2020 Draft winners / losers

[KembaWalker]

Melo will never be average on D, he's terrible on that end, never had it in him

He's actually been fine, pretty good for an underweight 19 year old. Aaron Gordon couldn't score on him in the post and his high bball iq makes him already a qb on defense pointing out rotations and closeouts to the other guys.

His major weakness is that he is a steal gambler but other than that he is far from abysmal.

I've seen much worse from young PGs we've had like young Kemba, young Augustin where the height just makes it 10x harder for them and they get picked on in the post on switches. The height really makes all the difference

No doubt that LaMelo with a couple years of strength training and technique work can be more than an average defender. The attitude and effort thing that people were trying to talk up from tv show clips couldn't be more far off from what he's shown so far

[Catchall]

Elijah Hughes is a natural scorer. He's averaging 9 points in under 11 mins per game. Not bad for a #39 pick. The Jazz don't have regular rotation minutes for him though.

[karkinos]

lamelo gets anywhere he wants to on the floor at will. the fact that he can get any position he wants makes me worry a whole lot less about criticisms such as "bad shots" and "no defense". he's playing chess while some people are watching checkers.

[clyde21]

anyone with a dribble can get "anywhere they want" on the floor, what they do with it is more important, and how they contribute when they don't have the ball in their hands is also just as important

Melo's dribble game and athleticism was never the question, the question is almost everything else

he's gonna get his stats, I don't doubt it, but I doubt the subtance and his ability to contribute legitimately to winning

[Catchall]

Elijah Hughes is a natural scorer. He's averaging 9 points in under 11 mins per game. Not bad for a #39 pick. The Jazz don't have regular rotation minutes for him though.

Watch on YouTube

[NO-KG-AI]

lamelo gets anywhere he wants to on the floor at will. the fact that he can get any position he wants makes me worry a whole lot less about criticisms such as "bad shots" and "no defense". he's playing chess while some people are watching checkers.

The dude shot like less than 30% and had as many assists as turnovers.

He might be playing Chess, but he’s really sucked at it so far.

[Chanel Bomber]

The two prospects I liked the least in this draft were Obi and Lamelo.

Lamelo screams flash over substance. How people assumed his FG% would improve from a disastrous 37% by transitioning from the NBL to the NBA always confused me. There's a serious risk he shoots under 35% for the season. He has some basketball genius in him so he's high-risk high-reward by definition but I think the weaknesses will prove too deep to overcome. If we're being optimistic, I think the most realistic comparison is Jason Williams. I'll take the under.

Obi simply has no position in the modern NBA. I'm also worried about his functional athleticism if he's not playing the 5, which he shouldn't be doing because of his defense anyway. His first step is quite slow. It sure seems like a wasted pick for the Knicks, though it seems that Quickley could make up for it.

I was also quite low on Edwards before the draft, and the comments about his love for the game were the final blow. I have no doubt that he will bust and I cannot understand for the life of me why the Timberwolves used the #1 pick to draft him regardless of those fundamental concerns.

[Stillwater]

The two prospects I liked the least in this draft were Obi and Lamelo.

Lamelo screams flash over substance. How people assumed his FG% would improve from a disastrous 37% by transitioning from the NBL to the NBA always confused me. There's a serious risk he shoots under 35% for the season. He has some basketball genius in him so he's high-risk high-reward by definition but I think the weaknesses will prove too deep to overcome. If we're being optimistic, I think the most realistic comparison is Jason Williams. I'll take the under.

Obi simply has no position in the modern NBA. I'm also worried about his functional athleticism if he's not playing the 5, which he shouldn't be doing because of his defense anyway. His first step is quite slow. It sure seems like a wasted pick for the Knicks, though it seems that Quickley could make up for it.

I was also quite low on Edwards before the draft, and the comments about his love for the game were the final blow. I have no doubt that he will bust and I cannot understand for the life of me why the Timberwolves used the #1 pick to draft him regardless of those fundamental concerns.

