Redraft 2020 - who are the top 10?

[One_and_Done]

Redraft the 2020 draft in hindsight. Who is the best player? Who goes top 10?

For me I'd say:
1. A.Edwards [#1]
2. Haliburton [#12]
3. Bane [#30]
4. LaMelo [#3]
5. Maxey [#21]
6. Vassell [#11]
7. McDaniels [#28]
8. Okongwu [#6]
9. Quickley [#25]
10. S.Bey [#19]

[Colbinii]

As I said in previous threads, you are going the wrong way if you wish to get good discussion and accurate assessments.

[Doctor MJ]

So, I'm going to start off by clarifying something I said in the 2019 thread:

The issue with going to more recent drafts is not that I'm against ranking these guys based on what they've done so far, but that I feel like most teams would still repeat their same draft pick again when a guy is early in his career and so when I re-draft, I end up being boring.

I'll try both approaches here and see what happens.

Pure rank so far:

1. Desmond Bane (30)
2. Tyrese Haliburton (12)
3. Anthony Edwards (1)
4. LaMelo Ball (3)
5. Tyrese Maxey (21)
6. Immanuel Quickley (25)
7. Deni Avdija (9)
8. Jaden McDaniels (28)
9. Onyeka Okongwu (6)
10. Saddiq Bey (19)

Now re-drafting with franchises in mind:

1. MIN - Anthony Edwards (1) - think they'd do it again.
2. GSW - Desmond Bane (30) - would have been the most likely to help the Curry/Green core.
3. CHO - LaMelo Ball (3) - they'd do it again.
4. CHI - Tyrese Haliburton (12) - BPA by far, steal of the draft.
5. CLE - Immanuel Quickley (25) - fantastic backcourt mate for Garland.
6. ATL - Onyeka Okongwu (6) - do it again.
7. DET - Tyrese Maxey (21) - BPA, give it a shot
8. NYK - Jaden McDaniels (28) - BPA?
9. WAS - Deni Addija (9) - again.
10. PHX - Isaiah Joe (49) - a good role player

[Dr Positivity]

My suspicion is Haliburton ends up the best. Edwards probably gets taken 1st though.

[mikejames23]

So the 3 stars, ranked in order

LaMelo Ball
Tyrese Haliburton
ANT

I like these 3 at the top. My stars in order. I think ANT has a lot of potency as a scorer. Excited for this guy. Honestly tho I do like the guard group a little better.

Desmond Bane
Saddiq Bey

2 more raw guys, that can make a big impact on the game.

Isaiah Stewart
Tyrese Maxey
Immanuel Quickley
Devin Vassell
Kenyon Martin Jr.

This is the rest of the crowd for me. Not too impressive, but some of them seriously impress in W/S, from a stats POV.

[mikejames23]

There's actually a couple gems in the draft amongst the minutes crowd like Tre Jones and Theo Maledon. I'll watch how they pan out.

[One_and_Done]

Too early to put those guys in the top 10 though.

[Colbinii]

So the 3 stars, ranked in order

LaMelo Ball
Tyrese Haliburton
ANT

I like these 3 at the top. My stars in order. I think ANT has a lot of potency as a scorer. Excited for this guy. Honestly tho I do like the guard group a little better.

Desmond Bane
Saddiq Bey

2 more raw guys, that can make a big impact on the game.

Isaiah Stewart
Tyrese Maxey
Immanuel Quickley
Devin Vassell
Kenyon Martin Jr.

This is the rest of the crowd for me. Not too impressive, but some of them seriously impress in W/S, from a stats POV.

Where is Jaden McDaniels?

[One_and_Done]

My suspicion is Haliburton ends up the best. Edwards probably gets taken 1st though.

This comment is looking better and better in hindsight, though I'd probably still take Ant #1.

Seems like a good time for a review of these rankings 2 years on.

[ReggiesKnicks]

My suspicion is Haliburton ends up the best. Edwards probably gets taken 1st though.

This comment is looking better and better in hindsight, though I'd probably still take Ant #1.

Seems like a good time for a review of these rankings 2 years on.

Unfortunately Haliburton had a catastrophic injury. I'm still not sure Haliburton is better in a vacuum than Anthony Edwards either.

