So far, this supposedly awesome draft class is being seriously, I mean, seriously bad. I mean, there is not a single rookie who you could say is having a great season. As of today, Jabari Parker is the leading scorer between the rookies.... with 10.9 points per game. If the league were to finish today and Parker named ROY, he'd have the 2nd worse scoring avarage between ROYs in NBA history, only behind Monk Meineke, who was the very first player to win the award, and in a year there was no shot clock (1953). Sure, I do expect them to improve, but so far, they're on 2000 draft class level, and at least we knew from the beginning 2000 draft class would suck, while these guys were supposed to be very good (even if lots of them weren't really NBA ready). So far, only Bojan Bogdanovic has scored over 20 points (and just once). It's really a shame Randle got injured. Now I'm starting to think he'd really have a good chance of being ROY... he wouldn't even have to be that good. Just "decent" might've cut it.
This top draft class really has underperformed so far but let's see how things go. Randle really did have a good chance of getting ROY, sucks.
LaVine probably thought he was coming here and he definitely wanted to stick it to us for not picking him and sticking him in Minnesota.
Could be onto something....amazing how the 'help the helper' stunt defensive schemes are continuing to leave people open for warm-up jumpshots. LaVine will show his true colors by mid-season - wild, inconsistent, bonehead plays and losing ways (UCLA was happy to see him leave).
it looks like all players are being hold back by their teams...no one is geting green light... all the rookies have to play team ball...so far wiggins and parker are not forcing anything... and when you include how many got injured...embiid,randle,smart,vonleh and gordon... i still have high hopes for this generation,plus i am sure some of those players will improve as season goes on...
I never bought into Wiggins. He's athletic, he's got good mechanics, but he doesn't have that killer instinct. Lavine looked better than him. Parker is still adjusting to NBA level competition, he's no breakout star, but he's definitely got that game about him that will make him a name to remember.
even after watching lavine torch the lakers, i wasn't that impressed. and i still think wiggins can be a really good player. he's already figuring some things out, imo.
Watching Rondo's debut with the Mavs against the Spurs. Very interested to see how this plays out. Going to take time but I think he will do wonders for them.
With all the talk of how good this draft class was, Im not impressed. Injuries have played their part but there aren't any stand outs.
I mean it's hard to judge isn't it? Parker, Wiggins, and Randle were the most NBA ready it seemed and the first two have looked pretty good. Randle had solid momentum leading up to his injury. I see a lot of long-term success from that group, but it'll take some time. Noel has been really disappointing though. And Smart has been in and out of the lineup too. Elfrid Payton has been disappointing. Gordon hurt... McBuckets hurt... Stauskas is pretty much what I thought he'd be.
never got the hype surrounding noel. he's got center skills (if that) and a pf body. reminds me a bit of stromile swift. thus, I'm not disappointed in him so much as unsurprised. I think the idea that this draft class was superstar laden appears to have been wildly misguided. but I could see wiggins blossoming into a paul George type, parker into a glenn robinson type, randle into ground-bound blake griffin, smart into jumpshotless billups, and Gordon into a kirilenko type. that would be a pretty good percentage of star/near star level players taken in the first few picks, even if none looks like a franchise changer. edit: and I forgot about exum. his numbers don't impress, but watching him play...I think he's got something. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he ends up the best player in the draft class.
I don't know if I agree with your comparisons or not. I think Wiggins will be a little better than George was before his injury. Same defensive abilities, but Wiggins has a higher offensive ceiling. I think Randle will end up being the best in the class if he stays healthy though and I'm not being biased. Parker is a more NBA ready player, but the pre-draft fears are true: I didn't see much in him to suggest he's going to grow a LOT from where he is now. The Pierce comparisons were just, but going to Milwaukee kind of ruined the winner's aspect. I think he'll underachieve now. Same idea with Wiggins, Minnesota needs to bring him a vet to teach him about sustainability in the NBA. Noel looks like an average big man. Embiid is an enigma, but he's still got crazy talent if he gets on the court. Exum is a few years away still. Randle before going down already had go-to offensive moves that worked at an NBA level against PFs. Drive right, body the defender, easy separation for a little baseline jumper. Beautiful. He's too big and strong for SFs and he has the footwork to dominate them in the post. His ability to push the ball in transition for a man his size is really LeBron-esque honestly. I'm not saying he'll thrown down dunks in transition or anything, but he certainly can push the break from the PF spot. He was developing into a pretty good help defender, but was typically foul prone for a rookie. More than anything though I saw constant development at a pretty rapid pace. He's in the perfect situation for growth, all he has to do is get/stay healthy. Another sleeper from this draft: LaVine. I wasn't all that impressed with him in college, but he's making strides in the NBA. Falling in the draft was the best thing for him. He seems more focused and having a guy like Wiggins around has helped his outlook I think. This might not be the 1996 draft, but it could certainly be one of the better ones. Even if picks 1-12 turn into only 6 All-Stars players, it's a great draft. Randle, Parker, Wiggins, Exum, Smart, and Embiid if he's ever healthy. Those six have shown me enough that they CAN do it. I don't know if they will though.
We also haven't seen a lot or any from Vonleh, McDermott, James Young, Gary Harris or Mitch McGary who were all 1st round picks and I think will be solid players. Other sleepers are Shabazz, Bruno Caboclo, KJ McDaniels, Nick Johnson, Russ Smith, Cory Jefferson, and of course Clarkson. I think all these guys will be good players (except Bruno is a huge question mark). The rookie season has been extremely underwhelming but I think in 5 years this class will still be very good, with many 1 2 or 3rd option scorers, or 6th men.
