The Winners & Losers of the 2012 NBA Draft

Part 2 - The Losers

Cleveland Cavaliers - The Cavaliers came into this draft possessing no less than four picks (Nos. 4, 24, 33, 34), so it was no surprise that the were among the most frequent names mentioned in trade rumors. The Cavs were believed to be very high on Bradley Beal and were looking to make a deal with Charlotte for the No. 2 pick so as to select him ahead of the Wizards. It appears when this deal fell through they were still intent on taking a wing player and so reached for Syracuse sixth man Dion Waters. This was a very strange pick, and it's difficult to imagine why the Cavs chose to take Waiters at when they surely could have swung a deal to trade down a couple of spots, still select him and maybe even pick up an asset in the process. The Cavaliers other first round pick was Tyler Zeller, whose draft rights they received in a trade with Dallas. The trade involved the Mavericks receiving the 23rd, 33rd and 34th picks in exchange for the 17th pick, which the Cav's then used to select Zeller. I understand the Zeller dropped lower than expected, and that he is a solid big man who can run the floor, but if they had not made that trade the Cav's could perhaps have gambled on Perry Jones at 23, and then still had solid swingmen like Doron Lamb and Orlando Johnson on the board in the second round.

Damian Lillard

Portland Trailblazers - The Blazer came into this draft with two lottery picks, thanks to the Gerald Wallace trade they made with the Brooklyn Nets earlier this year. How they used those picks though is questionable. With the sixth pick, they took Damian Lillard from Weber State. Lillard is a two-tim Big Sky Conference MVP and does project to be one of the best point guards from this draft, but to pick him this high seems unnecessarily risky given the players who were still on the board. Lillard never plated against a top 25 team during his time in college, and his team never made the NCAA tournament. His very much untested against the best talent in college basketball, let alone the NBA. Harrison Barnes, Austin Rivers or even Drummond would surely have been better picks at this point. Given that the Blazers may lose current small forward Nicolas Batum in Free agency, Barnes would have been an excellent pick-up, and though Portland's history with centers isn't great¹, Drummond could have been a potential perfect front-court partner for LaMarcus Aldridge.

With the 11th pick, Portland selected Illinois center Meyers Leonard, an athletic big with some potential, but plenty of improving to do. This pick makes little sense considering the other big man options available - John Henson and Tyler Zeller. Even one of the Jones' - Terrence or Perry III, - would have been preferable in my opinion.

Terrence Ross

Toronto Raptors - At No. 9, the Raptors reached for wingman Terrence Ross out of Washington. Ross was a scoring machine in college - averaging 25 ppg, - but whether he can be half that at the pro-level remains a big question. He had been rising up team's draft boards in the final days of scouting but nonetheless he was not expected to go this high and there were opportunities for the Raptors to trade down² and still select their guy.

Miles Plumlee

Indiana Pacers - When you're selected where the Pacers were in a draft (No. 26), it's hard to get it wrong enough to make a 'draft losers' list, but this is exactly what the Pacers did by selecting Duke's Miles Plumlee. Sure, you're highly unlikely to find a franchise changing player this late in the first round, but there were so many guys left on the board who were either a) more talented, b) had much greater potential than Plumlee, or c) both. The Pacers already possess great front-court depth, so when Plumlee will even get to see playing time is questionable. A wasted pick by the Pacers.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist - MKG has been widely praised as a youngster who possesses all the intangibles and winning credentials needed to be a quality player and leader on the NBA level. Let's just hope is personal development isn't hindered by the difficult situation he finds himself in. MKG is known for his defensive instincts, and while this can only help Charlotte they're going to need as much as he can possibly provide offensively as well. I loved this pick for the Bobcats, but I don't love it so much for Kidd-Gilchrist. Let's hope the Bobcat's can find him the help he needs and deserves sooner rather than later.

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1. Bill Walton, who the Blazers selected as the No. 1 pick in 1974 draft, led the team to the 1977 championship and won the 1978 MVP award before a serious of injuries cut short his career and caused him to demand a trade from the Blazers.

In 1984, the Blazers famously selected Kentucky center Sam Bowie second overall, ahead of future Hall of Famer Michael Jordan. Bowie went on to have a solid NBA career averaging 10.9 points and 7.5 rebounds a game, but was frequently troubled by injuries and never reached his original potential.

The next potential franchise center the Blazers acquired was Arvydas Sabonis, from Lithuania. Sabonis though, spent most of his career in Europe and did not arrive in Portland until he was 31 years old.

The Blazers more recently selected Greg Oden with the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft, (ahead of Kevin Durant). In five seasons with the Blazers, Oden consistently struggled with knee injuries, and played a total of 82 games during that time, before Portland released him earlier this year.

2. Houston would almost certainly have pulled the trigger on a deal that sent Kyle Lowry and the No. 12 pick to the Raptors for their No. 8 pick. In that scenario, Terrence Jones is almost certainly still available at twelve, if Toronto was really that sold on him.