I think this is a year where we can see the difference Haliburton makes since he will be out all year, along with trying to control for Turner as we see him in Milwaukee.

Here in Milwaukee we are hoping Jackson to replicate a portion of what Turner did, but Haliburton is unique.

[jalengreen]

Deni has looked good since this post, do not think we would see him lower than 6 at this point (without exhaustively checking to make sure nobody unmentioned has had their stock explode, but don't think so).

[ReggiesKnicks]

Deni has looked good since this post, do not think we would see him lower than 6 at this point (without exhaustively checking to make sure nobody unmentioned has had their stock explode, but don't think so).

It looks like Deni would be in a group competing with Jaden McDaniels, Immanuel Quickley, Payton Pritchard, Onyeka Okongwu and Isaiah Stewart. First thought it this is a pretty middling back end of the Top 10.

If we want to compare Deni to this group, he may be the best, but he is untested in competitive NBA basketball. We know how devastating Jaden McDaniels can be to a superstar like Luka Doncic, Kevin Durant or even Nikola Jokic. That's incredibly valuable. Payton Pritchard has also played important and impactful post-season minutes, with a much larger entree plate sitting in front of him this year rather than the dessert plate he was eating off the past two seasons.

I would side with Deni being the favorite for #6, with a caveat being any of these 5 could jump him and that LaMelo Ball is falling fast.

[Doctor MJ]

So, I'm going to start off by clarifying something I said in the 2019 thread:

The issue with going to more recent drafts is not that I'm against ranking these guys based on what they've done so far, but that I feel like most teams would still repeat their same draft pick again when a guy is early in his career and so when I re-draft, I end up being boring.

I'll try both approaches here and see what happens.

Pure rank so far:

1. Desmond Bane (30)
2. Tyrese Haliburton (12)
3. Anthony Edwards (1)
4. LaMelo Ball (3)
5. Tyrese Maxey (21)
6. Immanuel Quickley (25)
7. Deni Avdija (9)
8. Jaden McDaniels (28)
9. Onyeka Okongwu (6)
10. Saddiq Bey (19)

Now re-drafting with franchises in mind:

1. MIN - Anthony Edwards (1) - think they'd do it again.
2. GSW - Desmond Bane (30) - would have been the most likely to help the Curry/Green core.
3. CHO - LaMelo Ball (3) - they'd do it again.
4. CHI - Tyrese Haliburton (12) - BPA by far, steal of the draft.
5. CLE - Immanuel Quickley (25) - fantastic backcourt mate for Garland.
6. ATL - Onyeka Okongwu (6) - do it again.
7. DET - Tyrese Maxey (21) - BPA, give it a shot
8. NYK - Jaden McDaniels (28) - BPA?
9. WAS - Deni Addija (9) - again.
10. PHX - Isaiah Joe (49) - a good role player

I don't think I'll go through this whole process again, but just to make some comments:

* At this point I'd see Ant & Hali as the clear most accomplished guys - and to be clear Bane getting surpassed isn't a surprise because he's not a star-primacy kinda guy - and would definitely be the top two picks.

* Man, I think Charlotte probably still picks Ball in the 3rd spot. I think's right to still see LaMelo as a Top 3 talent in this draft, and he's such a popular showmen, if you're a small market without direction, how do you not pick him? But fast-forwarding to 2025, and while Ball isn't "the problem", he hasn't been the solution either.

* I feel like Bane would be a reasonable choice for the Bulls at 4, but with Maxey emerging as an exciting all-star at guard, my guess is he'd go there, with Bane probably going 5th.

* Quickley, for me, is the guy that makes a thorough re-do right now. His time in Toronto has been a major disappointment, but it's also been injury-plagued in franchise context that feels lost, and all of this has gone on as his contract went from being a rookie bargain, to now an amount that you'd want to give only to a core part of a contender, which all adds up into Quickley becoming a negative asset.

I feel like I need to re-do my analysis on him, but I'm still trying to figure out exactly what's happening in the North.

[cupcakesnake]

I find this draft is still tough.

1. Ant
2. Hali

We got the 2 no-brainer guys who have established themselves as offensive leaders of teams that have gone deep in the playoffs.

