A wild NBA draft is over after trades galore and one huge move that had nothing to do with the draft and won't even be official for another two weeks. So who won?
USA TODAY Sports' draft grades take into account only what happened on draft night that was relevant to the draft itself. They are not weighted for the impact of the players, so that a team with only one second-round pick could get an A or an F depending on what the team did with its pick, even though the selection might not have much impact on the franchise's future.
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With that said, here are the 15 Eastern Conference teams, listed alphabetically:
ATLANTA HAWKS
New faces: No. 16 C Lucas Nogueira, No. 17 PG Dennis Schroeder, No. 44 C Mike Muscala, No. 47 PG Raul Neto, SG Jared Cunningham
No team has more rebuilding to do this offseason than the Hawks, who entered the offseason with three players locked into contracts for next year. Nogueira and Schroeder were the top two foreign prospects in the draft. Both have tremendous athleticism and could play next year, at least in limited roles. Muscala is one of the most skilled big men in the draft. Neto is a starter in Spain's top league. Cunningham, the No. 24 pick in last year's draft, was more or less handed to them by the cost-cutting Mavericks and could be useful. All five of these players could be solid bench players for years to come. That's impressive, something no other team came away from this draft able to say.
Credits:USAToday
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