2016 NBA Draft Intangible Winners and Losers
Oh sure OKC won and BOS lost but who led the way in awesomeness, reputation, partying, delusions, & comfortability?
The 2016 NBA Draft is in the books, from Ben Simmons at 1 to Tyrone Wallace at 60. Many trades and one shocking #Brexit later, the night concluded and now the dust begins to settle. All the stars are made. All the sleepers and busts taken.
There are 500 other pieces about which teams won and lost, but what about those intangible things that are so hard to rank? Who is happier now? Who has a better reputation? Who’s more delusional than ever?
Let’s find some winning and losing intangibles.
WINNER: Lakers fans delusions of grandeur
Brandon Ingram is the next Kevin Durant! D’Angelo Russell is the new Magic! Julius Randle isn’t eating himself out of the league! All the free agents will come and join the kids now too!!!!!111
WINNER: Anthony Davis and Alvin Gentry’s smiles
The Pelicans roster is a wasteland outside of Brow, but help is on the way in the form of Buddy Hield. I watch a lot of summer ball (send help) and saw how Gentry moved Seth Curry all over the place to find him open looks, everything he’d seen with Steph. Soon we’ll all be smiling while watching Buddy and Brow together too.
WINNER: Kris Dunn’s prominence
In what was supposed to be a 2 or 3 player draft, Dunn somehow slid his way into the conversation Thursday night. Thibodeau said he was #1 on Minnesota’s board and the same was apparently true for Chicago who tried furiously to trade up for him (as did Philly). Now Dunn gets to play point guard for the next 5–10 years with KAT and Wiggins and lead Thibs’ defense. Yeah that’s a pretty solid win.
WINNER: JC Penney panache
Both Kris Dunn and Buddy Hield sported JCP suits proudly — JCP was even trending on Twitter at one point. Biggest day for JC Penney since we all started pronouncing it with a French accent.
LOSER: Ricky Rubio and Jimmy Butler’s comfortability levels
Butler was definitely safe with Rose gone until he was definitely headed to Minnesota until he was definitely staying again. Rubio was supposedly offered in a handful of trades and was practically pushed at Chicago but now stays in town and falls in the pecking order behind Thibs favorite Kris Dunn. Neither of these guys should put money down on a home any time soon.
WINNER: Oklahoma City’s flexibility
OKC was the big winner on draft night, somehow trading Serge Ibaka for Oladipo, Ilyasova, and Domantas Sabonis. Ibaka had been out of the usual rotation and this allows more minutes with Roberson as the de facto PF, the lineup that killed the Warriors. Will the Thunder re-sign Waiters? Will they pick up Ilyasova’s contract? They have options now. Even without both they still have Payne Sabonis Kanter off the bench behind a long mean defensive starting lineup of Russ Dipo KD Dre Adams. That’s a playoff team even if Durant bolts and could be the title favorite if he stays.
WINNER: Evan Fournier’s wallet
Orlando moving on from Oladipo almost certainly means they’ll be giving Fournier a fat contract extension this summer after his big breakout season. But one thing remains: Don’t Google Evan Fournier.
LOSER: Orlando’s future
In just one year, the Magic managed to dump its three captains Channing Frye, Tobias Harris, and Victor Oladipo. Now they get a year of Ibaka before he leaves for a real team and are probably forced to play one of their best two young assets out of position at SF. Not sure what sort of lineup Elfrid Fournier Hezonja/Gordon Ibaka Vucevic is supposed to be, but it’s not an NBA one.
LOSER: Washington’s belief
The Wizards didn’t make a peep on draft night and lost anyway. They didn’t improve their team and saw OKC make their pitch to Durant. What little belief they were still holding out for a hometown reunion is fading fast.
WINNER: Sacramento’s KANGZness
Who even knows what to do with the Kings anymore? They had high-rising Marquese Chriss fall into their lap only to trade for two low picks they used on long term project centers. They made the trade of the draft getting a first for Belinelli and then picked up a sliding Malachi Richardson. They got a guy at 28 in Skal Labissiere that many thought could’ve gone as high as 8 anyway. And then Boogie tweeted. The Kings are nothing if not entertaining.
WINNER: Denver Nuggets war chest
The Nuggets grabbed Jamal Murray, Juan Hernangomez, and Malik Beasley, 3 of the top 15 players in the draft. Added to a combination of youth (Jokic, Mudiay, Harris, etc) and veterans (Gallinari, Faried, Barton, etc) and they go 12-deep. The team has little by way of defense and will struggle to play together but the assets run deep and a big trade or two loom in the future.
WINNER: Phoenix front office giddiness
The Suns struggled between the #2 and #3 guys on their board before finally settling on Dragan Bender over Marquese Chriss. Then twenty minutes later they traded 13 and 28 and got Chriss too. I’m not a Chriss fan but the Suns added guys with crazy upside to a great young guard rotation so the front office had to be absolutely ecstatic.
WINNER: Utah’s defensive tenacity
It got lost in the Rose trade and draft day news, but Utah trading 12 for George Hill might end up being the one move that most upgraded a contender’s starters. Hill Hood Hayward Favors Gobert has the potential to be a dirty defensive starting lineup. Hill is an absolutely perfect fit in Utah.
WINNER: Late night NBA
The West gets even richer and that means the 10:30pm ET tip-off games should get better and better. Minnesota got next. Denver and Phoenix loaded up on assets. The Lakers and Pels should be improving. The Jazz are legit contenders. The Kangz are forever weird. A lot of teams out West will bring #LeaguePassAlerts for a long time coming.
