One of the better draft evaluations I have read.
http://www.hoopsanalyst.com/0506ew17.htmHOOPSANALYST
NBA Draft 2006: Draft Grades
by Ed Weiland (7/1/06)
These grades are based on how much a team helped themselves with deals involving this draft, whether they used the picks themselves or traded the pick this past year or several years ago. I give some credit for getting more value for a pick, but in general the grades are pretty much straight how much each team benefited from this draft. I included past trades in the equation, weighing what the team received against what might have been available with their pick. I also grade on a curve, meaning there will be 3 As and Fs; 6 Bs and Ds; and 12 Cs. The teams are in order from top to bottom of who benefited the most, so the teams at the top of the C group can be assumed to have gotten a C+, while the teams at the bottom can be assigned a C- if you wish. Likewise for the other groups.
A: Miami: The Heat used their 2006 draft pick as part of the stash that brought Shaquille O’Neal and an NBA title over from the Lakers. The Heat already got out of this draft what 29 other teams are still looking for.
A: Chicago: In exchange for Eddy Curry, the Bulls got Tyrus Thomas with the Knick’s pick, the right to switch #1s with the Knicks in 2007 and Michael Sweetney. They also draft Thabo Sefolosha and picked up Victor Khryapa in a swap of draft picks with Portland. The Bulls filled their two main needs and did it with a couple of great prospects. Don’t listen to the talk that Thomas is 2-3 years away. Thomas may not be complete as a player, but he’s ready to help out in a big way with rebounding and inside defense. Sefolosha is a multi-skilled player who adds good size and defense to a small backcourt. With this draft, John Paxson now has a good young player at every position and has them at least two-deep at PG, SG and PF. This looks like a team that, if kept together should contend for the next 5-10 years. This was brilliant work by Paxson and the Bulls, both in the players they drafted and they way they played hardball with the Knicks and the Blazers to squeeze a little more and pay a little less out of each transaction.
A Portland: LeMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, Sergio Rodriguez and Joel Freeland. Sheesh, a lot went on there. The Blazers made some slick moves. They didn’t need Telfair with Jack around and Khryapa is just another salary off the books. Ratliff was aging and on the way out. They also get Raef Lafrentz’s contract for three more years, but spending money doesn’t seem to bother Paul Allen. I have mixed feelings on the players they drafted. I love Roy, but I feel Aldridge has a ways to go and may never get there. That said, some feel Aldridge is the best prospect in the draft and that has to be worth something. Rodriguez and Freeland are both solid developmental picks for late first rounders. I do like the look of this team a lot better now. Jack and Roy should form a strong backcourt and they have a lot of youth up front that could suddenly develop. In spite of the fact that they didn’t play their cards very well and they may have drafted a clunker in Aldridge, the Blazers improved themselves and their situation more than any team other than Chicago. They’re not in the playoffs yet, but they’re closer than they were and appear to have some direction.
B Utah: Ronnie Brewer. I still don’t understand why so many NBA people seem unimpressed with Brewer. It has to be more than that funky shot. Here’s a player who can play any of the three perimeter positions, plays strong defense, is one of the best athletes in the draft, has great size and physical attributes and is a decent shooter. I don’t know what’s not to like here. I do know the Jazz got a steal at #14 and filled a need to boot. They also made a nice score in round 2, drafting Paul Millsap and Dee Brown.
B Charlotte: Adam Morrison. I’d have preferred Roy and I think most Bobcat fans will agree with that about 2 months into the season. But Morrison may have been the next best pick for them. They needed an outside scorer and Morrison might be the best one available. I also give them credit for taking Morrison ahead of Gay. Not that Ammo is that much better of a player than Gay, but he’s a better fit in this situation. Gay would have offered little in the way of immediate help. Morrison fills a need and should improve the Bobcats immediately.
B Atlanta: Shelden Williams. This is not as crazy as some have said. The Hawks have said they’re going to find a PG via trade. They have the pieces to deal, so that excuses them for not drafting Marcus Williams. SheldenWilliams is ready, productive and a great fit on a team that needed inside defense. Sometimes teams get weird about taking the player they want at a pick that seems too high. The Hawks obviously said: “screw that, Williams can help out immediately in an area we need help. We’ll take him and damn the naysayers.” Williams didn’t get enough credit from the experts. I doubt he’ll ever be an all-star, let alone a great player. But Williams will bring strong boardwork, good inside defense and some inside scoring to a team that was in need of all three things. The only player available who I would say was a clearly better prospect was Roy, and the Hawks already have Joe Johnson and Josh Childress.
