What's your order? Mine is.. Derrick Rose OJ Mayo Brook Lopez Michael Beasley Russell Westbrook Eric Gordon Kevin Love DJ Augustin Mario Chalmers Jason Thompson Nicolas Batum Anthony Randolph Jerryd Bayless Ryan Anderson
I'm not going to go through all of it. But I would do 1. Rose 2. Beasley 3. Lopez 4. Mayo 5. Wetbrook
It's only one year. The best player in year one doesn't always end up as the best player. Beasley has so great of skills, that he should be a good player in due time. The Heat are just bringing him along slowly, and holding him accountable for every mistake right now. I think there is a decent chance that Beasley ends up as the best player from this draft still.
Derrick Rose OJ Mayo Russel Westbrooke Brook Lopez Michael Beasley Kevin Love Eric Gordon DJ Augustin I'll finish later. I need to look at the complete draft list first.
I think I'd move Anthony Randolph quite a bit higher. He's still raw but he looks like he could end up being the best player in this draft. I'd probably put him ahead of Love, possibly ahead of Gordon. I know I'm biased but watch him play, he's that good.
Derrick Rose Brook Lopez-consistent OJ Mayo Russell Westbrook-if he cut down on the turnovers and raised his fg% he'd be #2 Kevin Love Eric Gordon DJ Augustin-I think he just doesn't have the minutes (and that injury made people forget about him for a while) or else he'd be real good. Maybe if he got traded or started. Michael Beasley
Beasley has shown some great signs this season; he needs even more minutes. I think he could still end up as the best player in a few years.
Never been a fan of Beasley's game. I'd say his best case is Carmelo Anthony- guy who can score really well, kind of a tweener body wise but just too soft and too unwilling to play defense and play a team game to ever make an impact as far as leading a winning team goes. My rankings: 1. Derrick Rose- I still take him #1 overall. Insane athleticism, penetration ability, and a legit PG. Has crazy potential and is producing now as well. 2. Brook Lopez- I was a big time hater but hes proven to be quite a scorer. Rebounding and defense leave some to be desired but you don't see many rookie Cs putting up good scoring numbersl ike he has been the last few months. Best post scorer in the draft and hes a legit 7 feet tall. 3. Anthony Randolph- Major homer pick but I can't get over his potential. Dude's a freak of nature at 6'10- great quickness and leaping ability. Hes a gamer too, very competitive, never backs down, plays tough as hell, crashes the glass hard (tied for 2nd among rookies in rp48 with Oden). Has a great handle for a PF, blocks shots like crazy. Hes the youngest player in the league and has been a regular in the rotation for the W's lately. Kid is nuts and as a W's fan, I wouldn't trade him for any other rookie except Rose. 4. Kevin Love- Another surprise to most of you I'm sure but hear me out; it was a close call between him, Westbrook and Mayo. I take Love over both of them for the following reasons: 1) Love is a PF. 2) Check out Love's splits recently. Al Jeff's injury has opened up a ton of playing time for him and hes putting up crazy numbers for a rookie. He averaged 12/10 in February, hes putting up 15/10/1blk in March, 17/10 in the last 5. Hes 3rd in the league in rp48 min, 4th in the league in offensive rebounds per game. I know people don't see him with as much potential as other rookies but hes a 20 year old who's among the best rebounders in the league and putting up 15+ ppg consistently. Imagine Zach Randolph type skills + body but with the brain of a Tim Duncan. 5. OJ Mayo- Tough call between him and Westbrook. FG% was a big factor. Mayo is having a very nice rookie campaign. Scores well, at 43% FG really isn't bad considering hes a rookie and taking a lot of shots, nice 3 pt shooter, passes well. Haven't seen that much of him this season but don't forget that hes playing 38 mpg and has a lot more opportunities to shine than most rookies. He's got a bright future but I don't see him turning into a versatile guard you can really build a winner around a la Dwayne Wade, Brandon Roy, etc. He could certainly prove me very wrong though, especially if he commits to defense (he was good on D at USC, no idea how hes done defensively in the NBA). 6. Russell Westbrook- Probably have him ranked lower than most of you but I'm absolutely appalled by his FG%. For a guy with his physical tools and lack of consistent jumpshot you'd think he'd take better shots. From what I've seen of him his jumper has improved this season but his FG% has gotten significantly worse the last few months compared to the first few months of the season. Has an atrocious ast/TO ratio which isn't that surprising for a rookie but I can't give him props on running the team either. He'd be wise to take a page out of Rajon Rondo's book and shoot less, take better shots, improve the FG% and focus on moving the ball. Gotta love his D though. 7. DJ Augustin- I was all over his nuts since he was a freshman playing with Durant at Texas. Hes gone largely under the radar and at first glance his stats don't look that impressive. Hes had a solid rookie campaign considering the amount of minutes hes getting LB is bringing him along very slowly but he'll end up being quite good. Check out his averages as a starter in 9 games (admittedly a small sample size): 20.1 ppg, 6.1 apg, 2.2 TOpg, 2.9 rpg, 1.1 spg, 50% FG shooting, 57% 3 pt shooting, 89% FTs. Hes shot the 3 ball extremely well, his ast/TO ratio is fantastic for a rookie, his FG% has risen to astounding levels (46% FGs in Feb, 55% so far in March). Don't forget about this guy, he was the best pure PG in the draft (not saying hes the best prospect but in terms of actual production he was the best IMO) and LB is going to really make him a player. 8. Michael Beasley- Seems low but like I said I'm not a big fan. Scoring numbers are good for a rookie; 13.5 ppg in 24 mpg, 46% FG, 39% from 3. Like I said earlier though, hes a tweener but IMO hes not enough of a dirty work guy to be a full time PF. Defense sucks. Like I said, I think his best case is Carmelo Anthony but more likely hes a Glenn Robinson- nice stats and a good scorer but ultimately not a big difference maker when it comes to winning. 9. Eric Gordon- Again, guy who is a great scorer but not much else. I like him a lot but like Beasley, don't think he'll be a guy you want to build around if you want to contend. Explosive scorer, great athlete, undersized but I don't think it'll be a big deal for him because hes a very good athlete, has a 6'7 wingspan IIRC, and is quite strong. 10. Jason Thompson- Like his tools and body but I don't see a ton of potential in him. He's not too old at 22 (will be 23 in March) but he hasn't shown much improvement during the course of the season. I get the feeling he'll be the annual Channing Frye/Sean Williams rookie type guy- a player who looks quite solid as a rookie but ends up not improving much in the following seasons. Don't get me wrong, I think he'll be better than those two, just don't think he'll achieve what a lot of people expect him to. After that it gets murkier with guys who haven't gotten much of a chance to prove themselves; Gallinari, Bayless (I think he'll be good), Batum, Speights, Hickson, McGee, Chalmers. All those guys have shown flashes but they're hard to rank and project.
Wow, do you think Shaq is going to teach him a move or 2 b4 he leaves Phoenix? Edit: Damn Mods, no touching my posts!
There are some very nice players in this draft class, so by no means am I saying Michael is a lock for the best player. I just like his upside and few guys even have the chance to be another Melo. Beasley's also a better rebounder than Anthony too.
Okay, I suppose I'll give this a shot Rose Beasley Brook Lopez OJ Mayo Kevin Love "Healthy" Gallinari Anthony Randolph Eric Gordon Mario Chalmers DJ Augustin Russell Westbrook Jason Thompson JaVale McGee