From the monthly archives:

June 2010

Looking at Lance Stephenson

by Jared Wade on June 25, 2010 at 11:35 am · 1 comment

For those of us who live in New York, Lance Stephenson’s name rung out over the past few years. Hailing from the same school at Stephon Marbury and Sebastian Telfair — and looking like a guy who might have the most talent of the three — he became a city legend. He led Lincoln High School to four straight PSAL city public league titles (something that has never been done before) while also become the most prolific scorer in New York state history.

Helluva resume.

It even got Lance, a guy who earned the nickname “Born Ready” by hanging with — and, at times, embarrassing — seasoned adults on the legendary Rucker Park courts, onto the cover of Dime magazine as a junior alongside the cover line “This 17-year-old would be an NBA star right now.” Given his underwhelming freshman year at Cincinnati and foolish-by-some-people’s-estimation decision to enter the NBA Draft this year, the hype has so far been overstated. The very fact that he was picked 40th in the draft tells you all you need to know about how other NBA GMs rate his future potential.

Still, the kid has talent. Here’s what Dime recently had to say about Stephenson in a piece they did acknowledging their overzealous estimation of his ability.

You think when we slapped a 17-year-old high school junior on the cover of Dime #42 and declared he would “be an NBA star right now,” it would go down as one of the biggest fumbles in basketball mag history, right?

Well, you’re right. In a way. We did call it too early. Lance Stephenson wouldn’t have been an NBA star at 17. But watch as he becomes one in his 20’s. Or at least climbs higher than being the bust so many are making him out to be.

Still…

But think about the elements we look for in a successful NBA player, and then you’ll realize he has almost every one. Size? Lance goes 6-5 and 210 at 19 years old, more than good enough for an NBA two-guard. Skills? He can handle the rock like a point guard, pass better than a lot of twos, and his strength is on par with many small forwards. Clutch? Against UConn on national TV, Lance hit game-winning free throws with 0.7 seconds left, then later downed Rutgers in the BIG EAST Tournament with two free throws as 1.8 showed on the clock. Work ethic? In high school, Lance woke up hours before school every morning in Coney Island to run stairs. Good teammate? While he was clearly the most talented player on the Bearcats this season, Lance routinely deferred to the upperclassmen, until he was called upon to be the primary scorer.

His jumper needs work, and he needs to play more under control, but plenty of teenagers have come into the NBA with the same issues. What’s important is that the basic foundation is set. Maybe he won’t be an All-Star or even a starter right away, but Lance Stephenson will be all right.

Take that for what you will. It’s coming from a magazine that obviously has some vested interest from a credibility standpoint in Lance — at a bare minimum — being “all right.”

I can’t personally add anything to the Lance discussion. The memorable aspect of Stephenson’s career to me was the fact that me, a St. John’s University alum, and many of my other SJU friends were very, very disappointed when he did decided not to come to St. John’s. But as I have been continually noting, I don’t really watch much college basketball and have only seen Stephenson play one time.

Thus, I leave you with Lance in his own words, via an interview he did last month with Draft Express.

Related Topics: 2010 NBA Draft, Lance Stephenson

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Some Pacers Thoughts from the Draft

by Jared Wade on June 25, 2010 at 11:18 am · 3 comments

So I was at the Draft last night, running around amongst the madness and looking for some Pacers-related tidbits to share with you fine folks. Tim already nailed the first-impression stuff, so check that if you want to know exactly what happened. Honestly, he probably had a better handle on the whole event than I did.

It’s counter-intuitive, but being in the building can be somewhat like being in an information vacuum. There are TVs around to stay updated (in some places), but as you stalk players from the big stage to the back room and sit it on the player press conferences, a lot of trade speculation and discussion goes down that you totally miss.

But there is some info to report. Here was my write-up about the Pacer lottery pick Paul George from last night over at Hardwood Paroxysm:

Paul George went to my Pacers at pick #10, so I followed him around for a while and asked him a question about how he can help bring some consistency to the Pacers perimeter. He gave a typical answer about working hard this summer but added that he “can pretty much do a lot of things on the court” and that he definitely doesn’t “want to come into a…team that’s on the verge of winning and be a slacker.” He also showed some personality after someone asked him whether he feels any pressure to perform since a lot of Hoosiers wanted the Pacers to pick local hero Gordon Hayward. “Yeah, Gordon Hayward is a good friend of mine…” he said, before being interrupted by the reporter, who noted that “…but he was gone.” “Luckily,” said George, sounding like one of the few people on the planet who legitimately wanted to play for the Indiana Pacers. “I definitely want to do good for the fans and I want to pan out to what they want me to be.” Perhaps more importantly, the guy appears to be a very good dresser. Definitely a best-dressed of the night candidate, which was aided by his cool, I’m-really-enjoying-this demeanor. He even looked excited to talk to Craig Sager.

