The Bulls and Celtics of late come to mind but who in the last handfull of years has had the most success drafting?
I'd say that the Spurs and Mavericks scout and draft the best. Both teams also keep their players that they draft.Mavericks have the following players on the roster that they have drafted or picked up as undrafted rookies. I count undrafted rookies just as good as drafting them because no one else tried to get them. Note, Dirk was drafted by the Bucks but they aquirred him on draft day. Same thing with Devin Harris. Only major question mark is Pavel at the 21st pick. Other than that, they have all been great signings and picks.Dirk Nowitzki-9th pick-1998Josh Howard-29th pick 2003Marquis Daniels-undrafted-2003Devin Harris-5th pick-2004Josh Powell-undrafted-2005DJ Mbenga-undrafted-2004Rawle Marshall-undrafted-2005Pavel Podkolzin-21st pick 2004Here are the Spurs picks.Tim Duncan-1st pick-1997Manu Ginobli-57 pick-1999Tony Parker-26th pick 2001Beno Udrich-undrafted 2004Fabrcio Oberto-undrafted-2005The Spurs also have a few other players still overseas.The thing that makes both teams great at scouting and drafting is because they get great role players in the draft. They both drafted a very great foward and then started to build around them. They know they arent going to be getting superstars with late first rounders every year, but they still seem to pick great players that fit into thier systeam and play team basketball.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>DJ Mbenga-undrafted-2004Rawle Marshall-undrafted-2005Pavel Podkolzin-21st pick 2004</div> None of those guys have done anything except stay on the roster. Oberto was a FA signing from his foreign team, wouldn't call that drafting.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (pjcolpitts @ May 17 2006, 02:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Here are the Spurs picks.Tim Duncan-1st pick-1997Manu Ginobli-57 pick-1999Tony Parker-26th pick 2001Beno Udrich-undrafted 2004Fabrcio Oberto-undrafted-2005</div>i don't know if fabricio oberto is worthy of being a good pickup. yea he is a rookie but he averaged 1.7 ppg. duncan, man and tony were great picks. especially tony and manu since they came late in the draft.
If you sign a guy before any other NBA team does, you were the first one to get him and essentially you picked him. I dont know why thats so hard to understand. Plus if you didnt read what i put, i put that these where all the players on the roster that were either a) drafted or undrafted rookies that were on the team. I never said that they were the greatest pick ups in the world. Plus Oberto is still considered a rookie even if he played in his Eurpoean leagues before the NBA. He's a rookie either way you look at it.
When I was making this topic I was going to write down who I thought was the best but honestly nobody came to mind.
Dirk Nowitzki-9th pick-1998 (actually picked by Milwaukee than traded to Dallas for Robert Traylor)Josh Howard-29th pick 2003 (good pick)Marquis Daniels-undrafted-2003Devin Harris-5th pick-2004 (actually drafted by Washington than traded, alone with Stackhouse for Jamison)Josh Powell-undrafted-2005DJ Mbenga-undrafted-2004 Rawle Marshall-undrafted-2005Pavel Podkolzin-21st pick 2004 (drafted by Utah than traded for a future first round pick)so actually I wouldnt put Dallas in there.the team Id put there is definatly San Antonio. Parker, Ginobili, Duncan, Udrih are all very good picks.
It all depends what pick you have in the draft decided which is the best player. But, the Bulls have had some nice picks lately and are going to be a threat in the NBA for the next ten years if they keep all of there young guys and keep brining guys in. Hinrich is a great point guard. Ben Gordon there shooter. Andres Nocioni is also a player that really sparked in the playoffs and should be interesting to see how he plays next season and further in his career.
I like the Spurs picks and the Bulls picks recently.Magic haven't done too bad, with Dwight and Jameer. Keith Bogans and the European they picked were bad though recently.
