The first round of the NBA Draft is in the books. While the start of the draft went according to chalk, teams started making moves late in the first round and things got interesting.
After the trades up and down, the risers and fallers and a few puzzling moves, here are the winners and losers from night one of the NBA Draft.
Winners
The national champions had three players go in the lottery — historic for more reason than one: Morez Johnson Jr. at No. 9, Yaxel Lendeborg at No. 11 and Aday Mara at No. 12. That mini-run on Michigan Wolverines players started with Johnson, who was picked by the Dallas Mavericks, now led by Dusty May, who until Sunday was head coach at Michigan.
Chicago Bulls
North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson has superstar potential and the Chicago Bulls got him at No. 4. Then, at No. 15, they took Texas wing Dailyn Swain, a big, strong wing player adept at getting into the paint. Both players need some time to development, but the Bulls, who are finally rebuilding, have plenty of time to wait on both players’ sky-high potential.
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks added a second lottery pick at No. 13 in the blockbuster Giannis Antetokounmpo trade to go long with their No. 10 pick. Those picks looked even better when Arizona guard Brayden Burries fell to them at No. 10, and Nate Ament dropped to No. 13.
Newly acquired Tyler Herro is an obvious trade candidate for the rebuilding Bucks, so Burries could be their point guard of the future. Ament is a strong ball handler and solid athlete who is 6-foot-10 and might still be getting taller. It’s as good a draft haul as the Bucks could have hoped for in the late lottery.
Memphis Grizzlies
The Memphis Grizzlies landed the most surefire talent in the draft with Cameron Boozer at pick No. 3. Then they traded down twice to go from No. 16 to No. 21, picking up five second-round picks in the process and still landing 6-foot-8 power forward Karim Lopez, who only turned 19 in April. The Grizzlies’ rebuild is starting strong.
Losers
Western Conference big men
Last season, the San Antonio Spurs and center Victor Wembanyama battled for Western Conference supremacy with the Oklahoma City Thunder and centers Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein. The middle of their defenses aren’t getting any easier now that the Thunder picked 7-foot-3 center Aday Mara and the Spurs took Jayden Quaintance, a potential All-Defensive big man.
The Thunder now have a glut of centers, including Jaylin Williams and last year’s first-rounder Thomas Sorber, so it could indicate Hartenstein is on the move. Still, the draft doesn’t give any rival teams confidence that the paint is opening up next season.
Charlotte Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets didn’t do anything exciting with the No. 14 and No. 18 picks, selecting German center Hannes Steinbach and sharpshooting point guard Christian Anderson. Both players fill needs for a Hornets team lacking solid backups at point guard and center, but Steinbach doesn’t protect the rim and Anderson is so small he’s likely to struggle on defense.
Sacramento Kings
The Sacramento Kings picked Darius Acuff at No. 7, a dynamic scoring guard with sky-high offensive potential and serious defensive concerns. Then they traded up to No. 29 to select UConn’s Alex Karaban, a member of two national championship teams who has great basketball smarts and limited athleticism.
For a team that’s already got athleticism concerns with Domantas Sabonis and had the NBA’s third-worst defense, it’s hard to see these players turning around the moribund Kings.
Second-apron duckers
Three different title hopefuls (Denver Nuggets, Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks) traded out of the first round entirely to reduce salary and dodge the punitive second apron. The new CBA may help competition, but it makes the tail end of the first round disappointing.