Archives for June 2013

2013 Draft Grades

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This may have been the most entertaining draft ever. There was drama, plot twists, comedy and surprises. We got David Stern basking in the glory of his 30 years as the best commissioner in sports. We got the entertaining ESPN crew actually giving some critical analysis. We got Shane Battier auditioning for his post-playing career. That was fun. My MO is to grade on a curve with 3 As, 6 Bs, 12 Cs, 6 Ds and 3 Fs. I try to focus on what exactly was gained by the first round pick in the draft, … [Read more...] about 2013 Draft Grades

NBA Draft 2013: Top 60

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Here’s my top 60 on the morning of the draft. The top 3 stand out above the rest. I believe all 3 will have a big impact. The next 5 are a mix of players who are likely solid pros and high upside players with a little more risk than the top 3. Next are 4 centers with upside and high potential for turning out ordinary or worse. After that there are a lot of decent prospects with red flags and question marks. I suspect many of them will go on to have long, productive NBA careers, but more will … [Read more...] about NBA Draft 2013: Top 60

NBA Draft 2013: Centers

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The centers are a varied group this year. There are a lot of draftworthy prospects, most of them starting in round 2. There are also a lot of potential specialists. There are stretch 5s, shot blockers, rebounders and youngsters with upside.  A good number of these guys are older than the typical prospect. My feeling is that in 10 years when we look back on the 2013 draft one of the stories will be how many of these players went on to decent NBA careers. My advice to any team drafting in round … [Read more...] about NBA Draft 2013: Centers

NBA Draft 2013: Power Forwards

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This is a very weak group of PFs this year. Probably the only group that lives down to the ridiculous “worst draft ever” assessments we’re hearing about 2013. I did write ups on the two best prospects, Cody Zeller and Tony Mitchell. The rest I put in groups without much comment, because there isn’t much to add other than all are marginal prospects who are worth a look, but probably not a draft pick. There were no foreign PFs who looked worthy of a mention. The PF benchmarks I look for are 2PP … [Read more...] about NBA Draft 2013: Power Forwards

NBA Draft 2013: Why Cleveland Should Draft Nerlens Noel

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Since I started the 2013 draft analysis with the 12/31 rankings, the only thing that has been easy about the process is placing Nerlens Noel at the top. The knee injury was a huge setback, but in the time he played Noel put up some excellent numbers that put him in pretty good company. Here are players who have topped .590 2PP, 10.0 R40 and 5.0 B40 as freshmen, as Noel did this past year: Player 2PP P40 R40 S40 B40 A/TO Hakeem … [Read more...] about NBA Draft 2013: Why Cleveland Should Draft Nerlens Noel

NBA Draft 2013: Combo Forwards

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Also known as a stretch 4 or a tweener, this group is something of a catchall for forwards who don’t fit. Either their size or statistics suggest they belong in a different role than what they played in college. All have some skill that could translate to NBA success. Such players have become more valuable as the trend is towards smaller lineups. The recent NBA success of such players is Ryan Anderson. Coming out of Cal as a sophomore, Anderson’s strengths were 3-point shooting and … [Read more...] about NBA Draft 2013: Combo Forwards

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