This week’s NBA draft wasn’t as wild as some expected. The talk of a torrent of trades turned out to be mostly that — talk. It was still fascinating and entertaining, albeit not as crazy as predicted.
There were stunning selections. There were trades. There were smart choices — mostly made by smart teams that typically do well in this event — and poor ones by the not-so-smart teams that never seem to get the draft right.
The Post’s Zach Braziller breaks it all down with his winners and losers:
Winners
Hawks
There may not have been a bigger winner in this draft, and that’s not because I’m high on the Hawks’ pick of Georgia’s Asa Newell, which I am. Newell, a freak athlete, has a chance to be a solid two-way forward. But the Hawks getting the Pelicans’ unprotected first-round pick in next year’s loaded draft for switching picks, going from No. 13 to 23, was flat-out robbery. New Orleans will likely find itself in the lottery in a year. What a coup for Atlanta.