2018/2019 Way Too Early Rookie Grades
Nov 16, 2018 4:00:55 GMT
Ian Noble, Brian Scalabrine, and 1 more like this
Post by Jeremiah Hill on Nov 16, 2018 4:00:55 GMT
2018 NBA Draft Full Results
1. Suns: DeAndre Ayton (C) – Arizona - A
Not turning the ball over as much as I anticipated, kinda meh defensive counting stats but his advanced defensive stats look decent. So far so good.
2. Kings: Marvin Bagley (F) – Duke - C
OK defense and surprising 3pt % is the only thing saving him. Outside of that he's a turnover machine. Classic Sacramento pick.
3. Mavs (from Hawks): Luka Doncic (G) – Real Madrid - A
The dude gets buckets. His turnovers take away from his passing but he's still got a + ast-tov ratio. His other flaw is average not good defense. He's pretty much as billed and doing way better than I expected him to to start even though I had him in his own tier. That and his team is pretty much not garbage water like last season.
4. Grizzlies: Jaren Jackson Jr (F/C) – Michigan State - A
Opposite issue than the aforementioned player. WOW this dude is amazing defensively. Just as Brian said in his interview, he has best player in the NBA potential if his offense catches up to his defense. It's particularly impressive considering rookies tend to struggle mightily on D.
5. Hawks (from Mavs): Trae Young (G) – Oklahoma State - B
Inefficiency and piss poor defense plague him but even someone who faded him REALLY hard has trouble not being excited if he can at least be just bad on defense and his shooting gets to where I expect it to. Great passing, I wasn't sure that'd translate but he does need to cut down on the turnovers a smidge.
******
Pause for thought: Is it possible the entire top 5 has no crazy busts in it? The worst guy so far has a C. That's not normal.
******
6. Magic: Mo Bamba (C) – Texas - A
He bloc, he swot, but most importantly... he pass the roc. Low minutes played but he looks like a great shot blocker and his passing is sneakily good. Could he be a longer more athletic Joakim Noah?
7. Bulls: Wendell Carter (C) – Duke - B
Inefficient (you'll see this a lot) playing OK D, OK O.
8. Cavs (from Nets via Celtics): Collin Sexton (G) – Alabama - D
Had to give him a D on account of him not playing it. Has the worst Drtg of any of the prospects I've typed about so far, his big issue was passing in college and that's continuing here. He's a midget SG essentially. I called that the Cavs would screw this up and I think, even though it's really early, I was right. His teammates have all also stated he doesn't know how to play. The only thing keeping him from an F is decent shooting efficiency.
9. Knicks: Kevin Knox (F) – Kentucky - F
Really limited sample size so whoever drafted him don't take it as an insult, but unlike the above players he's pretty much equally underwhelming on both ends of the ball. If his shooting percentages get above a 40% we can talk about increasing this.
10. Suns (from Lakers via Sixers): Mikal Bridges (G/F) – Villanova - C
One of the biggest reasons I didn't like Mikal in the lotto is simply because of his grade right here. He's whelming, I am whelmed by him. He's not losing you any games, not winning any due to either his offense or defense. He just doesn't do any one thing markedly better than anything else. He's a great 8th man, but that's what I thought about him anyways.
11. Clippers (via Hornets): Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (G) – Kentucky - A
Sharing the ball with Lou Williams is depressing his passing stats (both the good and bad) a bit. But overall this is a guy who's got the big PG body of an MCW or a Shaun Livingston. But he's also got the shooting to really make that an asset. I'm excited about him and pegged him as the best PG in the draft in the first place so I'm a bit biased. As it stands, he's good on O and D and is playing a big role on a surprisingly competitive Clippers squad.
12. Hornets (from Pistons via Clippers): Miles Bridges (F) – Michigan State - B
Playing really well on both ends. If his FT% was better there would be a lot more to get excited about, though to be fair I'm pretty sure he's shot fewer FT's than games he's been in. That said I worry that's a show of how hard he's going to the basket which was an issue with me during draft time. Overall nothing to panic about if you picked him.
13. Clippers: Jerome Robinson (G) – Boston College - G
Bumming it up in the G league, hard to draw any hard conclusions however he is flat out annihilating the basket averaging 27 points but without the typical G league issues of horrible efficiency, turnovers etc.
