Winners & Losers of the 2010 Draft

[Apollo]

I'll start this off with one that's not obvious. A team who made the most of very little.

Winner: L.A. Lakers

43rd overall, Devin Ebanks
58th overall, Derrick Caracter

Both players have huge talent. Caracter is a troubled soul with immense talent. If the Lakers can get him on track he will be a very good player. We all know about Ebanks. Here's to hoping he gets traded to the Raptors.

Next up...

[Dark Knight]

Hassan Whiteside was definetly a loser. Second round pick?!

[Quixotic]

Winners

Agree on Lakers, but also:

#9 - SF Gordon Hayward (He just made a few million more tonight, and his parents are happy he gets to play in a relatively safe area)
#30 - SF Lazar Hayward (Last pick of the 1st round sure beats being picked in the 2nd round)

San Antonio: (Nice value picks as always, with a requisite Euro pick)
#20 - SG James Anderson
#49 - PF Ryan Richards

Oklahoma City: (Though Reid is a bit of a head-scratcher, they did well for themselves tonight)
#21 - PF Craig Brackins
#26 - SF Quincy Pondexter
Both traded for -
#11 - C Cole Aldrich
and SF Morris Peterson's expiring contract

#32 - C Dexter Pittman
Essentially traded for -
Clippers' future 1st round pick (via #18 - PG Eric Bledsoe)
and SG Daequan Cook

#51 - F Magnum Rolle
Traded for -
#57 - PF Ryan Reid
and cash considerations

Orlando: (Great value for the 2nd last pick of each round)
#29 - C Daniel Orton
#59 - SF Stanley Robinson


Losers

#13 - PF Ed Davis (Hayward's gain was Davis' loss)
#29 - C Daniel Orton (This will teach draftees to go it alone)
#33 - C Hassan Whiteside (The GMs have spoken about Marshall U)
#50 - C Solomon Alabi (Perhaps over-hyped but he fell almost a good 30 picks)
#54 - G Willie Warren (Didn't even bother to work out for teams in the late 1st round)

Golden State: (A pick that will help, but couldn't they have traded down to save money or get more pieces to the puzzle)
#6 - PF Ekpe Udoh

Minnesota:
#4 - SF Wesley Johnson
#45 - C Paulo Prestes

#16 - SF Luke Babbitt
Traded with SF Ryan Gomes for -
SG/SF Martell Webster

#23 - PF Trevor Booker
#56 - C Hamady Ndiaye
Both traded for -
#30 - SF Lazar Hayward
#35 - SF Nemanja Bjelica

Minnesota deserves its own paragraph instead of a short blurb. Johnson was the expected pick based on fit, so I won't fault them for that, but Webster, Hayward, and Bjelica as well? They still have Brewer and Ellington, mind you. It seems Kahn likes to pick by theme rather than sense. In 2008, they draft only bigs, and they ignore that Love doesn't fit well next to Jefferson. In 2009, they draft FOUR point guards (Rubio, Flynn, Lawson, Calathes), as well as an undersized shooting guard (Ellington). This year, the theme is wings, and Kahn goes with 4 of them. With that kind of logic, how can you not be impressed? Prestes is a good pick though.

[Tim W.]

Hell, I've got to say Toronto was a winner. GOing in with the 13th pick and getting Ed Davis and Alabi, and only giving up a second rounder and cash? Damn fine draft.

I read that the Thunder ended up with Cole Aldrich. Is that right? If so, they did great.

Golden State bypassed a lot of better player to select Udoh, in my opinion.

[Quixotic]

Hell, I've got to say Toronto was a winner. GOing in with the 13th pick and getting Ed Davis and Alabi, and only giving up a second rounder and cash? Damn fine draft.

I read that the Thunder ended up with Cole Aldrich. Is that right? If so, they did great.

Golden State bypassed a lot of better player to select Udoh, in my opinion.

Yeah, I definitely think Toronto was on the Winners side, but I will take a more tempered approach when it comes to my own team.

Yes, OKC was contacting Indiana, New Orleans, Memphis and Toronto with the #18 and #21 picks in return for picking Aldrich. I don't know what would have happened had the three teams ahead of Toronto passed and Ed Davis was still available (kind of glad we didn't have to make the choice), but it seems after New Orleans initially turned OKC down, they re-started negotiations and OKC got to keep their #18 if they would swallow MoPete's expiring. Would have been interesting had Toronto swapped Aldrich for the #18 and #21 though. Seems they would have picked one of Bledsoe/Bradley along with Alabi.

And as for GS, Udoh seemed like he would drop to at least #10 (Indiana) or #13 (Toronto) 'cause of Paul George. They certainly should have traded down for more if they felt Udoh was the man they really wanted.

[Maleko]

Definitely agree with the Lakers winning - they want/need some cheap talent due to their salary, and they picked it up well without having to guarantee. Really like Ebanks there and Caracter could be a longshot to make the bench, but a cheap one and with potential.

Toronto did very well here, and once the smoke clears for the non-trades (at least none that are/could be announced yet) most fans will see it. Very intrigued to see a Alabi at 5, Davis at 4 lineup, but of course this means Turk must be gone and a stellar 3 comes in. I love the athleticism of Weems/DD and they will do well, but a stud at the big wing makes this work very well.

Other winners: Washington, OKC, Orlando steals.

Losers/headscratchers: Minnesota is a statue here, Indiana, Golden State (picks who they want - misses an opportunity to gain more by trading down and still getting him - bad GM), Portland (fires Pritchard 1hr before the draft??). There were a lot of - Who? picks. Not that they are unknown but come on.

[reebokforthree]

NBA Draft: Winners and Losers

"It may be early, but here are a few teams who were lookin’ good and stinkin’ up the place at the 2010 NBA Draft.


Lookin’ Good

Miami Heat

The Heat traded out of the first round, but still made the most of the slew of second round picks in their possession. With Miami gutting the roster to go all-in in free agency, the franchise made out like bandits, snagging solid, bargain players who could all end up being second round steals in Latavious Williams, Dexter Pittman, Jarvis Varnado and Da’Sean Butler."

Source: http://nbaprimetime.com/?p=1621