Last year's draft - now.
by RikSmits on May 18, 2010 1:16 PM PDT
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So we have still some time to go until the draft, and we are all speculating like we're Geoff Petrie himself. But ultimately, with all the knowledge, scouting and insights of the professionals, even they make wrong choices. To demonstarte that, I'm going to redo the first round of the 2009 draft, but with the knowledge of how the rookies fared during their first season. I'm not just rating the rookies, but will "draft" them according to each team's need.
The list is after the jump.
1. LA Clips - Blake Griffin. A tough decision because of his injury, but he may still be the best player of his year when all is said and done. With Davis and Gordon manning the guard spots, I think they would not have drafted Eric Maynor first, eh, I mean Tyreke.
2. Memphis - Tyreke Evans. A player for the Memphis Tigers who would complement Mayo perfectly. Easy pick.
3. OKC - Stephen Curry. With the slashing style and strong defence of Westbrook next to him, Curry would flourish and take some of the scoring responsibilities off Durant's shoulders. Imagine how good these guys would be.
4. Sacramento - Ricky Rubio. I think Rubio can be better than Jennings, and I think for starters, he would have been a good fit with Beno. Still, tough call.
5. Minnesota - Brandon Jennings. Flynn may still become a good player, and Jennings may have struggled with the triangle, but the guy can just play. I don't like him as a person, but with what he did in the play-offs, I respect him as a baller.
6. Minnesota -James Harden. No second point guard, since there is no need for a Rubio back-up plan. Harden fills their need at SG well enough, and I believe he will be the better, more complete player in comparison with Thornton.
7. Golden State - Darren Collison. A scoring point guard, and small. Nellie is happy.
8. New York - Jonny Flynn. The Syracuse product would benefit from D'Antoni's style.
9. Toronto - Taj Gibson. His rugged play would help the soft Raptors, and will soften the blow when Bosh leaves.
10. Milwaukee - Marcus Thornton. A good fill-in for the oft-injured Redd. But Skiles would also love to get the hard-working, disciplined Wes Matthews.
11. New Jersey - DeJuan Blair. He would clean up the glass and do the dirty work, to allow Lopez to shine. I think Casspi would have appealed to the Nets as well.
12. Charlotte - Hasheem Thabeet. He still can become a very good defensive player. And MJ likes unpolished Centers. Ask Kwame Brown. And Thabeet would play more than Gerald Henderson. Hell, Cartier Martin played more than Henderson.
13. Indiana - Jonas Jerebko. A better pick then Hansborough, and healthy.
14. Phoenix - Omri Casspi. His transition game would fit nicely with Nash at the point, and he could be tutored by Grant Hill.
15. Detroit - Wes Matthews. A disciplined, poised and hard-working player, this pick could wash away a bit of the bitter taste from Dumars' FA-signings.
16. Chicago - Ty Lawson. A good, speedy PG to spell Derrick Rose.
17. Philadelphia - Jrue Holiday. Groundhog day.
18. Minnesota - Terrence Williams. A rebounding, strong forward, who can pass and score in bunches.
19. Atlanta - Jeff Teague. Mike Bibby needs a replacement. Teague can be a solid guard at the NBA level.
20. Utah - Sam Young. Works hard, is mature and disciplined. Sloan would like him.
21. New Orleans - Chase Budinger. With Peja aging, they need some fresh blood at the SF position.
22. Portland - Rodrigue Beaubois. With Rudy Fernandez showing his limitations as a long range gunner and not much beyond that, the Blazers again go overseas for this sparkplug.
23. Sacramento - Eric Maynor. We all know Maynor > Tyreke. Man, we got lucky!
24. Dallas - DeMar DeRozan. He's athletic, and he can score. I think he'll be an okay player in a few years time.
25. OKC - Jordan Hill. And the Thunder stack up with another athletic forward.
26. Memphis - James Johnson. A pretty strong rebounder who can score. Another good fit for the Kings if we'd made the mistake of passing on Maynor.
27. Chicago - Austin Daye. A lanky shooter. He will find a place in this league.
28. Minnesota - Toney Douglas. Minnesota likes to stack up the guard position.
29. LA Lakers - Tyler Hansborough. Also championship favorites need blue collar men off the bench. Hansborough will be a solid role player in the league.
