Our most heinous scouts (2001-2011)

Heck of a lot better, Parker, Salmons, Scola, Barbosa, Udrih, Hill Dragic, Blair, Anderson...and that was with much lower picks....

What do we have to show for our years of sucking? LaMarcus Aldridge is the only lottery pick still on the team.

 

Maybe that's why we raided the Spurs for our last two GMs?

Notice that the strategy they employ above all is the Eurostash (and this doesn't even include the Greatest Draft Pick Evah, which is Ginobili with the last pick in the entire draft). I'm going to bold all the non-US natives in this list (that I know of - not sure about Hanga [edit: he's Hungarian]):

Aren't most of the people whining about our drafting also whining about the policy of drafting non-US players? Ironic.

Of the ones not in the US, I know that Javtokas would have been great but got seriously injured (he's still a very solid shot-blocking C), Printezis bounces around the top teams in Europe, and De Colo is regarded as more of a star than his teammate Claver (and maybe his French teammate Batum). Luis Scola only ended up with Houston in exchange for "the Greek Tracy McGrady" when it looked like the latter would stay in the US while Scola wouldn't come over, when it turned out to be the other way round.

This just makes me more convinced than ever that we should have taken Mirotic in the '11 draft...

 

Tying the previous post to the thread title, Pritchard often got cold feet after he drafted Euros and refused to sign them. They'd be begging to come over and he'd refuse, even after buying the pick with Allen's money. The result is that Allen and the fans are down on drafting foreigners.

In other words, I like your strategy as long as we put them onto our team pronto.

 

That late first round picks turn into bench players is not suprising, nor is it shameful. Remember the majority of NBA players are not starters. And most starters are not stars. I agree with Public Defender that there were 2 really bad draft years. For the others, Outlaw has skilled & athleticism but lacks, what? Basketball IQ? Work ethic? At any rate, the team got some decent play out of him. Rudy IMO could have been a star, he just wasn't the same after Ariza body-slammed him to the floor. Babbitt & Smith could still be respectable players.

I once went over 10 years of NBA drafts and suggested a reset - in nearly every case there were top picks who ranged from bust to role players and late picks who ranged from good to stars. It's always a bit of a gamble. A good GM & good luck means win more than you lose. But not 100%.