Post by Braz on Nov 11, 2023 15:47:08 GMT -8
Looking ahead at the best draft we have seen in a while I wanted to take some time to write an article to compile a big board of the top players. It’s been a slow weekend for me with my wife having a friend in town and me needing to stay close to my dog since he got surgery on Friday (neuter). Luckily for Mojo the dog he is in good spirits, but for Braz its time to watch movies, drink some bourbon and dive deeper into the league. I hope you enjoy this perspective of the draft’s top talent and article written by yours truly.
Draft insight: To me the first 3 picks are pretty certain. I think the entire league expects it to go Drob, Pippen then Reggie. However, Reggie and Pip could swap by preference. After that I am really going to just try my best to see how the rest can shake out. Seems like Pgs all around. Not sure how many become stars but at least starter worthy guys deep into the draft.
3. Reggie Miller SF 6'7'' 185 22 B- A- C- C+ C A Notes: Elite jumpshot, 3 point shot and handling. Good inside scoring and quickness.
4. Toni Kukoc SF 6'10'' 192 19 B- B- B- C C+ A Notes: Good quickness. Solid inside scoring, jumpshot, 3 point shot, handles, strength and jumping.
6. Kevin Johnson PG 6'1'' 180 21 B+ C B C+ C A Notes:Elite quickness and jumping. Good inside and jumpshot. Solid handles.
14. Reggie Williams SF 6'7'' 190 23 B- B- C+ B- C B Notes: Good jumpshot and quickness. Solid handles, inside scoring and steals.
Draft insight: To me the first 3 picks are pretty certain. I think the entire league expects it to go Drob, Pippen then Reggie. However, Reggie and Pip could swap by preference. After that I am really going to just try my best to see how the rest can shake out. Seems like Pgs all around. Not sure how many become stars but at least starter worthy guys deep into the draft.
1. David Robinson C 7'1'' 235 22 B+ C C- A- B A – Notes: Elite inside scoring and blocks. Good strength, jumpshot and handling.
Drob comes into the league as what we would expect as a future top big. His real life career blended with notes set up him up to be the top pick. Spencer notes he is trying to nerf rebounding and blocks a bit so it is not a surprise to see Robinson come in with B boards. However, I would expect him to be easily camped up to B+. Drob already has elite inside scoring and blocks signaling he will have no problem being a high volume big man. His jumper strength and handling at good locks him into the top pick
2. Scottie Pippen SF 6'8'' 210 22 B+ C+ C+ B+ C+ A Notes: Elite jumping. Good inside scoring, jumpshot, handling and quickness. Solid blocks and steals.
Scottie seems like another future stud. Some were disappointed with his notes but I am pretty sure at 22 with a few good TC he will be one of those stud 3s who can command a championship team. Pippen already has the highest inside rating which is likely in due part to his elite jumping, however, he can score the rock, handle the ball and will develop blocks and steals. I would expect him to start off a bit slow but turn into a 28/8/2:1 stock guy pretty soon.
3. Reggie Miller SF 6'7'' 185 22 B- A- C- C+ C A Notes: Elite jumpshot, 3 point shot and handling. Good inside scoring and quickness.
The last easy one to rank here and I think it is clear he will be a very dominant scorer. He comes in with elite jumper and 3 while limiting the possibility of turning it over. Notes state he is quick and can even score inside which promises that volume we all crave. Not much to see here on defense but he starts off with C+ def and highest pot outside of 19 year old Kukoc. Reggie might be like an Oscar or Kiki type but those guys are top of the league in scoring.
4. Toni Kukoc SF 6'10'' 192 19 B- B- B- C C+ A Notes: Good quickness. Solid inside scoring, jumpshot, 3 point shot, handles, strength and jumping.
I guess depending on team need and readiness he would be the pick. I am putting him 4 on the rankings because of the 19 year old age and highest pot. It surely seems that he has a strong base considering the notes. Typically when I guy starts off at solid it shows hes going to need some time and camps but with the high potential it seems like a great fit. He is a C+ rebounder that is also strong so I can see the boards develop which would many Tony a great future 3 in a league phasing out some of those dominant rebounders.
5. Andrew Gaze SF 6'7'' 209 22 C+ B C- C+ C A Notes:Good jumpshot. Solid inside scoring, 3 point shot and quickness.
I had to look this guy up but he has a cool Wikipedia. He seems to have been an absolute stud in Australia as he won their MVP 7x (whatever that is worth). Sometimes Spencer does his own research and makes a guy like that interesting. It seems based on Gaze having sorted pot right after Drob and a very solid based on scoring he has the potential to be a very good player in this league.
6. Kevin Johnson PG 6'1'' 180 21 B+ C B C+ C A Notes:Elite quickness and jumping. Good inside and jumpshot. Solid handles.
I had a hard time from 5-10 and I knew I had to put a PG at 6 but was torn on which one. Kevin Johnson was a very fun player in real life, super athletic. It seems that his primary stats here emulate the same athleticism. I put KJ as the top point guard since he has good inside. Typically from my knowledge PGs can develop the outside scoring rating at a pretty high level so having good inside puts him at an edge to be a good volume scorer in the league.
7. Reggie Lewis SF 6'7'' 195 22 B C C- B+ C A Notes:Good inside scoring, handling and quickness. Solid steals and jumping.