B San Antonio: Dealt top pick as part of package for Nazr Mohammed. I don’t know if we can say definitively that Mohammed delivered the 2005 championship, but he was part of the rotation. This is what a team in the Spur’s situation should do with their assets, use them to put a contending team over the top.
B Boston: Rajon Rondo and Leon Powe. Also added Sebatian Telfair, Theo Ratliff and Brian Grant, while giving up Raef Lafrentz and Dan Dickau. The rumors are buzzing about an Iverson deal, so all this could be moot, but I’ll base my comments on what is now. The Celtics addressed two needs: depth at PG and inside defense. Ratliff and Grant aren’t close to what they once were, but each might be good for some occasional strong bench play and if a little something can rub off on Jefferson and Perkins, they’ll be worth having around. Telfair has only a year or two left on his rookie contract, so he’s not a huge risk and still has some upside. The rumor is they wanted Rondo all along, and if this is the case, credit is due for getting their guy and picking up a few pieces. They could have had Roy with the pick, but they also have Szczerbiak, Pierce and last year’s draftee Gerald Green on board, so it’s not like this was an area of need. Rondo was a good value pick for when they got him. The core of talent was kept intact and they bolstered some weak areas. All things considered, the Celtics did well for themselves.
B LA Clippers: In a roundabout way the Clippers got Corey Maggette in exchange for NJ’s 22nd pick. I have to give this a thumbs up. Maggette is an integral player on a contending team and that’s much more than what could have been expected at #22.
C Toronto: Andrea Bargnini. The question: Is Bargnini the best player available? He’s in the mix. I like everything he does from what stats I’ve seen, except the rebounding. I had him 5th,but a case could certainly be made for Bargnini as the top guy. Also to consider is the fact that Colangelo appears set on remaking the roster. He’s brought in Nesterovic for Bonner and Araujo, and a Villanueva for TJ Ford trade is being reported as a done deal. Without getting into analyzing the merit of these transactions, it appears Colangelo does have a plan here and Bargnini is prominently involved. There’s something to be said for taking the player you feel is the best and Toronto clearly got the guy they wanted. But this is a team that as being completely rebuilt and if Bargnini isn’t the best player from this draft, Colangelo did the team and the fans a disservice by taking his guy. For the sake of the team, the hope is Colangelo didn’t just fall for Bargnini and toss his objectivity out the window.
C Houston: Shane Battier in a trade for the rights to Rudy Gay and Stromlie Swift. Nice move by Houston. Battier is one of those defense/intangibles players who will be a terrific teammate for Yao and McGrady. The downside is they dealt one of their two semi-effective power forwards in Swift and will need to address that this summer before they’re ready to get back to being a serious contender. I also give the Rockets credit for snagging Lior Eliyahu in round 2. He’ll stick in Europe for a season or two, but could be a very good player in the future.
C Seattle: Saer Sene. Sene may not be 100% ready to step in and play center. But he can rebound and block shots with the best of them and this is a good thing for the league’s worst defensive team to be looking to shore up. Seattle has taken a center in each of the last three drafts and I’m not sure that’s such a bad thing. Stockpiling young 7-footers makes sense, because good centers are in short supply and if a team is always carrying a couple of prospects, it increases their chances of coming up with a good one.
C Sacramento: Quincy Douby. Good pick that gives the Kings the shooter and backup PG they needed. They have drafted SGs for 3 consecutive years now, but Douby is a little different than Garcia and Martin. Douby can nail the trey as well as just about any player that was available. Throw in some PG skills and good defense and this pick looks like it could turn into a steal.
C Indiana: Shawne Williams and James White. They drafted a player who is similar to the player they drafted last season and plays a position they’re already two-deep at. They had their pick of the PGs, which was a definite need on this team and passed. Talentwise Williams was a good pick at this point. He’s a player with a lot of skill who might only require some serious time in the weight room before he makes an impact. White was also a good value for when they got him, even though he really doesn’t fill a need either. In the sense that they added to their overall talent base with just a couple of picks late in a weak draft, I give Indiana credit. I don’t like that the Pacers didn’t address the glaring need at PG when there were options available. But they do have some chips to deal with now, so it’s probably best to wait and see what happens here.
