2012 Draft Lottery Grades
Jan 31, 2013 19:52:08 GMT -5
Post by alldaygb on Jan 31, 2013 19:52:08 GMT -5
Welcome people, to my thoughts on the draft lottery picks from the 2012 draft. All grades in this draft will be done on the fly, and based off pure speculation. Now some picks will be based on how easy they were to decide and others will be based off if the team played it safe or took a risk. Lets get into it.
Player Picked: Anthony Davis
Ratings: B C- D+ B+ C+ A
Grade: A
With the first pick in the draft, the clippers chose the smart route in my opinion. Take the safe pick and move on, I would have picked the same guy honestly. While I like Drummond, I just dont see the point of drafting a raw offensive player with question marks, not to mention he has the brutal D-/F+ Outside/Handling combo to start out. I dont want to draft anyone with D-/F+ Outside/Handling 1st overall. With Davis his notes were alot better and he could block shots just like Drummond along with a more polished offensive game. To me this was hands down the smart pick.
Player Picked: Andre Drummond
Ratings: B+ D- F+ C+ B+ A
Grade: A-
Before you jump on me and ask why I graded Davis an A, yet I grade Drummond an A-, let me explain. Now with the Hornet(aka soon to be Pelicans) they weren't in as tough of a position as the Clippers. They were just going to take whoever the Clippers didn't take, however it still was the right pick. Drummond needs a lot of work, and if the GM decides to give the effort to make it happen both the Clippers and Hornets will be happy. Now if New Orleans isn't going to put points into him, then they should have traded down. His notes clearly indicate he's going to need some extra effort outside of his TCs to become the best player her can be.
Player Picked: Bradley Beal
Ratings: C+ B+ B- C+ C- A
Grade: B+
Now here's my thing with the Grizzlies, out of all teams going into the lottery, MKG seemed like the perfect fit alongside Kyrie, and Mayo. So I dont necessarily understand their thought process with this. I know they might want to continue to lose, but when a player fits so perfectly with what you have? I dont know, it's still a good pick which is why I rated it B+, but I thought of all people they'd be going for MKG. Not to mention they trade Mayo for the 25th pick and a protected pick. Weird, but to each it's own.
Player Picked: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
Ratings : B- C C A B- A
Grade: A-
Now Boston, while MKG may have feel into their laps at 4, they made a nice pick here. Adding MKG to a roster with Greg Smith and Greg Monroe, they didn't need much scoring they needed perimeter defense. Coming in MKG gives them a versitile defender who can defend all five positions, so if the wanted to they could play him as a back up 1-5 and see how he effects the game. Now with me, I'm not sure of how much potential he has, his notes didn't really touch on his overall potential. As for his offense, that seems to need some work and Boston wont have to worry about his 3 point shot in, what I'm assuming they'll run, that inside offense. Good pick here
Player Picked: Damien Lillard
Ratings: C+ A- B- C- D+ A
Grade: You grade my pick
Now here we are with my pick, personally I think this was the dream scenario for me if I wasn't going to end up with one of the big men. I did not at all want to draft Beal or MKG in reality, so me dropping a pick in the draft really saved me from the temptation of doing that. As for Lillard himself, he was easily the best pick for my team, I needed a PG who I could pair with Jonas to build around for the future. While his defense may be horrible forever, I think I may have a nice weapon of the offense. You guys tell me how I did.
Player Picked: Harrison Barnes
Ratings: B- B- C- B- C A
Grade: B+
Now here's the guy who could potentially make me and those 2 in front of me regret not taking him with one of our picks. Overall his notes were a bit iffy to me. The thing about the prototypical B- B- B- wings are that you never know what to expect them to do. They can have all the potential in the world and max out at B B+ A- or they can turn into absolute scoring/defensive stud. You just never know. Now with Barnes the lakers start their rebuilding off right, although I dont quite like them getting 2 SFs out of the Chris Paul deal. What are they going to do with both? Also this was probably the least difficult of all the first 6 picks in the draft.
