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Losers
Charlotte Hornets
I do believe Malik Monk is a better player than the numbers show due to his scoring outburst during his last few games. There is no denying that his rookie season was awful after averaging slightly less than 7 points a game while shooting 36% from the field. Monk will undergo further scrutiny since the future star Donovan Mitchell was selected two picks later. Monk was expected to aid Kemba with the scoring and provide a strong backcourt, however after this past season people will question whether he can be a starter in today's game.
Denver Nuggets
No one expected Utah to make the playoffs this year after their All-Star Gordon Hayward had left in free agency. Donovan Mitchell was acquired in a trade with the Denver Nuggets and he went off during his rookie campaign. He averaged about 20 points per game as a rookie and played a major part in Utah's run in the playoffs. Mitchell will become an All-Star and has looks to be comfortable with being the Alpha Dog of the Jazz. Unfortunately for Denver, they did not see Mitchell becoming as successful as he was but had they known they would have had an abundance of wings with Murray and Harris. Basketball fans will criticize Denver for trading a future All-Star and it would have been interesting to see a backcourt of Murray and Mitchell with Gary Harris as a sixth man.
Chicago Bulls
Trading your franchise player is usually not going to be good for your team, and you are usually not going to get equal value in return. However the Jimmy Butler trade is not as bad as it originally was thought to be. Lavine is coming back from his injury and has shown to be a future scoring force, Dunn has improved immensely and shown his defensive intensity, and Lauri Markannen could be the primary or secondary scoring option for the team for years. The trade that is more upsetting is trading Jordan Bell to the Warriors for money. Jordan Bell won't be a superstar but he could be a good starter or a great bench player for a contending team. He played great for the Warriors as a second round pick and was able to impact the team in similar ways as Draymond Green. He won't be as good as Green, but he definitely will help the Warriors for all their title runs for the next few years. Bell could have been a core piece of the Bulls rebuild and his defensive mind would have been very complimentary to Lauri.
The 2017 NBA Draft has the potential to be one of the best draft classes of all time. With so many players showing promise to be stars and good stars for their respective teams. There are winners and losers and hopefully the losers will not repeat their mistakes for the upcoming draft.