C New Orleans: Hilton Armstrong, Cedric Simmons and Marcus Vinicius. Simmons came with Dez Mason in the Magliore trade. They got some inside defense in Armstrong and Simmons, if very little rebounding. I was mildly surprised they didn’t take a SG, but inside help was a bigger need and with the failure rate of mid-first round draft picks being kind of high, cutting the odds in half by drafting two inside defenders isn’t a terrible idea. Magliore’s season in Milwaukee shows he’s clearly a player on the way down anyway, so getting younger and more athletic is probably a good tradeoff.
C New Jersey: Marcus Williams and Josh Boone. Williams was an absolute steal at this point. I think Greg Anthony hit it on the head when he compared Williams to Mark Jackson. Williams provides a strong backup, insurance should Kidd go down and could step right in and start, should they want to deal Kidd. Boone is sort of a reach, but there’s no doubting the need for inside help and he offers some.
C Golden State: Patrick O’Bryant. They get another center to help inside. It’s never a bad thing to take a center with some potential. O’Bryant has some skills and should be able to offer some immediate help with some inside grunt work and could pay off big time down the line if he can develop an offensive game. What the Warriors failed to do is address any weakness or change the chemistry of a team that had very little and this could keep them struggling, at least for the near future.
C Cleveland: Shannon Brown and Daniel Gibson. Nice drafting. Danny Ferry shows again that the LeBron era is in good hands. Last summer Ferry went out and got some good, solid veterans to surround LeBron and the team responded with 50 wins. In this draft he didn’t do anything earthshaking, but he did draft two players who were terrific value picks for when they were drafted. Both Brown and Gibson slid some because the group of shooting guards was pretty deep. Both can play and both will be nice to have around should Larry Hughes go down again.
C Memphis: Dealt Shane Battier for rights to Rudy Gay and Stromile Swift. Picked up Kyle Lowry and Alexander Johnson in the draft. I hate that they gave up Battier, but the Grizz redeemed themselves some with a couple of strong late picks. They added depth, defense and rebounding to a thin inside game with Swift and Johnson. Lowry gives them another PG and he may even start. They also get Gay, who is going to a good situation where he can be eased in and not put under immediate pressure, as he would have been in Charlotte, Minnesota, or Toronto.
C Phoenix: Sold or dealt all their picks. They still hold Atlanta’s #1 in 2007 from the Joe Johnson deal and received a #1 from Boston in 2007 in the Rajon Rondo deal. I have to hand it to the Suns here. It looked like they might be putting on a too cool for school act by dumping their picks, but there really was nothing that could help them that was available at that point. I suppose a PG would have been nice, but if Nash were to go down, it’s not like Rajon Rondo could rally the team to a title. They rid themselves of Brian Grant and saved money they would have paid the draft picks so they could keep Tim Thomas and Barbosa around. The 2007 draft is deep and talented, so the picks they’ve stockpiled there could have a huge payoff down the road.
C Milwaukee: Traded top pick for Magliore, picked up David Noel and Damir Markota in round 2. Magliore hasn’t worked out as well as they would have liked and is rumored to be on the block. He still might payoff down the road though, either in terms of getting back close to his all-star form, or in what he brings in a trade. Right now I’d call this deal a wash, because there wasn’t much available at 15 anyway. Noel and Markota were both good pickups in round two. Noel has all the makings of a defensive stopper and Markota looks like a usable 3-4 off the bench. The Bucks biggest need, to jump start Andrew Bogut, will be addressed over the summer.
D Orlando: JJ Redick. This is sort of a reach. Redick is the type of player who needs the right crowd around him and Orlando has some of that, but I’m not certain this is the best place for Redick or the best option for the Magic. They have an inside scorer in Dwight Howard and a potential defensive backstop in Darko Milicic, which are both necessary for Redick to have success. What’s missing is another wing scorer to attract defenses away from Redick, a player who doesn’t create that well and needs others to get him the ball. All things considered, a multi-skilled player like Sefolosha and Brewer was probably a better option.
D Philadelphia: Rodney Carney and a future #2: I feel that Sefolosha will be a better player than Carney. Possibly much better, so the trade is puzzling. I doubt a case could be made for Carney being the best player on the board at 13, but he does offer an athletic defender to contrast with Korver’s sniper. Some inside help seemed like a better option though.
