[MopgrassParticipant]

Which teams are the winners?

Lakers: Yes, they got Ball. I like the pairing with Kuzma and Hart. Ball needs shooters.

Kings: Finally retooling in a way that makes sense. Fox, Justin Jackson, Giles, and Mason. I like all those picks. Lots of upside.

Mavericks: Dennis Smith at 9. Gotta be happy about that.

Hornets: How did they get Monk at 11? And they want to win now. And I think he’s more ready than most college freshmen.

Pacers: Somehow got Edmond Sumner at 52. 52! Great for a rebuild, he was supposed to be a lottery pick until he got hurt.

Warriors: Got Jordan Bell for money. Guess who will fill in when Draymond is out of the lineup?

Which teams did I miss?

[Jr. ROXASParticipant]

Mavs are the biggest winners for me. Franchise-type talent slips to number 9, Cuban lucks out again.

Another winner is the Clippers. I was kinda down when Jawun Evans kept on slipping early in the second round, and was kinda pissed the 76ers took him because he wont get any time there. Luckily, Jerry West has an eye for talent, and bought his rights from the 6ers. If Chris Paul leaves, He will be a good replacement/building block.

 

[he_gets_bucketsParticipant]

 Sorry, but what do you mean by "Cuban lucks out again"?

When have we lucked out at all since we won the chip 6 years ago? Weve had a bunch of dud draft picks, whiffed on every free agemt signing bar Harrison, who isn’t exactly a franchise changer. The only good things that weve possibly lucked out on are Smith and the Noel trade.

 

[Jr. ROXASParticipant]

Wow didnt mean to offend anyone with that statement lmao. Should’ve worded it better. All I was trying to say was a little luck has to be involved for 2 franchise players to be available at num 9. (Dirk and Dennis) Moreso Dennis because I know they still were the ones to develop Dirk.

 

[jjj10manParticipant]

 More Like: Jordan Bell: Gets paid to play for the warriors

[r377Participant]

The Kings did well. Fox, Justin Jackson, Giles and Frank Mason.

I would of given them an A+ if they had selected Jarrett Allen @ 20.

That would of given them a future starting lineup of Fox, Hield, Jackson, Skal and Papa/Allen

[SmooveKRYPTParticipant]

That trade is a huge win for them.

[The GoatParticipant]

 I think Phoenix did well to hold firm and take Josh Jackson. They had a lot of trades buzzing around that they were considering – one for DeAndre Jordan in particular. They could’ve taken Fox and moved Bledsoe, there were plenty of complicated options. I think they did the right thing. The young group of Bledsoe/Ulis, Booker, Jackson/Warren, Chriss/Bender, Len can nw be given time to play together. They are not on the clock. They aren’t in a bad place financially. The players are of similar ages. The worst thing that happens is they add another lotto pick next year. They can just let them play for a few years and even if they suck, they will entertian and the city will get behind these young guys as long as they play with energy. 

[Andv1 WaitingParticipant]

Aside from what was stated

T-wolves-I liked how they flipped what they did for Butler and kept Wiggins and Towns out of any deal, the only down side is they gave up Dunn who I think could turn into something solid in a couple years, but I guess that was the price for the trade..This gives them a good core all the need to add is a couple of pieces to round out the team:A quality floor spacing 4 move that plays reasonable defense, Dieng to the bench,a pg like a pat beverly/Maybe Jrue holiday and maybe some floor spacing ..

Dallas-Dennis smith falling all the way to 9 was a nice pick up for them if he can embrace Carlises style of ball.

Bulls won for one reason they have realized they need to go rebuild and got a lot in one trade:Dunn-Can be their starting PG once Rondo is allowed to leave due to partial guaranteed deal.Lavine Can either be their 6th man intially while he heals up and then Start him when D-wades deal finishes up. They got Lauri M who could be a Brook lopez/Kristaps type player for them if he reaches his ceiling. 