Nice to see that the consummate style icon Trey Kerby of Ball Don’t Lie agreed with my “best-dressed of the night candidate” assessment. The tie chain was indeed amazing.

Here are a few other quotes from George’s press conference last night after he was picked:

On being drafted: “Excited. Happy to be here. It’s a dream come true and no words to express how happy I am right now.”

On playing with Danny Granger, another guy from a smaller college program out West: “I look at Danny as a bigger brother and mentor to myself. We have been working out and training together out in Los Angeles, so we kind of have a bond, you know, as it is already, so I’m extremely happy to be in this situation with this team and this organization. I mean, I just can’t wait to start.”

On whether or not he thought he would be a Pacer: “I didn’t know what to expect. I told my agent to let it ride out. I didn’t want no hints on where I was going so it was a surprise to me. [But] I knew they liked me and I had a good time when I did have my workout there, so it wasn’t that big of a surprise.”

He also talked to Craig Sager about his athleticism — one of his biggest strengths — and how he wanted to spend some time this summer working to improve his quickness and foot speed to make that an even bigger asset for him in the big boy’s league. I can’t say I’m particularly familiar with him from Fresno State (I watch too much NBA basketball to adequately follow NCAA hoops), but between comments like this and just following him around and getting a sense for his demeanor during the night, he looked like someone who was for sure excited to finally make it to the league — but also someone who was excited to start working hard immediately to prove he belongs.

He seemed like a guy who looked at the draft as a beginning, not an end.

Another interesting moment came earlier during the night when I got a chance to chat with Coach John Thompson III of Georgetown. He was there to support his 2009-10 star big man Greg Monroe (who went to the Pistons at pick #7) but made some time to talk a little about his 2007-08 star big man Roy Hibbert.

Like most of us, Thompson has seen tremendous growth out of Hibbert since he entered the league — but he hasn’t been at all surprised. And he doesn’t see that trend stopping anytime soon. Roy was one of the most coachable players he has ever been around, and he thinks we’re all going to look up in four years, expecting Hibbert to have plateaued — only to watch him continue to get better. That’s what he saw at Georgetown out of a kid who wasn’t even that highly regarded out of high school. And he agreed with me that we saw more growth in year two out of Roy than we did in year one — at least in part — because it took him a little while to properly condition his hulking frame to the rigors of the NBA game. And now that he can comfortably run up and down the court for 25-plus minutes a night, we can expect a similar evolution next season.

And hearing about that continued growth from the big fella, along with watching Indiana gain an athletic wing from Fresno and possible-diamond-in-the-rough Lance Stephenson (who oh-by-the-way scored more points in his New York City high school career than any other player in New York state history while also leading Lincoln High School to an unprecedented four straight city titles) made for a pretty good night inside MSG.

2010 NBA Draft

Shot from the media balcony seconds before the Pacers picked Paul George. And don’t worry, I’ll have some better, non-Blackberry-taken photos and video for you shortly.

Related Topics: 2010 NBA Draft, Paul George

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The Pacers and the 2010 NBA Draft: A Couple of Wings and a Prayer

by Tim Donahue on June 25, 2010 at 2:48 am · 3 comments

Paul George

The Pacers entered the night desperately in need of a point guard. They left the night in pretty much the same shape.

Unable to complete a deal to land a point guard, the Pacers did pretty much as we said they’d do in this situation: drafted Paul George. Though I would have liked filling that gaping hole at the point much better, I do like this pick.

George looks like a player who is ready to contribute offensively almost immediately, though it’s not entirely clear what position he’ll play. Defensively, he needs to improve his mechanics and grow into his body, but he has the tools to be a special player at this level. Maybe not this season, but down the road, he could be a force defensively on the wing.

This pick — really all of these picks — run somewhat counter to the Pacers’ recent history of drafting 4-year players from major programs. Where Tyler Hansbrough, Brandon Rush, and Roy Hibbert all were reputed to be low risk, low reward players, George is certainly not that. Here’s what DraftExpress’ Jonathan Givony tweeted in response to the Pacers’ selection:

Indiana finally grew a pair & stopped hitting singles. I begged my guy there to swing for the fences for once. That’s exactly what they did.