Player Picked: Meyers Leonard
Ratings: B- C F+ B- C A
Grade: C+
Now to me personally, I dont like Leonard to much. His notes only said he has potential to be more but pretty much as of right now he's just athletic. Now I dont know about any of you, but that just sounds like too much for me in the lottery. You're going to need to work on his offense, his defense, his rebounding, his strenght... because according to his notes he has none of that. I applaud the 76ers for the effort, but to me if they were looking for a big man they passed on the wrong guy in Sullinger.
Player Picked: Thomas Robinson
Ratings: C+ C- D C+ B A
Grade: B
Now drafting Robinson here was smart by the Spurs to an extent. They need a lot of help and they have time to wait for it. Without taking much of a risk they took a guy who looks to be a for sure starter in the future. Maybe not a star caliber player, but you aren't always going to get stars with your picks in every draft so it's important to make your pick count towards something productive. To me they did that with this pick.
Player Picked: Terrance Ross
Ratings: B- B C- B- C A
Grade: B+
The Nuggets although wings dont seem to be their issue, drafted the right player at the right time. See there wasn't much said about Ross that would make me think he was any less of a solid player. There wasn't many negatives outside of his strength and possibly a handling issue, but that just means he isn't meant to be a dynamic scorer to me. To be fairly honest, with Rose and Roy they didn't need much scoring. What they need is depth upfront and off the bench. They get it here.
Player Picked: Royce White
Ratings: B- D+ B+ C B- B
Grade: A
Now with Royce white, this is risky but potentially extremely valuable. This is a guy who rebounds well, handles well, and can start at all 5 positions while staying listed as a whatever position he's moved to. So he can be moved to SF, get a little bit of everything TC wise and start at every position. This is where the risk comes in though, we dont know how much better he can get, he notes included that dreaded saying of boom or bust. Which leads me to believe he has one chance to become something really good, and if he doesn't he'll just remain what he is which is still pretty valuable.
Player Picked: Jared Sullinger
Ratings: C+ C D B- B+ B
Grade: A
This was easily the smartest late lottery pick, hands down. Did anyone who drafted a big after Davis and Drummond read this guys notes? I thought they clearly point to Sullinger potentially being a star. It said it all in the first sentence of his notes. He was a star opposite of the Drommond mold. Meaning one he was going to come in right away and score, two good jumpshot, 3 great rebounder. The only thing the dude lacks is athleticism, which as we all know by the previous 2 drafts(Greg Monroe, Greg Smith anyone?) is what Broph likes to do with with these posilished offensive players with no athleticism. Bravo to the Suns.
Player Picked: Dion Waters
Ratings: C+ B B C D+ A
Grade: B+
The Bucks kinda lucked into this pick to me, because I think Waiters could have easily gone earlier, but here he is at 12. Now this isn't completely a great pick though. Waiters was touted as the poor mans Bradley Beal, I don't like that term at all, especially considering Bradley Beal is in the same draft and he has questions as well. As for where he was taken, this seems to be a very beneficial start to a rebuild in the Bucks 1st year. It doesn't, but he needs a lot of luck to be a very good pick.
Player Picked: Tony Wroten
Ratings: Tony Wroten PG 6'5'' 205 19 B- C- B- B C B
Grade: B-
Now Tony Wroten, I really dont like in the lotto, from his upside to his handling issues to his attrocious outside game. If you were to tell me this guy would go lotto before the draft, I would have called you crazy. Personally I would have picked Marshall before I picked him. There are just too many negatives in his notes for him to be lotto material. This was the gamble of all gambles, because he could very well be a bust, and never become anything more than what he is. That's why I don't like this pick too much, but with what is left I dont blame the Magic for taking the chance.
All around interesting draft in my opinion, dont get butt hurt over my thoughts, because until TC happens none of us know really what's in store for this draft. Just do me a favor and vote
