RealGM

There's a great misconception about the draft, that picks not in the high lottery are worthless. From 2010 to 2013(not counting 2014 because it's still early to judge), there have been a number of great players drafted in the late lotto or later. Below I will break the players into tiers, one is for good/great starters, and the second is for solid starters/good bench pieces.

Good/Great starters
Paul George(picked 10 in 2010)
Larry Sanders(picked 15 in 2010, doesn't play anymore for personal reasons, but was a great defensive big)
Eric Bledsoe(picked 18 in 2010)
Whiteside(picked in 2nd round of 2010)
Klay Thompson(picked 11 of 2011)
Kawhi(picked 15 of 2011)
Vucci Mane(picked 16 of 2011)
Tobias Harris(picked 19 of 2011)
Kenneth Faried(picked 22 of 2011)
Jimmy Butler(picked 30 of 2011)
Chandler Parsons(2nd round of 2011)
Draymond Green(picked 2nd round of 2012)
Greek Freak(picked 15 of 2013)
Rudy Goebert(picked 27 of 2013)



Solid starters/good bench players
Avery Bradley(picked 19 of 2010)
Ed Davis(picked 13 of 2010)
Lance Stephenson(picked 2nd round of 2010)
Iman Shumphert(picked 17 of 2011)
Dontas Montiejunas(picked 20 of 2011)
Nicola Mirotic(picked 23 of 2011)
Isiah Thomas(picked 2nd round of 2011)
Terrence Jones(picked 18 of 2012)
Jared Sullinger(picked 21 of 2012)
Michael Carter Williams(picked 11 of 2013)
Shabazz Muhammed(picked 14 of 2013)
Dennis Shroeder(picked 17 of 2013)
Mason Plumlee(picked 22 of 2013)

So if you do the math, there have been 13 players picked 10 or later from 2010-2013 who are very good are great. Four of those players are AS caliber players(Kawhi; Jimmy Butler, Paul George, and Klay), the other player is a defensive anchor currently in the NBA(Goebert). In total you have 23 players who are an asset to any NBA rotation.

Riley's really got to hit a homerun with this pick. He won't have a pick next year, and a lot of the salary cap is probably going towards re-signing Dragic and Whiteside in the next two years. No room for mistakes.

Caron Butler