This could be the bulls future team:Center:Lauri,Pf:Portis,(they now need sf),Sg:Lavine,PGDunn and have Jeff L and Cam P off the bench..Which gives them a lot of youth to start moving forward with while Lebron slowly declines..

 

 

 

 

 

[SwatLakeCityParticipant]

 A team that hasn’t been mentioned yet is the Jazz, I think they also did very well. They came into this draft with the need to find players that will entice Hayward to stay. So what did they do? They looked at Hayward’s strengths. We know’s he a good shooter, and a very underrated defender, but this year they focused on another strength of his. He’s a point forward. He’s probably the best passer on the Jazz, and he doesn’t even play the PG position. So this year they focused on letting him control the offense, by getting players that will do other things on the court for him. You know make his job and life easier. Get players that can play defense.Yes, he’s a very underrated defender. But I think he’s had to develop good defense on the Jazz because the Jazz needed him to do that. I don’t think coming into the 2010 draft he was considered a good defender. That’s skill he developed in the NBA, and had to do so on the Jazz. So that’s a weakness of his so the Jazz needed to get players that can defend well. They already have 2 in Gobert and Favors but that’s it really, so they focused on good defenders. They did that with drafting Mitchell, whom I compare to Patrick Beverley (In fact the Jazz are rumored to really like him and want to do a trade with the Rockets in order to acquire him) And they did it again by drafting Bradley. Then with the 55th pick they started to prepare for life after Hayward in case he indeed does decide to leave. They did this by getting a true point guard that can help the team survive without Hayward. And they also drafted one of my favorite players in the draft by doing this so I have to give them props. (Nigel Williams-Goss) 

I also think that all the other teams that have been mentioned in this post also did well in the draft.

 

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

As a Pacers fan, I have a "wait and see" approach to this draft. 

Offensively, Leaf should fit right next to Turner. He plays the game the right way offensively and should develop into a solid stretch four. However, defensively, he has a long way to go. He’s going to get pushed around for a few years. The biggest positive with him is he has strong ties to Indiana and will embrace playing for the Pacers.

As far as Anigbogu and Sumner, both have injury concerns and will need time to recover/develop. Anigbogu is extremely young and has upside, but teams were scared off by his knee, which is concerning considering he had the meniscus surgery in Oct. Sumner, who relies on athleticism and quickness, is coming off of a torn ACL in Jan. He’s not a shooter. He’s already 22 years old too. Low risk, potentially high reward moves, but it’s going to take time to see what happens with these two. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nill650Participant]

Grand prize -Minnesota . Butler and the upside of Patton wins the best draft award.

 2. Philly. Making the trade and Getting a franchise Guard like Fultz completes the process ( except for no vets)adding Paceecniks is an underated move,as he could be one of the best bigs from this draft in a few more years, Bolden went a little higher than I though he would but he had a breakout year and could be a real spark for them,Sterling Brown is an excellent 3&D prospect that late in the draft, then adding the animal Lessort to stash after avg 18 /13 in the french league was a good find late.

3. Phoenix .Having the 2nd best (possibly the best) prospect in the draft fall to you has to give you a solid draft grade & Davon Reed was a Major sleeper but I didn’t think he’s gop higher than 40’s . Not a Huge fan of Peters despite his floor stretching capabilty but the other athleticism on Phoenix’ roster should cover his defensive deficiencies somewhat. Just would have likes to see them grab Keita who they liked in workouts. I guess they will bring him into summer league maybe use 1 of the 2 2-ways on him if he sticks…he is a project.

4. Sacramento

 Got there guy at 5 in Fox and didn’t have to trade the 10th even though they did anyway. ( might have been better off keeping Collins at 10, but then getting Jackson and Giles at 15 & 20 could prove to be more than worth the trade down). Getting Mason as the backup to Fox (who could play with him in some situations as dynamic as he is offensively) was also a great pickup for a team in need of more depth in the back court.

5 Utah

I love the trade up for Donovan Mitchell and I think Tony Bradley is an excellent choice for that style of basketball . Goss is an OK pick ,he might be a better athlete than most report cards as he did have the fastest recorded lane agility drill at the combine just is not that explosive.He is probably a better pick for them than most other teams.

