And it's so hard to land #1. Two years in a row with the worst record and we land #2 and then #3......next year we probably land #4 or #5 if we tank.
It was rebranded to the NBA Scouting Combine in 2009. Jonathan Givony's old site DraftExpress did a very good year by year breakdown of how the NBA kept on changing the format to at least be able to get the top prospects to participate in some way shape or form. I think by and large, the draft process has changed because draft picks have become significantly more valuable with the implementation of the rookie scale salary. Remember that up until 1995, normal rookie deals were only for 3 years, and there were no real limits on what kind of contract could be signed. If you missed on a guy in the draft, then you could go get him in free agency if you wanted to just a short time later. Meanwhile, with no set pay scale, draftees were heavily incentivized to prove their worth and secure the best initial contract during the draft process, leading to competition. It is not unlike how the guys in the G-League now will compete hard to get the limited number of 2-ways, simply for a bump in their own salaries. It took about a decade, but the draft process eventually valued elite rookies correctly, and teams began hoarding information. As both league ownership and front offices have shifted more towards analytical and finance backgrounds, the smartest teams have realized that if you believe you have a better evaluation process than other teams, you can generate value by intentionally making it harder for everyone. I remember Daryl Morey saying that he hated max deals, because it makes it harder for other teams to screw up. By creating an information void on players, you can create an exploitable gap between yourself and other teams where you can profit. And considering when you hit a home-run on a draft pick, you now effectively have 5-9 years of control, half of that well below market rate, you are throwing away value if you don't do your homework on draftees. Agents have realized this, and as long as they are not going to be penalized for shutting their clients down, they will continue to push the boundaries of what teams will handle. We've already seen HS phenoms avoid college by playing overseas, play in the G-League, and now, not even play in college if they don't have to. You can argue that Shaeden Sharpe helped his draft stock more by not playing this year than Paolo Banchero did by taking his team to the Final Four. Literally everything that Paolo gets knocked for (defense, effort, quickness, jump shot) are all things that would not show if he was just doing individual workouts and non-competitive 5-on-5 like Sharpe. If Paolo hadn't played this year, we'd all be thinking he's some magic unicorn super-athlete based on his HS ranking and Duke leaking their internal athletic tests. We'd be raving about his advanced footwork, and going crazy over his handle at his size. Hell, maybe he actually jumps Jabari and Chet if he doesn't play, because a guy who doesn't ever get on the court will never show any flaws, while Jabari and Chet both showed clear limitations in their play. This is not to knock Sharpe; he very well could be the best player to come out of this draft. But if you as a fan are thinking about trading back to get a guy whom no-one has seen play in a year over prospects who intentionally challenged themselves in playing on the biggest stage against the toughest competition, you don't have much of a leg to stand on in complaining about a draft process centered on interviews and private 1-on-0 workouts.
After Wembanyama you have guards....until you go #7 through #13 They comp Anthony Black to Giddey; but he looks like Jeremy Lamb to me. https://nbadraftroom.com/p/2023-nba-mock-draft/ #7) Jarace Walker 6'8" PF #8) Kel'el Ware 7'0" center #9) Ausar Thompson 6'7" Wing #10) Dillon Mitchell 6'7" SF #11) Jordan Walse 6'7" SF #12) Amen Thompson 6'7" Wing #13) Cameron Whitmore 6'7" SF
Keegan Murray is better defensively (and offensively) than Banchero. But his upside is limited due to age and lack of length/high level athleticism. Banchero is easily the better playmaker between the 2. Stats comparison in link below. https://www.tankathon.com/players/compare?players=paolo-banchero--keegan-murray
