Before we put up the final draft board, let's take a quick look at the top players at all three player types (lead guards, wings, bigs). We'll start with the wing players and their raw scores.
- Alec Burks, Colorado (35.02)
- Damien Saunders, Duquesne (31.85)
- Travis Leslie, Georgia (31.68)
- Derrick Williams, Arizona (31.454)
- David Lighty, Ohio State (30.52)
- Jon Diebler, Ohio State (28.98)
- Marshon Brooks, Providence (28.89)
- Kawhi Leonard, San Diego State (27.56)
- Klay Thompson, (26.77)
- Jordan Hamilton, Texas (26.58)
- Dashaun Thomas, Ohio State (26.57)
- Jeff Taylor, Vanderbilt (26.15)
- Justin Harper, Richmond (26.09)
- Chandler Parsons, Florida (25.95)
- Austin Freeman, Georgetown (25.65)
- Elias Harris, Gonzaga (24.45)
- Jeremy Lamb, UConn (23.43)
- Malcolm Lee, UCLA (22.42)
- Kyle Singler, Duke (22.32)
- C.J. Leslie, NC State (21.48)
- Harrison Barnes, North Carolina (20.25)
- Tyler Honeycutt, UCLA (19.91)
- Scotty Hopson, Tennessee (19.25)
How do they stack up after weighing the scores for things like age, schedule strength, definitive NBA position, and raw production? We'll see how things shake out below the fold.
- Alec Burks, 54.355
- Derrick Williams, 49.131
- Kawhi Leonard, 48.178
- David Lighty, 46.344
- Marshon Brooks, 45.77
- Jeremy Lamb, 43.96
- Travis Leslie, 43.778
- Jordan Hamilton, 42.808
- Jeff Taylor, 43.469
- Jon Diebler, 42.305
- Harrison Barnes, 41.835
- Damian Saunders, 41.688
- Klay Thompson, 41.49
- Austin Freeman, 41.275
- Deshaun Thomas, 40.549
- Malcolm Lee, 39.026
- Justin Harper, 38.756
- Chandler Parsons, 38.3
- CJ Leslie, 38.24
- Tyler Honeycutt, 37.872
- Elias Harris, 36.47
- Scotty Hopson, 34.706
- Kyle Singler, 34.549
Who made the biggest gains with their weighted score?
- Harrison Barnes, +21.58
- Kawhi Leonard, +20.61
- Jeremy Lamb, +20.53
- Alec Burks, +19.33
- Tyler Honeycutt, +17.96
- Derrick Williams, +17.677
- Marshon Brooks, +16.88
- CJ Leslie, +16.76
- Malcolm Lee, +16.606
- Jeff Taylor, +16.316
What went into the weighted score? First, I added up things like net points, rebounds, steals, and blocks; next, I subtracted turnovers, missed free throws, and fouls; then I took 3 categories (age, schedule strength, NBA position) and ranked players on a scale of 1-20 on how young they were for their class, how strong of a schedule their team had, and how solid of a position will they have in the NBA? I then divided by games played. For instance, someone like the 18 year old Harrison Barnes scored very well because his team played a tough schedule and he will be a definite small forward in the NBA.
This sort of approach led to some tough calls. Is Derrick Williams a wing or a big? This is where my three tiered system gets into a bit of a pickle. I suppose I could break it out to combo guards and combo forwards, but I'm not sure I want to go there yet.
Some interesting finds/thoughts from the wing class:
- Deshaun Thomas appears to be a 20 year old freshman. This would be a Roxanne-class red light.
- Harrison Barnes and Jeremy Lamb are 18. If there is a single argument for Harrison Barnes with the Wolves' top pick, it is that they end up with the 3rd or the 4th pick and Burks and Irving are gone and they're staring at Derrick Williams (i.e. Mike Beasley) and a Euro player. I'm still not sure I'd pull the trigger on the guy, but he's 18 and you can never have too many Martell Webster-type players on your roster, especially as teenagers.
- I'm not too geeked about the overall quality of this class, but I'm fairly certain it goes about 10 deep in the "Should Be As Good as Wes Johnson" category. Guys like Jeff Taylor , Jordan Hamilton, David Lighty, Harrison Barnes, Kawhi Leonard, and even guys like Malcolm Lee and Justin Harper could all probably step onto the Wolves roster and put up equal or better numbers than what we saw from the 2nd pillar of the Syracuse Duo.
- I think Alec Burks will really start climbing some draft boards if he declares (has he?). There are a lot of flawed wings in this draft, but he is certainly the least flawed. His big flaw is outside shooting. Other than that, he can get his own shot, he rebounds well, he has legit size, and he can score the damn ball. I haven't finished weighing all of the other players in the draft yet, but I have a hard time believing anyone not named Kyrie Irving is going to post a better weighted score.
- David Lighty will be a guy to consider with the Memphis pick or a 2nd rounder, depending on draft day value.
- Jeremy Lamb is an intriguing player. He's clearly not ready for the NBA and I doubt he'll come out, but he'd certainly be worth a peak with the Memphis pick if he did decide to test the waters. Although, this draft is so weak he'd probably be gone by that time.
- With Wes Johnson on the roster, what do you do with guys like Leonard, Taylor, or Honeycutt if they are available with the Memphis pick?
What say you? Is there anybody we're still missing? Next up, lead guards.