2014 NBA draft: Winners and losers
The 2014 NBA draft is over. Cleveland selected Andrew Wiggins, Rodney Hood fell down in the draft and the raptors drafted an unknown Brazilian. We will be looking at the winners and losers of the 2014 NBA draft.
The Winners:
Utah Jazz
Utah was able to draft the outstanding Australian point guard Dante Exum at number 5. Now the team has a very strong backcourt with Trey Burke. The team also got very lucky when Rodney Hood slipped in the draft all the way to number 23. Nobody saw Rodney Hood falling down in the draft, I had Rodney as my 11th pick. Utah was clearly a winner when they had the chance to draft Dante and Rodney.
Michael Carter Williams
Michael was a winner of the draft, when the 76ers originally drafted Elfrid Payton at number 10. It gave him a scare that he may lose his starting job, but lucky for him the 76ers traded Elfrid to Orlando for Dario Saric. It would have been shocking to see the rookie of the year winner lose his job just after one season.
Orlando magic
Orlando first drafted Aaron Gordon with the fourth pick in the draft, this was somewhat of a surprise because many people had thought Aaron Gordon would be in the top 10 but not the top 5. I thought the magic would draft Vonleh at number four, who in my opinion is the better power forward, but the magic do need shooters and Gordon is an excellent shooter with tremendous potential. Then they traded Dario Saric for Elfrid Payton which was an excellent trade by Orlando. Elfrid is a great point guard and he could be the point guard of the future for the magic.
New York Knicks
New York pulled off an early trade to get veteran point guard Jose Calderon. Jose calderon is definitely an upgrade over Raymond Felton. The New York was able to draft Cleathony Early with the 34th pick, Cleanthony Early was definitely one of the more underrated players in the draft. Cleanthony is definitely a skilled player who could become a quality starter for the team.
The losers:
Toronto Raptors
Nobody expected the raptors to draft Bruno Cabocl. Bruno is a raw player with potential, but nobody had heard of the kid prior to the draft. Even the analysts were struggling to learn who he was. This draft pick may not be a bad one, but the raptors could have picked Bruno in the second round. The raptors had the chance to draft Rodney Hood, P.J Hairston, or Shabazz Napier all of those players would make sense for the raptors and would have been quality picks.
New Orleans Pelicans
They did not have a single pick in the draft when they could have really used one. The pelicans failed to make the playoffs this year, and with a draft where there is so much talent, the pelicans could have really benefited.