Post by the original michael on May 1, 2020 10:47:28 GMT -8
Draft Steals/Reaches By Round
Ok guys, most teams have their starting lineups set already as we are in round 7. In this fine piece of articulate writing, I want to take a look at each round of the draft (only up until Round 5) and point of one clear-cut steal and one reach (WTF pick). After round 5, it got tough to pick reaches, due to the watered down talent level, so for that reason, I stuck to doing the first 5 rounds. Let’s get into it…
ROUND ONE
The Steal
21. New Orleans Hornets - Alonzo Mourning C
Let’s face it, Alonzo Mourning is the steal of the draft in my opinion. He’s arguably a top 5 player, as he can block the shot at a high rate, boxes out and rebounds, and can score near an elite level. So why did a top player talent wise fall to the 21st pick in the draft? It had to be due to his age. The former Georgetown standout comes into the league at age 30, but should have a good 3-4 years of quality production before his knees start to decay.
7. Indiana Pacers (from Portland Trail Blazers) - Elton Brand PF
Brand sucks! The selection of Elton Brand at #7 overall has received a lot of criticism league wide as one of the worst picks in the first round. As the chock who drafted him in the top 10, I can agree that he was a slight reach. Vince Carter is clearly the better player, but I wanted to ensure I was able to get one of the good young bigs and one good young guard with the two top 10 selections. It may take fat ass Brand a few season to hit his year, but we feel like with Nash and the old heads like Hakeem on the roster, we should be able to compete, or at least be above .500 the first year or so. If not, oh well - then we gave up a potential lottery pick for a 21 year old 22/10/2 big. Worse things have happened.
ROUND TWO
The Steal
33. New Jersey Nets(from Denver Nuggets through Miami Heat)- Dikembe Mutombo C
A trend in this draft: old heads fell and fell hard. The man with the birth name of Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo fell to the top of round number two. Why? This was likely due to his old age of 34. But I’m saying, fuck that, age is just a number. In FBB, rebounding is one of the key components to building a successful team and Mutombo is arguably the best rebounder in the entire league, coming in at 16.2 rebounds per game in the test sim. Oh, did I mention he blocks shots too? Mutombo averaged an astounding 3.5 blocks a game as well. He’s the perfect defensive/rebounding FBB big man in my opinion and should be a key cog for the New Jersey Nets for a few years before he withers down to a shell of his former self.
The Reach
58. Sacramento Kings - Ron Artest SF
I’m not hating on this pick, let’s make this clear. The Sacramento Kings drafted the best player and most valuable player in the league in the first round, Kobe Bryant. How’d they follow it up? With 2 PPG, C C+ scoring Ron Artest. I felt like they easily could have build a championship team around Kobe if that was their intention, but they decided to go the other way and add young talent around Bryant. Artest clearly is not there yet, and I know Sacramento realizes this. It was a pick for the future. If the scouts are correct, Artest is loaded with potential and could form to be a nice nice wing mate to Kobe Bryant for the next decade.
ROUND THREE
The Steal
82. New York Knicks (from Dallas Mavericks)- Arvydas Sabonis C
I like a lot of what the Knicks did. One can argue that the majority of their picks could be on this list. I just chose Sabonis because at the time, the team lacked big men. They got a well rebounded one here in the third round. The third was clearly a place where you can get good talent, but rest assured, you were getting a flawed player one way or another. While Sabonis does not excel in any one category, he’s above average in all, which makes him a great pick here in the third round. Sabonis should do just fine as the Knicks starting center this season. Good pick.
The Reach
78. Milwaukee Bucks - Chucky Atkins PG
With all due respect, this Milwaukee Bucks roster confuses me. The Rasheed Wallace and Rashard Lewis picks were decent, but Atkins could have probably been picked in the 4th or 5th round. Sure, he averaged 18PPG in the test sim, but he did it on a shitty Pistons squad and his shooting percentages are nothing to boast about. He’s a decent player, I just think the Bucks could have went elsewhere with this pick, or at least picked a clear direction for their squad.
ROUND FOUR
The Steal
109. New York Knicks (from Wolves) BONZI WELLS
Oh, look, it’s the fucking Knicks again. I wanted Bonzi here, but felt he was too similar of a player to Corey Maggette, who the Indiana Pacers previously selected in the third round. In hindsight, I should have just drafted him instead of Vlade Divac, but what can ya do? Regrets. You live and you learn! Bonzi is one of the few young pieces on the Knicks roster and he should receive the majority of the Knicks camping attention as he’s a borderline A- C scorer already. If Wells can develop a jump shot and limit turnovers, he’ll be a pretty decent player for the Knicks given his ripe age of 24.
The Reach
105. Golden State Warriors - NAZR MOHAMMED
We are getting to the part of the draft where it is hard to call players “reaches”. The only reason Nazr Mohammed is on this list is because we have no idea what the man can really do. He did not play in the test sim really, averaging just 1MPG. His rebounding and defensive ratings of B- B- appear to be closer to C+ C+ than B B. Does he have potential? Maybe. Could he end up being a quality center for the Golden State Warriors? Absolutely. I would have liked to see them take the aforementioned Bonzi Wells or Michael Olowankandi instead. Regardless, not an awful pick considering the spot in the draft he was selected.
ROUND FIVE
The Steal
126. Toronto Raptors - JOHN STOCKTON
This is an absolute steal. Despite his old, senile age of 38, Stockton is still a quality point guard and the Raptors are lucky to nab him here in the 5th round. Stockton may have one or two years left, but those should be super serviceable years. He’ll slot in next to fellow sharpshooter, Ray Allen in the backcourt. While he doesn’t play any defense, Stockton will do one thing and one thing real well - he’ll handle the rock. He won’t turn the ball over. John Stockton only averaged 1.2TOPG in 30MPG, while shooting 45.7% from the field and 42% from 3 point range.
The Reach
130. Phoenix Suns - MARCO JARIC
Similar to Nazr, you can’t really hate this pick. Jaric dated a supermodel, but that’s about it. He looks like a leftover free agent on the base, but is young enough, at 21, and can have decent potential where he can develop his game to be a serviceable player for the Phoenix Suns. The Suns are clearly rebuilding (tanking) with Baron Davis at the helm, so I won’t criticize this pick too harshly, but they could have taken a different route. In hindsight, they probably should have dealt this pick for future assets or moved down (Although I’m sure they tried, but were rushed by the rest of the GMS to PICK PICK PICK HURRY). Whoops.
That's all folks, thanks for taking time out your quarantined Friday afternoon to read my fine piece of work.
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