The 26th Pick

by Kfan in Korea on Apr 13, 2008 7:32 PM PDT

(Great diary from Kfan in Korea. - TZ)

Nice article over at The Bee about Kevin Martin's progress this season. There's some good stuff there on Kmart as a go to guy and his improvement from his rookie season. I'd rank it as a must read.

I think we forget how late Kevin was drafted, and don't always consider that when discussing his worth/progress.

So I've done some statistical research on some of the categories Kevin is in the leaders for this season and how he compares to others ranked near him.

PER
Kevin ranks 21st this season with a PER of 21.10. Lebron leads with a PER of 29.47. Here are the top 21 in order with their draft position in parenthesis:

Lebron(1), Chris Paul(4), Amare(9), Garnett(5), Dirk(9), Kobe(13), Duncan(1), Manu(57), Chris Bosh(4), Billups(3), Howard(1), Al Jefferson(15), Yao(1), Bynum(10), Boozer(34), Carl Landry(31), Wade(5), Gasol(3), Melo(3), Nash(15), Kmart(26).

Of the 20 ahead of Kevin, only 3(Manu, Boozer and Landry) were picked later. There are four #1s, 14 top 10s and only 4 not in the top 15.

Points Per Game
Kevin ranks #6 at 23.7 ppg. Lebron leads the league with 30.3. Top 10 in order with draft position in parenthesis:

Lebron(1), Bryant(13), AI(1), Melo(3), Amare(9), Kmart(26), Dirk(9), Redd(43), Richard Jefferson(13), Bosh(4).

That's 6 top 10 picks 8 top 13 and only Kevin and Redd outside the top 13.

Points Per Shot
Howard leads the league at 1.73pps. Kevin is #3 at 1.58pps. Top 10, draft in parenthesis:

Howard(1), Amare(9), Kmart(26), Josh Childress(6), Corey Maggette(13), Chandler(2), Billups(3), Shaq(1), Biedrins(11), Manu(57).

5 top 5s and only 2 not in the top 13.

Free Throws Made per Game
Kevin leads the league at 8.2FTM/G. Maggette is #2 at 8.0 and Howard is #10 at 6.5. Top 10, draft in parenthesis:

Kmart(26), Corey Maggette(13), AI(1), Kobe(13), Lebron(1), Bosh(4), Amare(9), Wade(5), Richard Jefferson(13), Howard(1).

3 #1s 7 top 10s and Kevin is the only one not picked in the top 13.

True Shooting %
Amare is #1 at .654TS%. Kevin is 9th at .618. Top 10, draft in parenthesis:

Amare(9), Josh Childress(6), Nash(15), Biedrins(11), Chandler(2), Mike Miller(5), Howard(1), Billups(3), Kmart(26), Mikki Moore(-).

Only Kmart and Mikki not in top 15.

Some other categories Kevin is among the leaders:

Offensive Win Shares: #11
Offensive Rating: #10
FT%: #12

Just for perspective his Minutes per game are only 39th.

For more perspective the #26 pick of the 10 drafts prior to Kmart:

03 - Ndudi Ebi
02 - John Salmons
01 - Samuel Dalembert
00 - Mamadou N'Diaye
99 - Vonteego Cummings
98 - Samuel Jacobson
97 - Charles Smith
96 - Jerome Williams
95 - Sherell Ford
94 - Charlie Ward

And finally the 2004 Draft class included Rafael Araujo, Luke Jackson, Robert Swift, Kris Humphries, Kurt Snyder, J.R. Smith, Dorell Wright, Jameer Nelson, Pavel Podkolzine, Viktor Khryapa, Sergei Monia, Delonte West and Tony Allen picked before Kevin.

Just some things to keep in mind when discussing Kevin Martin.

Poll

If the 2004 Draft were held today, where would you draft Kevin Martin?

(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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Comments

Notice...

How we have the best no.26 picks in the last 10 years... LOL

But really... this is a luck of the draw type of things.

The NBA Lottery: Where fans turning against their favorite team happens.

by kingme18 on Apr 13, 2008 9:03 PM PDT 0 recs

Luck of the draw?

