The 2023 NBA Draft is in the books, which means it’s time to decide the winners and the losers of the annual event. And since we’ve already gone through the NBA draft winners, it’s time to discuss the losers. These players, teams, and fan bases had the toughest draft night and now have some work to do to rebound from it. So, without further ado, here is why Villanova’s Cam Whitmore, Kansas’ Gradey Dick, the Philadelphia 76ers, and Boston Celtics fans are the four biggest losers of the 2023 NBA Draft.

Cam Whitmore

Like Aaron Rodgers in 2005, Villanova wing Cam Whitmore took a long, slow, painful tumble down the draft board on Thursday night.

Whitmore is 18 years old and 6-foot-6, 235 pounds. Scouts noted that the Wildcats freshman had the most NBA-ready body in the draft, and pundits put him in the top 10 of most mock drafts.

However, he not only fell all the way out of the lottery, he slid to No. 20, where the Houston Rockets finally stopped his fall.

Ahead of the Rockets’ pick, ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski told viewers that the reason for the Whitmore slide was that he had bad interviews and bad workouts with teams in the pre-draft process. Ouch.

In the end, Whitmore could come away from this with a chip on his shoulder — like Rodgers — and let that help him become a killer in the pros. He also cost himself a few million dollars, though, and going to the Rockets isn’t exactly a great situation for a player who interviewed poorly.

Gradey Dick

Kansas sharpshooter Gradey Dick is on this NBA draft losers list, and not (only) because of the sparkly red suit he wore on draft night.

While Dick didn’t slide nearly as far as Cam Whitmore, he did fall a few spots. Most mock drafts had him going No. 10 to the Dallas Mavericks or No. 11 to the Orlando Magic. Instead, he went No. 13 to the Toronto Raptors.

In Dallas, he would have got to play with Luka Doncic. In Orlando, he would have become part of a young core with Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and No. 6 pick Anthony Black. Instead, the Mavs traded their pick, the Magic took Michigan’s Jett Howard, and Dick went to the Raptors.

Toronto is a team in transition. If the squad makes the playoffs, ends up with a top pick in next year’s draft, or trades everyone during the season, it wouldn’t be a surprise. Plus, Dick goes to Canada, which has great fans but a tough tax situation, instead of Texas or Florida, which has no state income tax.

Dick may have to sell a few sequins from that draft night suit to make up for the money he lost at the 2023 NBA draft.

Philadelphia 76ers

With their picks in the 2023 NBA Draft, the Sixers selected… nobody.

Daryl Morey and company lost a pick for tampering and traded away the rest of their selections, so they didn’t make a pick on Thursday night. And with new “second apron” financial rules coming into the league, cheap rookies are more valuable than ever.

The Sixers did make some moves on draft night or, more specifically in the early morning hours after the draft. Morey signed NC State guard Terquavion Smith, Arkansas wing Ricky Council IV, and Arizona big Azuolas Tubelis.

So, there are some new young players in Philly — or more likely with the Sixers' G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats — but they aren’t high-end prospects by any means.

Boston Celtics fans

The most hilarious NBA draft losers of the night were the Boston Celtics fans. These die-hard supporters (who no one feels bad for) went on a rollercoaster of emotions over the last 48 hours.

On the trade front, a deal for Kristaps Porzingis with Malcolm Brogdon fell through before a Porzingis trade with Marcus Smart came to fruition. In that deal, the Celtics picked up a first-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, which fired up Celtics fans for the proceedings in a way they hadn’t been before.

But when pick No. 25 came along, the team traded the pick (Houston guard Marcus Sasser) to the Detroit Pistons. In Round 2, the Celtics were involved in several more trades, making it hard to follow who was coming to Beantown and who wasn’t.

Draft night became a bust for Celtics fans, who thought they’d be getting an interesting first-round prospect now.

In the end, it looks like the Celtics traded away Barcelona center James Nnaji, Tennessee forward Julian Phillips, and Washington State center Mouhamed Gueye. They did end up with Arkansas wing Jordan Walsh, so that’s (kind of) a win! Right, Celtics fans?