Melo is far from a finished product so what you see now is not why they took him high. The head is what needs fixed not the body or the skill set. I never liked him that much maybe if he wasnt a "ball" I would have , but the bottom line is really his handles and height are special and so the ability to see the floor and play the game as loose as he does could work well with a lot of improv play by feel teammates. I am not sold he has any yet. He may never and so that could be a problem because if you try to make him a system player he probably disappoints.
Toppin was never going to be any good on a team with no ball movement.

[cgf]

The two prospects I liked the least in this draft were Obi and Lamelo.

Lamelo screams flash over substance. How people assumed his FG% would improve from a disastrous 37% by transitioning from the NBL to the NBA always confused me. There's a serious risk he shoots under 35% for the season. He has some basketball genius in him so he's high-risk high-reward by definition but I think the weaknesses will prove too deep to overcome. If we're being optimistic, I think the most realistic comparison is Jason Williams. I'll take the under.

Obi simply has no position in the modern NBA. I'm also worried about his functional athleticism if he's not playing the 5, which he shouldn't be doing because of his defense anyway. His first step is quite slow. It sure seems like a wasted pick for the Knicks, though it seems that Quickley could make up for it.

I was also quite low on Edwards before the draft, and the comments about his love for the game were the final blow. I have no doubt that he will bust and I cannot understand for the life of me why the Timberwolves used the #1 pick to draft him regardless of those fundamental concerns.

Rather than rewriting these I'll just quote myself & hope that's not obnoxious

Yeah I wasn't as happy with Obi initially but have really warmed up to him. His passing &general heads-up play, has really helped me buy into his BBIQ separating him from the Gordon's & Tyrus Thomas's of the NBA. That and his defense being nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be, really make it easier for me to see him finding success at this level.

Plus I really like that both picks were very high IQ/effort team-players. With RJ, Obi, Quick & Frank, we seem to be well on our way to having our young core setting the right tone off the court...now we just need them to progress enough to actually become our future core lol

Yeah, even if all goes the way we hope it will, he's probably always going to be the guy that teams hunt on switches against us. But I think he's shown the potential to eventually become a good (or at least competent) team-defender with his intelligence, length & vertical burst. Kinda like Covington, where his ability to disrupt passing lanes, be in the right place, and provide supplementary rim-protection, can help the collective-defense enough to compensate for his limitations as a one-on-one stopper...even if (stylistically) Obi should be aiming to fill more of a poorman's-Horford role than a poorman's-RoCo role.

Which is a lot more manageable than the Amar'e-level defender I was expecting

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I wasn't too high on Tobbin, but I've warmed up to him a lot since seeing him on the court with NBAers. He's going to need some time but he's a high-IQ team-first player who's figuring out how to help his team when he's no longer the biggest / most-athletic dude on the court.

So far it looks like his legs still need to fill out, he needs to polish his handle & he's going to need some time to get used to the NBA 3pt line (though his shot doesn't look bad at all)...none of which are uncommon for rookies...but he's already passing the ball well, dangerous when cutting to the hoop, and nowhere near as bad defensively as I thought he'd be.

He's still raw but I've been really encouraged by his play so far. Seems like when it all comes together he'll be able to bring a lot of old-Blake elements together with those young-Blake like hops...even if I doubt he'll ever be as good as Blake. Tobbin is an older prospect but it's not like he's been polishing his game as a big since he was 16. He's a late bloomer and not the finished article yet so I'm more interested in what tools he has or seem within reach for him.

[EvanZ]

It will take many years to figure this out. Hell the 2016 Draft is still in flux if you try to rank it.

[amcoolio]

How did people get it that wrong with LaMelo, he's even been a pretty decent defender, and should be pretty great once he adds strength. He'll be starting pretty soon because of how bad Graham is playing.

I mean he's made Bismack Biyombo a relevant player again

[karkinos]

lamelo gets anywhere he wants to on the floor at will. the fact that he can get any position he wants makes me worry a whole lot less about criticisms such as "bad shots" and "no defense". he's playing chess while some people are watching checkers.

The dude shot like less than 30% and had as many assists as turnovers.

He might be playing Chess, but he’s really sucked at it so far.

he's 5 games in, chill.

[EvanZ]

Lamelo screams flash over substance. How people assumed his FG% would improve from a disastrous 37% by transitioning from the NBL to the NBA always confused me. There's a serious risk he shoots under 35% for the season.

