NBA Draft Grades....

How has your team done in the NBA Draft?

By John Hollinger
ESPN.com


Some teams seem to have a knack for the NBA draft, while others appear completely clueless. For instance, based on recent history, we know that the likelihood of San Antonio's pick turning out decent is far greater than that of, say, Toronto.

But has San Antonio been the best at the draft, or have other teams been better? And is Toronto the worst, or have other teams botched their drafts even more?

To analyze this, we need a system to rate how the teams have fared recently. With considerable help from Insider's Chad Ford, I developed a points-based system to rate every team's choice over the past 10 years. Then I used the average score for each team's draft choices to rate the quality of their drafts from 1 through 30.

The points system works as follows. I awarded each team points based on what kind of player the pick turned out to be: a complete bust, a rotation player, a part-time starter, a quality starter, a minor star, or a superstar. The number of points varied based upon the place in the draft where the player was picked, according to the following chart:

Points system
Pick Bust Rotation PT starter Quality starter Minor star Superstar
1-5 -4 -1 0 1 2 3
6-10 -3 0 1 2 3 4
11-20 -2 1 2 3 4 5
21-29 -1 2 3 4 5 6
Round 2 0 3 4 5 6 7

While the category was fairly obvious for most players, some were more troublesome. Here are the criteria I used to help guide me on the rest:

Where he'd play on most teams: Just because somebody can crack Atlanta's rotation doesn't mean he'd be playing for San Antonio. If we don't adjust for that, the ratings for bad teams will be artificially high since it's so much easier to crack their rotations. I mostly used this to bump up the score for key reserves on great teams ? think Hedo Turkoglu in Sacramento ? or drop down guys like Lonny Baxter who get minutes on a horrible team just because they have to put somebody out there.

Only the original team counts: Boston drafted Joe Johnson and he turned into a quality starter, but it really didn't do much for the Celtics since they sent him to Phoenix after half a season. I only counted a player's progress up to the point he left a team. So for example, Michael Finley only counts as a "quality starter" for the Suns.

Draft-day trades: This probably is obvious, but if a player was traded before he ever played a pro game, I considered him part of the acquiring team. For example, Vince Carter's points count for Toronto and Antawn Jamison's for Golden State, even though technically the opposite teams drafted them.

The Araujo rule: Finally, there's this important one: I don't count minutes a player gets if he's only playing in a desperate attempt by the team to justify the draft pick. This applies most obviously to Rafael Araujo in Toronto this year, but also to Nikoloz Tskitishvili in Denver and a few others.

1. SAN ANTONIO SPURS
Best pick: Manu Ginobili (No. 57, 1999)

Worst pick: Chris Carrawell (No. 41, 2000)

Analysis: The Spurs have had only 12 draft choices in the past decade, and only one of those picks was higher than No. 27. Yet their haul includes most of this season's nucleus: Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and Beno Udrih. San Antonio also hasn't received any points yet for selecting Luis Scola in the second round in 2002, but if he comes to the States next season, he could prove as valuable as Ginobili. Additionally, the Spurs haven't had any busts: All five first-round picks became rotation players.

Score: 1.42

Grade: A+

2. INDIANA PACERS
Best pick: Jamaal Tinsley (No. 27, 2001)

Worst pick: Jonathan Bender (No. 5, 1999)

Analysis: Indiana would have fared better if they hadn't lost Primoz Brezec in the expansion draft. Including him, the Pacers have come up with seven rotation players from picks 21 or later -- Brezec, Tinsley, Jeff Foster, Travis Best, Fred Hoiberg, James Jones and Al Harrington.

Score: 1.13

Grade: A

3. PHOENIX SUNS
Best pick: Amare Stoudemire (No. 9, 2002)

Worst pick: Mario Bennett (No. 27, 1995)

Analysis: With brilliant selections like Stoudemire and Shawn Marion, the Suns' track record ranks with the best. Phoenix would grade out even better if the system gave credit for a player's performance with future teams. The Suns traded Steve Nash and Michael Finley before their primes (though they got Nash back) and gave up on Stephen Jackson and Zarko Cabarkapa.

