Winners and Losers of the 2020 NBA Draft

With the NBA Draft complete, it's time to evaluate how certain teams fared.

The NBA Draft is always a magical night. Wide-eyed prodigies wait to hear Adam Silver call their names to be inducted into the most prestigious basketball league in the world. Emotions run rampant for fans, too. What’s not to love about projecting the future, watching highlights, hearing stories about the lowest moments in players’ lives, wiping away that tear, and believing in a better tomorrow?

The aftermath of the draft is not as idyllic. For rookies, of course, it’s time to get to work. For fans, irrational rage ensues. The shoulda, woulda, coulda. Choosing Player A over Player B was a mistake. Why didn’t we trade up from pick 24 to first?

The day-after punditry is absurd because the impact of the draft doesn’t exist in a vacuum. But with the NBA’s appeal extending beyond the on-court performance, there is still value to judgment. In a normal season, there are three months of the calendar year after the draft without regular-season basketball. Being a fan is year-round, and there is merit to sending a message about your franchise whether or not there is basketball being played.

Thus, we evaluate. Even if it’s way, way off. Replace “if” with “when.” Here are the notable winners and losers of the 2020 NBA Draft:

Winner: The Philadelphia 76ers (and Al Horford)

The Sixers had every reason to be hopeful last season. They had the biggest lineup in the league and were arguably among the most talented teams on paper. Notably, they had inked Al Horford to a massive contract as a reliable big man on both ends and traded for Josh Richardson to add a scoring punch on a roster absent outside shooting. But preseason concerns about a lack of perimeter shooting and a quagmire in the paint materialized throughout the season. Brett Brown was fired and an unsettling feeling that The Process had failed bubbled closer to the surface.

Daryl Morey’s hiring as President of Basketball Operations portended drastic change to come, but his impact was felt immediately on draft night. He addressed the roster concerns by offloading Horford’s contract to the Oklahoma City Thunder along with draft picks in exchange for Danny Green and Terrance Ferguson to reinforce the wings. Then, he traded Richardson to the Dallas Mavericks for a flamethrower in Seth Curry. In the actual draft, Philadelphia selected Tyrese Maxey at No. 21, a strong, attacking guard, and Isaiah Joe in the second round, who jacked over nine threes a game for Arkansas. Sounds like Morey’s guys, right? This is still not a championship team — the puzzle of adapting a roster around Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid is still a challenge. But now the Sixers have more flexibility to make that happen.

Luckily, the Horford trade seems mutual. Philadelphia fans were happy because he under-performed a massive contract and was relegated to sixth-man status. Horford’s siblings aired their grievances publicly, showing joy in him leaving the city and claiming he wasn’t respected because of his reverence for Boston.

Loser: Golden State Warriors

Loser is a harsh term considering the circumstances. James Wiseman was undoubtedly the perfect pick for Golden State — a gargantuan, athletic player that already seems to know his role as a rim-runner who can help a four-out Warriors team. He could represent a post-dynasty preview. Second-round choice Nico Mannion has his detractors but was also one of college basketball’s most exciting playmakers last season.

In terms of a return to championship contention, though, none of that really matters after we learned Klay Thompson suffered a torn Achilles just hours before Wednesday’s draft and will miss the season. Thompson, one of the league’s greatest shooters, already missed last season with a torn ACL. The Splash Bros were supposed to be back, with newly-acquired Andrew Wiggins, a redemptive Draymond Green, and a promising center in Wiseman. Instead, Thompson will be on the sidelines for the second consecutive season with back-to-back leg injuries. It is devastating and could signal the beginning of the end of Thompson’s historic career. Woj reported that Thompson should recover fully, something we all hope for too.

Winner: Brooklyn Nets

The Nets didn’t necessarily make a splash in last night’s draft. After trading for a hard-nosed Bruce Brown a few days ago, they sent away the 19th pick in this year’s draft for Landry Shamet, a 23-year-old 3-point threat. Brown and Shamet don’t move the needle too much for Brooklyn, but they are promising, young role players. The Nets’ status as a “winner” is speculative: something else seems to be in the works and I think we will figure it out soon.

