http://grantland.com/features/nba-draft-crapshoot-repick-1995/ Just read this Bill Simmons article that looked at the last 19 drafts talking about the best players from those drafts. Regardless of how you think Simmons ranks the players in those drafts, it makes me want to run from the lottery and not look back. There have been a few people who have talked the last few years about how crappy the draft actually is and this article is a prime example of that.
Yeah its a good article. Draft is so unpredictable, yes its a place to add talent but you don't want to intentionally screw up other aspects of your basketball operations just to get a few higher draft picks. How many players were drafted in the lottery actually became solid starters and stayed with the team that drafted them? Its extraordinarily rare.
Am I reading that right that he says the 15th pick in the 2012 draft was the best player taken? Because it has to be going from 95-2013, and not 2013-95. The #28 pick in the 1995 draft was Greg Ostertag.
Haha yea there are definitely a few rankings that had me shaking my head but it wouldn't be Bill Simmons if he didnt take at least one shot at the Blazers in an article that mentions them.
Or the Blazers fans. He likes us or he wouldn't tease us the way he does every chance he gets. Plus he needs the hits.
I listen to his podcasts and he does talk about loving portland and their fans but he cant help poking the fans with a stick every now and then.
The two most important aspects of the draft are scouting and medical evaluations. If you have those two aspects, tanking for talent is a great way to build a dynasty. Blazers are a great example of that. They got bad on purpose to rebuild this beast and came away with three high lottery years 05, 06, 07 Webster, Aldridge, Roy, Oden Obviously had we drafted different people we may not have had those same picks, but Paul, Aldridge and Durant is a big 3 Poor scouting hurts rebuilding teams
Great example except for the whole part where we passed on Chris Paul or Deron Williams for Webster and shit the bed taking Oden over Durant.
I think you missed the entire premise of the article. Teams consistently cannot figure out who the best players will end up being in a draft. Historically many of the best players fall to spots all over the draft.
I liked Bill Simmons a hell of a lot better before I could picture him and hear his whiney voice in my head as I read him. And Wade gets 4 stars (as does Iverson - he's an iconic player, but not really because he helped his team much on the court, except for that one Larry Brown year where they built the team to cover for his flaws) but both Parker and Ginobili only get 2? Pah. But the whole exercise is sort of warped anyway: we all would have ranked Brandon Roy the top player in his draft if his knees hadn't given out. It all depends on when you do this. There's no way Carter-Williams will be ranked top of his draft in a couple of years - he's a ROY like Tyreke Evans or Damon Stoudamire.
Both of those are WAY behind dumb luck. Scouting would've told you Evan Turner was a superstar in the making. Medical evaluations means everybody passes on Batum and Dejuan Blair. The problem is, you're picking unfinished products. Even Brandon Roy - everyone thought he was done developing and he would be a solid starter at best, but he kept getting better... until those knees gave out. And suppose "medical evaluation" tells you: he's broken bones a few times - like Embiid. So what? Can you infer that it's going to keep happening? Or were those just accidents? Zydrunas Ilgauskas looked like he was done before he started. Then he had a long and productive career.