Score: 1.13

Grade: A

4. NEW JERSEY NETS
Best pick: Richard Jefferson (No. 13, 2001)

Worst pick: Ed O'Bannon (No. 9, 1995)

Analysis: O'Bannon was a travesty, but the Nets nailed their other four lottery picks (Keith Van Horn, Kerry Kittles, Kenyon Martin and Jefferson). Add in another first-rounder, Jason Collins, and the Nets had the rest of the nucleus in place when Jason Kidd arrived.

Score: 1.00

Grade: A-

5. NEW ORLEANS HORNETS
Best pick: Jamaal Magloire (No. 19, 2000)

Worst pick: Kirk Haston (No. 16, 2001)

Analysis: New Orleans has been quietly effective with relatively few picks over the past decade. The Hornets grabbed two All-Stars (Magloire and Baron Davis) and found Lee Nailon in the second round, while Haston was the only major screw-up. The Hornets would rate better if they had kept Malik Rose (2nd round) and Ricky Davis (late first).

Score: 1.00

Grade: A-

6. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS
Best pick: Kyle Korver (No. 51, 2003)

Worst pick: Mark Hendrickson (No. 31, 1996)

Analysis: The Sixers are an underrated force in the draft. Two of this year's rotation players came from second-round picks (Korver and Willie Green), while Sam Dalembert was a late first-rounder. Philly also has managed to avoid busts. Even when it got nothing out of a pick ? as with Nazr Mohammed in 1998 ? he later proved to be a quality player.

Score: 0.96

Grade: B+

7. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
Best pick: Gilbert Arenas (No. 31, 2001)

Worst pick: Todd Fuller (No. 11, 1996)

Analysis: Just goes to show you that a great draft doesn't guarantee you a great team. The Warriors' draft track record from the past decade can hang with anyone's, but they still haven't made the playoffs once in that time. The Arenas-Jason Richardson-Troy Murphy crop in 2001 is perhaps the decade's best, and a year earlier the Warriors nabbed Marc Jackson with a second-round choice. Two disappointments -- Fuller and Jiri Welsch -- hurt the overall grade.

Score: 0.94

Grade: B+

8. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS
Best pick: Carlos Boozer (No. 35, 2002)

Worst pick: DeSagana Diop (No. 8, 2001)

Analysis: With the exception of the Boozer pick, Cleveland's record under Jon Paxson was brutally bad. So it might surprise some to see the Cavs crack the top 10. The key was the three years from 1995 to 1997. The Cavs had five picks in the middle of the first round and used them on Bob Sura, Derek Anderson, Brevin Knight, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Vitaly Potapenko. Those selections helped make up for the three blown lottery picks in Diop, Dajuan Wagner and Trajan Langdon.

Score: 0.91

Grade: B+

9. LOS ANGELES LAKERS
Best pick: Kobe Bryant (No. 13, 1996)

Worst pick: Kareem Rush (No. 20, 2002)

Analysis: Jerry West picked Bryant and Derek Fisher in 1996, but the Lakers haven't drafted one starter since. Tyronn Lue and Ruben Patterson at least went on to start for other teams, but the Lakers found little use for either. It doesn't help that L.A.'s highest pick since Bryant was No. 20, so perhaps this year's lottery pick will help the grade.

Score: 0.78

Grade: B

10. UTAH JAZZ
Best pick: Andrei Kirilenko (No. 24, 1999)

Worst pick: Curtis Borchardt (No. 18, 2002)

Analysis: Utah has been great with late picks and awful with early ones. The Jazz used top-20 picks on Borchardt, Quincy Lewis, Sasha Pavlovic, Kris Humphries and Kirk Snyder, none of whom have cracked Jerry Sloan's rotation. On the other hand, Kirilenko and Greg Ostertag were late first-round picks, and Shandon Anderson, Mo Williams and Jarron Collins all were second-round finds.

Score: 0.70

Grade: B

11. WASHINGTON WIZARDS
Best pick: Jahidi White (No. 43, 1998)

Worst pick: Kwame Brown (No. 1, 2001)

Analysis: Washington is another team with a strong second-round track record, including White, Bobby Simmons, Peja Drobnjak, Steve Blake and Calvin Booth. But center Brendan Haywood has been their only good first-round pick, as the others were either traded away (Rasheed Wallace, Richard Hamilton) or haven't developed (Brown, Jarvis Hayes, Jared Jeffries).