D Dallas: Maurice Ager. Good pick for where it came. I don’t see that Dallas needed another swingman, but this draft was all about these type of players and the Mavs got a player with some value drafting late. Ager also might allow them to deal Marquis Daniels and getting something of value there. They really didn’t do anything to deserve a D, but we’re doing this on a curve and since Ager will only bring minimal help, the D stands.
D Minnesota: Randy Foye in a swap with Portland for Brandon Roy. They might as well trade Garnett now. If they’re not going jump all over a Brandon Roy when he’s there for them, what’s the point? Foye is a nice player who does some things well and should have a nice career backing up PGs and SGs all over the league. Roy is a likely ROY and a future all-star. If you look at their numbers from their senior years, there isn’t one thing Foye did better than Roy. Roy scored more often and more efficiently. Roy got assists, steals, blocks and rebounds at a higher rate. Roy got to the line more often and shot FTs better. Roy was a better 3-point shooter and had a better assist/TO ratio. The gap in production between the two players is stunning, considering they were basically dealt straight up for each other. On top of everything else, the “next Wade” yolk has been tossed around Foye’s neck. Yeah, he needs that. Kevin McHale blew it and it’s really a shame. Garnett is one of the best players of this generation and because of poor management his career in Minnesota could end with a whimper.
D Washington: Oleksiy Pecherov. This seems like a reach to me. Pecherov doesn’t bring much other than a so-so outside shot and mediocre rebounding. I guess that makes him a nice occasional change-up at PF, but an immediate need wasn’t filled. This on a team that should have been looking for immediate help.
D Detroit: Gave up pick for Carlos Arroyo who was shipped to Orlando. Drafted Will Blalock and picked up Cheick Samb in round 2. Arroyo didn’t help much, but little was lost. Blalock has limited potential. Samb is a nice player to have the rights to, because he’s tall, 7’1” and has flashed some skill despite having a raw game. No immediate help to a team that’s suddenly looking mortal.
F New York: Renaldo Balkman and Mardy Collins. Collins pick was obtained in Nazr Mohammed deal, Balkman pick was originally Denver’s and got to the Knicks in the Jalen Rose-Antonio Davis trade. We all know about the Knick’s own #1 pick and how it went to the Bulls for Eddy Curry. We also all know about the disaster the Knicks have become and I won’t rehash all that here. I will say that Isaih Thomas, for all his faults as a GM, can still draft with the best of them. Despite all the squawking and giggling going on over these picks, Balkman and Collins are exactly what this team of mad bombers, weak rebounders and soft defenders needed. Both players play tough, hard defense, dive for loose balls and, in Balkman’s case, crash the boards. Sure Marcus Williams would have been a better pick, but Isaih has to improve this team in 2007. The owner announced this himself. A promising PG to sit behind Marbury and Francis would not have improved the team in 2007. A couple of defensive studs might. Whether it will happen is still shaky, but there’s good, sound logic here, based on the Knicks’ situation. I can’t give them any more than an F, because it was inexcusable not to get some sort of top 5 protection on the pick in the Curry deal. But these picks looked at by themselves, were smart choices and should help the team out.
F LA Lakers: Get Miami’s #1 in the Shaq trade and use it on Jordan Farmar. Also pick up Maurice Evans from Detroit for Cheik Samb and Danilo Pinnock for future considerations. Their own #1 went to Phoenix in a roundabout series of deals that I think netted them Chris Mihm. Obviously Jordan Farmar doesn’t make the Shaq trade OK. I can understand why the trade had to be made, but that doesn’t make it any less of a disaster. I also feel Farmar was a poor selection for the Lakers. He won’t fit in with the offense and may be too turnover prone to ever be any good anyway. Pinnock and Evans are both good pickups, but did the team really need a couple more defensive swingmen on their bench? The Lakers did nothing to improve themselves at a critical point for the team. They took a player who won’t help and might even hurt, due to his turnover problem, weak outside shooting ability and poor defense. Plus, the disastarous Shaq trade still looms over this selection.
F Denver: Gave up pick as part of Kenyon Martin deal. Since Martin hasn’t brought a lot to Denver and is now just another bad contract they’re desperate to dump, it’s hard to give Denver much credit for how they used their pick. Sometimes these things work out and sometimes they don’t. They didn’t lose much by giving up the 20th pick, but they hurt themselves quite a bit by giving a big contract to an injury-prone player.
