NBA Draft 2017: Predicting Biggest Winners in 1st-Round Mock Draft

Every draft produces winners and losers, and the 2017 NBA draft is going to be no different. Predicting the big winners, though, is far from an easy task. This is because the teams themselves don't always have a handle on which players are going to become great.

If predicting greatness was easy, the Portland Trail Blazers would have ended up with Michael Jordan.

While there probably isn't the next Jordan in this draft, there are a few prospects who appear to be of the can't-miss variety. For a team to truly come away a winner, though, they have to marry player potential with scheme-fit and the right situation.

With this in mind, let's try predicting some of the biggest winners in this year's draft. We'll also run down the current draft order and mock picks for all 30 selections.

Just to be clear, we'll be focusing on team winners here. All 30 first-round rookies will be getting a chance to live out their dreams—and that's winning in anyone's book. Since the draft lottery isn't until May 16, we'll be basing the draft order on team records.

2017 NBA Draft

Pick	NBA Team	Proj. Selection
1	Boston Celtics (via Nets)	Markelle Fultz, G, Washington
2	Phoenix Suns	Josh Jackson, F, Kansas
3	Los Angeles Lakers	Lonzo Ball, G, UCLA
4	Philadelphia 76ers	Malik Monk, G, Kentucky
5	Orlando Magic	De'Aaron Fox, G, Kentucky
6	Minnesota Timberwolves	Jonathan Isaac, F, Florida State
7	New York Knicks	Frank Ntilikina, G, France
8	Sacramento Kings	Jayson Tatum, F, Duke
9	Dallas Mavericks	Lauri Markkanen, F, Arizona
10	Sacramento Kings (via Pelicans)	Luke Kennard, G, Duke
11	Charlotte Hornets	Justin Patton, C, Creighton
12	Detroit Pistons	Zach Collins, C, Gonzaga
13	Denver Nuggets	Ivan Rabb, F, California
14	Miami Heat	John Collins, F, Wake Forest
15	Portland Trail Blazers	Dennis Smith Jr., G, NC State
16	Chicago Bulls	Justin Jackson, F, North Carolina
17	Milwaukee Bucks	OG Anunoby, F, Indiana
18	Indiana Pacers	Jarrett Allen, C, Texas
19	Atlanta Hawks	Ike Anigbogu, C, UCLA
20	Portland Trail Blazers (via Grizzlies)	TJ Leaf, F, UCLA
21	Oklahoma City Thunder	Donovan Mitchell, G, Louisville
22	Brooklyn Nets (via Wizards)	Isaiah Hartenstein, F, Germany
23	Toronto Raptors (via Clippers)	Moritz Wagner, F, Michigan
24	Utah Jazz	Sindarius Thornwell, G, South Carolina
25	Orlando Magic (via Raptors)	Jordan Bell, F, Oregon
26	Portland Trail Blazers (via Cavaliers)	Anzejs Pasecniks, C, Latvia
27	Brooklyn Nets (via Celtics)	Caleb Swanigan, F, Purdue
28	Los Angeles Lakers (via Rockets)	Tony Bradley, C, North Carolina
29	San Antonio Spurs	Rodions Kurucs, F, Latvia
30	Utah Jazz (via Warriors)	Josh Hart, G, Villanova

Big Winners

Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics find themselves in a unique position. They're good enough to be on the doorstep of the Eastern Conference Finals, yet, they're also in position to possibly hold the top pick in the draft (thanks, Brooklyn Nets!).

Led by Isaiah Thomas, Boston has a young enough roster that it can remain competitive in the East for the foreseeable future. Adding a well-rounded potential star like Washington's Markelle Fultz could be enough to transform the team into a title contender in the near future.

Fultz is a creative offensive player and a skilled defender who can help the Celtics at both ends of the court. He's the winning choice because he is a relatively subdued personality who would fit in with the Celtics' work-first mentality.

A prospect like Lonzo Ball (or his father anyway) might not fit as well in the Boston market.

The Celtics have already shown interest in Fultz—one of the few top prospects to actually attend the scouting combine—and have interviewed him, per Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com:

Adding Fultz would potentially give Boston two legitimate stars who can help the team grow into one that can compete for a title.

Phoenix Suns

The Phoenix Suns had the NBA's worst defense this past season, allowing an average of 113.3 points per game. This is why—even with intriguing talents like Ball and De'Aaron Fox on the board—it makes sense for the Suns to go with Kansas product Josh Jackson.

Jackson is a quality defender who can immediately help the team turn this woeful statistic around. He's also a strong rebounder at both ends of the court. In addition, he has a high motor and can be a dangerous scorer as well.

"He's a competitor with a great motor, and the rare type of guy who can create offense out of defense." Evan Tomes of NBADraft.net wrote of Jackson. "He'll need to work on his shot to take his game to the next level, but Jackson appears to have a high floor, as well as the ceiling of an All-Star level player."

Landing Jackson would be a win for Phoenix because he can immediately improve both the offense and the defense. Of all the freshman prospects in the draft, he was Charles Barkley's favorite two-way prospect, according to 97.5 the Fanatic:

Jackson is also a good fit for the future of the Suns. Phoenix boasts a young core of players that includes guys like 20-year-old shooting guard Devin Booker and 19-year-old forward Dragan Bender. This is a group Jackson can grow and develop alongside, and all of these young players should hit their primes right around the same time.

The Suns aren't in a position to win right now, but a couple years down the road, they could be in a position to win consistently with Jackson.

Philadelphia 76ers

While the Suns have one of the worst defenses in the league, the Philadelphia 76ers have one of the league's most disappointing offenses. In the regular season, the team averaged just 102.4 points per game, sixth-fewest in the NBA.

The 76ers have some terrific young pieces, like centers Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor, and forward Ben Simmons. What the team lacks is a consistent shooter/scorer, and that's exactly what former Kentucky guard Malik Monk can be.

Monk made 45 percent of his shots from the field last season and made nearly 40 percent of his attempts from three-point range.

According to former teammate and fellow top prospect, De'Aaron Fox, Monk can be even more dangerous when he gets hot:

Philadelphia is another team with enough youth to grow into a long-term contender, and Monk would help to fill out the roster perfectly. If the Sixers land him, it'd be a win.