There were a few interesting thoughts in the Jaylen Brown thread (which badly needs a title change), and the topic came up on The Ringer's basketball podcast in the past week or so, so I thought I'd pose the question -- how would last year's NBA draft play out if the teams all knew what we know now?
Here's my take:
1. Simmons. Not clear-cut by any means, as he has arguably had two lost seasons development-wise, but I think the Sixers stick with his potential -- remember, a lot of people thought he was the best high-school prospect since Derrick Rose.
2. Brown. Ingram's ceiling is no longer clearly higher than Brown's, and Ingram's floor is indisputably lower.
3. Murray. Like Bender, Ingram isn't good enough to get rotation minutes on a 50-win team, and he isn't going to develop with his ass stapled to the bench. Murray has the best upside among guys who are playable on a good team; a case could be made for Chriss here.
4. Ingram. Not that the Suns are sour on Bender (they knew he was a major project), but they can't pass on Ingram's athleticism here.
5. Chriss. Perhaps they go for Bender, knowing that they're further away from relevance than they thought last summer, or for Hield based on positional fit, but I think they go for the mix of upside and near-term impact that Chriss offers and worry about how he fits with Towns later.
6. Hield. Key piece in the Boogie deal, which I don't think the Pelicans regret despite the poor early returns.
Note that I didn't consider trade possibilities -- there's a good chance the T'Wolves trade down due to the lack of good fits at #5, or (less likely) that the Lakers auction off the #2 pick because they don't see a potential franchise player.
Thoughts?
Here's my take:
1. Simmons. Not clear-cut by any means, as he has arguably had two lost seasons development-wise, but I think the Sixers stick with his potential -- remember, a lot of people thought he was the best high-school prospect since Derrick Rose.
2. Brown. Ingram's ceiling is no longer clearly higher than Brown's, and Ingram's floor is indisputably lower.
3. Murray. Like Bender, Ingram isn't good enough to get rotation minutes on a 50-win team, and he isn't going to develop with his ass stapled to the bench. Murray has the best upside among guys who are playable on a good team; a case could be made for Chriss here.
4. Ingram. Not that the Suns are sour on Bender (they knew he was a major project), but they can't pass on Ingram's athleticism here.
5. Chriss. Perhaps they go for Bender, knowing that they're further away from relevance than they thought last summer, or for Hield based on positional fit, but I think they go for the mix of upside and near-term impact that Chriss offers and worry about how he fits with Towns later.
6. Hield. Key piece in the Boogie deal, which I don't think the Pelicans regret despite the poor early returns.
Note that I didn't consider trade possibilities -- there's a good chance the T'Wolves trade down due to the lack of good fits at #5, or (less likely) that the Lakers auction off the #2 pick because they don't see a potential franchise player.
Thoughts?
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