Not every team can leave the NBA draft with renewed hope.
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Here are some of the winners and losers of this year’s draft:
WINNERS
Minnesota Timberwolves
It’s stating the obvious, but Minnesota came away with a franchise building block in Karl-Anthony Towns with the first overall pick.
Yes, all the Timberwolves had to do was select a player pretty much everyone agreed was the best prospect in the draft, but head coach and president of basketball operations Flip Saunders deserves a little credit for not overthinking the decision.
Miami Heat
Does Pat Riley ever lose?
Despite his indifference towards draft picks, Miami somehow still had Justise Winslow fall into their lap at No10, coming away with the steal of the night.
Imagine ESPN dumping the NFL or the NBA draft before the last pick of the first round…
— Seth Rorabaugh (@emptynetters) June 27, 2015
Winslow was projected to go as high as four, but slipped when teams passed on him to seemingly fill roster needs instead of taking the best player available.
He’ll fit nicely into the Heat’s line-up and it’s likely some teams will regret skipping him over.
International prospects
Both Kristaps Porzingis and Mario Hezonja, despite being somewhat unknown, were enticing enough for New York at four and Orlando at five to stick.
Whether those selections will work out – and to what degree – is anyone’s guess, but it’s encouraging for foreign players that teams with high picks continue to be confident enough to pull the trigger.
LOSERS
Philadelphia 76ers
They were likely targeting D’Angelo Russell all the way and then couldn’t pass on Jahlil Okafor when he was still on the board.
General manager Sam Hinkie has been all about asset collection and though he grabbed another prized one in Okafor in the draft, it was once again another big man.
This was most-watched NBA draft in history. It averaged 3,738,000 viewers (P2+), up 8% from the 2014 NBA Draft. It peaked at 5,131,000.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) June 26, 2015
With Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid already on the roster, filling the frontline was last on the list of needs. Unless a trade is coming, they have quite the logjam.
Boston Celtics
By all accounts, there was no team more aggressive in changing their draft position than Boston.
They tried everything they could to get into the top 10 to select Winslow, but their collection of assets apparently were lacking enough value.
Instead, the Celtics were forced to make all four of their picks and regardless of who they ended up with, the fireworks never came and that in itself was a disappointment.
Charlotte Hornets
One of the teams Boston tried to trade with were Charlotte, who for some reason rejected the Celtics’ desperate offers.
Only 12 UofL players have been picked higher in the NBA Draft than Terry Rozier (#16), 0 UK players have been higher than Karl-Anthony Towns
— Kent Taylor (@KentTaylorWAVE) June 27, 2015
The Hornets reportedly turned down six draft picks, including four first-rounders, to stay at nine and take Frank Kaminsky. They basically fell head-over-heels for a player, compromising their judgement. Kaminsky better be worth it.