With their second pick (#40), the Pacers took an even bigger chance, selecting Lance Stephenson. A solidly-built, 6-5 shooting guard from Cincinnati, Stephenson represents something of a baffling pick, to me.

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First, I’m not sure why they’d add another wing. Second, Stephenson definitely is not the “milk drinker” type. He was a top prospect a year ago coming out of high school — rated ahead of Wall, Cousins, and Favors by some scouting services — but had a somewhat lackluster freshman year. He has a reputation of being a somewhat selfish player, and he has some red flags off the court. This is a guy with a ton of talent, but almost as much baggage. I’m not sure how he’ll work out coming into a pretty weak locker room in Indianapolis — at least from a player leadership standpoint.

Still, to be totally honest, I haven’t seen anywhere near enough to make a complete judgment. Also, it seems that he did largely have his act together at UC — though his shot selection still leaves much to be desired.

So, those are the two wings. The prayer comes in the form of Magnum Rolle — a fantastic name that comes attached to a skinny, 24-year old 6-10 power forward from Louisiana Tech. The Pacers actually drafted Ryan Reid at #57 — who I suspect doesn’t really exist after trying to research him quickly — but traded Reid, along with cash, to Oklahoma City for Rolle, who had been taken with the 51st pick.

11-11-08MagnumRolle

Magnum looks like a quick, athletic shot blocker that could play well next to Hibbert — if he develops quite a bit. He won’t ever be a banger, but he could be a decent weakside shot blocker.

The Christmas Wish

I had really wanted to see some clear signal of the direction Bird wants to take the Pacers. Unfortunately, I’m still scratching my head a bit. The Pacers have no point guard, and when asked about it, Bird simply said they’d work on it this summer. From that perspective, I found draft night somewhat unsatisfying.

However, I do like the Paul George pick quite a bit. Also, my more cautious angels are telling me not to confuse activity with accomplishment. There is still a lot of summer left, so I’m sure there are still plenty of moves yet to be made. Still, there’s not a lot here for Pacer fans to really embrace as bold steps forward.

Scuttlebutt

There were a bazillion rumors going on over the last few days, and it seems clear that none really came to fruition. However, these three were interesting:

Flirting with Thunder
One of the most persistent rumors over the last day was that the Oklahoma City Thunder was trying to acquire the #10 pick. Probably my favorite scenario was getting back Eric Maynor, the #18, and the #21 picks in return for the #10 pick and filler. It seems now that this was never a real possibility, but it sure sounded good at the time. OKC ended up trading the #21 & #26 picks to New Orleans in return for the #11 (Cole Aldrich). They also provided New Orleans with some much needed cap relief by taking back Morris Peterson and his contract. Supposedly, the Pacers turned down a similar offer, where OKC would take T.J. Ford’s contract off our hands. As tempting financially as that is, I think I’d rather roll the dice with Paul George.

Danny in Danger?
A rumor popped up shortly before the draft that had the Pacers sending Danny Granger & the #10 to New Jersey in exchange for Devin Harris, Yi Jianlian, and the #3 — which the Pacers would use on Derrick Favors. The deal didn’t seem to make a lot of sense for either team, to me, and Larry Bird vehemently denied any such deal. Still, plenty of true things have been vehemently denied, so I’m not real sure what to make of that. Right now, I’ll just decide to be glad it didn’t happen, and move on.

Bobcat Deal Revisited?
After the selection of Lance Stephenson, I had tweeted that I thought the Pacers might revisit a rumored deal with Charlotte, sending T.J. Ford and Brandon Rush out for a package that might included Raymond Felton as the solution at the point. I don’t know how feasible it is, and more importantly, I don’t know how desirable it would be. However, it is interesting in light of this little twitter exchange Brandon Rush as the Pacers picked:

There’s little reason to believe that Brandon is aware of any imminent deal, but the Pacers now have six wings (Granger, Rush, Dunleavy, D Jones, George, and Stephenson), seven bigs (Hibbert, Murphy, Foster, Hansbrough, McRoberts, S Jones, and Rolle) to go with basically zero functional point guards. It seems only reasonable that something has to give. Doesn’t it?

desert-wandering

So, perhaps we should rethink that left turn at Albuquerque.

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What Does a Draft Pick Get You? Part V: Ranking the Draft Classes — The 10 Worst

by Tim Donahue on June 24, 2010 at 4:08 pm · 4 comments

1996_nba_draft

Today is the 2010 NBA Draft.

