Anthony: 6: Chris Kaman (If only it was Deron), 15: Eric Gordon, 26: Jameer Nelson, 27: Hedo Turkoglu, 35: James Harden, 55: Tayshawn Prince, 66: Anthony Tolliver
- Had himself a solid draft, excellent pieces picking up with a good youth piece in Gordon and excellent rebounder with Kaman. Nelson and Turkoglu were both cheaper due to the fact they had bad years and should bounce back next year, especially with Hedo now out of Toronto and in the steady hands of Nash and co. Harden will need to look to get minutes in a talented team but is a good piece to gamble on. Not sold on his last two picks with Prince and Tolliver as minutes will be hard to find for both members.
Ranking: B
Carlos: 4: DeMarcus Cousins, 24: JJ Hickson, 34: Terrence Williams, 37: Mike Miller, 46: AK47, 49: Jose Calderon, 67: Ramon Sessions
- Being the defending 3 time champ he is afford to gamble in drafts. He has never won in the drafts and this may have been best draft yet for him, sadly it still needs some work, but his trading ability will make it easy for him to move pieces and find the talent to win again. That being said he went for youth early on, and to be honest I think that was too high for Cousins, but if he is willing to wait it out and keep him then he'll be good to go. Hickson was a good pick at that spot. Williams and Miller are both interesting picks, both have high potential, but also can easily collapse and show nothing. AK47 will give you stats when health, Calderon pick is my favorite of his as it can at a wonderful spot to get a guy who has had potential keeper ability when he plays well. Ramon Noodles is a gamble and will test his itchy trigger finger when he doesn't get playing time early on in the season behind Mo Williams
Rating: C+
Cousy: 1: Evan Turner, 21: Jason Richardson, 29: Emeka Okafor, 40: Amir Johnson, 41: Beno Udrih, 60: Kirk Hinrich, 61: Shaq
- First surprise of the draft was brought by Cousy when he choose Turner over Wall, I understand the reasonings behind it, but still have to say Wall was the more consensus choice in my mind, star PG's are hard to find, while SG/SF can be a dime a dozen. He made up for it with excellent picks with Richardson and Okafor which will be keepers for him for a few years to come. Amir will get minutes in Toronto and hopefully stats come with it. Beno is a safe pick at PG and will hope to get over his injury concerns of last year. Kirk pick is a strange pick as he is backing up Wall and Arenas, but I like the Shaq pick especially at the start of the season with the injury to Perkins.
Rating: A-
Dustin: 10: Devin Harris, 11: Raymond Felton, 30: Robin Lopez, 50: Shawn Marion, 64: Leandro Barbosa, 69: Rodrigue Beaubois, 70: Nicholas Batum
- Had a superb start to the draft and picked up the two best PG's on the board not named Wall. Both have run and gun type teams and each have added firepower to make themselves even better. Then the Robin Lopez pick came along and I spent hours mystifying why, I know no Center in Phoenix, but clearly small ball is going to be played with that squad and Frye will be playing the 5 spot. Marion and Barbosa are both meh picks, could get the stats, could just float around looking google eyed. Finished off the draft strong with two quality sleepers in Beaubois and Batum.
Rating: B-
Eli: 2: John Wall, 19: Brendan Haywood, 22: JaVale McGee, 39: Tiago Splitter, 42: Boris Diaw, 59: DeMar DeRozan, 62: Ed Davis
- Had the gem of the draft fall one pick to two and you couldn't pass up on having a potential franchise keeper on your squad. He then went on to pick Haywood and McGee to continue to load his front court and get more rebounds then he did last year. Took the sleeper pick with Splitter who has potential to be the starting center in SA. Diaw will put up usual numbers and has an ability to do all the small stats that you look for. The last two picks are diamonds in the rough and shows you his allegiance to the Raptors. They could work out, but more often than not you will find them in the scrap heap.
Rating: B+
Herndu: 5: Anthony Morrow, 16: Samuel Dalembert, 25: Al Harrington, 36: Elton Brand, 45: Thaddeus Young, 56: Courtney Lee, 65: Mike Bibby
- This is what happens when you don't attend a draft. You end up with Morrow and Dalembert as your top picks. He saved himself with Harrington and a fit Brand. Young and Lee will not help Herndu and nor will Bibby. Though due to his inactivity as an owner it should come no surprise that most of those players will not end up playing anyways on his roster. So really no harm no foul correct.
Rating: F
Jason: 7: Wesley Johnson, 9: Luis Scola, 17: Carl Landry, 31: Andersen Varejao, 44: Greg Monroe, 54: Jarrett Jack, 57: Drew Gooden
- Went on a youth spree, which is exactly what Jason's team needed. Found himself with Johnson early on, and then went on a spree of PF, in Scola, Landry and Varejao, all who could put up solid rebound numbers and be good glue for the team. Monroe has the potential to do well, with Jack and Gooden doing well in supporting roles. Needs to find a franchise player for his squad and continue to rebuild this year and make moves for higher picks after the Dirk trade.
Rating: B+
Kyle: 12: Stephen Jackson, 18: Marcus Thornton, 32: Reggie Williams, 47: Serge Ibaka, 51: Mike Conley Jr, 52: Richard Hamilton, 53: Ronnie Brewer
- Very good early draft Kyle had, taking Jackson at 12 and picking up Thornton at 18 were superb picks. Took a surprise head scratching pick at 32 with Williams, but if Nelson stays and he gets the SF spot like projected he could end up putting some deadly stats. Ibaka will be the shot blocker and has made himself known as a defensive presence. Conley pick is a joke, bad idea, but a PG was needed and Calderon had just been taken. Hamilton will be good if he gets the minutes in Detroit, or gets traded to someone with a SG need. Brewer is excellent for steals and will be helping Chicago out this year with their defensive presence and mad hops.
Rating: B
Mike: 8: Derrick Favors, 13: Antawn Jamison, 14: Andray Blatche, 20: Trevor Ariza, 28: Al-Farouq Aminu, 33: Josh Childress, 48: Ben Gordon, 68: Lou Williams
- Mike has been continuing the building trend over the last years and has grown to be one of the most competitive teams in the league. He did it again with this draft, as he was able to score Favors, Jamison, Blatche in the top 14. He stretched with Ariza and then selected a Clipper with the Aminu pick, while he rebounding numbers have been crazy in college it was probably a little early on that pick. Childress should do well in Phoenix, but who knows what the Euro diet may have done to him. Gordon will look to have a bounce back year with the Pistons and Williams will fight with Holiday and Turner for playing time.
Rating: A
Scott: 3: Andre Miller, 23: John Salmons, 38: JR Smith, 43: Kelenna Azubuike, 58: George Hill, 63: Josh Howard
- Scott has a great draft if you pretend not to look at that first pick he made. Andre Miller pick was a shocking surprise and did not conform with any of the early predictions, especially with PG's like Felton and Harris who put up better numbers throughout the year. Here is hoping he has 50 point games once a week to prove me wrong. Salmons and Azubuike picks were excellent steals in there places. Smith will help and Hill and Howard both have potential to put up strong numbers.
Rating: B-
Overall this was the best drafted draft yet of the league. GM's have learnt how to better evaluate talent and less and less potential disasters were made in the draft. Rather than becoming like Isiah Thomas, we now see more of a Sam Presti and Daryl Morey way about going about the drafting. Now the wait for the season which is now only 2 months away.