Score: 0.70

Grade: B

12. SACRAMENTO KINGS
Best pick: Peja Stojakovic (No. 14, 1996)

Worst pick: Tariq Abdul-Wahad (No. 11, 1997)

Analysis: The Kings have hit only one home run in the draft (Stojakovic), but have rapped out plenty of singles: Darius Songaila, Corliss Williamson, Hedo Turkoglu and Jason Williams, for instance.

Score: 0.67

Grade: B
13. BOSTON CELTICS
Best pick: Paul Pierce (No. 10, 1998)

Worst pick: Kedrick Brown (No. 11, 2001) and Jerome Moiso (No. 11, 2000)

Analysis: Had they hung on to Chauncey Billups and Joe Johnson, the Celtics' rating would be much higher. As it is, they've done a solid job, with Danny Ainge's quality picks (Al Jefferson, Tony Allen, Marcus Banks, Delonte West) making up for the back-to-back lottery misfires on Brown and Moiso.

Score: 0.59

Grade: B-

14. MILWAUKEE BUCKS
Best pick: Michael Redd (No. 43, 2000)

Worst pick: Shawn Respert (No. 8, 1995)

Analysis: Redd was one of the best draft picks of the past decade, a bona fide All-Star plucked in the middle of the second round. Unfortunately, the Bucks haven't done nearly as well with their other choices, including lottery busts Respert and Marcus Haislip.

Score: 0.58

Grade: B-

15. SEATTLE SUPERSONICS
Best pick: Rashard Lewis (No. 32, 1998)

Worst pick: Sherell Ford (No. 26, 1995)

Analysis: The Lewis pick was outstanding, but otherwise the Sonics have been a mixed bag. Second-round steals Eric Snow and Mark Blount were discarded in George Karl's veteran-friendly system, while recent lottery picks like Vladimir Radmanovic and Nick Collison have been solid but hardly spectacular.

Score: 0.58

Grade: B-

16. LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
Best pick: Marko Jaric (No. 30, 2000)

Worst pick: Michael Olowokandi (No. 1, 1998)

Analysis: The jury is still out on Shaun Livingston, but considering the track record of Clippers' lottery picks, the odds aren't in his favor. L.A. took big men Chris Wilcox, Melvin Ely and Chris Kaman the past three years, and of course nabbed Olowokandi in 1998 -- yet the team still doesn't have a quality starting center. Somewhere, Bill Simmons is setting himself on fire. The only thing saving L.A.'s grade was the 2000 draft class of Jaric and Quentin Richardson.

Score: 0.53

Grade: C+

17. CHARLOTTE BOBCATS
Best pick: Emeka Okafor (No. 2, 2004)

Worst pick: Bernard Robinson (No. 45, 2004)

Analysis: With only two picks in their brief history, the Bobcats don't give us much to work with. We'll know more a few years down the road.

Score: 0.5

Grade: C+

18. CHICAGO BULLS
Best pick: Chris Duhon (No. 38, 2004)

Worst pick: Jay Williams (No. 2, 2002)

Analysis: The Bulls are another middle-of the-pack team when it comes to drafting, although continued improvement by their many recent lottery picks could change that picture considerably. Their bad luck with Jay Williams hurts the rating, but some of the other wounds have been self-inflicted. For instance, Dalibor Bagaric, the No. 24 pick in 2000, might be the worst first-round draft pick this century.

Score: 0.5

Grade: C+

19. MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES
Best pick: Pau Gasol (No. 3, 2001)

Worst pick: Troy Bell (No. 16, 2003)

Analysis: Does anyone get the sense that Jerry West's eye for talent might be in need of some LASIK? Since taking over the Grizzlies, his first-rounders have been Bell, Dahntay Jones, and Drew Gooden. Gooden is the only player of the bunch, and West traded him after half a season. Four picks from the Billy Knight era ? Gasol, Gordan Giricek, Shane Battier and Mike Bibby ? keep the Griz from the bottom.

Score: 0.44

Grade: C

20. MIAMI HEAT
Best pick: Dwyane Wade (No. 5, 2003)

Worst pick: Tim James (No. 25, 1999)

Analysis: Pat Riley has struggled nearly as much as Jerry West, although he at least pulled the trigger on Wade. Only five Miami picks have become regular rotation players, but Riley did manage to pluck two from the second round -- Eddie House and Rasual Butler.