Spurs get a lot from the draft. They always have very low draft pics (pick number 26, 27, 28, 29...) but they get the most out of their european and other foreign draftees. For example tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Beno Udrih, etc. They make smart choices. Also the Bulls of course (Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Tyson Chandler, Luol Deng, and Chris Duhon). The Mavs in 04 in picking Josh Howard with the last pick in the first round. He;s turning out to be one of those NBA great all around players.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (SunnyD @ May 17 2006, 02:04 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I like the Spurs picks and the Bulls picks recently.Magic haven't done too bad, with Dwight and Jameer. Keith Bogans and the European they picked were bad though recently.</div>Yeah, the only knock on the Magic is that they drafted Fran Vasquez who decided he was going to stay in Europe and not come to the NBA. Other than that, they have drafted two players that will be starters for them for a long time with Nelson and Howard.
It'd be easy to say a team like Orlando and the Bulls draft well, when they have lottery picks year in and out.I agree with some other guys in that the Mavs and Spurs have added incredible talent, even though they always pick with the last 2-3 picks in the draft.Sure TD, Dirk, and Devin Harris were picked up higher...But Tony Parker, Manu, and Josh Howard were all late first or second round picks...And considering those are 2 of the top 3 teams in the league, and have been for several years(especially Dallas considering the turnover rate on the Mavs, no Nash or Finley or anyone but Dirk, from the 2003 team that played for the West Championship)...So yeah, some of those younger, lower echelon teams have picked up good talent, but I wouldn't say they've drafted well, till those guys consistently contribute, and those teams are in the discussion as actual contenders, like the Spurs and Mavs have been for the last 6 years.
I'd definitely say the Celtics. Not so much the Bulls though, because theyve been the beneficiary of some high picks. But the Celtics have made some VERY solid mid-late round pickups. Troy Bell and Dahantay Jones (who were dealt away for Marcus Banks and Kendrick Perkins, so essentially we drafted them).Al JeffersonDelonte WestTony AllenGerald GreenRyan GomesOrien GreeneVery solid drafting job by Ainge the last few years.
Suns usually do alright when it comes to the Draft. Amare and Marion were gambles at the time, but the Suns stuck their necks out and it turned out well.going back a few years, Finley and Person were good picks later in the first round.
But Finley and Person were shipped out because they weren't playing all that great, and they made their name on other teams.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Marvinmartian @ May 17 2006, 11:38 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>But Finley and Person were shipped out because they weren't playing all that great, and they made their name on other teams.</div> no they weren't. Person was a solid player for the Suns, wasn't the star player but did well for us. Finley was shipped out to get Kidd, I don't think any Suns fan wanted to see him go, but Kidd was too good to pass up.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Dirk Nowitzki-9th pick-1998 (actually picked by Milwaukee than traded to Dallas for Robert Traylor)Josh Howard-29th pick 2003 (good pick)Marquis Daniels-undrafted-2003Devin Harris-5th pick-2004 (actually drafted by Washington than traded, alone with Stackhouse for Jamison)Josh Powell-undrafted-2005DJ Mbenga-undrafted-2004 Rawle Marshall-undrafted-2005Pavel Podkolzin-21st pick 2004 (drafted by Utah than traded for a future first round pick)</div> Those "actually drafted" picks were picks by Mavericks, their called prearranged deals. Dallas told the team beforehand who they wanted and the team picked them. So technically Dallas is the one picking them. But I have to agree with BCB, guys like Pavel, Benga, Marshall, Powell aren't really picks you should be clamoring over. Harris, Howard, Dirk, and Daniels were great pickups though, but I don't think those outweight the horrible picks we've had the past years.
I think the Celtics should be in the top 5, Danny Ainge has a great eye for young talent.Al Jefferson - 15thGerald Green - 18th (steal)Delonte West - 24th (steal)Tony Allen - 25th (could have went a few picks higher)Kendrick Perkins - 27th (Memphis drafted him, but we basically had control of the pick)Ryan Gomes - 50th (HUGE steal)But you gotta love the Mavericks picks as well as the Bulls. San Antonio is great at stealing stars (especially from overseas) late in drafts as well. But I say Dallas drafts the best, probably. I don't know it's tough.
The Celtics and the Mavs. Look at the core the Celtics have. All of them are decent role players. The Mavs always pick in the mid-late twenties and look at the players they have came out with.