30. Cleveland -Jon Brockman. I just couldn't leave him out of the first round.
Looking back, Charlotte had the worst draft with Gerald Henderson. Toronto did not so well with DeRozan, but he may still develop into a nice player. Same goes for Memphis and Thabeet. Minnesota's situation all depends how things work out with Rubio.
The best draft goes to New Orleans, with two studs at relatively low positions: Collison #21 and Thornton #43.
The other steals: Blair #37, Matthews (undrafted), Budinger #44, Jerebko #39 and Casspi #23.
Ah, hindsight is indeed perfect.
(This is a FanPost from a member of the Sactown Royalty community. The views expressed come from the member, and not Sactown Royalty staff.)
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A completely useless exercise
But it was fun to do.
It really got difficult after #11.
Dunking Dutchman
Agreed on the first point.
And I can see why you enjoy it. Hindsight can be an useful way to evaluate why draft mistakes are made, and how to avoid them in the future.
EvilCowtownInc: Screwin Suckaz over since 1985......
No mistakes in the tango, Donna. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
You know
when you wrote this:
Hindsight can be an useful way to evaluate why draft mistakes are made, and how to avoid them in the future.it made me realize that the exercise wasn’t completely useless.
Dunking Dutchman
The only reason I agree is that it's completely useless because you can't evaluate a draft after one year.
But, looking back and seeing why mistakes were made helps you to figure out what kind of mistakes you can avoid and what mistakes you may not avoid.
Sometimes mistakes are a matter of circumstance. Rajon Rondo is a perfect example. Unlike some, I don’t spend much time criticizing Geoff Petrie for missing that pick for 1 simple reason: Does Rondo develop the same way in Sac that he has in Boston? It’s a tough question and nobody knows the answer.
I do know that I don’t regret the Kings not picking Rondo though. Douby didn’t work out, and the Kings moved on. Thankfully that chapter is closed.
EvilCowtownInc: Screwin Suckaz over since 1985......
No mistakes in the tango, Donna. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
Bravo Rik
Fun to read, thanks.
Cole Aldrich. Future All-Star Center for the Sacramento Kings. At the least, the next Joe Klein. Or maybe Bill Wennington.
fun read
As for Gerald Henderson – I get the feeling that given the opportunity he may very well show he has game. The next two years will be interesting for him.
No Earl Clark? I like the move up of Marcus Thornton. And I don’t like the pick of RR for Sac.
Yeah I would take Jennings in that spot if Griffin, Evans and Curry were gone.
Jennings is streaky, but there is no denying his talent.
Grandmaster of the "Never let AnotherStupidSN forget what a Sham-Wow is" Order and Originator of the "Brock Ness Monster".
Maybe some of my personal feelings factored in here.
I just don’t like the person Jennings.
Also, I truly believe Rubio would do great in the NBA, in the right situation. If last year’s draft showed anything, it’s that unimpressive stats in Europe say little about someone’s ability to play in the NBA. Look at Casspi, Jerebko, Beaubois and even Jennings.
Dunking Dutchman
Gerald Henderson may still be okay
But I think his window of opportunity will shrink fast, and he’ll be supplanted by other fringe players with more “upside”.
To be honest, earl lark slipped through somehow. I forgot about him, and that says enough.
Tell me which player I should have left out of the first round for these 2, and I’ll give you my thoughts.
Dunking Dutchman
Ricky Rubio
I’m not sure Sacramento was ever that high on him. On more than one occasion, I’ve heard Jerry Reynolds say less than flattering things about him as a player. Not to say he doesn’t have potential but I think there’s more than a little media created sensation going on there. Had Tyreke already been take, Kings would probably have taken Jennings or Flynn and should have taken Jennings for this exercise.
I don't recall where I heard it
But someone said that Ricky Rubio scored lowest of any player in the history of pre-draft workout visits. The Kings have been administering the same shooting and skills test for like 10-15 years, and Ricky was the worst.
Jerry also compared Ricky to Luke Ridenour. Not the greatest comparison, in particular when you are calling Tyreke the next Clyde Frazier. I think the Kings would have taken Flynn at #4 if Tyreke was gone. I know they liked Curry but questioned his PG skills.