So it’s time to start back into our series on NBA Draft History. As a quick reminder, I’ve looked at every draft class since 1977 (the year the Pacers made their first NBA draft pick) to help understand the Draft better. For more detail, please see the first four parts of this series:

In Parts V, VI and VII, I’m going to be ranking the 33 draft classes, from “worst” to first, using a the following point system based on the 5-Star ratings and the Peak Award levels:

scoring system

Because the “Peak Points” give some to the older classes, I’m going to treat the three drafts that have not yet completed their rookie contracts (2007, 2008 and 2009) as incomplete. These classes have made their first impressions, but it may be a just a touch too early to render a (semi-)permanent grade. Thus, we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and separate them from the others. But here’s a run-down of how they would have fared. (Note: For a complete list of players in any given class, simply click on the “Class of” link.)

Class of 2009: 3 Points (3 Star Points, 0 Peak Points)

#1 Draft Pick: Blake Griffin – Los Angeles Clippers – 0.00 (Did Not Play due to injury)
Highest-Rated Player: Stephen Curry (#7 Golden State Warriors) – 18.41
Rookie of the Year: Tyreke Evans (#4 Sacramento Kings)
Awards (Non-Rookie): None

We’ll begin at the end. The most recent class only earned three points, which would be 30th out of 33. However, this is far from a finished product. In fact, there was a lot of production and promise from this draft class. The Class of 2009 is only the seventh class out of the last 33 to have positive points after just one year, with only three classes having better opening campaigns.

Tyreke Evans was fantastic wire-to-wire, while Brandon Jennings dazzled early, and Steph Curry came on strong late. Last year’s draft, expected to be weak, churned out a surprising amount of productive players. Darren Collison, Taj Gibson, and Omri Casspi all made big contributions as late 1st Round picks, and Marcus Thornton, DeJuan Blair, and Jonas Jerebko made a nice splash as second rounders.

As we’ll see later, great production from a class during it’s rookie year is no guarantee of long-term success, but it certainly is a good sign.

2009guys

Class of 2007: 6 Points (1 Star Point, 5 Peak Points)

#1 Draft Pick: Greg Oden – Portland TrailBlazers – 5.32
Highest-Rated Player: Kevin Durant (#2 Seattle SuperSonics) – 22.58
Rookie of the Year: Kevin Durant (#2 Seattle SuperSonics)
Awards (Non-Rookie): 1 All NBA First Team, 2 All Star Appearances (2 Players)

The anticipation for the 2007 Draft rivaled that of the LeBron draft of 2003, but unfortunately, it appears that the sizzle was more exciting than the steak. It did provide perhaps the most exciting young player in the league in Kevin Durant, but injuries to #1 pick Greg Oden have robbed the class of some star power.

Oden has missed two out of every three games the Blazers have played since draft day. This is unfortunate, since he’s been very productive when he actually played — posting an unadjusted 15.97 PR100, which would put him right on the cusp of being a 4-Star player. Hindsight says Oden was a bad pick, but the prevailing opinion at the time was to take the Big Guy. There were people touting Durant over Oden, but not nearly as many as some might have you believe. (Ed note: Durant was clearly waaaaaaaaay better even back then. Twas obvious he was uber-special. – JW)

Al Horford earned his first All Star appearance this year, and he’s blossomed into a very nice player. After that, there’s a pretty big drop off to solid, but unspectacular guys like Jeff Green and Joakim Noah. Going down the list, you find some nice contributors like Marc Gasol and Carl Landry. However, outside of Durant, it’s difficult to see any other players from this class becoming difference makers.

odendurant

Class of 2008: 11 Points (10 Star Points, 1 Peak Points)

#1 Draft Pick: Derrick Rose – Chicago Bulls – 18.69
Highest-Rated Player: Brook Lopez (#10 New Jersey Nets) – 21.47
Rookie of the Year: Derrick Rose (#1 Chicago Bulls)
Awards (Non-Rookie): 1 All Star Appearance

The players from 2008 haven’t been given a lot of accolades, but teams have gotten some very nice production from this group. Brook Lopez and #1 Draft Pick Derrick Rose lead a group that includes Russell Westbrook, O.J. Mayo, and Kevin Love as big producers for their teams. Later draft picks like George Hill, Courtney Lee, and Luc Mbah a Moute have been significant contributors to playoff teams.

The Pacers took two players from this draft — Brandon Rush (#13) and Roy Hibbert (#17) — with mixed results. Rush looks OK for a #13, but probably no more than a fringe player on a good team. Hibbert shows pretty nice promise, and could be a starting 5 for a long time in this league, but still needs to make some strides.

ncb_draft_pac10_580

Of the three classes as-yet-undetermined classes, 2008 looks to be the deepest — but all three represent a good influx of talent to the league.

