Winners & Losers: 2021 NBA Draft

The NBA Draft provides the opportunity for teams to completely change the trajectory of their franchise. Teams can draft franchise cornerstones that eventually lead them into the playoffs, make blockbuster trades to bolster championship runs, or, conversely, make mistakes that take years to recover from. Thursday’s draft provided a fun mixture of every scenario with Russell Westbrook (reportedly) getting traded to the Lakers, surprises among the top 5 selections, and a bevy of trades that moved teams up and down the board all night.

The biggest winner was the Pistons who were able to take the best player in this class, Cade Cunningham, who can jumpstart Detroit at the most important position in the game. Other winners were lucky enough to have great players to fall into their laps when they were on the clock. Meanwhile, there were plenty of draft night losers who made head-scratching decisions or opted to keep trading back or completely out of the draft. Here’s how we saw it.

Winners

Pistons

The Pistons are one of the biggest winners in this draft because they didn’t outsmart themselves. Rumors continued to pour in from the day the lottery was set until a few hours before the draft that the Pistons were not only entertaining the idea of a trade down from the top spot or consider other players at No. 1. Was this simply due diligence for a team that hadn’t selected top three since 2003? Probably. But the Pistons did the sensible thing and selected Cade Cunningham to be the face of their franchise moving forward.

Cade Cunningham represents everything the NBA has become over the last decade. Blessed with great size for a lead initiator at 6’8”, Cunningham answered many of the biggest questions evaluators had in regards to his 3-point shooting and ability to carry an undermanned Oklahoma State squad into the NCAA Tournament. Cunningham has a rare blend of size, shooting, passing, and defense that does not come around in every draft. Even if there is some uncertainty about his athleticism or ability to blow by opponents, NBA spacing should allow for him to be even more effective at these things.

The Pistons finished up their draft by adding three second rounders in Isaiah Livers, Luka Garza, and Balša Koprivica. Livers should be able to provide 3-and-D value on the back end of the roster and stays in-state after playing all four of his collegiate seasons at Michigan. Garza, the celebrated Iowa big, will have an uphill battle to becoming an NBA rotation piece. His old school game may not translate to the modern NBA, but he has been working hard to reshape his body. Koprivica is a defensive big that played high school basketball with Cunningham at Montverde Academy. He brings an interesting combination of size, rebounding, and finishing ability for a second-rounder.

Magic

The Raptors did them a favor by passing on Jalen Suggs. The Magic reset their timeline after trading veterans Nikola Vucevic, Evan Fournier, and Aaron Gordon during last season’s deadline, but now have their next franchise player to build around. Suggs will bring excitement, versatility, and leadership to this rebuilding squad and becomes the perfect starting point guard for this new iteration of the Magic. A young rotation anchored by Suggs, Markelle Fultz, and Cole Anthony will allow for creative pairings, put pressure on defenses, and allow Orlando to get out and run. This will lay the foundation for the franchise for years to come.

With the eighth selection, the Magic took one of the safest players projected to go in the top 10. The young forward out of Michigan, Franz Wagner, joins his brother Moritz in Orlando as a big, versatile wing with an emerging offensive repertoire. Wagner’s fit is ideal with the Magic, as he is a true perimeter wing that will be able to log minutes at small forward and potentially power forward as well. He is a smart and crafty passer that could end up having secondary ballhandling value as he develops. If he can become a more consistent shooter from three, he will be a perfect pairing with the rest of their roster.

Rockets

After coming into the draft with three picks, the Rockets left the first-round with four prospects to add to their roster. Jalen Green’s potential is through the roof and he’s been chosen to lead the rebuild back. Standing at 6’6”, the true shooting guard has an NBA ready offensive package that he’ll be able to continue to develop as he logs heavy minutes. Green has an advanced game in the half court, often relying on step backs to gain separation from his defender. When he gets out into transition, he can be unstoppable at the rim. He will immediately become one of the highest flyers in the NBA. How much he’ll be able to develop as a scorer and an athlete to a lead initiator will determine how far he can take the Rockets.

