NBA Draft 2012: Breaking Down the Big Winners and Losers
The 2012 NBA draft is over: Who were the champions of the night and who will be looking for better luck next time?
The Big Winners
New Orleans Hornets
The Hornets found their future cornerstones tonight: a franchise player in Anthony Davis and a confident ball-handling scorer in Rivers. With Eric Gordon in the fold, the Hornets are building to a playoff future.
Washington Wizards
Despite himself, General Manager Ernie Grunfeld found a star in Bradley Beal. He will form a top future guard tandem next to 2010 No. 1 pick John Wall.
All Golden State needed was a smooth swingman and the talented Barnes fell right to them with the No. 7 pick. Paired with Stephen Curry, David Lee, Klay Thompson and Andrew Bogut, the Warriors are a force to be reckoned with in the West.
Houston Rockets
The Rockets added three special talents in Jeremy Lamb, Terrence Jones and Royce White. The big question is, how many of them will be traded? And will Houston be a title contender with established stars when the dust settles?
Rebuilding? Please. The Celtics have two stars in Rajon Rondo and Paul Pierce and a defensive stud in Avery Bradley. They added a top-10 talent in Jared Sullinger and a defensive anchor in Fab Melo. They can bring back Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen for one more championship run!
Reaching the NBA Finals and being able to draft Perry Jones, a superstar talent who was once talked about as a future No. 1 pick, at No. 28? How can you not be a big winner?
The Big Losers
Toronto Raptors
Terrence Ross will be a good shooter and decent NBA role player. But passing on big-time talents Andre Drummond and Jeremy Lamb will haunt the Raptors.
The Magic keep hanging on to this idea that they can keep Dwight Howard and surround him with role players like Andrew Nicholson. The reality is they need to ship him for young talent, but they have not faced the music just yet.
Tyler Zeller would have been a nice fit next to Dirk Nowitzki, but they traded him and turned him into Jared Cunningham. That is not a great return on investment. With that said, Dallas' offseason will be judged by their pursuit of superstar Deron Williams.
Indiana Pacers
The Pacers have made some great picks in recent years, including future all-star Paul George. But drafting Miles Plumlee with all the talent left on the board was clearly a mistake.
