Charlotte: Gilchrist is a great talent, but his efforts won't even be enough to save the tragedy known as the Charlotte Bobcats, and if Harden truly was on the table for Charlotte they blew a shot at getting a higher end player for a few years. Though, also picked up Jeff Taylor, not a bad draft. (B) Washington: Grabbed Beal as expected. Also got Tomas Satoransky (A) Cleveland: Waiters is a little underwhelming to other top names and was taken a bit high, but he should end up being solid draft pick. Two undersized front line players in the 2nd round. (C+) Sacramento: Surveyed the market, stayed patient, had rumored deals in place in case they didn't get the player they wanted...ended up with the guy they had the most hope for at that spot. (A-) Portland: Solid picks, though I doubt either one will be a long term answer for a point guard and center, though Zeller has a smaller hill to climb to become a respectable. Lillard seems to be more of Jamal Crawford replacement. I still suspect Portland will be a big player in free agency. Barton and Taylor are good picks that should feel out the roster (B) Golden State: Grabbed a bargain with Barnes for a positional need and were able to catch Ezeli as well late in the draft. (A-) Toronto: Bad pick in the wrong direction (D-) Detroit: GREAT LEVERAGE MOVE. They can develop Drummond, or they can offer him up for a really nice quality veteran. (A) New Orleans: Hard to say with the Rivers pick, if they feel that Gordon will be too expensive. It makes alot of sense to draft Rivers (B+), though if they are drafting to convert him into a point guard. I don't see it, right now as good idea (D). Houston: Lamb, White, and Jones were great picks (A+), when do they get a chance to play (D). Houston doesn't have a shortage of forwards, yet which ones are the best choices to stay? Phoenix: Marshall, excellent pick for the Suns, nice replacement for the most likely departing or retiring Steve Nash. (B+) Milwaukee: Henson is a good prospect, but will buried behind Dalembert, Dunleavy, Udoh, Mbah a Moute, and of course Erasan "The Dragon" Ilyasova. Somewhat of unnecessary draft pick for the Bucks who needed a distributor or pure point guard somewhere. (C) Philadelphia: Maurice (MO) Harkless, yep Igoudala is definitely on his way out. (B). Though definitely see some kind of deal in the future with Igoudala in some sort of crazy 4 way team deal with Memphis, LA, Philly, Atlanta, or Houston. Dallas: Trade down for more picks (C) Orlando: They really are trying to keep Dwight Howard in Orlando. (C-) I can see why Howard is not considering staying in Orlando...that team has been perpetually underwhelming in almost all of their team transactions over the last decade and half. The Magic should be up for contraction. Denver: (B) Boston: Got Sullinger and Melo in back to back picks with Kris Joseph as a late pick (A++) Atlanta: I honestly think they had their sites set on Royce White who was a good open court ball handlers, they draft another guard who that's not much of distributor (C) Memphis: (B-) Indiana (B) Miami: How in the world did the Heat end up with Arnett Moultrie? (A++++) Then, they traded him, even though they need bigs worse than anything (F-). OKC: How in the world did OKC end up with Perry Jones? Players can recover from knee injuries. (A++++++) Bulls grab a PG that will struggle to save the position C-
Celtics did excellent with bigs. It seems like most of the teams that really want to stay good or move up the standing got a little bit better tonight. Loved what the Kings, Celtics, Thunder, and Trailblazers did tonight.
I give Cleveland the worse grade for wasting their picks. Both of them in my estimation. I give the Hornets the best grade for two superb picks.
A for the Lakers 60th pick Darius Johnson Odom https://twitter.com/Mike_Bresnahan/status/218556933383274496 55th pick traded from Dallas, Robert Sacre
I really don't understand why Cleveland didn't take Barnes. But who knows, we'll see what Waiters becomes.
That was a little baffling, Waiters might end up being a bust, while Barnes might end up being a value pick. I guess it will be another lottery year for Cleveland from the looks of it. No wonder LeBron left.
Hear a similar comment on NBAToday podcast (I think) - If Kwame Brown was picked in the latter half of the first round, he would be considered a good draft pick. Instead he was picked at 1, and is now considered a bust, despite being in the league for 11 years. (Not that I'd ever want Kwame.)
Thunder, Heat, Celtics, Hornets all had very good drafts. Rockets actually did ok, but only if we make some trades to clear space.