14. Nuggets: Michael Porter Jr (F) – Missouri - FI
FI for fucking injured. Would be nice if the Denver Nuggets extremely strong start and new defensive look in the West was accompanied by someone who was actually there. I called this shit, he wasn't that great and for a team trying to make the playoffs wasn't worth the risk to get a worse version of Carmelo.
15. Wizards: Troy Brown (G) – Oregon - G
G, for incomplete because he's not playing but not in the G league like Jerome so it's not as funny here.
16. Sixers (from Heat via Suns): Zhaire Smith (G) – Texas Tech - FI
Dude better get back and prove me right you know what I'm saying.
17. Bucks: Donte DiVincenzo (G) – Villanova - C
He's doing OK.
18. Spurs: Lonnie Walker (G) – Miami - I
I for regular injured because I don't have any strong predictions or cares about it. I hope he comes back good for whoever drafted him.
19. Hawks (from Wolves): Kevin Huerter (G) – Maryland - D
Inefficient and just OK on D. This was a really top heavy draft so we'll see a lot of D's down here.
20. Wolves (from Thunder via Jazz): Josh Okogie (G/F) – Georgia Tech - F
Not doing well under coach Thibs, color me not surprised. Bit of a project you don't want in the hands of a coach like that. We'll see how he turns out.
21. Jazz: Grayson Allen (G) – Duke - F
He's pretty bad, I wasn't expecting much from him coming in.
22. Bulls (from Pelicans): Chandler Hutchison (G/F) – Boise State - D
Doing OK on offense except for his god awful FT%.
23. Pacers: Aaron Holiday (G) – UCLA - G
Not really playing.
24. Blazers: Anfernee Simons (G) – IMG Academy - G
See previous.
25. Lakers (from Cavs via Blazers, Cavs): Moe Wagner (F/C) – Michigan - G
Doing OK in G league.
26. Sixers: Landry Shamet (G) – Wichita State - D
Inefficient, decent passing tho.
27. Celtics: Robert Williams (F/C) – Texas A&M - G
Not really playing.
28. Warriors: Jacob Evans (G/F) – Cincinnati - G
Not really playing.
29. Nets: Dzanan Musa (F) – Bosnia and Herzegovina - G
Wrecking face in the G league.
30. Hawks (from Rockets via Clippers): Omari Spellman (F/C) – Villanova - C
If he can fix his efficiency he'll be a good bench piece.
*****************************************************
There you have it. Feel free to draw any conclusions you want.
1. Suns: DeAndre Ayton (C) – Arizona - A
Not turning the ball over as much as I anticipated, kinda meh defensive counting stats but his advanced defensive stats look decent. So far so good.
2. Kings: Marvin Bagley (F) – Duke - C
OK defense and surprising 3pt % is the only thing saving him. Outside of that he's a turnover machine. Classic Sacramento pick.
3. Mavs (from Hawks): Luka Doncic (G) – Real Madrid - A
The dude gets buckets. His turnovers take away from his passing but he's still got a + ast-tov ratio. His other flaw is average not good defense. He's pretty much as billed and doing way better than I expected him to to start even though I had him in his own tier. That and his team is pretty much not garbage water like last season.
4. Grizzlies: Jaren Jackson Jr (F/C) – Michigan State - A
Opposite issue than the aforementioned player. WOW this dude is amazing defensively. Just as Brian said in his interview, he has best player in the NBA potential if his offense catches up to his defense. It's particularly impressive considering rookies tend to struggle mightily on D.
5. Hawks (from Mavs): Trae Young (G) – Oklahoma State - B
Inefficiency and piss poor defense plague him but even someone who faded him REALLY hard has trouble not being excited if he can at least be just bad on defense and his shooting gets to where I expect it to. Great passing, I wasn't sure that'd translate but he does need to cut down on the turnovers a smidge.
******
Pause for thought: Is it possible the entire top 5 has no crazy busts in it? The worst guy so far has a C. That's not normal.
******
6. Magic: Mo Bamba (C) – Texas - A
He bloc, he swot, but most importantly... he pass the roc. Low minutes played but he looks like a great shot blocker and his passing is sneakily good. Could he be a longer more athletic Joakim Noah?
7. Bulls: Wendell Carter (C) – Duke - B
Inefficient (you'll see this a lot) playing OK D, OK O.
