The 2012 NBA Draft is history. Now, the judging and grading begins. With that in mind let's look at the regional winners and losers from Thursday, including the New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets and players from regional colleges.
Winners
Dion Waiters -- From not starting at Syracuse University to being picked fourth overall in the draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. That's a huge rise for a player who the Cavs hope will be a dynamic scorer they can pair with point guard Kyrie Irving to make an exciting young backcourt Cleveland can rebuild around.
Fab Melo -- The 7-foot center from Syracuse was taken 22nd overall by the Boston Celtics, a perfect landing spot for the former Orange big man. Melo is a defensive presence and could develop into a solid rebounder, and those are skills Boston desperately needs. Melo's offensive game is mostly non-existent right now, but he has landed with a terrific organization and should get minutes because of his defense while his offense -- hopefully -- develops.
Kris Joseph --The 6-foot-7 small forward from Syracuse seemed like a player on the bubble as to whether or not he would be drafted.Joseph ended up joining Melo in Boston when the Celtics nabbed him in the second round, 51st overall. That's a win for Joseph.
Andrew Nicholson -- The 6-foot-9 power forward with the well-rounded game worked his way into being the 19th overall selection in the draft, landing with the Orlando Magic. Good for him.
Losers
Scott Machado -- The Iona guard led the nation in assists, and there was a good deal of buzz around him leading up to the draft. Yet, his name was never called Thursday night. Still, Machado will now get to choose a team to try out for as a free agent, so things might not be all bad. Yet, the 'undrafted player' label will make it tougher for him to make a team.
New York Knicks -- The Knicks had only the 48th pick, and used it on a European player who isn't likely to play in the NBA for at least a couple of years. Kostas Popanikolaou, a small forward from Greece, has a cool name. The Knicks, though, won't get help from him soon -- if they ever do.
Brooklyn Nets -- The Nets did a nice job collecting players at the end of the second round, throwing around a little money to make two trades. They ended up getting three players in the second round. Unless the Nets, however, were able to somehow deal their way into the lottery portion of the draft they were destined to be losers here. After trading a pick to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Gerald Wllace, a pick that ended up No. 6 overall, nothing they could accomplish in the second round could make up for not having a lottery pick.
On The Fence
Moe Harkless -- The former St. John's star went 15th overall to the Philadelphia 76ers. Right now I can't decide if this is good or bad for the 6-foot-8 small forward. Problem is the 76ers already have a stud small forward in Andre Iguodala. If Iguodala is there Harkless has no spot. There is, however, speculation that Philadelphia might trade Iguodala. If they do that you can probably push Harkless to the winners category. If they don't, he ends up as a loser.
Fashion Police
Below, the important stuff. Amy K. Nelson of SB Nation YouTube sits down with Walt 'Clyde' Frazier to discuss draft night fashion winners and losers.
2012 NBA Draft: Draft Fashion with Clyde Frazier (via sbnation)