6 Charlotte 

Monk is a game changer and will help that team immensely. Bacon is a good fit there as well but I would have liked to have seen them grab Hartenstein in the 2nd as his upside is immense.

7 Indy

Leaf is a lottery pick talent with a non stop motor ,add Anigbogu falling into their lap despite the raw talent is still a huge pickup for them that late.Sumner was once considered a lottery pick, if he can be half that player again once healthy = major steal at 52.

8 Boston 

Getting their guy in Taytum at 3 and Ojeleye was huge. Kadeem Allen doesn’t make alot of sense with the number of guards on that roster , but I’m sure trades are still in the thought process there. Bird was not expected to be drafted so I’m not sure what they were thinking there.

9 Spurs got there underated gem in White at 29 and had one of the best defenders in the draft fall to them in blossomgame at 59. sos

10 Orlando Isaac is a longterm upside pick with huge boom or bust potential fits into Hammonds style of picking, & Iwundu is also a solid pick. But I was disappointed they din’t do something to improve their pg position they should have kept the 35th and taken a shot at Evans who should not have still been on the board that late.

Honerable mention:

Portland getting ZAck Collins & Swanigan shored up that front line for years to come.

Dallas even with only 1 pick they nailed it with Smith.

Lakers will live and die with that Lonzo pick, time will tell…but they did well later getting Kuzma,Hart and to some extent the lumbering Bryant.

————————————-

was not impressed with Atlanta,Denver,or Brooklyn.

I don’t think OKC will be much better adding Ferguson

I don’t think Adebayo was a good fit next to Whiteside

I don’t think NY will ever be good until Jackson and the triangle are buried.

I get taking Anunoby at 23 if he heals but I got impressions from some of the last minute reports that the med results were bad, maybe that was put out there by Toronto? who knows

The worst grade goes to Cleveland for doing nothing, not that they need young players, but they could use some athleticim on that aging roster.

Maybe they will find a gem of the undrafted list  which is long…

Oliver,Hicks,Motley etc. Although most of them are probably aklready picked up elsewhere.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

 Warriors win: best high motor big man in the draft.  Wouldn’t surprise me if he is the 3rd best big out of this draft behind Markannen and Zach Collins.  Jordan Bell is basically a specialist — but he is really good at what he does…

A potential McGee and David West replacement if those two guys want more money.  

With McCaw probably getting a lot more playing time, I think he can step in and give you enough production to be that main dude off the bench (if Iggy, Livingston, and Barnes leave).

Scary to think that even if the Warriors only have 6 NBA level players next year, that that might be all that they need: The Big Four plus McCaw and Bell.  

If basically ALL their free agents resign (except for like Ian Clark and McAdoo) the Warriors have a Bad Boys-worthy bench, possibly even longer and with more play making skills.  

Bell, the other Oregan signee, Damian Jones, and Looney can give them platoon minutes inside for the non-Draymond/KD big man minutes in Golden State.

Lakers: if you include the Mozgov salary dump and getting a possibly underrated Brook Lopez, and then not only the Lonzo Ball pick, but also the Josh Hart who gives you another cagey, crafty guard the Lakers can build around.  Can play with either Ball or Clarkson.  Maybe they go with some 3 guard lineups, too.

They look like a sneaky good dark horse payoff team.

I don’t think you wanna face ‘ZOTIME in the first round…

Kings: Could have had a AAA+++ draft if they had swung for the fences at each pick.  Isaac as the multi-dimensional 3 of the future with the 5th pick.  Zach Collins at the 10th pick to complete the Amoeba Front Court Rotation.  Or, take Malik Monk as the 6th man at worst, or at best, a solid ball handler you can start in the backcourt with Hield.  If they go with Zach Collins to complete their big man rotation (also would help if Skal could play some small forward), then they still take Frank Mason III as a backup utility point guard at worst, a middling starter-level point guard at best.  Isaac, WCS, Collins, Skal, and Papagiannis basically have you covered in the front court with Hield and Mason, III giving you at least two really good guards in a 4 guard rotation.  Then gotten a free agent rookie combo guard to be a $75,000 a year two-way guy who can be their emergency 3rd string point guard/emergency 3rd string shooting guard.

