The 2018 NBA Draft has come and gone.
Although there wasn’t as much in the way of fireworks as many were hoping with big-name players such as Kawhi Leonard reportedly available via trade, it was still a relatively active night with some teams positioning themselves well for the future and good ol’ NBA Twitter to keep fans entertained throughout the night.
Here are some of the winners and losers from draft night 2018.
Winners
Dallas Mavericks
While Deandre Ayton going first-overall to the Phoenix Suns is the big headline of the draft, the moves the Mavericks made have made them the undeniable big winners of the event.
Specifically speaking, the club’s move to trade up and acquire Slovenian teenager Luka Doncic was huge, especially because he was in the running for the No. 1 spot at one point, meaning Dallas potentially got huge value just for the rights of Trae Young — an inferior prospect to Doncic — and a lottery-protected first-rounder next year.
Doncic is a special talent. At six-foot-seven he’s able to play both guard positions, has great court vision, a strong handle, a good jumper and, most importantly, brings the odd intangible of winning. And while it’s true that team success doesn’t always equate to ability at the next level, given the fact Doncic just won a EuroLeague and Spanish League title — while also capturing MVP in both of those leagues — it’s not a stretch to think that he just might have that elusive “it” factor.
If anything, the greatest Maverick ever seems to be on board.
Couple this huge move of grabbing Doncic with the fact Dallas also managed to pick up national college player of the year Jalen Brunson, savvy Kansas guard Devonte’ Graham and Giannis Antetokounmpo’s little brother in the second round and the Mavericks have themselves a recipe for a good night.
Philadelphia 76ers
When it was initially announced that the Sixers had taken Villanova junior Mikal Bridges it was seen as a solid move. After all, Bridges was a deadeye collegiate spot-up three-point marksman, a strong perimeter defender and has played his entire basketball career in the Philadelphia area anyway.
And then he was traded to the Suns for No. 16 pick Zhaire Smith and a 2021 first-rounder, and suddenly the 76ers’ master plan for the summer has come into laser focus.
Though it was speculated for a long time, it seems clear now that the 76ers will be in hot pursuit for one of the max-level free agents who should be available come July 1 such as LeBron James or Paul George.
By trading out of the lottery the 76ers freed up even more cap space to absorb a max contract so they can take a run at a player like James. But even if that doesn’t work out, by also acquiring another future first-round pick that’s another asset the club can use to sweeten a potential trade for a player like Leonard.
So while it was an unfortunate situation for Bridges, especially given how excited he and his family were to have the 76ers call his name, this was just smart business on Philadelphia’s part — and also makes a case for a team to run without a general manager.
San Antonio Spurs
With their selection of freshman Miami guard Lonnie Walker IV at No. 18 the Spurs may have acquired the biggest steal of the draft.
Reported concerns with his medical information through the pre-draft process caused Walker to fall, but his talent is legitimate as a former five-star recruit coming out of high school with tremendous bounce and athletic ability.
Most importantly, however, is the fact San Antonio is definitely getting the guy with the best hair in the draft.
Woj’s Twitter Account
One of the ongoing jokes whenever the NBA draft comes around is, if you don’t want the night spoiled you’d best mute ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski’s twitter account.
It’s a reputation well earned as he’s impressively broken who gets picked well in advance of Adam Silver doing so, but given ESPN’s relationship with the league, this year Wojnarowski and other reporters were banned from actually reporting out picks before they were officially made.
But, not to be deterred by such a roadblock, Wojnarowski still did his best to spoil the draft with a little help of creative language that got him around the ban.
Here were some of the highlights:
Oh, and in case you were wondering just how conscious Wojnarowski was of the entire situation, just watch this clip.
Woj on his word choices tonight in his tweets tonight: "Just trying to follow rules"
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) June 22, 2018
Losers
Atlanta Hawks
On the flipside of the Mavericks’ acquisition of Doncic we have the Hawks trading down to acquire Oklahoma star Young.
On paper Young looks amazing. He led the NCAA this season in scoring (27.4) and assists (8.7) and drew Steph Curry comparisons because of his size, handle, passing ability, shooting stroke and the fact his Oklahoma squad was similar to Curry’s Davidson team in that he was the one luminary on a team made up of just average college players.
However, the reality is Young is nowhere close to Curry. In 2008, the Golden State Warriors superstar managed to lead Davidson all the way to the Elite Eight, while Young and the Sooners flamed out in the first round of this year’s tournament.
Even some of Young’s stats are a little deceiving because while he was brilliant for the first 21 games of the season with averages of 30.3 points and 9.5 assists on 45.2 per cent shooting, coming down the stretch he really faltered as he only managed to score 21.8 per game on abysmal 36.1 per cent shooting.
There’s little doubt Young can be a dynamic player, but when you’re the Hawks and you can draft a superior player in Doncic why wouldn’t you just do that? Because you want another future pick?
This was just poor decision-making.
Toronto Raptors
Despite rumours that the Raptors were looking to trade for a top-10 pick in the draft, the team stood pat and exited the day’s festivities the same way they entered: without a pick.
Although not unexpected, this has still got to be disappointing if you’re a Raptors fan given the smoke that seemed to be coming from the NBA’s rumour mill about the Raptors leading into the draft, especially because it feels as if the only way for the club to move forward is with some level of roster change.
Alas, we’ll all have to wait for free agency now to see what Masai Ujiri and Co. have up their sleeves.
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Michael Porter Jr.
It’s been quite the year for Michael Porter Jr.
Billed at the beginning of the 2017-18 collegiate season as the No. 1 NBA prospect, the 19-year-old injured his back in the first half of Missouri’s season opener that kept him out for all but two more games.
Then, during the pre-draft process, red flags were thrown up about his medical records and that he may not be ready for Summer League or even the start of the new season as his back continues to rehabilitate from November surgery.
Thus, he plummeted, all the way to the last pick in the lottery to the Denver Nuggets at No. 14.
For Denver this is a risk worth taking as Porter has all the physical attributes that should make him a star — if he’s healthy.
For Porter, he’ll now have a lot to prove.
New York Knicks fans
Hey Knicks fans, remember 2015 when you booed the hell out of this little-known player named Kristaps Porzingis and then he ended up becoming your best player because he was always a good player?
A good lesson to not just boo kids you likely know nothing about, right?
No?
You wanted Porter, busted back and all, at No. 9 instead of the much more reliable Kevin Knox?
Y’all never change.