well in free agency as a result to keep up in the arms race.
Bol Bol
From potential lottery pick at the beginning of the season to falling all the way to pick 45. Bol Bol loses out on a lot of money because of his injury history. Hopefully he proves those teams wrong but he has a long way to go to do that.
Anyone who went undrafted who left early from college
Do not get me wrong going undrafted is not a bad thing. However it can be when you had eligibility left In college and expected to be selected on draft night. Those who went undrafted when the could have returned for another year probably have regrets on not doing so.
European players
Zero European players went in the lottery with the first one being picked at 15 in Sekou Doumbouya. Only five in total got selected in the entire draft itself.
