Believe it: Knicks among NBA draft's winners, Sixers among losers
— -- The 2015 NBA draft is in the books. I'll be back in the morning with full draft grades for all 30 teams. But in the meantime, here's my initial take on three teams that won the draft and three teams that lost.
Winners
Hours before the draft if looked like the Knicks were going to screw this up. The team seemed unsure of itself if Karl-Anthony Towns, Jahlil Okafor and D'Angelo Russell were off the board. While Kristaps Porzingis was the best talent left on the board, no one, including me, really thought they'd actually take him. Knicks fans may have booed, but the Knicks may have very well gotten the second best talent in the draft. He may not dominate in Year 1, but Porzingis' talent is off the charts.
I also loved the trade that send Tim Hardaway Jr. to the Wizards for the draft rights to Jerian Grant. Grant is a big combo guard who can do everything. He's a good athlete, can get to the basket and is a solid shooter. He can defend multiple positions. I think personally, he was the third best point guard prospect in the draft. Athletic big man who can stretch the floor and protect the rim? Check. Versatile, high IQ point guard with size? Check. The Knicks got a lot better tonight.
The Wolves landed the best player in the draft. Period. There were other talents, but Towns is the one guy in this draft that has tons of upside and almost no downside. He can score from anywhere on the floor, rebounds and protects the rim and has an excellent work ethic. He may not look like the No. 1 pick from Day 1, but by mid-season everyone will see it.
The team also used two second-round picks to move up into the first and grab Tyus Jones. I'm not crazy about Jones as an elite point guard, but as a backup point guard? I love him. He's steady, rarely makes mistakes and is selfless. Paired Andrew Wiggins and Ricky Rubio the Wolves have an elite big man, an elite wing and two pass-first point guards to put them in a position to succeed. The Wolves are going to be very, very dangerous in a couple of years.
The Heat got the steal of the draft when Justise Winslow fell to 10. I love Winslow's game and I love his fit with Miami. If Luol Deng leaves, or even if he doesn't, Winslow will be ready. He has a NBA body, plays his butt off and does all the little things that don't always show up in the box score. His slide reminds me of Kawhi Leonard falling to the Spurs a few years ago. Winslow might be disappointed he didn't go higher, but he went to the perfect fit for him. He can be an All-Star someday.
Losers
Okafor is a talent. But once again the Sixers walk away from a season of tanking without the guy they wanted and without a clear plan forward. They may have wanted Joel Embiid last year, but not an injured Embiid (and an Embiid that one year later, still hasn't recovered). This year, Russell and Towns were their targets.
Instead they settle for the guy who, while talented, doesn't fit a need and doesn't have the transcendent talent they need. And for the third straight year they draft a center. At least he's not an injured one. With no guards or wings to really build around, the Sixers still seem years away from being anything more than a perennial loser in the lottery.
The Kings have been losing all week as the front office, head coach, owner and DeMarcus Cousins all turn on each other. There isn't a more dysfunctional team in the league right now. More evidence arose on Thursday when they drafted Willie Cauley-Stein ahead of Emmanuel Mudiay and Winslow. Cauley-Stein has tons of talent. He might be the Defensive Player of the Year someday. But there's a big might.
There are major questions ahead -- many more questions than there are for Mudiay or Winslow. With Cauley-Stein otherwise likely to fall all the way to the Suns at 13, it seems like the Kings were dead set on Cauley-Stein, and they could've moved back and drafted him lower. This wasn't a major mistake, but I think had the Kings actually scouted Mudiay this year, they would've made a different choice.
Remember when the Rockets took Marcus Morris one spot before Leonard in 2011? I think that happened again when the Pistons took Stanley Johnson ahead of Winslow.
Reasonable minds can differ on Johnson. I differ. I'm not sold that Johnson is anything more than a solid role player who uses his great body and toughness to provide some muscle. Meanwhile Winslow was sitting on the board. Winslow has a chance to be an All-Star. While Johnson looks the part, Winslow plays the part. He does all the little things that make a team great. I think the Pistons made a mistake on Thursday and, in the process, gave the Heat a major gift at 10.