Winners and losers from the NBA Draft

It's not clear why Whitmore, who The Athletic had as the draft's third-best prospect, fell so far. Speculation has ranged from bad medical information to bad team interviews, to lackluster workouts. Whitmore does have a reputation for not practicing hard, and he certainly doesn't pass much. But he's big (6'7", 235 pounds) and fast, a good dribbler who made 64 percent of his shots at the rim.

Both he and Thompson need to broaden their offensive games, but these are two incredibly athletic wings. With new coach Ime Udoka in place, Houston should be confident - if patient - about the development of their games, but both players have a good chance at becoming All-Stars. Getting two such players in a single draft is a huge win for the Rockets.

Dallas Mavericks

Dallas drew a $750K fine for resting players in hopes of losing their way into a top-10 pick. It was worth it after their draft night machinations turned that pick into three new players.

Dallas dealt No. 10 to Oklahoma City for the No. 12 pick, which they used on gigantic center Dereck Lively II out of Duke, a 7-foot-1 center with a 7-foot-6 wingspan. He could eventually transform the Mavericks' porous defense by himself, and while he can really only set screens and finish lobs on offense, Luka Doncic loves using screens and throwing lobs.

They also unloaded Davis Bertans' contract in the deal and got a trade exception, which they turned around and used to acquire center Richaun Holmes from Sacramento, along with No. 24 pick Olivier-Maxence "O-Max" Prosper. He's another long-armed defender for the Mavericks, while Holmes can step in for Dwight Powell as the new starting center.

It might not be spectacular, but it's an amazing haul for a team that started with one pick and a bad contract and came back with three good pieces. The lesson? Tanking works. And sometimes it's well worth a six-figure fine.

Orlando Magic

The Magic have some excellent young scorers and creators in Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Markelle Fultz. This puts them in a great position to take a swing on Anthony Black out of Arkansas, a big guard that was such a good athlete, he got multiple Division One offers to play football as well. 

Black is reportedly an amazing defender and passing, and at 6'6" and a well-muscled 210 pounds, he's big for either guard spot despite being a natural point. That means he should slot in comfortably next to Fultz or Cole Anthony, but should be very comfortable setting up Orlando's scorers. His weakness is his jumper, but this is a team that doesn't need him to score right away.

Particularly because of who Orlando nabbed at No. 11. Michigan's Jett Howard is a fantastic shooter, whether catching and shooting or on the move. The Magic managed to get players with huge upsides on both sides of the ball in the lottery, and the future is now in central Florida. 

Losers

Detroit Pistons

No disrespect to the Pistons or Ausar Thompson, but you simply never want to be in the position of taking the worse of a pair of twins. Thompson went No. 5 to the Pistons, one pick behind his older (by a minute and 12 seconds) and identical brother Amen. There's no doubt the Phoenix Suns would have preferred to get Brook Lopez instead of his twin brother Robin in the 2008 Draft (Brook went No. 10; Robin was No. 15), and the Pistons are setting themselves up for disappointment.

Beyond the twin issue, Detroit's biggest weakness last season was their inability to shoot. Now, new coach Monty Williams adds another high-potential young player whose biggest weakness is shooting. Even with Cade Cunningham returning, Detroit is looking at a very offensively-challenged 2023-24 season.

Golden State Warriors

The Warriors had a busy Thursday even before the draft began, trading Jordan Poole and future picks to Washington for Chris Paul, whose reaction to the news was less than enthusiastic.

Maybe he was just tired from his book tour.

It was a conflicting day for Warriors fans, who have been rooting against Paul for over a decade on four separate Western Conference teams. Then they made an unexciting pick at No. 19, taking Brandin Podziemski out of Santa Clara. He's a great pure shooter, but he's undersized and slow. And bad at jumping. And defense.

The combination of trading a 24-year-old for a 38-year-old and adding one of the draft's least athletic prospects just makes the aging Warriors seem, well, older and slower. Perhaps the Warriors want to add more veterans around Steph Curry & Co., and they're settling for a young player who moves like an old one. Oh, and late on draft night they revealed that last year's first-round pick, Patrick Baldwin, Jr., is also heading to Washington in a money-saving move.

Utah Jazz

The Jazz made three perfectly fine picks in the NBA Draft Thursday. Taylor Hendricks is a nice player and a solid defender but lacks the kind of star upside you generally want in a top-10 pick. Keyonte George got buckets at Baylor, but might not have the separation and quick burst he'll need against NBA defenders. Brice Sensabaugh is a great shot-maker, but lacks explosion and isn't a great defender.

But the Jazz weren't looking for quantity in this draft. They wanted to use their three first-rounders to move up for a true difference-maker, namely Black. But he went to Orlando at No. 6, and Jazz settled for keeping their picks instead.

All these guys have some real NBA skills and could all easily turn into useful rotation players. But with a surplus of picks going forward as well, the Jazz wanted to use their draft capital to aim higher than "useful" this year.