2011 Draft Lottery Grades
Jan 16, 2013 1:29:57 GMT -5
Post by alldaygb on Jan 16, 2013 1:29:57 GMT -5
Well here we are, after all the training camps have closed and all the teams got to see what they might have in their future players. Some players disappointed, while others shined a bright light. Lets take a look at how some of these players did, based off of where they were picked and how they did in their inaugural training camp
Player Picked: Kyrie Irving
Ratings Before TC: B- B+ B- C C-A
Ratings After TC: B-A- B C C- A
Grade: IC
Now before anyone kills me on why I chose to give a incomplete score, let me explain why this pick deserves that grade. Well for one, we all knew Kyrie was going to be the #1 overall selection. Kyrie was deemed the number one overall pick before the lotto even occured, so lets not act like the grizzlies took any major risk here selecting Kyrie. Sencondly, Kyrie wasn't really chosen by the teams gm, so I can't really give much credit to a team who had the easiest pick of the draft. Now lets not get that mistaken with me saying this is a bad first TC, Kyrie improved his shooting, and his handling this TC, and though I think the GM would have liked to see some improvement on his defense, this was a very good first TC by Kyrie.
Player Picked: Jonas Valencuines
Ratings Before TC: B C- C- C+ C A
Ratings After TC: A- C- C- B C+ A
Grade: A-
After a lucky jump in the lotto, your truely had the decision of who I thought was going to be the second best player in this draft, and while some of the other players we're intriguing, I read Jonas' notes and figured he was the only other player in this draft who had a chance to be a star, with some luck of course, and boy did he have a great TC or what. Besides the fact that after I pumped him up big time before tc to get him to B+ inside, he turned around and upped his inside to A- in TC. That was something I was not expecting at all, now add to that he went +2 and defense and +1 in rebounding. I think it's pretty safe to say I made the right choice.
Player Picked: Kenneth Faried
Ratings Before TC: C+ C- D+ C+ B+ A
Ratings After TC: B- D+ D+ B A- A
Grade: A-
The Orlando magic also made a good pick in this draft, taking the guy I thought to be the second best big man in the draft. Kenneth Faried looked to be raw in his offense, and it didn't seem like he'd be a very good defender before TC. The only skill everyone knew he was going to have was rebounding, so he was pretty much polar opposite of the guy selected right ahead of him. Not only did Keneth have a swap between his inside and outside scoring, he improved his defense by 2 and his rebounding by 1. Thought they probably would have liked to keep the C- outside, I dont see it being too huge of a deal with the TC he came through with.
Player Picked: Kawhi Leonard
Ratings Before TC: C+ B C A B- B
Ratings After TC: C+ B+ C A B- B
Grade: B+
I think the TC by Kawhi Leonard let more to be desired from the Indiana Pacers, and although he looked BBS ready coming out of the draft, you get the feeling that maybe he's already at his ceiling. Although he improved an already solid outside shot, he was deemed to be a passive scorer to begin with. I think Indiana wanted to see some improvements in his other key areas. Who knows maybe he'll show more next season, but as of right now I think he's reached his max potential.
Player Picked: Enes Kanter
Ratings Before TC: C+ D+ D- C+ B- A
Ratings After TC: B- D+ D- B- B B
Grade: B+
This is a bit iffy with me, something about that loss of A potential doesn't sit well with me. Dont get me wrong Kanter had a fabulous TC in regard of ratings upgrades, a plus three is nothing to snicker about. What worries me is how much is left? For a 19 year old to come into the league, have a nice TC and show little signs of much else, that has to worry the Magic. If I were going to judge by what it is though, this is a good start for Kanter, maybe he needs some love in the RC/AC area
Player Picked: Brandon Knight
Ratings Before TC: C+ B C C D+ A
Ratings After TC: C+ A- C C+ D B
Grade: B
This was kind of a shocker pick in my opinion, I mean for a team like philly I thought selecting a PG was way out of the question. Nonetheless they selected Brandon Knight, and I dont know how well he fits with John Wall. Wall is a inside oriented guard, and although Knight's notes hint to him being able to score inside, I wonder how that will work. As for Knight's TC? It was a bit disappointing to be honest. When reading Knights notes this guy sounded like a stud, and maybe it's just his lack of passing but I was expecting something closer to B- A- C C+ type of ratings, but maybe he's close to that I dont know. I think he'll fit better as the SG than Wall will though too.
