
NBA Draft Results 2016: Team-by-Team Grades, List of Picks and Analysis
The 2016 NBA draft was about as predictable as expected.
LSU's Ben Simmons came off the board first to the Philadelphia 76ers, followed by Duke's Brandon Ingram second to the Los Angeles Lakers.
In fact, there weren't even that many wild trades that took place other than a deal between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Orlando Magic, which will get detailed later. Perhaps the most unexpected factor of the 2016 class was the amount of unknown names that came to the podium in the first round.
Regardless, winners and losers emerge right away. Let's take a look at the full draft results and grades before diving into the details.
| Philadelphia 76ers | A | Ben Simmons was an easy move and the right one. |
| Los Angeles Lakers | A | Brandon Ingram is pro-ready with quite the ceiling and a good way to convince free agents to come to town. |
| Boston Celtics | B - | There's no reason to distrust Danny Ainge, but this was an odd class. |
| Phoenix Suns | A+ | Dragan Bender, Marquese Chriss and Tyler Ulis make for a borderline jaw-dropping class. |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | B | Kris Dunn gives Minnesota flexibility, both with Ricky Rubio on the court and on the trade market. |
| New Orleans Pelicans | B+ | Buddy Hield gets Anthony Davis some much-needed help. |
| Denver Nuggets | B | Jamal Murray gives Denver some much-needed name recognition and shooting. |
| Sacramento Kings | C | Yikes. Trades and projects aren't how you keep DeMarcus Cousins happy. |
| Toronto Raptors | B | Jakob Poeltl is a big boon for a team that might lose size in free agency. |
| Milwaukee Bucks | B | Thon Maker is the right idea for a team able to develop a center right now. |
| Orlando Magic | C | Serge Ibaka blocks Aaron Gordon and is a one-year rental. |
| Atlanta Hawks | B | Atlanta sought out versatility and got it, which is a win as the franchise heads in a new direction. |
| Chicago Bulls | B | Denzel Valentine is quite the get for a team wanting to improve right away. |
| Memphis Grizzlies | B+ | Nailing down Deyonta Davis and letting him learn from Marc Gasol is a major win. |
| Detroit Pistons | B+ | Henry Ellenson and Andre Drummond? Yes please. |
| Brooklyn Nets | C | Brooklyn seems to keep its head above water here, which isn't amazing. |
| Charlotte Hornets | N/A | |
| Los Angeles Clippers | B + | Brice Johnson will look good in L.A.'s fast-twitch approach. |
| San Antonio Spurs | A | Dejounte Murray is a major steal, which makes sense based on the team stealing him. |
| Golden State Warriors | B | Damian Jones adds quality depth to a team running small-ball lineups. |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | C | Kay Felder might not see the floor any time soon, but he provides solid depth. |
| Miami Heat | N/A | |
| Indiana Pacers | B | Georges Niang gives Indiana some reinforcements down low. |
| Washington Wizards | N/A | |
| New York Knicks | N/A | |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | A | Victor Oladipo next to Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant is silly. And scary. |
| Portland Trail Blazers | C | Portland did like Brooklyn and had a quiet draft that might not amount to much. |
| Dallas Mavericks | B - | A.J. Hammons seems like the beginning of Dallas taking a serious look at the future. |
| Houston Rockets | B | Zhou Qi has unlimited upside and fits today's game, though Dwight Howard might not stick around to buy him time. |
| Utah Jazz | C | Utah wanted shooting and got it, boosting the backcourt. |
Biggest Question Mark: Boston Celtics
What in the world was that?
It's beyond easy to praise Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge, who stood by his building process and crafted a playoff roster this past season. He also set up the team with three first-round picks this year, starting at No. 3 overall, and had eight total.
And believe it or not, Ainge kept all three picks in the opening round. Even better, things started off great with California's Jaylen Brown, a guy who stands at 6'7" and 223 pounds with some of the most upside in the class.
It got weird from there, though.
The Celtics used No. 16 on power forward Guerschon Yabusele and No. 23 on center Ante Zizic, not exactly household names. CBSSports.com's Matt Moore seemed to hit the proverbial nail on the head:
"Do the Celtics still have too many guards? Yes.
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) June 24, 2016"
Do the Celtics still need a rim protector? Yes.
Do the Celtics still need to trade? Yes.
Getting point guard Demetrius Jackson at No. 45 and power forward Ben Bentil at No. 52 were great values, but it's an otherwise head-scratching class.
The Celtics seemed like a team ready to make a major trade or at least draft pro-ready prospects who could boost the playoff roster right away. Brown qualifies as both, but that's one of eight.
Granted, the globe doesn't have any reason to doubt Ainge, and his master plan has worked thus far, hence an inability to slap his team as a loser of the process.
Biggest Loser: Orlando Magic
About that trade.
The Thunder shipped power forward Serge Ibaka to the Magic, which is the portion of the news sure to get most of the headlines. NBA Communications announced the move Thursday, and Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical followed with the revelation Orlando would also cough up the rights to the No. 11 pick, Domantas Sabonis.
First of all, this is a huge, huge win for the Thunder. What better way to convince Kevin Durant to stick around than by adding Victor Oladipo, an insanely athletic guard who could help create quite the triple-headed monster with Durant and Russell Westbrook?
It looks worse for the Magic. Orlando loses a guard who didn't fit well with budding point guard Elfrid Payton, sure, but they get a power forward heading into the last season of his current deal, according to Spotrac, meaning he's a glorified rental.
One glance at a note by ESPN Stats & Info tells the story on Ibaka's quick decline, too:
Even worse, Ibaka blocks (get it?) promising power forward Aaron Gordon from getting much-needed playing time.
Steady as she goes. The Magic are the league's worst example of a middling team right now, a franchise that has decided to throw away the patient approach in favor of a win-now outlook. The team has now shipped off Tobias Harris and Oladipo, and one could argue Orlando actually got worse during the draft process, which is rather impressive.
Biggest Winner: Minnesota Timberwolves
All the Minnesota Timberwolves had to do was sit around and win the draft.
Maybe the Timberwolves wanted to trade up. Maybe not. Either way, the front office still got its guy when no teams made any moves and Providence point guard Kris Dunn fell to No. 5.
Pause for a moment. This was already one of the scariest young teams in the league. Ricky Rubio on the point. Andrew Wiggins scoring from anywhere. Karl-Anthony Towns becoming one of the best young centers in the game. Don't forget quality young depth in the form of Zach LaVine, Shabazz Muhammad and Gorgui Dieng.
Now the team adds Dunn, a guy who weighs in at 6'4" and 220 pounds whose best comparison might be Rajon Rondo and who was widely considered as the best point guard in the class by a mile.
The unexpected fall gives Minnesota something else, too—flexibility. Rubio could find himself on the trade block sooner rather than later, which could help the team upgrade elsewhere. For now, though, Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune heard the team will play both guards together:
Interesting, and it could work.
There's no better feeling for an NBA team than sitting around with the assets it owns and getting just what it wants anyway. It also means there's no equal in the winner department.
All the Timberwolves have to do now is let the team grow.
All stats and info via ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.









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