Another A pot player (one of 9) and this one comes with good inside scoring and quickess on the perimeter. In real life Reggie quickly became a dominant scorer on a loaded Celtics team up until his unexpected passing at 27. It was hard to sort through notes with all the banter but he likely will be a solid boardman at his peak with good steals and consistent points
8. Mark Jackson PG 6'1'' 180 22 C C+ A- B+ C A Notes: Elite jumpshot, handling and quickness. Good passing and steals.
I like Mark Jackson over Mugsy for 2 reasons. 1 he reminds me of Nate Mcmillan a bit who turned out to be a good pick last year and 2 because he was a former Warrior coach. He is coming in with the ability to strike from the FT line, handle the ball and he is super quick. It seems to be a theme some of these PGs do not have amazing 3 pointer but I think he will build up volume eventually (mediocre inside aint too bad for a PG!)
9. Horace Grant PF 6'10'' 215 22 B C C- B+ C+ A Notes: Elite strength and post defense. Good inside scoring, jumpshot and handling.
Horace Grant was a very solid player in the NBA known as the General. He comes into the league strong with good inside scoring and jump shot. He has the highest C+ rebounding which makes me feel camps can really help accelerate him there. We just saw Brad Daughtry win ROTY so there seems to be a place developing for these type of guys. As I filtered through notes I learned Horace has good steals, solid quickness which makes me feel like he has even more behind him then the original notes.
10. Muggsy Bogues PG 5'3'' 136 22 C B A- C+ D+ B Notes: Elite jumpshot, handles and quickness. Good steals.
Muggsy should be good because you gotta have faith in the little guy. He wont be too strong or have boards but already has an elite jumper and will be able to handle the rock and steal the ball. He has solid 3 pointer and medicore inside so I think you focus the camps on scoring and have a good steal scoring PG with good turnovers. Lots of other ways to go at this point.
11. Armen Gilliam PF 6'9'' 230 23 B+ C C- C+ C+ B Notes: Elite inside scoring. Good jumpshot, handles and strength.
Gilliam is getting slotted here because of the elite inside. He seems to be more of an SF and could be good there with the new rule amendment. #2 pick in the real draft and seems to be following the trend of a big who can get buckets, steal the ball but not block or board perfect early on in his career.
12. Jeff Grayer SG 6'5'' 200 22 B+ C C- C+ C B Notes: Elite inside scoring. Good handles and quickness. Solid jumpshot and strength.
Well I will start off by saying I didn’t know who this guy was but he has elite inside and after further research he had 2 stints with Golden State. He can handle the ball is quick and strong and seems he will have no problem scoring to start. We have seen similar guards turn into volume studs. He has the highest B potential so maybe should even be slotted higher.
13. Anthony Mason PF 6'7'' 250 21 B- C C- A- C+ B Notes: Good strength. Solid blocks, steals, inside scoring, jumpshot and handles.
In a league with a decent amount of Knicks fans including myself Mase can proably go higher. He leaves some to be desired on the boards and is highlighted by his strength. It seems he has the chance to be a starter level player with solid blocks, steals, inside and jumper. A lot of areas need to be camped and there won’t be enough ACs/RCs to do it all so the GM will need to decide what type of player to make Mason into and go from there.
14. Reggie Williams SF 6'7'' 190 23 B- B- C+ B- C B Notes: Good jumpshot and quickness. Solid handles, inside scoring and steals.
Reggie Williams seems to be a guy whos just solid across the board. A few good TCs could turn him good and a few bad ones the opposite way. He has a good jumper and is quick. He can score handle and steal. At this point in the draft it’s a solid pick and preseason will tell more
15. Steve Kerr PG 6'3'' 175 22 C A- C+ C+ C- B Notes: Elite jumpshot and quickness. Good 3 point shot and handles.
I am sure some of these PGs will not pan out but Kerr is a legend with the bulls and GSW. He has an elite jumper and good 3 pointer to start out. He can likely be a score first PG with poor rebounding. I probably will regret not putting him higher or taking a chance on him myself.
16. Ken Norman SF 6'8'' 215 23 B C C- C+ C+ B Notes: Elite inside scoring. Good handles and quickness. Solid steals and blocks.
Elite inside on another SF here with some handles and potential to get stocks. Not much else called out on the scoring end but I like what I see from a build out.
17. Scott Brooks PG 5'11'' 165 22 C B+ B- C D+ B Notes: Elite jumpshot, good quickness. Solid 3 point shot, handles and steals.
Scott Brooks reminds me a bit of George Karl as he is a poor rebounder with some solid scoring potential. The PGs here from 10-17 I guess are interchangeable. All have some risk and some reward. Brooks will need a lot of camps but at this point could be a steal.
18. Kenny Smith PG 6'3'' 170 22 C B- B- C+ C- B Notes: Good jumpshot, handles and quickness. Solid steals. Mediocre 3 point shot.
Kenny the Jet! Worried his volume might struggle early on with mediocre 3 and no call out of inside so he fell a bit lower then some of the other point guards. However I like that he is quick and has good handles. Getting a potential starter after camps this late could make a GM a happy man.
19. Olden Polynice C 6'11'' 220 23 C D D+ B B- B Notes: Elite post defense. Good strength. Solid rebounding and handles.
Olden can be nice here as he starts as an elite post defender. He seems to be one of the classes better rebounders which isn’t saying much and he doesn’t block. However it would be interesting to see someone like him be an impact player.
20. Derrick McKey SF 6'9'' 205 21 C+ C+ C+ A C B Notes: Good blocks, steals, jumpshot and handles.
Limited offensive potential and likely not a good enough rebounder to move over to PF but maybe he can be moved similar to Hubbard because of the stocks. In real life the man was nicknamed Heavy D and that is what he would bring to your squad.