Now it’s time to start passing out grades to the actually terrible draft classes

#30. Class of 2000: -8 Points (-12 Star Points, 4 Peak Points)

#1 Draft Pick: Kenyon Martin – New Jersey Nets – 12.91
Highest-Rated Player: Mike Miller (#5 Orlando Magic) – 13.52
Rookie of the Year: Mike Miller (#5 Orlando Magic)
Awards (Non-Rookie): 1 All NBA Third Team, 3 All Star Appearances (3 Players)

Gaaaack!

Let’s just run down the first 10 picks, shall we?

1. Kenyon Martin; 2. Stromile Swift; 3. Darius Miles; 4. Marcus Fizer; 5. Mike Miller; 6. DerMarr Johnson; 7. Chris Mihm; 8. Jamal Crawford; 9. Joel Pryzbilla; 10. Keyon Dooling

This was right after the Pacers had played in the 2000 Finals, so the Draft was far from a major concern for me, but does anybody remember if people were actually excited about this draft? Did teams tank down the stretch in the Kenyon Martin sweepstakes? I don’t remember, but I’m guessing that if (when) NBA TV replays this broadcast around draft time this year, we’d hear many of the same breathless superlatives that will be hurled at this year’s crop of players.

It’s something to keep in mind as Draft Fever strikes: There was an NBA draft held where the argument about who the best player out of the class is between Kenyon Martin, Mike Miller, Michael Redd and Hedo Turkoglu.

(shudder) It’s all this ugly.

KenyonMartinLipTattoo

#29. Class of 1980: -4 Points (-15 Star Points, 11 Peak Points)

#1 Draft Pick: Joe Barry Carroll – Golden State Warriors – 15.00
Highest-Rated Player: Kevin McHale (#3 Boston Celtics) – 18.73
Rookie of the Year: Darrell Griffith (#2 Utah Jazz)
Awards (Non-Rookie): 1 All NBA First Team, 3 All Defense First Team (1 Player), 5 All Defense Second Team (3 Players), 14 All Star Appearances (5 Players)
Hall of Fame: Kevin McHale

Bizarrely, this draft helped build one of the great dynasties of the ’80s. The Boston Celtics traded the #1 & #13 picks in the Draft (acquired from Detroit for Bob McAdoo) to Golden State in exchange for Robert Parish and the #3 pick, which they used to draft Kevin McHale. McHale ended up the best player in the draft, and he and Parish helped Larry Bird win three titles. Carroll went on to earn the monicker “Joe Barely Cares.”

From a strictly production perspective, this is arguably the worst draft class in the 33 years studied. The -15 Star Points is dead last, and only 3 of the 60 players reviewed for this class were rated as 3-Stars or higher. Still, there were some fun players taken here.

Darrell Griffith captured my 14-year old imagination as Dr. Dunkenstein. Bill Hanzlik was a tenacious defender with a porn mustache. The original Bruise Brothers — Jeff Ruland and Rick Mahorn — were from this class. Andrew Toney was a badass scorer – referred to as the “Boston Strangler” by the Boston media – who might have been a Hall of Famer if not for the injuries that robbed him – and the NBA – of a longer career.

It’s just that once you get past those guys, there’s just not much more. Thirty Six of the 60 players included either never played or finished as a 0-Star, and only 7 earned any of the accolades tracked in this study. Kevin McHale is in the Hall of Fame, but there are no other serious candidate for a class whose last game played was played by Rick Mahorn in 1999.

#28. Class of 2006: -4 Points (-9 Star Points, 4 Peak Points)

#1 Draft Pick: Andrea Bargnani – Toronto Raptors – 12.49
Highest-Rated Player: Brandon Roy (#6 Portland TrailBlazers) – 18.72
Rookie of the Year: Brandon Roy (#6 Portland TrailBlazers)
Awards (Non-Rookie): 1 All NBA Second Team, 1 All NBA Third Team, 1 All Defense First Team, 2 All Defense Second Team (2 Players), 3 All Star Appearances (2 Players)

Yeah, this draft sucked. OK. Let me re-state: Pacer fans think this draft sucked. Entering the evening the Pacers had apparent need for a point guard, which pretty much describes every draft night since 2000. When the #17 pick came around, they passed on the two top PG candidates – Marcus Williams and Rajon Rondo – and selected Shawne Williams from Memphis. Later in the evening, they traded Alexander Johnson (the 45th pick) and two future Second Round draft picks to Portland for the rights to James “Flight” White. White, in an amazing display of foreshadowing, chose the #0 – the number of games he would play as a Pacer in his career.

