Post by the original michael on Aug 3, 2020 7:58:30 GMT -8
2006 1st Round Draft Review + Grades !
1- New York Knicks (from Nets)- Brandon Roy B B B+ C C BOut of all teams, it ends up being Skillz and the New York Knicks. Roy is the clear cut #1 in this years draft and het gets him for the expiring contract of David West. Don't get me wrong, West is a great player, but Roy on a rookie deal with those ratings is more valuable in my opinion. @greem has to be picking himself for that deal right now. Roy should be an elite scorer in this league and is likely a B+ B+ scorer after camps and pre training camp. However, I don't expect Roy to stay in New York long as he is already shopping him.
Grade: A+ (Grade includes value from the trade)
2- Seattle Super Sonics - LaMarcus Aldridge B C D+ C+ C+ A
The rich get richer. A young elite team that already has Dwight Howard and Chris Paul now adds the draft's best big man in LaMarcus Aldridge. Aldridge will be the perfect 3rd piece for this squad as they continue building an absolute powerhouse in the Western Conference. Could this be the league's next best team? I think so. They are a few training camps and players away from building a dynasty. Great job so far by Mark .
Grade: B
3- Golden State Warriors (from Grizzlies) - Kyle Lowry B- B- C+ C C A
Oof. The Grizz and Erbes dealt this pick to the Warriors in an earlier deal. Lucily for erbes, there are no game changers available at this pick. The Warriors already have Hinrich, who is undervalued here. I would have preferred to see PJ Tucker go here for a multitude of reasons. 1: I think he's the best player available and 2: he would fit nicely on this roster at the 3. Yah, passing on Tucker is bad.
Grade: C
4- Atlanta Hawks - PJ Tucker C+ B C- B C+ A
Man, this sucks for footy and the Atlanta Hawks to fall 3 spots to #4. However, they get the draft's second player in PJ Tucker so it doesn't matter. He may never be an elite scoring wing in this league, but he will be a great defensive/rebounding wing. The ideal 3 & D player. Solid pick to team with Andrew Bynum going forward. I like this pick given the circumstances.
Update - He was moved to SF and now holds an "A" defensive rating. Wow.
Grade: A+
5- Denver Nuggets - Paul Millsap B- C C B- B B
Trading Granger and crew for this pick looks meh at this point as Granger is looking like an elite young wing. Millsap is no slouch either however, as I had him as my 4th best player. Had he fell to 6, I may have kept the pick and drafted him instead of trading for Ben Wallace (spolier!). I could see Millsap being a David West type player here, which is pretty good given how weak this draft is. Good pick by Royal .
Grade: B+ (A for pick, grade goes down for the trade that re-acquired the pick)
6- Sacramento Kings (from Pacers) - Rudy Gay B- B- C+ C C A
Boom! The first trade of the draft happens here at 6 with the talent hungry Pacers acquiring Ben Wallace for a package that included this pick. The Kings and ashes are finally tearing it down and re-building, or re-tooling. Gay was clearly the best player on the board and the Pacers are set at the wings, so this move made all too much sense. I like it for the Kings as well as they get a young guy to build around and to start their rebuid.
Grade: B+
7- Milwaukee Bucks - Rajon Rondo C+ C B B+ C A
This is where the value drops off in my opinion. Rondo is such a question mark. Will he be made similar to Pacce? Will he have turnover issues? Can that outside shot ever be fixed? There are so many question marks here. I hate Rondo, but I feel like he has to be the pick here given the circumstances. The rest of the talent left on the draft board is completely "meh". The Bucks probably should have dealt this pick for win now pieces as they do not own their 2008 1st (thanks chipper). nybombers3 has some work to do to fix this squad, but I have confidence he will be able to do so. The man is a Yankee fan, which makes him a winner!
Grade: B
BREAKING NEWS!!! The New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks agreed to a huge blockbuster deal, sending Brandon Roy to the Bucks in-exchange for Rajon Rondo, Kelenna Azubuike, Grizzlies 2007 1st Round Pick, Nuggets 2008 1st Round Pick, Magic 2008 1st Round Pick, Bucks 2009 1st Round Pick. Wow! What a haul by Skillz and the Knicks, but I get this move for the Bucks. They needed a franchise player and get that in Brandon Roy. Solid deal for both. This now ups their draft grades.
Knicks - Maintain an A+
Bucks - Now sit at A-
8- Boston Celtics - J.J. Redick C A- D+ C D+ A
Brian came very close to being AUTO'd and logged in just in time here. It's not a bad pick if he gets his camps, but Lasagna and tears of failure still has to camp Gortat and Bogut. Redick could be in the mold of Ben Gordon, which is decent value here. I can't hate on the pick. I might have taken a flier on Andrea Bargnani and moved him to SF, but good pick here. His development will depend on how quickly he is camped. That inside needs to improve to get the volume up.
Grade: B-
9- Phoenix Suns - Renaldo Balkman B C- C- B B- B
God, I love this pick. Who would have thought that Balkman would be a lottery pick, yet alone a top 10 pick? However, his ratings and notes look great. He looks like a guy that can block, steal and rebound. His future is not at small forward and will be at power forward for sure. This was a great pick by Andrew and the Suns. He should expect to see some PMs from me shortly.
Grade: A-
10- Sacramento Kings (from Rockets) - Andrea Bargnani B- B- D+ C C A
The second of their two lottery picks and they grab the Italian Stallion, Bargnani. It appears that he wanted Renaldo Balkman and was sniped by the Suns. Balkman would have been a great pick and could have replaced Ben Wallace (1/10th his production!) I like the Bargnani pick because it's a high risk/high reward. His future is at SF as well and with camps, could form a nice future wing tandem with Rudy Gay.
Grade: B+
11- Orlando Magic - Tyrus Thomas C+ C D+ B- C A
Interesting pick. The notes say that he may have handling issues, but can block. If Thomas can curb his handles and limit turnovers, while improving his boards, then watch out! He could be a nice and serviceable big man for the Orlando Magic and trapstar23 . If he can't fix his turnovers and boards, he'll be out of the league after his rookie deal.
Grade: C+
12- Toronto Raptors - Marquinhos Vieira C+ C+ C- B+ C B
Batter up! GAME is swinging for the fences here with this pick and I'm not mad about it at all. I like it. The talent left at this spot is bleak. He is not far off from B- B- scoring and could get there with RCs alone. Diego, do this prior to TC! His notes say he can rebound and defend and if Game can improve his scoring with camps, he may have himself a steal. The more I look at this pick, the more I like it.
Grade: A-
13- Golden State Warriors (from Lakers) - Lou Amundson C+ D+ C- B B B
Good pick here, good pick. Who would have thought Lou Amundson would go in the lottery prior to the ratings being released? He looks like he is borderline B+ defense and is the highest remaining rebounder in the draft. He could easily be B+ B+ entering training camp. With any luck in training camp, he could become a very very good big. Not bad for Manas. His notes say that his upside is limited, so it may be vital to get camps into him early. Worst case scenario, he's a decent 3rd or 4th big. He also has nice hair.
Grade: A-