Score: 0.44

Grade: C

21. TORONTO RAPTORS
Best pick: Vince Carter (No. 5, 1998)

Worst pick: Rafael Araujo (No. 8, 2004)

Analysis: The first four first-round picks in Raptors' history were Damon Stoudamire, Marcus Camby, Carter and Tracy McGrady. Somehow, they avoided forming a dynasty, and it's been all downhill since. The Raps have two lottery busts -- Araujo and Alex Radojevic ? and wasted first-rounders on Michael Bradley and Chris Jefferies.

Score: 0.44

Grade: C

22. HOUSTON ROCKETS
Best pick: Cuttino Mobley (No. 41, 1998)

Worst pick: Jason Collier (No. 15, 2000) and Bostjan Nachbar (No. 15, 2002)

Analysis: Houston's problem has been picking in the mid-to-late first round. In addition to Nachbar and Collier, there was Bryce Drew at no. 16 in 1998, Mirsad Turkcan two picks later, and Rodrick Rhodes in 1997. One exception was Kenny Thomas, an excellent call at No. 22 in 1999.

Score: 0.41

Grade: C-

23. DENVER NUGGETS
Best pick: Jeff McInnis (No. 37, 1996)

Worst pick: Nikoloz Tskitishvili (No. 5, 2002)

Analysis: Do you think Kiki Vandeweghe says, "Thank God for Darko" before he goes to bed each night? Right now Milicic is the only thing preventing the Tskitishvili bust from getting far more attention. Denver had bad luck with the No. 5 pick this decade ? the other time they had it the Nuggets picked Tony "El Busto" Battie.

Score: 0.38

Grade: C-

24. PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
Best pick: Zach Randolph (No. 19, 2001)

Worst pick: Randolph Childress (No. 19, 1995)

Analysis: Portland's problem hasn't been drafting as much as keeping what they draft. The Blazers picked Jermaine O'Neal, Alvin Williams and Kelvin Cato only to see them blossom elsewhere. The recent draftees have accomplished little, but players like Travis Outlaw, Sebastian Telfair, Viktor Khryapa and Sergei Monia could improve Portland's rating considerably in coming seasons.

Score: 0.40

Grade: C-

25. MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES
Best pick: Kevin Garnett (No. 5, 1995)

Worst pick: Joe Smith (First-round choice in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004)

Analysis: The Timberwolves forfeited four first-rounders in the Smith fiasco, and the result has been painful. Minnesota hasn't picked a rotation player since drafting Wally Szczerbiak in 1999, which explains how the team suddenly fell apart this season ? there was no young talent waiting in the pipeline.

Score: 0.39

Grade: C-

26. ATLANTA HAWKS
Best pick: Alan Henderson (No. 16, 1995)

Worst pick: Cal Bowdler (No. 17, 1999)

Analysis: You gotta love Pete Babcock. From 1996 to 2003, the Hawks had nine first-round draft picks ... and got one starter and two reserves out of it. Amazingly, six of the nine were complete flameouts ? that's Priest Lauderdale, Ed Gray, Roshown McLeod, Bowdler, Dan Dickau and Boris Diaw, if you're keeping score at home.

Score: 0.23

Grade: D+

27. DALLAS MAVERICKS
Best pick: Dirk Nowitzki (No. 9, 1998)

Worst pick: Chris Anstey (No. 18, 1997)

Analysis: The Mavs get credit for the inspired selection of Nowitzki, but this gives Dallas' draftniks a reputation that's not deserved. The Mavs have had more draft choices than any other team in the past decade with 29, or nearly three a year. Of the 29, only seven became rotation players, and only Nowitzki and Josh Howard are starters.

Amazingly, nine Mavs first-round picks failed to become starters: Cherokee Parks, Loren Meyer, Samaki Walker, Chris Anstey, Donnell Harvey, Leon Smith, Pavel Podkolzine, Courtney Alexander and Martin Muursepp.

Score: 0.17

Grade: D+

28. DETROIT PISTONS
Best pick: Tayshaun Prince (No. 23, 2002)

Worst pick: Darko Milicic (No. 2, 2003)

Analysis: Joe Dumars is a great general manager, but apparently the draft isn't his strong suit. He's had three top-15 picks in his tenure and used them to take Mateen Cleaves, Rodney White and Milicic. Prince and Mehmet Okur are the only bright spots in a bad decade of drafts for the Pistons.