Loser: Milwaukee Bucks

Best of luck to Jordan Nwora and Sam Merrill, it is exciting to be drafted to a team as competitive as Milwaukee. Unless there is something we don’t know, however, they probably won’t contribute enough to affect Championship aspirations or Giannis’ extension. It was a revelation when the Bucks traded for Pelicans’ point guard Jrue Holiday and Kings’ shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic in the same night. These are moves the front office wouldn’t make without Giannis’ stamp of approval, and surely signal a willingness to adapt to his needs to keep him in Milwaukee. But somebody probably should have told Bogdanovic.

The catch-and-shoot Serb did not commit to a sign-and-trade to the Bucks and is instead entering restricted free agency. Bogdanovic’s decision doesn’t rule out that he lands in Milwaukee but allows him to find other sign-and-trade options or other teams to extend offer sheets. Bogdanovic has the ultimate leverage, and Sacramento doesn’t owe anything to the Bucks who are desperate for outside shooting to put around Giannis. It’s a comical fallout that, while nominally helpful for the 2021 season, could snowball into more catastrophic consequences.

Winner: Detroit Pistons’ fans

The Pistons’ intentions were made very clear last season when they shut down Blake Griffin and Luke Kennard and traded away Andre Drummond to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Detroit is in a rebuild, though the tower wasn’t that tall to begin with. Newly-minted general manager Troy Weaver doesn’t have the bevy of resources that Oklahoma City does, but the groundwork is being laid.

It started Monday when Bruce Brown was traded for Dzanan Musa and a 2nd round pick. Then, the Pistons dealt a highly-protected future pick to Houston for Trevor Ariza and the 16th pick. Right after that selection, Kennard was traded to the Clippers in a three-way deal for the 19th pick. A future consideration was traded to Utah for the 38th pick and Tony Bradley. The Weaver regime has arrived in full-force with a plan: stock up on picks and take on short, bad contracts.

The Pistons will be bad for the next few seasons, but there is a reason for fans to be hopeful. Detroit can see what they have in Killian Hayes, ranked as the No. 1 prospect by the Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor for his playmaking and defensive upside. Center Isaiah Stewart was taken 16th for his knack for low-post scoring and high motor. Saddiq Bey, a prototypical 3-and-D forward in today’s NBA, followed at 19, with the bouncy guard Saben Lee taken 38th overall. They very well could max out as role players or not pan out at all, but there seems to be a real direction with the franchise that hasn’t been seen in over a decade.

Loser: The Blue Bloods

For the first time since 2000, there wasn’t a single player from Kansas, Duke, North Carolina, or Kentucky selected in the lottery. Kentucky’s streak of 10 straight years of lottery picks was broken, according to ESPN Stats. Other elite college basketball programs like Michigan State, Arizona, Indiana, and UCLA were missing, too. The wait wasn’t long after— UNC’s Cole Anthony was drafted 15th and many others were taken in the following picks. The likelihood of this happening again any time soon is slim, but it’s still wild to see the blue bloods shut out of the top picks like this. Vanderbilt had two players drafted before Duke did for crying out loud!

Winner: Israel and France

When Deni Avdija was drafted ninth overall by the Washington Wizards, it was the highest selection for an Israeli in NBA history, sooner than Omri Casspi at pick 23 in the 2009 draft. His draft party was draped with a wall of wine bottles, making for one of the night’s better memes. He apparently learned English from playing Call of Duty. His post-selection interview was hilariously Israeli. I hope he thrives.

In the second round, the Boston Celtics drafted another Israeli, Yam Madar, who prayed at the Western Wall before Wednesday night’s draft. He is still raw and will likely spend a year or two overseas.

Killian Hayes, drafted by the Pistons at No. 7, joins his fellow Frenchman Sekou Doumbouya in Detroit. It’s pretty incredible thinking that there is a large constituency of basketball fans in France who root for the Pistons. Troy Weaver said it didn’t factor into the decision a draft Hayes. I just call that a verbal wink. They knew each other before even making the NBA.

Theo Maledon, another French point guard, landed in Oklahoma City. I don’t know much about Maledon. But an international project growing in the Thunder’s system could have any range of outcomes.