2014 NBA Picks and Predictions: NBA Draft Recap – Top 5 Biggest Losers

2014 NBA Picks and Predictions: NBA Draft Recap – Top 5 Biggest Winners: The 2014 NBA Draft is in the books, and while every fan wants to believe that their team picked up a player or two that will transform their team into a contender, the fact is that some teams just don’t have a great draft. This year’s draft was no exception, and while time will ultimately tell which teams truly whiffed on their picks, there are ready some teams that stand out as making very questionable decisions. With that in mind, here is a closer look at the teams that came up small in the 2014 NBA Draft.

1. Toronto Raptors 

Without question, Toronto made the most questionable pick of the first round. They took Bruno Caboclo with the No. 20 pick, and while he does have intriguing upside thanks to his 7-foot-7 wingspan and athleticism, he is also one of the rawest players that were drafted. Plain and simple, he is a multi-year project, and more importantly, he is a project that would have been available when the Raptors selected in the second round. Meanwhile, Toronto missed a chance to add an immediate contributor to a team that was the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference last year. This team did not get any better on draft night, and the Raptors are going to slide down the pecking order in the East unless they do something in free agency.

2. Philadelphia 76ers

I actually liked the 76ers grabbing Joel Embiid with the No. 3 pick, but I question their approach the rest of the draft. Embiid could easily miss the entire season recovering from foot surgery, and with their other top-10 pick, they traded for forward Dario Saric, who will likely be in Europe for the next two years. In the second round, the 76ers grabbed K.J. McDaniels and Jerami Grant, and while both players have a lot of athleticism, neither has any offensive polish. Suddenly, Philadelphia has a roster full of athletes but no steady source of offense. Embiid could provide some low-post scoring eventually, but at the end of the day, the 76ers don’t have a player on the team that can really shoot the ball. This team is destined to pick in the lottery for the foreseeable future.

3. Minnesota Timberwolves

Depending on what happens with Kevin Love, the Timberwolves’ draft could be irrelevant for a few years anyway because the team will be rebuilding, but their pick were still curious. Guard Zach LaVine is a great athlete, but he does his best work with the ball in his hands, and Minnesota already has a player in Ricky Rubio that has to have the ball in his hands to be effective. With their second-round pick, the Timberwolves took forward Glen Robinson III, and while there is no denying his physical tools, he is also a tweener with questions about his focus. Minnesota doesn’t exactly have a strong locker room so I question whether Robinson will ever meet his potential. What is the direction of this team?

4. Los Angeles Clippers

With only one pick late in the first round, the Clippers weren’t going to hit a home run in this draft. However, they could have landed a better role player than Chris Wilcox. Wilcox can knock down shots from the perimeter, but Los Angeles already added J.J. Redick and Jared Dudley in free agency last year and drafted Reggie Bullock so the team already invested in three similar players. A quality big man that could rotate in behind Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan would have made a lot more sense, but instead, the Clippers are stuck with a player that is a clone of their first-round pick last year. This draft was a missed opportunity for the Clippers to take another step toward becoming a title contender.

5. Orlando Magic

Orlando had a pair of top-12 picks, and the Magic took forward Aaron Gordon at No. 4 and traded with Philadelphia to land guard Elfrid Payton. While both players have plenty of upside and athleticism, I don’t like the fit. Gordon adds to Orlando’s list of super-athletic forwards that can’t shoot the ball, and Payton’s jumper is almost as unreliable. The Magic got a couple of players that should start immediately, but they are no closer to finding the efficient perimeter players they need to upgrade their offense. Having two picks high in a deep draft and not really addressing major needs makes Orlando’s draft a little disappointing.

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