Green will not have to shoulder the entire scoring load as a rookie, as the Rockets traded two heavily protected future first rounders to secure Turkish center, Alperen Sengun. Sengun was regarded by many as the top offensive big in the draft and getting him after the lottery was a huge win for the Rockets. The 6’10” big man has an advanced back to the basket game, an emerging jump shot, and a passing skillset that many others in this class do not.

Making up for some of the defensive limitations that Sengun has, Usman Garuba was selected next by the Rockets. One of the best defenders at any position in this draft, Garuba will lean on his international experience with Real Madrid to bring a much needed mentality to Houston’s roster.

Rounding out the first round for the Rockets, Josh Christopher will also help Green with the scoring load from the perimeter. A true slasher from the wing, Christopher has shown a knack for getting buckets at the rim and using his great frame to overpower smaller defenders. He should be able to break the rotation as a rookie, while working to improve his outside shot.

Hornets

Many pegged the Hornets as a destination for a top big man at pick No. 11, but James Bouknight fell into their laps after he spent most of the pre-draft cycle projected to land in the top 10. Pairing Bouknight with last year’s rookie of the year, LaMelo Ball, gives the Hornets one of the more intriguing young backcourts in basketball. While Bouknight will need to improve his outside shooting, he will enjoy the additional space the NBA game offers. With the ability to get out and run in the open court, expect to see a litany of alley-oops coming the young shooting guard’s way. His 6’8.25” wingspan will also fit in nicely with the rest of the long athletes that Charlotte has collected in the last few drafts as well.

The Hornets took two of the biggest swings throughout the rest of the draft on Thursday with their trades for Kai Jones and JT Thor. Two of the highest upside players in the draft, Jones and Thor will have the necessary time to develop for the Hornets without being relied on to do too much. Kai Jones is a track athlete at center that can run and jump with the best of the bigs in the draft, while offering an intriguing off-ball skill set. Thor provides length, defensive acumen, and a developing 3-poiint shot that should have plenty of time to be refined as he works his way into the Hornet’s rotation.

Nets

It’s not often that a team with championship aspirations selects four rookies in the NBA Draft, but the Nets pulled it off. The Nets selected the prolific LSU scorer Cam Thomas with the 27th pick. How much the rookie will be relied upon early will depend on his ability to fit into the Nets’ offense remains to be seen, but the upside for a team with limited abilities to improve via free agency was too hard to pass up. Thomas could become an 18-20 point scorer at some point in his career as he gets to learn from Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving.

Trading for Day’Ron Sharpe presented the Nets with an opportunity to add real size and rebounding to their bench and develop him into a starting center in the NBA. Boasting one of the rarest blends of rebounding, passing, and effort in the draft, Sharpe has also transformed his body. While he is a relentless rebounder on both ends of the court, his uncanny ability to hit cutters and pass from the high post will give Brooklyn a dynamic they did not have last year.

Kessler Edwards and Marcus Zegarowski were second-round picks that will have an opportunity to get minutes in the G League this season. Edwards has an unorthodox game from the forward spot, with great shooting numbers and defensive ability inside. As he continues to get better on the perimeter, he could develop into a 3-and-D prospect. Zegarowski was a slight surprise as a draft pick, but he is a knock down shooter from the point guard position. He will need to develop his body and defensive ability to crack an NBA rotation.

Losers

Raptors

The first surprise of the first round came at pick No. 4 where the Raptors passed on Jalen Suggs for Florida State’s Scottie Barnes. It was a curious pick for the Raptors, who have a gaping hole at point guard. Could this spell the end of the road for Pascal Siakam in Toronto?

Barnes was a consensus top 10 pick going into this draft, so it wasn’t a reach. The Raptors have hung their hats on their ability to improve player’s skillsets, especially shooting the ball. This will be a necessary development for Barnes in order to fulfill the potential bestowed upon such a high pick. He possesses a rare combination of size, passing ability, and desire to defend at a young age, but his ability to score the basketball is going to need to improve quickly.

