Draft Grades

ESPN.com has very good draft grades, but I thought I'd add my two cents on the draft. I'll keep it to winners, since the losers are not clear-cut and the draft to them will simply be a missed-opportunity. Teams that improved themselves in the draft "won" the draft, those that didn't, in my estimation, stood still. The draft grades deal with the pre- and immediately post-draft trades, so these can also be viewed as trade evaluations. I'll end with my eval of the Sixers.

Winners

East:

Toronto Raptors-They gave their pick to Indiana, a team that then frittered it away on Roy Hibbert, and got rid of TJ Ford for the equally injury-prone, but far more valuable Jermaine O'Neal. Teams and fans seems to be in love with PGs and due to that love, seem to believe that great PGs can take you to the next level. That belief is wrong. The only really great offensive PG to win a championship since the beginning of the Bulls Dynasty was Tony Parker. The other championship PGs have been: Avery Johnson, Rajon Rondo, Ron Harper, Derek Fisher, and Sam Cassell (who admittedly was an offensive force, but no one's pick for a dominant point guard). Clyde Drexler, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Kevin Johnson, and their ilk have been also-rans. A defensive PG is highly important for stopping the opponents' offense. An offensive, flashy PG brings in the dollars, but not the trophies. Chris Paul will hopefully become the total package and disprove this adage. That said, its interesting that neither Phil Jackson nor Greg Popovich put a lot of weight into getting a great PG. Everyone else seems to think that this is essential. The Jason Kidd trade for this reason was a terrible one, he won't win you anything, while the Shaq trade while not great was at least a swing at someone who, if healthy and spry, would've made the Suns a winner. Magic and Isiah won championships but Isiah had a staunch defensive team around him and Magic was a freak of nature who also had a dominant big man on his team.

This is all a roundabout way of saying that Jermaine O'Neal, a quality big man, if healthy, is way better than TJ Ford. With Bosh and O'Neal, the Raptors have a shot at winning the East. And, at least, they should easily make the second round. Add Jose Calderon, Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, Andrea Bargnani, and Joey Graham to the mix and you have the makings of a team that can make a long playoff run. I think they still need a piece or two--another scorer and a backup PG to be specific--but they made a very good deal. At least its better to have a high-risk big man (whose proven himself in the NBA) than a high-risk PG.


Chicago Bulls-Derrick Rose will help the Bulls immeasurably. John Paxson has been asleep at the wheel the past year and he still got the number one pick in the draft and has the chance to redeem himself completely. If the NBA's fixing anything, its fixing the Chicago Bulls' franchise. This franchise was handed high draft picks and cap space for Jamal Crawford and Eddie Curry courtesy of Isiah Thomas, it wasted its chance to translate a team that knocked off the then NBA champion Miami Heat into a contender by not signing its important players or trading its young pieces for quality veterans, and then it is rewarded with the number one pick. This team added Tyrus Thomas (yes, it should have been LaMarcus Aldridge), Joakim Noah (who I think will be very good), and Derrick Rose while it was already a strong playoff-worthy team. Ridiculous.

Now what do they do? They have a logjam in the backcourt with Ben Gordon (who everyone thinks they should now keep), Thabo Sefalosha (who could be great), Larry Hughes (who is at best redundant), and Kirk Hinrich (who needs to go). They also have quite a bit of rebounding forwards headlined by Luol Deng who is really their only potential superstar scorer (other than Gordon who is just a scorer), Joakim Noah (who can play center), Tyrus Thomas (who should become an energy guy off the bench), and Drew Gooden (the only solid vet in the frontcourt). If they trade Hinrich and/or Hughes for a scorer they will be a very, very dangerous team.

Miami Heat-They got Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers, two important pieces, to add to Dwyane Wade and the maybe on-his-way-out Shawn Marion. Whether they keep Marion or not, Beasley will be a much needed scorer; this team could not find the basket at all last year. That said, though the Heat have talent it doesn't quite fit together yet and I think they're still in a transitional phase. Wade should be one of the best players in the NBA, he did practically single-handedly (on offense) win the Finals, Marion is an elite defender and a great all-around player, and Beasley is arguably better than Kevin Durant (based on college stats, that is). That said, I'm far from convinced that this is the team the Heat want to build on. I think they'll win some games next year, but I don't like their chances to make the playoffs.

Milwaukee Bucks-Talk about a lucky break, while the Nets pine for LeBron (who increasingly sounds like he may very well join them in Brooklyn), they literally gave away Richard Jefferson (a great player and an Olympian) for Bobby Simmons and Yi Jianlin. The Nets then went and drafted Brook Lopez, Ryan Anderson and Chris Douglas-Roberts. CDR will help them, but between Lopez, Anderson, Krstic, and Yi you have the makings of a very tall, very young, very soft frontcourt.

Meanwhile Milwaukee, added Luc Richard Mbah-a-Moute to replace Simmons, Joe Alexander to come off the bench, and Richard Jefferson to secure the SF position. They now have a playoff-worthy lineup of Mo Williams, Michael Redd, Richard Jefferson, Charlie Villanueva, and Andrew Bogut. If Bogut and Williams continue to improve and if Redd and RJ stay healthy, this team that looked dead in the water a second ago could easily make the East playoffs.

West:

Memphis Grizzlies-The Grizzlies came away with OJ Mayo and Darrell Arthur. Yes, they basically handed Mike Miller, a very good player, to Minnesota, but they got perhaps the best take of anyone in the draft. Conley, Gay, Mayo, Arthur, and Milicic at least make the beginnings of an athletic, competitive team. The Gay-Mayo backcourt: Priceless.

Minnesota Timberwolves-They got Mike Miller for free in the Kevin Love deal, which improves the team quite a bit. They did take back Brian Cardinal in exchange for Marko Jaric, but that was at worst a lateral move and Jaric actually has 3 years left on his deal vs. Cardinal's 2. Jefferson, Love, Miller, McCants, and Foye make a very interesting team. They do have Corey Brewer too, who I think has the potential to be a good player, but who is already viewed as a bust for some reason. Mayo would have duplicated what Brewer and Foye already provide. I thought that I would assess this team as a decent one, but now that I write it all out it sounds like they have the potential for a very good albeit defensively deficient squad.

Portland Trailblazers-They added Jerryd Bayless and Nicolas Batum. Bayless will be the perfect fit for the rising Blazers. He'll play in the backcourt with Roy and add shooting and ball distribution to a team that is already stacked. Between Bayless, Roy, Outlaw, Alridge, and Oden this team will be very dangerous and has the makings of a future champion.

Houston Rockets-If this team ever gets healthy, they could definitely win a championship. They've got Battier, McGrady, Scola, Ming and now they added Donte Green, another great shooter, and Joey Dorsey, more toughness. They have all the elements together now, they just have to catch the right breaks.


SIXERS: As for the Sixers, I'll wait to reserve judgement on Marreese Speights who seems like a player who will fit their style very well. I don't think he'll make a big difference in his first year, though I expect him to get some burn late in the season, but he could eventually become the starting power forward on this young, up-and-coming team. Definitely a pick with a lot of potential. Speights does not suffer from the significant bust-potential (or downside) of guys like JaVale McGee, DeAndre Jordan, Alexis Ajinca, and Jason Thompson. The Sixers could have picked Darrell Arthur (who too many teams passed on; I really think Washington should have snapped him up), but at this moment I feel that they made the right choice. Speights has the potential to be a solid power forward on a running team, he showed some of his talents at Florida and is a player whose future is ahead of him. Hopefully, the Sixers come out as the big winners of this draft; at this point, however, I'm not yet ready to crown them.