Marcus Williams slid from the Lottery to New Jersey at 22, where he fizzled. Rajon Rondo went 21 (about where he was projected, perhaps a little lower) to Phoenix, who traded his rights to Boston, where he has blossomed into one of the top players in the league.

Though the Pacers booted this draft, some other teams most certainly didn’t. Rondo is making a push for being the best player in this class, but I’d still rank Brandon Roy ahead of him. Other quality players include LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland getting a lot of mileage from this draft), Rudy Gay, and Second Rounder Paul Millsap. Thabo Sefolosha has emerged as one of the best defensive wings in the league, albeit not with the team that drafted him (Chicag0).

Andrea Bargnani has some talent, but still currently rates in the bottom third of all of the #1 picks in this 33-year sample. As we’ll see later, Andrew Bogut has grown into a player that is an important piece for a good team, but it remains to be seen if that will ever be true with Bargnani.

Continuing the Pacer fans generally cloudy view of 2006 (the draft and the year), I’ll leave you with an image of two things that couldn’t even make it to New Year’s Day – James White and the Spaulding Cross Traxxion Ball.

portrait8

#27. Class of 1979: 4 Points (-13 Star Points, 17 Peak Points)

#1 Draft Pick: Magic Johnson – Los Angeles Lakers – 24.56
Highest-Rated Player: Magic Johnson (#1 Los Angeles Lakers) – 24.56
Rookie of the Year: Larry Bird (#6 in 1978 Draft Boston Celtics)
Awards (Non-Rookie): 3 Most Valuable Players (Magic Johnson 3x’s), 10 All NBA First Team (2 Players), 6 All NBA Second Team (3 Players), 2 Defensive Player of the Years (Sidney Moncrief 2x’s), 4 All Defense First Team (1 Player), 2 All Defense Second Team (2 Players), 21 All Star Appearances (5 Players)
Hall of Fame: Magic Johnson

Two rookies from the 1980 season — Magic and Larry — arguably saved the NBA. Unfortunately, only one was from the Class of ’79 (Magic), and the rest of the class was pretty thin. Though teams today suffer lottery heartbreak, back then, the number one pick was decided by a coin flip between the teams with the worst record in each conference. That season was between the New Orleans Jazz (in their last season in the Big Easy) representing the East, and the Chicago Bulls, then in the Western Conference. The Lakers had gotten the pick from the Jazz as part of a compensation package from New Orleans signing Gail Goodrich in 1976.

The Lakers won the coin toss, Magic Johnson, and 5 NBA Titles. The Bulls got David Greenwood, and a permanent place in the argument about biggest dropoff between #1 and #2 picks – along side the likes of Wayman Tisdale (Patrick Ewing), Sam Bowie (Hakeem Olajuwon), Keith Van Horn (Tim Duncan), and Darko Milicic (LeBron James). OK. Darko does kinda dominate that one.

Sidney Moncrief stands clearly as the second best player in the draft, though only sporting a middling 14.51 AdjPR100 (but an 18.7 Career PER). He is not in the Hall of Fame at present, probably because he only played 767 regular season games, but that’s really weak tea. This is a guy with 5 All NBA nods (1 First Team, 4 Second), 5 All Star appearances, and 5 All Defense appearances (4 First, 1 Second). Top those off with two Defensive Player of the Year awards, and you have to wonder what a guy has to do to get into the Hall.

The most articulate comment on the weakness of this class overall is the fact that the argument for the third best player probably is between Bill Cartwright and Vinnie Johnson. The 19 players who never played a game was the highest of any of the 33 classes in this series. Truth be told, this class is probably worse, as a whole, than most others mentioned to this point…but Magic pretty much lifts it up all by himself.

magic-johnson-larry-bird

#26. Class of 1982: 5 Points (-14 Star Points, 19 Peak Points)

#1 Draft Pick: James Worthy – Los Angeles Lakers – 16.95
Highest-Rated Player: Dominique Wilkins (#3 Atlanta Hawks) – 19.66
Rookie of the Year: Terry Cummings (#2 San Diego Clippers)
Awards (Non-Rookie): 1 All NBA First Team, 6 All NBA Second Team (3 Players), 5 All NBA Third Team (3 Players), 2 All Defense First Team (1 Player), 2 All Defense Second Team (2 Players), 21 All Star Appearances (6 Players)
Hall of Fame: James Worthy, Dominique Wilkins

A great class for Forwards, but not a lot else. In addition to Hall of Famers James Worthy and Dominique Wilkins, others drafted here included Terry Cummings, Clark Kellogg, Ricky Pierce, Cliff Levingston and Paul Pressey. Fat Lever and Sleepy Floyd were quality point guards, but the class was almost devoid of bigs, with only LaSalle Thompson being of any consequence.

