http://www.nbadraft.net/2002draftgrades.htm My 2nd fav bball site behind this one. They already have the countdown for the 2003 draft. Comments on the Rockets: The team went with a huge project with Yao Ming but his talent level is so high, and the economic value that he brings to a team so great, that he was a done deal for the Rockets as soon as they won the lottery. The Chinese Government was the only snag and when they cooperated it solidified the selection. The team landed a gem with their second pick Bostjan Nachbar. This kid is much better than Seattle's Radmonovic. In a few years he will be closer to a Peja type player. Not the shooter, but a better team player with defense and more athleticism. Watch out for this team! Tito Maddox, ho hum... He's right.. WATCH OUT!
NBAdraft.net is the worst evaluator of NBA talent out there. About all the site is good for is European player profiles; his mock draft consistantly rates as one of the worst out there. And, how can any report have any credibility when this is the comment for Sacramento: All of that considering they dealt with the Atlanta Hawks, giving them Dickau. He says the pick Atlanta gave them was from Detroit, but when was the last deal the two consumated? I can't find anything. And this, right down below Sacramento, for the Spurs: Strange, since they dealt a first rounder for Claxton (who himself was a first round pick). Also strange considering Salmons didn't even make NBAdraft.net's mock draft at all until the 2nd update on Wednesday right before the draft. For Phoenix, in giving them a D: Which is also contradictory since they had been hyping Stoudemire for many months on their site & it's sister, basketballphenoms.com. It also shows an ignorance of Stoudemire's game and his comments leading into the draft. He also gave the Miami selection of Caron Butler a B - considering that was probably the best & smartest pick in the entire draft, I don't follow the logic. He says he will struggle to be one of the top 10 players from this draft class....uh, no. And Jay Williams, Roger Mason, and Lonny Baxter only nets a B? What gives? And finally, for the Magic in giving them an F: Last I checked, when you trade a raw prospect for the best center in all of Europe, it's not an error. He also said last year that trading Mike Doleac for Brendan Haywood would not prove fruitful. And...what's so bad with a George Lynch-type of forward when Borchardt had a lot of questions about him? What's the point in all of this? Not that I don't agree with him on the Rockets - they deserve an A for the players they grabbed. The point is that when it comes to the NBA and player evaluations, he's off 95% of the time. Take it all with a huge grain of salt.
Agreed mfclark. I was on that site for a little while, and believe me, there message boards are worse than there talent evaluating.
This is bad news. A from nbadraft.net really means a C since most of their evals are backwards. Check out their 2000 and 2001 grades. i don't know how these people have the balls to even post their grades for this year.
Not to rain on your rant, mfclark, but... The pick Atlanta gave up was from Detroit. Here's the full history of that pick (it will get familiar at a point). Detroit trades Aaron McKie, Theo Ratliff and A FIRST ROUNDER to Philly for Stackhouse, Montross and a second rounder. Philly then trades that first rounder to Houston for the EuroBust (Turcken). Houston then trades that pick to Atlanta for Steve's Buddy from Maryland (Morris). Atlanta then uses that pick to trade with Sacramento for Dickau. He is wrong that that pick can ever turn into anything good though (if that makes you feel better), as it's actually ANY first round pick and not just Detroit's first rounder. In fact, Sacramento owes Detroit a pick, so it might just disappear in Sacto.
It appears most major sports publications gave the Rockets an A. I know ESPN, CBSSportsline, and CNNSi did also. Did any major publication give us a bad grade? (Overall, not little Simmons-like side collumns)
FYI ================ CNNSI.com http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/2002/draft/news/2002/06/27/report_card/ ROCKETS - Filled their biggest needs at center and small forward with two outstanding prospects. Yao Ming is a potential franchise player, while 6’9" Bostjan Nachbar is a versatile scorer who could blossom into a star. Grade: A ================ ESPN.com http://sports.espn.go.com/nbadraft/story?id=1399492 Houston Rockets Round 1: Yao Ming, 7-5, C, China (No. 1) Round 1: Bostjan Nachbar, 6-8, SF, Slovenia (No. 15) Round 2: Tito Maddox, 6-4, PG, Fresno State They went international and it will pay off huge. Yao is a great fit for Houston and Houston is a great fit for Yao. The Rockets will challenge for a playoff spot with Yao, a healthy Steve Francis, Glen Rice, Bostjan Nachbar and Mo Taylor. Nachbar, who is 22, will step in immediately and provide sharp shooting. Tito Maddox, at No. 39, was also a steal. He was the best pure point guard in Chicago. Grade: A =============== CBS.Sportsline.com Houston Rockets With the first pick overall and No. 15, the Rockets went international with 7-5 Yao Ming and 6-9 Bostjan Nachbar, filling in the needs for dynamic players at positions of weakness. Yao's size and skills are bound to pay dividends, and Nachbar is expected to make just as big an impact. And even in the second round, they got point guard Tito Maddox, who will provide quality depth. Grade: A ====================== Chris