Spurs

The Spurs selecting Joshua Primo with the 12th pick was by far the biggest surprise of the lottery and probably the entire first-round. Thought to be a long term project by a team selecting in the 20s, the Spurs drafted the youngest player in the draft near the end of the lottery, bypassing more highly-touted and ready prospects such as Alperen Sengun, Moses Moody, Chris Duarte, and Corey Kispert. Maybe the Spurs felt that they needed to secure Primo this high because they were convinced another team had their sights on him, but it’s hard to see this as anything more than a reach at this point.

Primo brings an interesting skillset to the Spurs with his 6’6” size and ability to knockdown shots from deep, but he may be a few seasons away from playing his best basketball for San Antonio. There were reports that teams could see Primo as a redshirt type of selection, stashing him in the G League for a season to get the most minutes possible while his game and body. After missing the playoffs for the second consecutive season after making the playoffs every year since 1997, the Spurs could have selected a player more capable of helping them get back to the post season.

Knicks

With two selections in the first-round, the rumors leading up to the draft had the Knicks desperately trying to package selection Nos. 19 and 21 to move up. Instead, New York ended up trading out of both picks and only ended up with the 25th pick where they selected Quentin Grimes and a future first-round pick from the Hornets with a lot of protections. Grimes was not on the first-round radar until he put together a successful NBA Combine performance, showing teams his shooting and scoring up close against other draft hopefuls. It was an impressive rise for a player that struggled to shoot and make the most of his minutes in his first season at Kansas and Houston. Does Grimes still have room to develop even more, or was his junior performance a flash in the pan? The Knicks may find out quickly as they have many decisions to make on free agent perimeter players from their playoff team last year.

Rokas Jokubaitis and Miles McBride may provide some more upside for the Knicks as high second-round picks. Both guards provide the ability to play either backcourt position, make shots from midrange and deep, while displaying the ability to be secondary playmakers off the bounce. McBride will offer more on the defensive end with his mentality and exceptional wingspan. Selecting Jericho Sims at the bottom of the second-round also represented the culmination of another NBA Combine success story. Simms can be a terror at the rim, often getting his head above it while dunking. If he can provide energy, rebounding, and finishing off the bench, this will be a strong selection. These aren’t bad players, but Knicks fans had to be hoping for more than they ended up with after the draft whether it was from a trade or moving up in the draft for a higher level prospect.

Lakers

It’s hard to come out of a draft as a loser when you don’t have a selection, but what the Lakers did to lose their draft pick was Thursday’s biggest news. The Lakers traded Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and the 22nd selection to the Wizards for Russell Westbrook and two second-round picks (pending official league approval next week). While it’s hard to know who initiated this idea between Lakers’ GM Rob Pelinka or LeBron James, the fit is more than curious. The Lakers will have their work cut out for them the rest of the summer trying to add enough shooting to the roster and filling it with cheap, impactful players. Not having a draft pick doesn’t help that goal.

Grizzlies

The Grizzlies have been on a great run through the last few drafts, making smart decisions all over the board to build one of the more impressive young rosters in the NBA. When they made the trade to move up to the 10th spot they took on the large contracts of both Steven Adams and Eric Bledsoe in the process. Giving up the 17th pick and Jonas Valanciunas seemed a little steep at the time of the trade, but being able to select in the top 10 provided the ability to add a high impact player that the Grizzlies would be able to pair with Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Dillon Brooks.

Memphis was heavily linked to Josh Giddey, but when Oklahoma City took him at No. 6, things may have shifted within the organization. This may be a cautionary tale for teams that trade up for a certain player the week of the draft before knowing how the board will shake out. Of course, the Grizzlies may have Ziaire Williams ranked exactly as high as they selected him, but it was considered a reach to most in the draft community. Williams was a highly-touted prospect coming into this past college basketball season, but COVID-19 disrupted most of the season for Stanford and it shows in Williams’ statistical profile. This has a chance to workout for Memphis as Williams possesses great size at 6’10” with a jump shot that passes the eye test, but it is easy to wonder if a trade up was necessary.