4 winners and 3 losers from a busy 2017 NBA Draft

The 2017 NBA Draft has passed us by just like that, delivering beautifully after a week filled with trade rumors and questions about what would really happen. Now we’re left with about a week to process the results before the offseason shifts into free agency mode.

There are some obvious winners and losers: Markelle Fultz went No. 1 overall, which understandably makes him a winner, while Semi Ojeleye tumbled into the second round despite being projected as high as the mid-first round. If you rose or fell dramatically in the draft, you’re going to fall into one of those categories, after all.

So ignoring the obvious ones like that, here are some winners and losers from Thursday’s proceedings, as much as these people making millions of dollars can really “lose” at anything.

Jimmy Butler wasn’t a draft pick, but Minnesota’s draft night trade for him (for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and swapped first round picks) gave them the best player acquired on Thursday. Butler is a superstar, a top-15 player who is excellent on both ends of the court and would fit well into any modern offense. The Timberwolves struggled last season, but have a very promising young core in Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. Butler will help them win now.

It’s also a reunion: Butler and Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau spent four seasons together with the Chicago Bulls, where Butler blossomed into the team’s best player. On the young Timberwolves roster, Butler’s veteran presence should help everyone on both ends.

You probably know the legend of Embiid’s Twitter, which has no filter and makes hilarious jokes all the same. Here’s an example from 2014 and another from 2017, just to prove that this has been happening for a long time. Thursday was no different.

OK, that’s a bit corny, but Embiid redeemed himself with this.

The two Sixers teammates were obviously referring to LaVar Ball and his son, Lonzo, who went second overall to the Los Angeles Lakers. DAMN, Joel.

White spent three years at University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, which is a feeder school to the University of Colorado. White transferred to the main school in Boulder his senior year, where he was named first team All-Pac-12 and saw his draft stock rise.

But now he’s with the Spurs, who have an uncanny knack for finding rotation players with late first round picks like the No. 29 selection. From community college to the league’s best franchise over the past two decades in just two years — that’s not bad. Not bad at all.

They didn’t trade Kristaps Porzingis.

For considering trading Kristaps Porzingis, the only good thing left in their Godforsaken franchise.

The Indiana Pacers might still know exactly what they’re doing. We’ll give them the benefit of the doubt that they have several trade offers and are only waiting this situation out in hopes of earning one more concession in their favor.

Still, the Pacers must trade George, and more time passed by without that happening. Last week, it was reported that George told the Pacers he won’t re-sign with the team when he becomes a free agent in 2018. If Indiana keeps him, it’s a lost season knowing their best player isn’t even someone they can continue to build around him.

But now that the rest of the league knows the Pacers have to trade for him, his trade value has cratered.

The Pacers general manager didn’t seem too worried, so Indiana probably has offers on the table. Still, they have until July 1 — that’s when free agency starts, and they really need to have a deal done by then.

Wade is a loser because he’s now stuck on the Jimmy Butler-less Chicago Bulls, but we might reconsider it a week or two. Faced with a player option worth $24 million, Wade decided, “Yes, I would like to be $24 million richer.” I guess that I’d say the same thing.

But with the Bulls going into rebuilding mode, it’s likely that Chicago will look to trade Wade now — and he might raise a fit trying to leave. It’s ironic that the Wade left the Miami Heat, who will almost certainly be better than the Bulls now next season, but if he ends up on another playoff team with those $24 million then he’s a winner in multiple ways.