I mean it's hard to be a 37% shooter in the NBA, so that was your first mistake. Just normal development would take care of that.

[Chanel Bomber]

Lamelo screams flash over substance. How people assumed his FG% would improve from a disastrous 37% by transitioning from the NBL to the NBA always confused me. There's a serious risk he shoots under 35% for the season.

I mean it's hard to be a 37% shooter in the NBA, so that was your first mistake. Just normal development would take care of that.

Sure, seems like I'll have to take the L with regards to LaMelo. Hope he proves me and the doubters wrong.

Still, from 37% is a steep hill to climb, but geniuses generally find a way.

[karkinos]

i don't get why everyone loved coby white last year but then trashed melo this year

[clyde21]

i don't get why everyone loved coby white last year but then trashed melo this year

so many people trashed Coby the year before not sure what you're talking about

[EvanZ]

i don't get why everyone loved coby white last year but then trashed melo this year

Huh? I don't think they are remotely similar enough to merit anyone to like both or hate both.

[karkinos]

plenty of winners this year in the draft

[peZt]

plenty of winners this year in the draft

Except Dallas. Who were seen as one of the winners after the draft. Funny how it works

[LloydFree]

there were a lot of trades so I'm not entirely sure who got what but I'll do my best:

ATL-B
seemingly set with young players from 1-4, getting a young defensive big (Okongwu) was huge. There were better players left on the board than Mays who they took in the 2nd.

BOS-B
Nesmith and Pritchard are both A picks. Trading #30 for two future 2nds with Woodard and Bey still on the board was stupid. Taking draft and stash at #47 (Madar) while better players were still on the board was bad

BK-D+
in a deep draft and with several 3 and D wings available plus shooters, trading out of their pick was dumb as better players than Shamet were available. I've long liked Sean Marks but this is not one of his better decision. Perry in the late 2nd was good value.

CHA-B
Ball was a great pick. Carey was good value and Riller should be a valuable backup

CHI-C-
Williams was a major reach as was Simonovic in the 2nd.

CLE-B-
Okoro was a reach but they do badly need a defensive wing

DAL-A-
Green was a reach, Terry was good value and Bey was a major steal

DEN-B+
they landed badly needed PG and C help

DET-C+
Hayes is vastly overrated and was a major reach. Stewart was also taken maybe 20 picks too high. Bey is great value but also overrated

GS-B-
Wiseman was the right choice. Trading the pick in the 2nd was dumb. Mannion was good value. Jessup a wasted pick

HOU-D
awful. This franchise is doomed

IND-A
Getting Stanley, arguably a mid 1st round talent, that late in the 2nd is a major steal

LAC-A
traded for Kennard and got great value with Oturu and Scrubb in the 2nd

LAL-N/A

MEM-D+
not crazy about Bane with so many better player still on the board and like the Tillman pick even less

MIA-A
Getting more size and athleticism this late was a substantial steal

MIL-D
got a couple of shooters that will likely never see the floor because they offer nothing else

MIN-A
they got a dynamic scorer in Edwards and a nice developmental big in Pokusevski

NOP-D
trading picks away and reaching on Lewis does not make for a successful draft night in a pivotal draft for this franchise. Yikes

NY-D+
hated the Toppin pick. Like Quickley but there were better players still on the board.

Spoiler:

OKC-B
like the Pokusevski, Maledon and Krecji picks because they'll be afforded the time to develop with lower expectations.

ORL-D+
Major reach for Cole Anthony considering what was still on the board. This franchise will remain terrible

PHI-C-
Maxey was a major reach, maybe a round too high, Reed was a major steal and Joe is nice depth

PHO-C
pretty big reach and not a position of need

POR-D
there were better players still on the board with their 2nd rounder.

SAS-B+
this has to mean Walker is a bust. Jones as a backup PG is great value

SAC-B
not quite sure why they're taking another PG but he's great. Ramsey is decent value

TOR-C-
Flynn is overrated like who he's replacing VanVleet

UT-B+
When Gobert goes off the floor the team implodes. Azubuike will prevent that from happening and take over for him should they move him.

WA-B+
they badly needed BBIQ and playmaking and got it

Not good