The Biggest Winners of the 2017 NBA Draft
The 2017 NBA Draft came and went. There was lots of speculation going into the draft. Would the Bulls trade Jimmy Butler to the Cavs? Would the Lakers trade the No.2 pick for Paul George? Are the Knicks seriously considering trading Kristaps Porzņģis?
Ironically, none of that happened! Lots of speculation, little action - at least on what was reported to occur. Let's look at what actually occurred on draft night in deep analysis.
TOP DOG: Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves are the clear cut winners of the 2017 NBA Draft. They were able to acquire superstar Jimmy Butler after a failed attempt last year. Now, the T-Wolves, a team that is aching for their first playoff appearance post Kevin Garnett has a core of Butler, and future stars Karl Anthony-Towns and Andrew "Air Canada" Wiggins. They did have to give up Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn, and the No.7 pick, but honestly Dunn has not met expectations of the league and LaVine probably would not fit with the squad long term. This trade also reunited Butler with former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau.
In other words, the Timberwolves ripped off Chicago. Thibodeau got his revenge. The only downside to this move is that a) it puts a ton of pressure on Wiggins to perform, and b) this probably gets Minny no higher than a 6th seed playoff spot which essentially means a first round loss to Houston or San Antonio.
2nd best draft: Philadelphia 76ers
The 76ers arguably had the best draft after Minnesota. Partially, this is due to the fact that they had the No.1 pick for the second year in a row. Philly only wanted Markelle Fultz despite all the rumors surrounding Lonzo Ball, Malik Monk, and even De'Aaron Fox. They did what it took to trade for the first pick. They swapped picks with Boston who never really wanted to deal with the problem of choosing between Isaiah Thomas and Markelle Fultz. Now the Sixers have a core of Embiid, Simmons, Fultz, and Saric. The process should be complete - and if all stay healthy the 76ers could even make the playoffs for the first time since they traded Andre Igouadala.
3rd best draft: Charlotte Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets were flat out wheeling and dealing going into the draft. They flipped Miles Plumlee, Marco Bellinelli, and the 41st pick in the draft for Dwight Howard. They also, got the dark horse of the draft Kentucky standout Malik Monk with the 11th pick overall. Some sources projected Monk going as high as No.2 to the Lakers (not sure why) or in the top 5 going to either Philly or Sacramento.
This was of course before a lot of the trades took place. Personally I think that any team who was able to grab a player like Monk OUTSIDE of the top 10 might be the best steal since Steph Curry was selected 7th overall. With Dwight, the Hornets put fans in the seats. With Monk they add depth to the young combo guard core of Kemba Walker and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. I am interested to see how Walker, Dwight, MKG, Monk, and Cody Zeller mesh next season.
4th best draft: Phoenix Suns
With the level of young guard talent in the NBA sometimes its hard to really tell who will be the top dog anymore. So when looking at teams like the Celtics, Timberwolves, 76ers, and even the Lakers a lot of upside is discussed accompanied by every theory in the "sport analyst Bible" so to speak. But everyone counts out the Phoenix Suns for some reason.
The Suns have a slew of young talent. First of they have young gun Devin Booker who could be a better version of Klay Thompson down the road, already on the roster. Booker became the 11th player in NBA history to score 70 points in a game when he did it to the Celtics on March 24th this past season. They also have former Kentucky stars, Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight. In addition the Suns have Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss who both are only 19 years old. Now they've added Josh Jackson from Kansas.
This is scary for the league, and exciting for a Suns fan. If Booker, Bender, Chriss, and Jackson went out for a night, they would be under age to drink. They range from the ages 19-20. So minus Bledsoe and Knight, who by the way are only 27 and 25 (respectively) - they have a nucleus of talent under 21. The league better watch out if these guys can play well together. Has anyone else noticed that they could be a Calipari All Star team? They've even got Tyler Ullis on roster.
Last But NOT Least: Sacramento Kings
Another dark horse winner of the draft were the Sacramento Kings. A lot of fans were upset when the Kings let go of their face of the franchise DeMarcus Cousins. I'm not even a Kings fan and I always thought Cousins would leave rather than be traded.
While the Kings may have some bigger names like Rudy Gay or Tyreke Evans, neither really has made the mark on the league they were expected to. It does not help that rumor has it Rudy Gay will be in either a Boston Celtics or Miami Heat uniform this upcoming season. When Cousins was traded, it was clear that the Kings were looking to move forward with Willie Cauley-Stein. The truth of the matter is that WCS can't do it all alone, if he is going to be the center piece of developing the franchise. So who do the Kings draft? De'Aaron Fox from Kentucky. What makes this even better, is that Fox actually wants to play in Sacramento.
There is a lot of debate between Fox vs Lonzo Ball, and even Fox vs Markelle Fultz. In fact, the first story for the Millenial Gazette was focusing on those three players in particular. I mentioned my personal favorite was Fox.
While it truly is too early to tell how a lot of these players will pan out, it is great to see that there is an exciting future for teams who haven't been the best the last few seasons. One thing is for sure, one of these teams certainly "hit the lottery" - no pun intended.