What they ended up with is one of the best point guard battles in practice in years.  D Fox vs. Mason: I would pay money to see that… I would bet that Giles has lower upside than many think.  I would take a Darrell Arthur with slightly better rebounding.  Justin Jackson: can probably give you 10-12 points and 5-6 rebounds as a starting small forward.  BUT, you could have probably gotten Devin Robinson or another undrafted rookie (Nigel Hayes?) to give you 7 and 4 off the bench.  

Bulls: weren’t getting out of the East anyway.  Got some good young assets for Jimmy Butler.  Markannen, Dunn, and LaVine should give them excitement if nothing else… Maybe they should have held on to Jordan Bell, BUT they got $3.5 million for him.  Not bad… now you can trade/release D Wade.  Maybe move Rondo and you are off to a good start on a potential rebuild.  And, knowing the NBA, I can see the Bulls getting the number one pick in the next couple of years… 

Best case scenario next year: You get ASSETS for D Wade/Rondo, Rush Street Dunn slowly morphs into the guy he should be, Air LaVine guns for 20 a night and wins another dunk contest, and Lauri Legend does what suburban swing voters secretly wish for… they might turn into the team that nobody wants to play in the first round (with the Lakers being the counterpart in the other conference).

Cavs: you wanna say NO GRADE, BUT I don’t think Boston really, really helped themselves, and the sneaky good Wizards didn’t do much/anything.  Plus, Paul George didn’t get traded yet, so maybe they can still get him.  And, Jimmy Butler won’t make a difference in the title hunt… the Bulls basically blew it up, too.  If they can basically stand pat, the Cavs should get back to the Finals.  IF they can get Paul George for Love (why wouldn’t the Pacers rather have TT, Shump, Kay Felder, Tavares, AND future first round picks, plus maybe offloading a semi-bad contract?), then the gap closes a bit between them and the Warriors.

Now, if they can get PG13 for TT, potential rotation guys, and first round picks that could really turn into some home run lotto tickets, then the Cavs can go FULL OFFENSE with Kyrie Irving, JR Smith/Kyle Korver, Paul George, LeBron James, and Kevin Love.  Or, you insert Channing Frye as the pick and pop stretch 5, then have Love at the 4, LeBron at the 3, and a biggie sized two guard in Paul George with Kyrie at point guard.  Richard Jefferson plays more minutes but he is highly effective in spurts, and doesn’t really need the ball…

Now if they can just sign Johnathan Motley as a $75,000 2 way guy then they have a solid big man with good athleticism, range, rebounding skills, and shot blocking skills.  Can matchup well in either big lineups or small lineups (3 and D small ball center?) then they will have a rookie class that is more effective than possibly 10-15 teams.  Maybe more…

Big picture: Lakers, Warriors, Kings, and Bulls are probably your big draft night winners.  The NBA championship might not leave the golden state until the end of the next decade…

Lakers: best build for the future.  Kings, second place. Bulls: best retool on the fly. Warriors: best maintenance program. They got some cheap depth inside. Might be the only team who figured out the implication for the $75,000 two way guys… Boucher is that guy as a potential 3rd string center OR a tag team replacement for Javale McGee/David West and maybe even Pachulia.

