Winners and losers from 2021 NBA Draft night

Cade Cunningham, Jalen Green and Evan Mobley are where they belong. Though you can argue that the last of those three names may not have been the absolutely perfect fit, it would have been a poor decision for the Cavaliers to trade away that selection when he has the potential to develop into the league's next dominant inside-out big man.

As for the Pistons, Cade Cunningham has already entrenched himself so deeply into the hearts of the fan base through draft hype that it would have been utterly foolish to do anything else with that pick. I don't care what kind of return you could have gotten from a team trying to trade up; as of now, it was a no-brainer to take the consensus best guy available and watch a new era begin.

And then there's Green, who couldn't have landed in a better situation for him to take off — literally — as a Rocket. Would it surprise anyone if he scored 20 points per game as a rookie? Not at all, with some thinking he has the ability to lead the league in scoring just a few years into his career. He's exactly the type of player that this fan base was salivating for upon James Harden's departure, and it will be a ton of fun to watch.

This one's quite simple, really. At No. 20, the Hawks selected what should be an NBA-ready prospect in Jalen Johnson, whose talent is not the question. He's got the size, athleticism and court vision to be a special player, and teams may end up regretting overthinking whether or not his behavior and skill set were factors worth passing on. At the least, it's a bold pick for a roster that can afford to act that way, with existing playoff expectations and a lot of depth already. At best, they just took a potential top-10 talent who will learn behind and eventually blend in with fellow forwards De'Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish, ultimately blossoming into yet another Duke star.

Speaking of Cam Reddish, the Hawks were offering him up to teams in the lottery along with this pick, and it's fairly safe to assume that the Hawks' fan base is happy that this wasn't the case.

And then there's Sharife Cooper, who slid all the way down to — did I read that right? — yes, No. 48 in the draft. The Auburn talent was a near-consensus first-round talent who, alas, was a second-round pick, and a fairly late second-round pick at that. He played high school ball in Georgia, making this something of a homecoming for Cooper, and his skills in the back court combined with those of Trae Young will create quite the headache for defenses.

It might have been fun to see what moves the Warriors could pull off by packaging the No. 7 and No. 14 picks, but grabbing arguably a top-five talent at No. 7 and a safe lottery talent at No. 14 isn't such a bad alternative, you know?

Jonathan Kuminga is about as raw a prospect as there is, but his athleticism is off the charts and he has one of the highest ceilings of anyone in the draft. And though he may not completely fit the win-now formula that the Warriors should attempt to use while Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are all still performing at high levels, Moses Moody certainly does. A sharpshooter with defensive prowess is exactly what a competing team can always use, and that's what the Arkansas alum will aim to provide.

From Kuminga and Moody's perspective, it's got to be considered a win to head to the Bay Area and play with three future Hall of Famers at a time when they're attempting to compete at the highest level, right? Wins all around for the Dubs.

These two teams had huge draft hauls, with a number of intriguing pieces that should have fans very, very excited for what's to come.

For the Hornets, we'll focus on James Bouknight and Kai Jones, the latter of which was acquired in a trade with the Knicks. Bouknight is an explosive scorer who is really going to like playing alongside LaMelo Ball, and a player whose stock had fluctuated throughout the process but had ultimately risen in recent weeks. Thus, at No. 11, the Hornets have to feel happy that they pulled away with a top-10 value. Jones, on the other hand, was a potential lottery pick, and he can develop in the timeline that the Hornets have laid out based on their current pieces to become the team's big man of the future.

The Rockets, on the other hand, have built a core for years to come, grabbing meaningful names with not one, not two, not three but four first-round picks. Jalen Green was a no-brainer at No. 2, and we've already discussed his fit. But grabbing Alperen Sengun (via trade), Usman Garuba and Josh Christopher gives the Rockets four names, all of whom could legitimately become meaningful starters (if not stars) in the NBA. For a team that appeared to be without much direction throughout a frustrating 2020-21 campaign, they're headed on the right track once again.

Another draft slide, similar to that of Sharife Cooper, helped the Chicago Bulls land a projected first-round pick far past where he was expected to fall. What's more is that the Bulls should have sacrificed their ability to get their hands on a first-rounder when they traded for Nikola Vucevic and handed the Magic their 2021 first-round pick in return. In the second round, they were able to nab one anyway.

Ayo Dosunmu was the guy, and the fairy tale story continues with the fact that he was born in Chicago and played college ball at Illinois. He probably would have preferred not to slip out of the first round, but all things considered, we have to think he's pretty happy with how the night unfolded.

"It’s destined. You can’t stop what’s destined. You can never stop what the Lord has planned," Dosunmu said (via Derek Piper of 247 Sports). "I committed to Illinois. I played in my home state. Now, I’m rewarded with playing for my home city."

Westbrook didn't seem to be going anywhere fast in his back court partnership with Bradley Beal in the nation's capital, and though he's still performing at an insanely high level — he averaged a triple-double for the fourth time in his career in the 2020-21 season — he's also entering his age-33 season. The time he has left as a bonafide star in the league is potentially running out.

So what better place to spend it than in Los Angeles alongside two of the top — I don't know — six or seven players in the league? LeBron James and Anthony Davis have already won one ring together, and it's hard not to see them as early favorites in the Western Conference at this point in time given this new trio. That's got to feel good for the ringless Westbrook.

When on earth will this Ben Simmons trade happen? It seems inevitable at this point, but it also seemed likely that it would have already happened. Meanwhile, we're treated to outlandish trade requests in which the Sixers' front office asks for the Brooklyn Nets' big three in return for Simmons and promptly gets rejected.

Okay, so that offer hasn't been made (yet), but these ones reportedly had been:
- Simmons for "every young player" the Cavaliers value and draft picks
- Simmons for Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby and No. 4 overall pick from Raptors
- Simmons for Andrew Wiggins, James Wiseman, No. 7 and No. 14 picks and future first-rounders from Warriors

The draft didn't hold any answers, at least not for Simmons. Jaden Springer is exciting and the team is getting some good feedback on second-rounders Filip Petrusev and Charles Bassey, so it's not the picks that were disappointing. But it seems as though their attempt to move Simmons on draft night failed, and we're left wondering how they'll pull a move off while seeking such a huge return.

It's less of a "loss" for the Knicks than it is for the fan base expecting some fun moves, or at least expecting some fun names at the No. 19 and No. 21 slots in the draft. Kai Jones and Keon Johnson are both exciting names, and those were the two players to be chosen at those two picks, respectively. The only issue is that neither one wound up going to the Knicks, with the Hornets and Clippers making reported deals to move into these positions, respectively. They got some assets in return, but it just feels a little bit underwhelming seeing as two potential lottery guys were there for the taking, and they didn't take them.

Instead, the Knicks came away with Quentin Grimes at No. 25, and the same goes for No. 34 Rokas Jokubaitis and No. 36 Miles McBride. Grimes and McBride seem to specifically fit the Thibodeau mold, and so these aren't picks that the fans should be disappointed in. But overall, it wouldn't be surprising if the Knicks faithful were a little bit underwhelmed.

And speaking of the Knicks faithful that might have been disappointed... that might be because the fans in attendance — or even watching at home but not actively browsing Twitter — thought that both Kai Jones and Keon Johnson were, in fact, coming to Madison Square Garden.

As The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor pointed out, the presentation was very sloppy and a bit hard to follow if you were receiving conflicting information from insiders like Shams Charania, reports that the broadcast seemingly refused to acknowledge.