Player Picked: Greg Smith
Ratings Before TC: B C- C- C+ B B
Ratings After TC: B C- C- C+ B B
Grade: B-
At the time of this Boston pick, I had thought it was a reach, and after TC, I still think it's a reach. I mean I think there were several players left on the board for Boston to decide on, and the went with Greg Smith. Smith is basically a clone of what Monroe already was, unathletic, iffy defense, lack of strength, and good inside scoring. I thought that was the last thing Boston could possibly want, but low and behold they are stuck with him. Now I dont think there is much room for improvement with Smith, but this doesn't mean Monroe and Smith wont sim well together, they just wont look very appealing.
Player Picked: Klay Thompson
Ratings Before TC: C+ A- C C+ C- B
Ratings After TC: B- A- C C+ C-B
Grade: B+
Now with the addition of Klay Thomson, the Spurs got themselves a nice scorer to groom into a very nice SG. Now Klay Thompson may have only went +1, but that +1 could go a long way because he did it in a catagory that is hard for SGs to improve in. Most SGs when they have C+ inside have the tendency to go up with their outside shot rather than inside, especially with A- outside. Not Klay, he figured out a way to balance his scoring to make him a threat inside and outside. For that I must applaud the selection, because without that B- inside, Klay's future would have looked a bit blurry. Atleast San Antonio knows he'll be better than Danilo.
Player Picked: Derrick Williams
Ratings Before TC: B- B D+ C C A
Ratings After TC: B B+ D+ C C A
Grade: B+
Boy did Derrick Williams fall in the draft or what? Once percieved to be a top three pick, Derrick fell all the way to pick number nine. Not to say there was anything wrong with him falling, just so many teams passed on this guy, and Portland swooped right in and snatched the scorer. Now Derrick definitely has more to work on with his game, but if his first TC is any indication of his future, I'll consider him good to go. Portland still has to decide on where they will play him though, will he play SF or PF? Either way I think he gets torched on defense, but boy will he be a scorer in the future? Improving in both his scoring catagories.
Player Picked: Chandler Parsons
Ratings Before TC: C+ B C+ B+ C B
Ratings After TC: C+ A- B- A- C B
Grade: A
Did it seem like out of all the wing players in the lotto, that Parsons got looked overlooked the most? Either way the Knicks are happy to have him, not only is he a great piece during their CY, they might just be able to keep him and win a title. The type of TC this guy had is the one you'd dream of a player with his starting ratings to have. He improved in 3 major catagories, as well as kept his scouted potential. To me this is hands down one of the best picks of the lottery.
Player Picked: Markieff Moris
Ratings Before TC: C+ C+ C- B- C+ B
Ratings After TC: C C+ C- B C+ B
Grade: B
This Was an very smart move by the Spurs as I stated in the draft, I previously had interest in the Morris twins due to their stipulation, but after I jumped in the draft, I figured there wasn't a very good chance I land them both so all the interest went away. It just so happened that my second pick was sandwiched right in between two Spurs lottos, and he made the right decision by going for it. I wasn't going to cock block because at the time I had a eye on who I wanted and I wasn't going to let the Morris twins stand between my decision making. So kudos to the Spurs GM for taking this chance, if I were anyone else I probably would have cock blocked. Though you pretty much knew one guy was going to be solid in expense of the other.
Player Picked: Kemba Walker
Ratings Before TC: B- B- C+ C D+ B
Ratings After TC: C+ B- C+ C+ D+ B
Grade: C
Oh lord, the pick in the lotto I'm not too happy about making at this point. Kemba Walker, boy did this first TC disappoint me with you. I had such high hopes, and you crushed them by trading inside scoring for defense. Not only does that tell me that you weren't very good on the inside to begin with, you improved in a area I'm not expecting you to be very good at in the first place. Not only that, but you did nothing else to show me this was a fluke, no handling, not even your outside shooting improved. I say all that to say this Kemba, fuck off please.
Player Picked: Marcus Morris
Ratings Before TC: B- B- C- C+ C B
Ratings After TC: B B+ C- C+ C B
Grade: A-
Ah yes, the more improved of the two Morris twins, moreso due to the stipulation than to his actual TC, strip the stipulation away and you've got a iffy TC, add the stipulation and you get a very good outcome. Clearly the Spurs were more worried about the SFs best attributes other than the PF, but this is probably what I would have done too. Marcus went from B- B- to B B+ during the TC, what worries me though is how much potential he has in him to improve on these ratings. Other than that I think the spurs did a pretty good job with this draft.
Now before the draft, people(including myself) were claiming this to be a fairly weak draft. Not only did this draft surprise me and other, I think some steals surprised a lot of people as well. This was a trick draft to draft in and if you weren't willing to take a chance, you were likely going to get burned anyway. That is all folks, make sure you give this thing a 5.