Score: 0.06

Grade: D

29. ORLANDO MAGIC
Best pick: Andrew DeClercq (No. 34, 1995)

Worst pick: Reece Gaines (No. 15, 2003)

Analysis: The Magic's grade would have been much worse if not for the 2004 draft that netted Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson. Before that, Orlando had drafted only one starter ? Mike Miller ? in the previous decade. Prominent first-round busts litter the landscape, including Gaines, Ryan Humphrey, David Vaughn, Brian Evans, Johnny Taylor and Jeryl Sasser.

Score: 0.00

Grade: D-

30. NEW YORK KNICKS
Best pick: Trevor Ariza (No. 43, 2004)

Worst pick: Frederic Weis (No. 15, 1999)

Analysis: From 1995 to 2002, the Knicks' drafts yielded nothing: no starters, no reserves, nada. New York had four first-round choices and seven second-rounders, and the best player of the bunch was John Wallace. New York's past two drafts were better ? Michael Sweetney in 2003, Ariza in 2004 ? but the Knicks still are the only team with a negative average score.

Score: -0.13

Grade: F

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting CohanHater:</div><div class="quote_post">

7. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
Best pick: Gilbert Arenas (No. 31, 2001)

Worst pick: Todd Fuller (No. 11, 1996)

Analysis: Just goes to show you that a great draft doesn't guarantee you a great team. The Warriors' draft track record from the past decade can hang with anyone's, but they still haven't made the playoffs once in that time. The Arenas-Jason Richardson-Troy Murphy crop in 2001 is perhaps the decade's best, and a year earlier the Warriors nabbed Marc Jackson with a second-round choice. Two disappointments -- Fuller and Jiri Welsch -- hurt the overall grade.

Score: 0.94

Grade: B+
</div>
I'm suprised the Warriors were rated this high given the fact they've had their share of draft disappointments during the Twardzick era, but St. Jean was a solid of a draft picker as you could get.

I don't really consider Jiri Welsch as a disappointment because he was doing okay as a celtic for a while trying to fit in an offense primarily built around Paul Pierce / Payton / Big men.

 

Wow, NY hit negative territory...

I am quite surprised that we are 7th place, despite Smith, Fuller and Foyle fiasco. When it comes to the draft, Saint was pretty accurate with Richardson, Murphy, Arenas, Dunleavy, Pietrus, and even Cummings and Porter was half way decent until he committed a career suicide. PJ was also not too bad with Jamison and Jackson, despite he drafted Foyle over McGrady and got Mookie for 10th pick.

WE DRAFTED ANDREW DECLERCQ!!! Man, he even played his first couple seasons with us...

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting custodianrules2:</div><div class="quote_post">I'm suprised the Warriors were rated this high given the fact they've had their share of draft disappointments during the Twardzick era, but St. Jean was a solid of a draft picker as you could get.

I don't really consider Jiri Welsch as a disappointment because he was doing okay as a celtic for a while trying to fit in an offense primarily built around Paul Pierce / Payton / Big men.</div>

Welsch wasn't that bad, especially considering that he is 16th pick. For some reason, his great practice workout never panned out in a game...

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Kwan1031:</div><div class="quote_post">Welsch wasn't that bad, especially considering that he is 16th pick. For some reason, his great practice workout never panned out in a game...</div>
Yeah. The one thing that stood out about him was that he had a really beautiful shooting stroke and really nice form. Maybe it looked that good at the time because we had Jamison.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Kwan1031:</div><div class="quote_post">
WE DRAFTED ANDREW DECLERCQ!!! Man, he even played his first couple seasons with us...</div>

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> Selected by Golden State in the second round (34th overall) of the 1995 NBA Draft</div> nba.com

Damn, you're right, Kwan. Pay the man!

 

Ya, Which is why so many of us were anti-St Jean Bashers. I found myself defneding him because he was relitively so much better than his predecessors.

 

I was bashing St. Jean until Kwan and Wtwalker pointed out the Jamison/Carter thing for the 1,000,000th time on the ESPN board and a guy by the name of Twardzick drafting Foyle/Fuller/Smith over superstars.

I'm still blaming Cohan though.