No, the players in this draft are known more for odd trivia than anything else. Bill Garnett (#4 – Dallas) testified about what kind of pay a Top 5 NBA pick got in a civil suit concerning former Indiana University Star Landon Turner’s automobile accident. The rule saying that you cannot catch-and-shoot in less than 0.3 seconds is the “Trent Tucker” rule. Quintin Dailey’s career at the University of San Francisco resulted in a sexual assault charge and the USF Basketball program being shut down by the school for 4 years. Also, during a 1985 game against the Spurs, Dailey had a ballboy borrow a fiver from a reporter, go to the concession stand, and buy him a slice of pizza. Dailey then sat at the end of the bench, eating the pizza.

God, I miss the ’80′s.

bill-garnett

#25. Class of 2002: 8 Points (-3 Star Points, 11 Peak Points)

#1 Draft Pick: Yao Ming – Houston Rockets – 20.86
Highest-Rated Player: Yao Ming (#1 Houston Rockets) – 20.86
Rookie of the Year: Amare Stoudemire (#9 Phoenix Suns)
Awards (Non-Rookie): 1 All NBA First Team, 5 All NBA Second Team (2 Players), 4 All NBA Third Team (2 Players), 4 All Defense Second Team (1 Player), 13 All Star Appearances (4 Players)

The story of the top 5 picks is really quite intriguing here. Yao has demonstrated his clear worth as a number 1 pick, but missed all of last season. Jay Williams’ career was ended by a motorcycle accident after a decent, if unspectacular rookie campaign. Mike Dunleavy, Jr. appeared to have significantly erased charges of “bust” with a great 2008 season, only to miss 79 of his next 164 games. Drew Gooden has played for eight teams in his eight seasons. Finally, Nikoloz Tskitishvili (Skita) proved to be the queen mother of all busts at #5, becoming the cautionary tale for undeveloped European players, Summer League wonders, and guys with way too many consonants in their name.

Some good players came later, though, including Amare Stoudemire, Nene Hilario, Caron Butler, Carlos Boozer, Luis Scola, and Tayshaun Prince.

Speaking of Tayshaun Prince, this is the fun draft where Donnie Walsh (and apparently every other basketball mind in the room) wanted to take him with the Pacers’ 14th pick. Instead, Donnie deferred to Isiah Thomas, who selected Freddie Jones.

Yeah.

#24. Class of 1990: 9 Points (0 Star Points, 9 Peak Points)

#1 Draft Pick: Derrick Coleman – New Jersey Nets – 13.32
Highest-Rated Player: Gary Payton (#2 Seattle SuperSonics) – 19.52
Rookie of the Year: Derrick Coleman (#1 New Jersey Nets)
Awards (Non-Rookie): 2 All NBA First Team (1 Player), 5 All NBA Second Team (1 Player), 4 All NBA Third Team (2 Players), 1 Defensive Player of the Year (Gary Payton), 9 All Defense First Team (1 Player), 13 All Star Appearances (5 Players)

To some degree, this class is a lot like 1979, where it boils down to one outstanding player plus a lot of other guys. The Class of ’90 essentially amounts to Gary Payton and everybody else. Payton accounts for all of the First and Second Team All NBA and All Defense nods, as well as 9 of the 13 All Star appearances. The former Defensive Player of the Year isn’t eligible yet, but he should be in on the first ballot in 2013.

With this class, however, there isn’t even a Sidney Moncrief-type under-appreciated player. Derrick Coleman won Rookie of the Year and the other two All NBA Third Team awards, but really didn’t distinguish himself other than as something of a headcase. The score for this class is basically more about not having as many failures than it is about any wealth of excellence.

The better players in this class include players who played solid but unexciting careers like Antonio Davis or Tyrone Hill, or talented but somewhat one-dimensional guys like Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and Dennis Scott. Payton will be the only Hall of Famer here.