Petrie has made 5 non lottery 1st round picks -

Hedo - 16
Douby - 19
Garcia - 23
Wallace - 25
Martin - 26

There is enough of a trend there that I don't think that you can restrict it to luck of the draw. (Note - Sadly, this same trend does not always apply to free agent signings.)

SACTOWN ROYALTY - Try our thick creamy shakes!

by section214 on Apr 13, 2008 10:04 PM PDT up 0 recs

Maybe I should have made my point clearer.

My point was not that Kmart is special because he was the 26th pick. My point is really that he is special, and extremely special because he wasn't picked in the top 15.

Of the 61 player slots available on the above lists, all but 11 were filled with players drafted 1-15. Of these 11 slots - 5 are Kmart, 2-Manu, and Boozer, Landry, Redd and Mikki once each.

How about players appearing multiple times on the list:

Kmart - 5 times
Amare - 5
Howard - 4
Lebron - 3
Kobe - 3
Billups - 3

No one else with more than 2. Now sure these categories were selected for Kmart, but that's still some pretty select company.

If it was really luck of the draw, I'd expect to see some players drafted late teens thru 30 scattered throughout the list. Kevin is the only 1st round pick not selected in the top 15 to appear even once on this list!?! That's not luck of the draw, that's needle in a haystack. We got seriously lucky.

by Kfan in Korea on Apr 14, 2008 5:41 AM PDT up 0 recs

The Best Part

"I feel like this season, with everything that went on with the (Mike Bibby) trade and the injuries, and inside the locker room we felt like a unit this year, was good. I'll always look at the stat about how we've finished (winning 11 of their last 18 games after losing 17 of their final 22 last season). I think that just tells you how guys wanted to play for each other. I think we did a tremendous job keeping us all together."

We hear a lot of press banter about dissension, and it's nice to get another perspective.

by coolcatreportdotcom on Apr 13, 2008 10:20 PM PDT 0 recs

That's the best part of Amick's article

But your post beats his article all to hell. Great work.

by coolcatreportdotcom on Apr 13, 2008 10:23 PM PDT up 0 recs

First off Wonderful diary Kfan

I'm a homer. I'd take Kevin 2nd. But I could easily slot Deng or Iguodala there too. I'm not really convinced Okafor is ALL that.

I think Dwight Howard is the 1st player I'd take PERIOD if I had a player to start with a team. He's young and with so much upside. He can only get better, and just think about that for a moment. He can only get better from here on out. And he WANTS to, perhaps a bit unlike Shaq, who hasn't always worked on his game.

Interesting you mention the previous #26 picks. The one's of note (obviously) are Salmons and Dalembert, ironically with Martin, picked 3 out of 4 years (Sammy 2001--1 pick after G-Dub--, Salmons 2003 and Kmart 2004--of course). The only other players of note (to me) is Vonteego Cummings and Jerome Williams. Cummings had a 4 year bounce around career or something like that. The other is JYD, or Junkyard Dog, or Jerome Williams, who was traded so many teams before he went away that it's almost sad that a player who hustled like he did could never find a home. Thank God the Knicks used the Allan Houston rule (luxury tax amnesty) to not pay luxury tax on his contract.

I think this proves if nothing else that the draft, particularly deeper as you go, is a total crapshoot. When you remember that the Kings, who picked 26th, and grabbed Kevin Martin but fa shizzle, and the Spurs grabbed Beno with 2 picks later @ 28th overall, you gotta think there is something to the way RC Buford and Geoff Petrie drafts. Which, yet again I say, unfortunately, it puzzles me why Petrie wasn't interested in cap room and a draft pick from the Nuggets in exchange for Artest. Wouldn't the 30 game glimpse provided quite a bit of value in of itself? Anyway I end on this. Kevin was a steal, and I'm glad the Kings got him.

We could build ping-pong ball shrines and make sacrifices at them, like broken ping-pong paddles, or burning Peaches in effigy--LPA

by pookeyguru on Apr 14, 2008 1:50 AM PDT 0 recs