WINNER: Indiana’s next year or two
The Pacers made two big moves, trading George Hill away for Jeff Teague and then swapping 20 for Thad Young. Teague Monta PG Thad Turner will be a fun team for now but it’s still not a real contender. The Pacers sold defense and future hopes for a chance at the East 2 seed and a second round playoff exit. Weren’t we just here a couple years ago?
LOSER: Boston fans’ belief in Danny Ainge
The Boston war chest grew even deeper on Thursday as they made 6 draft picks and turned two others into a future Clippers first. They now have 21 guys (including the draft picks), that Clips first, a Memphis first, and Brooklyn’s next two picks. BUT in the meantime they continue to fail at translating all those assets into something that can get their team out of the first round. Jaylen Brown was a strange pick at 3, and IT2 and Crowder can’t be the best guys on a real team. Frustrating night again for Boston fans.
LOSER: Atlanta’s fan
One year ago Atlanta was the East 1 seed. Now it’s goodbye Carroll, Teague, and probalby Horford and Bazemore and only one more year of Millsap and Schroeder. But hey, at least they have Taurean Prince now…?
LOSER: Chicago’s staunch defensive identity
Goodbye Thibs, goodbye Noah, goodbye Rose, and goodbye Chicago’s blue collar defensive team. I love Denzel Valentine but he’s not going to fit on this team defensively along with McDermott, Mirotic, and now Calderon from the DRose trade. When we said we wanted this to be Hoiberg’s team, we didn’t mean we wanted to give up 125 a game.
LOSER: Toronto’s luxury
Remember how much hope there was when Toronto was hosting the ECF and got a top 10 pick all on the same night? A few weeks later they’ve been exposed as pretenders and then used their luxury pick on a backup center. Poeltl is a fine pick, just boring and not much of a luxury, and the team still has no power forward. Are we sure they couldn’t have traded their pick and say Norman Powell for Ibaka? We’ll never know.
LOSER: Charlotte’s endless search for wings
The Hornets traded former first rounder PJ Hairston and a pair of 2s for Courtney Lee this year only to lose in the first round and then trade this year’s 1st at 22 to get an older replacement in Marco Belinelli. Gross.
WINNER: Cleveland’s partying
No reason to stop now — not like anyone in the East is coming for Cleveland any time soon. Indiana is the only contender that improved itself. LeBron will coast to the Finals a 7th straight time. Maybe that’s what he was counting.
WINNER: Milwaukee’s awesomeness
Thon Maker at 10 was a huge bold pick that will end up the best or worst pick of the draft. Milwaukee continues to Buck conventional wisdom and swing for the fences and it’s nothing if not entertaining. Just wait for the first time they roll out a Greek Freak, Middleton, Jabari, Thon, Henson lineup. *drools*
LOSER: Philly’s belief in moving forward now
Yes Ben Simmons is a real player that can be an MVP in the right setting. But he needs help, and Philly used its other two 1sts on dudes named Luwawu and Furkan that probably won’t be stateside for awhile. Embiid and Saric may play but aren’t ready. Okafor and Noel can’t play together and are both being offered in trades. Philly’s roster is still a complete mess. The Colangelos have pushed things further down the tracks for Philly yet again.
WINNER: San Antonio’s reputation
Thursday morning: Dejounte Murray might be a top 10 pick! Thursday afternoon: Dejounte Murray is overrated! Thursday evening: Dejounte Murray is sliding to where he should’ve gone. Thursday night: OMG SPURS GOT DEJOUNTE STEAL OF THE DRAFT. RC Buford and San Antonio control their own narrative now.
LOSER: Brooklyn’s relevance
The Nets unloaded Thad Young for 20 which makes sense but then invested in a senior that hasn’t really played in two years in Lavert. With Young gone, Lopez can’t be far behind. The Nets still don’t have their first round pick the next two years and their roster after Lopez might be worse than Philly’s the last few years. It’s going to get uglier before it improves.
LOSER: Us in our reliance on Fran Fraschilla
There are just way too many international dudes getting drafted in the first round now. The draft isn’t as fun when we can’t pronounce the guy’s name and have never seen him play a minute of ball.
LOSER: All of us for #Brexit
Speaking of international… This is just all so, so stupid. And it’s probably a preview of America’s November too. Ugh.
WINNER: America’s interest in #Brexit
There are a LOT of people on my timeline (myself probably included) that probably would’ve skipped out on #Brexit if it hadn’t aligned so perfectly with NBA Draft night. If Britain was going to shambles, at least it picked a fun night to do it publicly.
WINNER: Deyonta Davis’ motivation
Davis was this year’s lottery player that free fell, this time completely out of the 1st round. But as the first pick of the 2nd he gets to negotiate a better deal than late first anyway and now he goes to Memphis where he gets to learn behind fellow MSU alum Zach Randolph and should see minutes right away.
LOSER: Festus Ezeli’s shadow
Damian Jones replaced Ezeli at Vanderbilt, and now he’s probably replacing him at Golden State too. Ezeli was the best Ws big for half the season before hurting his knee; now he’s probably gone.
WINNER: Patrick McCaw’s us-having-heard-of-him-ness
In the swing of an hour, McCaw went from another guy disappointed to miss the first round to getting a guaranteed contract from the Warriors and a chance to hone his versatility and 3-and-D skills behind Iggy and Draymond.
WINNER: Gary Payton II’s name
I like Payton for his outstanding defense, but you gotta believe his name alone got him a 3-year deal from Houston the moment after going undrafted.
WINNER: NBA fans
Draft night is crazy every time and last night was no exception. Now it’s off to summer league and free agency, and the 2017 draft is just around the corner. You’re next, Harry Giles!
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