NBA Draft 2018: Winners and losers

BROOKLYN, NY - JUNE 21: Luka Doncic speaks to the media after being selected third overall at the 2018 NBA Draft on June 21, 2018 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Kostas Lymperopoulos/NBAE via Getty Images) /

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The 2018 NBA Draft has come and gone, and here are the initial reactions of who won and lost the annual allocation of talent from the college and overseas ranks to the NBA.

The 2018 NBA Draft seemed like it would be one that was chaotic, and there were moments of absolute thrills as we wound our way through the selections. A night that began with the Phoenix Suns taking Deandre Ayton of Arizona turned into a parade of wings in the latter half of the first round. In between, three trades rocked the draft, led by the Dallas Mavericks trading up with the Atlanta Hawks for Luka Doncic. Players went too high, and players went too low, as always seems to happen when the draft rolls around. Grayson Allen went in the first round, for example, while De’Anthony Melton did not. That’s somewhat crazy, and is also the nature of the draft.

As always, certain teams and players came away better off than others. There are winners and losers that seem obvious right away, and while it’s a total unknown if that is going to pan out as true or not, it’s worth diving into who did the best and who may have handicapped themselves moving forward. There are a few teams that have set themselves up nicely moving into free agency, and some that made some poor decisions on draft night. We will break them down here, starting with the big winner of the entire evening: The Dallas Mavericks, who landed the best player in the draft.

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