3. Lamelo Ball
4. Tyrese Maxey
5. Desmond Bane

Then there's the offensive guards where team circumstance and/or injury has given us a blurry idea of their value. Lamelo has been a certified injury problem, but he's basically been what Cade Cunningham is when healthy. Tyrese was part of Phili's nightmare season, but was on an impressive trajectory before that. Bane has probably been the most productive of that group, but the last couple years of Memphis chaos have blurred our idea of him. Excited to see him in Orlando, providing crucial shooting inside monster size lineups.

6. Deni Avdija
7. Jaden McDaniels.

I could easily flip these. Deni has shown another gear on offense, but Jaden quietly got unleashed as a driving attacker in the second half of this season and the playoffs. His functional handle, and high release point, made him a very effective 3rd option. On defense, Jaden is one of the best point of attack defenders in the NBA. A 6'10" dude who can harrass point guards. He subtly upped his rim protection chops this past season though, and it was he who kept the T-Wolves afloat when Gobert was out. He's a legit secondary rim protector now. Deni got the greenlight in Portland and absolutely made the most of his opportunity. Strong man defender and hellacious driver.

Part of me wonders if these 2-way wings are better than the offensive guards listed ahead of them. I think they could easily have better careers as championship pieces.

9. Devin Vassell
10. Onyeka Okongwu

Sort of the last guys I see as career starters. I think they both still have to prove it. Devin Vassell has sort of found his niche as a movement shooter who adds some value as a good athlete who can do things with the ball. His creation numbers are encouraging, but he doesn't really get to the rim. I can see him as a Mikal Bridges type still. Okongwu is a bit of a strange player. He's a roll man who lacks a degree of verticality, mostly due to his height. He's okay in floater range. On defense, he's versatile but not an elite rim protector. He's really good at what he does, but most of what he does is typicall done by guys a couple inches taller.

11. Immanuel Quickly (Could catapult up these ranking if he can bounce back and stay healthy in Toronto this season).
12. Aaron Nesmith (the last real 3&D 2010s style wing in the league!)
13. Peyton Pritchard (Not sure what the ceiling is here but he was an absolute dynamo in his role in Boston)
14. Isaiah Stewart (Legitimately super mean rim defender who can pass a bit but doesn't have a clear offensive role)
15. Isaiah Joe (Very good shooter who isn't awful on defense.)
15. Tre Jones (clear cut helpful backup point guard)
15. Obi Toppin (found a real role in Indiana, but there are big holes in his game still).
18. Cole Anthony (will get a chance to be something on a Bucks team that needs anything from its backcourt.)

Isaac Okoro, Saddiq Bey, Sam Merrill all still feel worth a mention.

[Mr Ringer]

The fact that Ant isn't 1st and Deni and McDaniels not on everyone's top 10 blows my mind

1. Ant
2. Hali
3. Maxey
4. Melo
5. Bane
6. Mcdaniels
7. Avdija
Not sure about the rest
Pritchard, Okongwu, Vassell, Nesmith all has a case

[One_and_Done]

The fact that Ant isn't 1st and Deni and McDaniels not on everyone's top 10 blows my mind

1. Ant
2. Hali
3. Maxey
4. Melo
5. Bane
6. Mcdaniels
7. Avdija
Not sure about the rest
Pritchard, Okongwu, Vassell, Nesmith all has a case

The thread was done 2 years ago, but yes there are few truly horrific lists. I find these kinds of threads to be a useful exercise in helping to show who actually has an eye for talent, and who doesn't. If I was consistently bombing my picks in every one of these threads I'd be concerned, but fortunately that's not the case.

[parsnips33]

I need to start bragging about my old posts more in general

[One_and_Done]

I need to start bragging about my old posts more in general

Everyone makes mistakes, but there are some really big ones in the recent redraft threads I bumped.

I feel like if I had been a scout at a team, and I told the GM two years ago that Desmond Bane was the top player in 2020 draft, that I'd have instantly lost all credibility with him. If I then proceeded to tell him that the Suns should have drafted Jaren Jackson #1 in 2018 over Luka, Shai, or Brunson, that Trae should get drafted over Shai, that the best 2 guys in the 2016 draft were Jamal Murray and Ingram, and that I'd still have taken Ben Simmons at #5, I'd probably be fired on the spot.