8. Cavs (from Nets via Celtics): Collin Sexton (G) – Alabama - D
Had to give him a D on account of him not playing it. Has the worst Drtg of any of the prospects I've typed about so far, his big issue was passing in college and that's continuing here. He's a midget SG essentially. I called that the Cavs would screw this up and I think, even though it's really early, I was right. His teammates have all also stated he doesn't know how to play. The only thing keeping him from an F is decent shooting efficiency.
9. Knicks: Kevin Knox (F) – Kentucky - F
Really limited sample size so whoever drafted him don't take it as an insult, but unlike the above players he's pretty much equally underwhelming on both ends of the ball. If his shooting percentages get above a 40% we can talk about increasing this.
10. Suns (from Lakers via Sixers): Mikal Bridges (G/F) – Villanova - C
One of the biggest reasons I didn't like Mikal in the lotto is simply because of his grade right here. He's whelming, I am whelmed by him. He's not losing you any games, not winning any due to either his offense or defense. He just doesn't do any one thing markedly better than anything else. He's a great 8th man, but that's what I thought about him anyways.
11. Clippers (via Hornets): Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (G) – Kentucky - A
Sharing the ball with Lou Williams is depressing his passing stats (both the good and bad) a bit. But overall this is a guy who's got the big PG body of an MCW or a Shaun Livingston. But he's also got the shooting to really make that an asset. I'm excited about him and pegged him as the best PG in the draft in the first place so I'm a bit biased. As it stands, he's good on O and D and is playing a big role on a surprisingly competitive Clippers squad.
12. Hornets (from Pistons via Clippers): Miles Bridges (F) – Michigan State - B
Playing really well on both ends. If his FT% was better there would be a lot more to get excited about, though to be fair I'm pretty sure he's shot fewer FT's than games he's been in. That said I worry that's a show of how hard he's going to the basket which was an issue with me during draft time. Overall nothing to panic about if you picked him.
13. Clippers: Jerome Robinson (G) – Boston College - G
Bumming it up in the G league, hard to draw any hard conclusions however he is flat out annihilating the basket averaging 27 points but without the typical G league issues of horrible efficiency, turnovers etc.
14. Nuggets: Michael Porter Jr (F) – Missouri - FI
FI for fucking injured. Would be nice if the Denver Nuggets extremely strong start and new defensive look in the West was accompanied by someone who was actually there. I called this shit, he wasn't that great and for a team trying to make the playoffs wasn't worth the risk to get a worse version of Carmelo.
15. Wizards: Troy Brown (G) – Oregon - G
G, for incomplete because he's not playing but not in the G league like Jerome so it's not as funny here.
16. Sixers (from Heat via Suns): Zhaire Smith (G) – Texas Tech - FI
Dude better get back and prove me right you know what I'm saying.
17. Bucks: Donte DiVincenzo (G) – Villanova - C
He's doing OK.
18. Spurs: Lonnie Walker (G) – Miami - I
I for regular injured because I don't have any strong predictions or cares about it. I hope he comes back good for whoever drafted him.
19. Hawks (from Wolves): Kevin Huerter (G) – Maryland - D
Inefficient and just OK on D. This was a really top heavy draft so we'll see a lot of D's down here.
20. Wolves (from Thunder via Jazz): Josh Okogie (G/F) – Georgia Tech - F
Not doing well under coach Thibs, color me not surprised. Bit of a project you don't want in the hands of a coach like that. We'll see how he turns out.
21. Jazz: Grayson Allen (G) – Duke - F
He's pretty bad, I wasn't expecting much from him coming in.
22. Bulls (from Pelicans): Chandler Hutchison (G/F) – Boise State - D
Doing OK on offense except for his god awful FT%.
23. Pacers: Aaron Holiday (G) – UCLA - G
Not really playing.
24. Blazers: Anfernee Simons (G) – IMG Academy - G
See previous.
25. Lakers (from Cavs via Blazers, Cavs): Moe Wagner (F/C) – Michigan - G
Doing OK in G league.
26. Sixers: Landry Shamet (G) – Wichita State - D
Inefficient, decent passing tho.
27. Celtics: Robert Williams (F/C) – Texas A&M - G
Not really playing.
28. Warriors: Jacob Evans (G/F) – Cincinnati - G
Not really playing.
29. Nets: Dzanan Musa (F) – Bosnia and Herzegovina - G
Wrecking face in the G league.
30. Hawks (from Rockets via Clippers): Omari Spellman (F/C) – Villanova - C
If he can fix his efficiency he'll be a good bench piece.
*****************************************************
There you have it. Feel free to draw any conclusions you want.