To be fair
Didn’t Rubio have the flu when he came to Sac? I think I recall him having a 103 fever or so. Not saying he would have done all that much better completely well, but I’m sure it affected him some.
I think that's just what he told Voison when she invited him to dinner and a movie
Don't say stupid shit. You won’t be perceived as stupid. - pookeyguru
by Kfan in Korea on May 18, 2010 3:55 PM PDT up reply actions 2 recs
Yes, he did
That’s why the cancelled the first scheduled workout, and then had to be moved to a different day
"Children want what they want when they want it." ... Andy Sims
Clyde Frazier said that Tyreke reminds him of himself
it was when the Kings played the Knicks in NY, and Clyde was the color commentator
put me in, Coach
Great list
Only there really is no hindsight with Griffin & Rubio( I hope that makes sense).
Rubio & Griffin are still mysteries to me.
Right now I would not take Griffin over Tyreke or Curry. I might even take Jennings over Griffin right now All we have on BG right now are DX & Hoopshype comparisons which I believe are both Carlos Boozer. Boozer is a very good power forward but not a type of player that will lead you anywhere.
Also right now I would take Jennings over Rubio. As immature as Jennings is Rubio turned me off with his own primadonna persona when he came to Sac.
Jennings’ court vision might be just as good as Rubio’s, he is faster, more athletic, & seems to be a better 3 point shooter.
One of the things I loved about your list was Omri Casspi on the Suns. He would have been perfect for that team.
I love beating dead horses.
Yeah
I think Omri would have been great playing for Phoenix.
I guess when it comes to Griffin and Rubio, I followed the trend of drafting on upside, like happens every year. But you are right to say that I have no hindsight regarding Griffin, and mostly regarding Rubio. He still played professionally, and on a higher level this year.
Of course, you also never know how most players’ rookie year would have looked like if they were playing on another team. Would Jennings have succeeded playing the triangle under Rambis. Would Tyreke have been enough of a point guard to give the ball up to Mayo, Gay, Randolph and Gasol?
Dunking Dutchman
Jennings would have choked Kurt Rambis
and I believe he would have tried to score every time he touched the ball. It would have been fun to watch on the wayback machine.
I think you have to put Jennings as the third best rookie: On a redraft, knowing he would be injured all year – I am going to say the Clips pass on BG and draft Tyreke to team iwth Baron Davis and Eric Gordon – it is full disclosure hindsight and no way Dunleavy (the GM at the time) would pass on the RoY.
Memphis would want Reke as well, as you point out, the former Tiger, but not available. They desperately need a PG and they grab either Curry or Jennings. Either would work for them. I will bias them to Jennings as they consider themselves a playoff team.
The Thunder would still take Blake Griifin – he is an OKC hero and they wouldn’t miss Harden much. I am a big Harden fan, but Blake Griffin and the Power Forward they need in BG is too hard to pass.
That leaves the Kings – Curry. He is the most fun to play with, he has great TS% and truly, he is a wonderful player. He would excel on the Kings.
TWolves still draft RR and Flynn because nothing would be worse than not being to yell – Khannnnnn!!.
Collison to the Dubs.
New York takes Lawson over Flynn – maybe.
The rest I agree.
by betweentheeyes on May 19, 2010 9:21 PM PDT up reply actions
I contemplated letting Griffin slip down
but so many people seem to agree that he might still end up the best player of this year’s crop, and given the logjam at guard for the Clips (I don’t see them get rid of Baron Davis with his contract), it looked logical. But I can definitely see your point, and I can also see how OKC would would grab Griffin, then.
Curry alongside Kevin Martin. I wonder how that could have worked. Better than Tyreke – Martin, would be my guess.
Dunking Dutchman
Curry- Martin
more Kings wins or less?
by betweentheeyes on May 20, 2010 10:06 PM PDT up reply actions
More just cuz Curry is healthier.
EvilCowtownInc: Screwin Suckaz over since 1985......
No mistakes in the tango, Donna. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
I see your point.
I think Reke-Martin does better than Curry-Martin. If that’s what’s being compared. I thought Reke-Martin to Reke-Curry was being compared. My bad.
EvilCowtownInc: Screwin Suckaz over since 1985......
No mistakes in the tango, Donna. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
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