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#23. Class of 1991: 10 Points (-2 Star Points, 12 Peak Points)

#1 Draft Pick: Larry Johnson – Charlotte Hornets – 17.62
Highest-Rated Player: Larry Johnson (#1 Charlotte Hornets) – 17.62
Rookie of the Year: Larry Johnson (#1 Charlotte Hornets)
Awards (Non-Rookie): 2 All NBA Second Team (2 Players), 2 All NBA Third Team (1 Player), 4 Defensive Player of the Year’s (Dikembe Mutombo 4x’s), 3 All Defense First Team (1 Player), 4 All Defense Second Team (2 Players), 16 All Star Appearances (7 Players)

A slightly more decorated version of the preceding class, it remains largely nondescript. It’s most famous products are a pair of ridiculously sharp elbows and a nauseating 4-point play. The Pacers did pick up the second half of their Davis Boys combo (Dale), so that takes a little of the edge off of Jess Kersey’s famous call.

However, more than Dikembe Mutombo and his wagging fingers, what strikes me about this class is what I can remember. I have absolutely, positively no recollection of the #8 pick in 1991 class: Mark Macon. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Seriously. Do you know this man?

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#22. Class of 1997: 11 Points (-3 Star Points, 14 Peak Points)

#1 Draft Pick: Tim Duncan – San Antonio Spurs – 27.62
Highest-Rated Player: Tim Duncan (#1 San Antonio Spurs) – 27.62
Rookie of the Year: Tim Duncan (#1 San Antonio Spurs)
Awards (Non-Rookie): 2 Most Valuable Players (Tim Duncan 2x’s), 2 All NBA Second Team (2 Players), 2 All NBA Third Team (1 Player), 3 All Defense First Team (1 Player), 4 All Defense Second Team (2 Players), 16 All Star Appearances (7 Players)

All of the awards at this are concentrated in three players – Tim Duncan, Tracy McGrady, and Chauncey Billups. Tim Duncan is the poster child for finding a foundation piece in the draft, as the Spurs built a championship dynasty around him. McGrady and Billups each attained their highest achievements playing for teams other than the ones that drafted them. But really, as you’ll find with most of these middling classes, it’s the story of one player, and that player here is Tim Duncan.

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#21. Class of 1994: 12 Points (-1 Star Points, 13 Peak Points)

#1 Draft Pick: Glenn Robinson – Milwaukee Bucks – 15.55
Highest-Rated Player: Jason Kidd (#2 Dallas Mavericks) – 20.97
Rookie of the Year: Jason Kidd (#2 Dallas Mavericks); Grant Hill (#3 Detroit Pistons)
Awards (Non-Rookie): 6 All NBA First Team (2 Players), 5 All NBA Second Team (2 Players), 2 All NBA Third Team (2 Players), 4 All Defense First Team (1 Player), 8 All Defense Second Team (2 Players), 21 All Star Appearances (5 Players)

This draft was held during the brief window of time where the NBA decided to have different teams host it. As a result, I actually got to watch this draft in person. Hosted by the Pacers in the Hoosier/RCA Dome, it was a heady time to be a Pacer fan. The team had just made its first deep playoff run, falling in a heartbreaking Game 7 loss to the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals. New Pacer heroes Haywoode Workman and Antonio Davis were there, and local fans watched Purdue product Glenn Robinson go number 1 to Milwaukee.

The Pacers were active that day, at one point or another holding the rights to four different players in the draft, and perhaps setting a record by not getting a single regular season game out of any of them. With their 15th pick, they selected Eric Piatkowski, but traded him to the Clippers as part of a package for Mark Jackson. At 41, they took William Njoku, a 6-9 Forward from Ghana by way of Canada, who spent a decade kicking around Europe without ever even sniffing the NBA. However, Njoku was probably just taken by Donnie Walsh to tweak the IU fans in the house, all anxiously awaiting the selection of IU Star Damon Bailey – who was eventually taken with the Pacers 44th pick.

However, my favorite story was about the 25th pick, Greg Minor, who came to the Pacers along with Mark Jackson in the Clippers deal. Apparently, the Pacers never bothered to sign him allowing him to become a free agent under league rules at the time. He signed with Boston and spent five uneventful years with them.

Jason Kidd is clearly the best player from this class, and a lead pipe cinch to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Grant Hill is the tragedy of this draft, a special, versatile player whose career has been irrevocably damaged by injuries. Some other really nice players were also drafted, including Jalen Rose, Eddie Jones, and Brian Grant.

However, this is also a draft where Sharone Wright was taken with the 6th pick.

And…oh, yeah…Yinka Dare.

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We’ll be back after the draft with the Top 20 draft classes.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AmIbtotgwGeodFhNajdpUE5lc29IdEI3SllCUUxxN1E&hl=en

Related Topics: NBA Draft, What Does a Draft Pick Get You?

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