Memphis Grizzlies: Grading on a curve?  not bad.  One of the better draft nights.  Got 2 $75,000 types.  Although I would have LOVED Jordan Bell at 35 (went 36).  Usually the Warriors get the vastly better guy a pick or three after we pick.  Ivan Rabb: cheaper rebounder depth.  Although that might have been a better strategy in the 80’s.  Right now, the cheap depth guy probably needs to be a shot blocking, rim runner.  Oh well.  Dillon Brooks: solid skill set.  A guy who could probably have gone 15.  In terms of Moneyball value, you take him as a $75,000 2-way guy as a late second rounder than possibly Justin Jackson at 15.  Solid emergency wing potential in Brooks, with an upside of starter-level 3 and D small forward/2 guard.  Could be the Patrick McCaw-esque sneaky good/effective/versatile draft pick.  Basically a more Moneyball version of the Kings’ draft.  Or, the Grizzlies got 80% of what the Celtics got at 20% of the price.  Ok, we spent even less than that…  

For a veteran mid-card team in a small market? Pretty good.  Better than the other teams like that like Portland, Utah, Atlanta… although the Bulls did well but they went for the full retool on the fly…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Oryan99Participant]

 The Kings are pretty big winners. They drafted a potential franchise player in Fix, grabbed a great scorer in Jackson, who will be a starter in this league for a long time, got a good role player in Mason, and grabbed Harry Giles, who is a high reward player at the 20th pick. After making moves that didn’t make any sense in last year’s draft, the Kings look like they are finally turning it around.

[HitsterParticipant]

 I agree that the Kings had a good draft. They filled their PG need with Fox and turned 10th pick into Justin Jackson and Harry Giles. Jackson has come off an NCAA title win and Giles was once seen as a likely top 3 pick so that has given them some nice options.

Portland got near the front of the queue for the bigs in the draft so filled an obvious need there.

I’ve discussed the Jimmy Butler trade on other threads but to come away with Butler and 16th pick was a great deal by Thibs IMO.

As a Suns fan, I’m delighted we’ve got Josh Jackson. He fills a need at SF and can be a lynchpin of the team going forward.

Dallas and Charlotte had good players fall to them so both must be happy.

Derrick White chosen by the Spurs was slightly unheralded and has got to the NBA the hard way so has something to prove. Spurs late first round picks are always worth following.

I think that Chicago could be a possible loser, a lot will depend how well Lavine recovers from his injury before we know how well the Butler trade comes out for them.

Isaiah Hartenstein at 43 also jumps out as a nice pick up by Houston, he was considered a first round contender and will be a nice fit at Houston.

 

 

 

 

 

[Edgecat20Participant]

 Twolves no doubt # 1 with adding a current top 15 player, who still happens to be on a solid contract.

Hornets – Can’t believe Monk went #11. Hard to think of a better 2 guard prospect coming out in a long time. I think he is a better prospect than Beal who went #3 in 2012. Scores so easily. Deep range. Great in transition, and can fly. Needs to get to the rim more instead of settling for 2 point j’s, but he can still hit those. Only other knock on him is getting on the glass more. His defensive abilities I think are much better than most analysts believe. Magic, Bulls, and Knicks really screwed up here. Think he is a can’t miss prospect with super star potential. 

Kings – Got 4 players who can all have nice careers. Could have paired up Fox with Monk though, which I would have done. But not going to knock that as its all speculation now. 

 

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Monk would have been a good piece but Justin Jackson is no slouch and fits perfectly with Sacramento. Not to mention in thier head to head matchup Jackson face gaurded Monk which was a huge reason UNC won the National Championship. They also got a high upside pick in Giles out of it but make no mistake they likely had Jackson ahead of Monk on thier draft board especially due to the fact that they have SG’s wth Hield, Bogdanovic, Mcclemore and Richardson.

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Noone likes Toronto’s pick? Selecting OG Anunoby 23rd may not make many headlines but there are plenty of users in this forum who believed he was a lottery pick even after the injury. I feel like Toronto got a steal here and him playing with Demar Derozan every day will help him so much as his midrange game, abillity to create his own shot, handles and understanding how to get his shot off in terms of release versatility are his biggest weaknesses yet they are Demars strengths. Really one of the best fits for him with Toronto as he is much more of an loff the ball offensive player and spot up shooter at this point. He likely wont suit up for Toronto next year due to the injury but with that being said if that holds true he could be a candidate for rookie of the year in 2019-2020.

[Author]

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