Winner: Minnesota Timberwolves
Timberwolves turned a very mediocre Dario Saric and the 11th pick (Cameron Johnson) into Jarrett Culver who many, including me, had as the 4th best player in the draft. The Timberwolves franchise is a bit of a dumpster-fire at the moment, but they we’re a big winner tonight.
Loser: Bol Bol
Once seen as a potential Top 5 pick, Bol Bol slipped all the way to the 44th pick. The words “Bol Bol” we’re the most trending topic on twitter in the world. A really skilled big man with absurd measurables, there had to be something wrong his physical that scared teams away. Hopefully he proves teams wrong. Good news is he will have a chance to develop on the Nuggets which is a much better fit than the Heat.
Winner: ACC
10 Players selected in the 1st Round and 12 Overall. Both most of any conference. The ACC has established themselves as the best conference in basketball and the draft further proved that.
Loser: Suns
Suns got fleeced. I like Cameron Johnson and all, but he is 23 years old and was projected to go in the 20-30 range. They could have taken Culver, Garland, or Coby White at 6 and solved a major problem at guard. Instead, they got a borderline starter in Saric and reached for a high-floor guy in Johnson. Very odd for a young team. Ty Jerome at 24 was a bit of a reach I guess, but this is mostly about the trade.
Winner: New Orleans Pelicans
Pelicans got a haul. Zion, Jaxson Hayes, and Alexander-Walker will all compete for starting lineups on a team that’s basically just 15 19-22 year olds that have never played together. They snagged a future 1st on top of that too. It started with the lottery and they have been dominating the offseason ever since.
Loser: Golden State Warriors
Jordan Poole with the 28th pick was a wild selection. Keldon Johnson was on the board. Kevin Porter Jr. was on the board. Carsen Edwards. Bruno Fernando. Nicholas Claxton. So many prospects who we’re better on paper. Eric Paschall at 44 was fine. Wasn’t super high on him however its not hard to see him having a long career. Also got Euro Alen Smailagic from the Mavs at 39. Skilled guy with a nice jumper, but not a ton of buzz pre-draft.
