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DRAFT 2000: GRADES |
1. New Jersey Nets - Kenyon Martin F
(Cincinnati)
If Martin can make a full recovery from his leg
injury, he will provide a tough interior presence to a soft Nets team. He
is ready to have an impact from day one. Probable Rookie of the Year.
Grade: A
2. Vancouver Grizzlies - Stromile Swift F
(LSU)
The Grizzlies did the right thing and selected the most
talented player in the draft. Swift will combine with Shareef Abdur-Rahim
to form one of the most potent forward combinations in the NBA. Grade:
A
3. Los Angeles Clippers - Darius Miles F (East St. Louis
HS)
The Clip Ship made the wrong move by picking the raw Miles over
Marcus Fizer, who would have been able to offer an immediate impact as
Maurice Taylor's replacement in the starting lineup . The Clippers are the
worst possible team for Miles, as he needs a good coaching staff (the Clip
Ship has no coach right now) and savvy veterans to learn from. Miles has
the talent to become a great one, but unless he gets traded to a better
team, he may never reach his full potential. Grade: B-
4.
Chicago Bulls - Marcus Fizer F (Iowa State)
Although many consider
this a shocking pick for a team that already has Elton Brand, the Bulls
picked the best player available and now have a valuable commodity with
trade value. Fizer is way too bulky to play small forward, but he is a
talent and will have an immediate impact as an inside-outside scoring
threat. Expect the Bulls to trade Fizer for a center very shortly. Grade:
A
5. Orlando Magic - Mike Miller G/F (Florida)
This pick
was a mild shocker for an Orlando team that is badly in need of an upgrade
at the center position. However, Miller is a fine player who can offer
help at two positions and provide the scoring punch the Magic are sorely
lacking. Grade: B
6. Atlanta Hawks - DerMarr Johnson G/F
(Cincinnati)
Johnson has immense talent and is not as raw as some
experts think, but he is still a bit of a risk due to his youth and
inexperience. In two years, he will fill needs at both the two and three
spots for the Hawks. Grade: B+
7. Cleveland (from Chicago) -
Chris Mihm C (Texas)
Mihm's stock slid during the postseason
workouts, but he fills a huge need for a Cleveland team that has been held
hostage by Zydrunas Ilgauskas' injured feet. Mihm is not a potential
star, but he offers a more viable alternative at center than Andrew
DeClerq. Grade: B
8. Chicago (from Cleveland) - Jamal Crawford G
(Michigan)
Bulls have a huge need for a point guard and they may be
hoping that Crawford is the answer. Crawford's stock rose dramatically
during the pre-draft workouts and therefore has trade value, but never
demonstrated that he possesses the decision-making ability to play point
guard during his short stay at Michigan. Crawford has all the physical
tools, but why gamble with true point guards such as Speedy Claxton and
Erick Barkley available? Grade: C
9. Milwaukee (from Houston) -
Joel Przybilla C (Minnesota)
The Minneapolis crowd let Big Joel
have it when he went up to the stage, but that had everything to do with
the way he screwed the University of Minnesota and nothing to do with his
ability. A true center with the potential to become a dominant force,
Przybilla is a steal at the ninth pick overall. Houston already has a
similar player in the talented Kelvin Cato, but will regret getting so
little in exchange for Przybilla. Grade: A
10. LA Clippers (from
Orlando) - Keyon Dooling G (Missouri)
Getting Corey Maggette and
Derek Strong from Orlando in addition to this pick was a masterful move by
the Clippers, but Dooling was a bad pick. When will teams learn that short
shooting guards cannot be turned into NBA point guards? Travis Mays,
Randolph Childress, Chauncey Billups, etc. Grade: D (for pick
along)
11. Boston - Jerome Moiso F (UCLA)
A truly
terrible pick. Boston currently has a bad mix of players and Moiso just
adds to the mess. Not skilled enough to be a Garnett-like small forward,
despite what some "experts" are saying, and definitely not tough or
physical enough to be a true power forward, Moiso is basically useless.
Had he received decent coaching during his college career, maybe he would
have a chance. However, Moiso's college coach was the incredibly inept
Stevie Lavin. Grade: C
12. Dallas - Etan Thomas F
(Syracuse)
There some questions about Thomas' true height, but with
his huge hands, long arms and great leaping ability, height is academic.
Thomas will provide the physical play that Dallas needs to compliment the
great finesse scoring provided by Michael Finley and Dirk Nowitzki. Mark
Cuban must have told Nellie that he would not accept another ridiculous
draft filled with picks of obscure foreign players. A great pick. Grade:
A
13. Dallas (from Orlando) - Courtney Alexander G (Fresno
State)
Alexander may be considered a character risk due to his
problems during his time at Virginia, but he was the best pure scorer in
the draft. Dallas gets immediate scoring help and good value with this
pick. Grade: A
14. Detroit - Mateen Cleaves
The Pistons
get a local hero with great ball distribution and defensive ability in
Cleaves. We do not consider him to be superior to Barkley or Claxton, but
Cleaves is a pure point guard who fills a major need. Grade:
B+
15. Houston (from Milwaukee) - Jason Collier C/F (Georgia
Tech)
This was the worst pick of the first round. Collier is a
soft, finesse big guy with marginal athleticism. His only redeeming
quality is his shooting ability. Maybe the Rockets are looking for a
left-handed version of Matt Bullard. Grade: F
16. Sacramento -
Hidayet Turkoglu F/G (Turkey)
Turkoglu reportedly shoots the ball
very well, but based on the file footage shown by TNT he appears to play a
lot like a guy already on the Kings roster -- Peja Stojakovic. What the
Kings need is an athletic shooting guard who can defend and shoot --
someone like Mo Peterson. Grade: C-
17. Seattle - Desmond Mason
F/G (Oklahoma State)
Mason doesn't fill Seattle's need for a
center, but he is a terrific athlete. Mason will provide a lot of what
Ruben Patterson provides, plus much better shooting. Grade:
B-
18. LA Clippers - Quentin Richardson G/F
(DePaul)
Richardson shoots a lot better than the so-called experts
think and will make a smooth transition to the NBA. These same experts
also fail to mention that Richardson rebounds better than any of the big
men in this draft. A big-time steal. Grade: A+
19. Charlotte -
Jamaal Magloire C/F (Kentucky)
Magloire is a tough guy, but he will
not provide the Hornets with protection against the expected departure of
Eddie Jones. Magloire does however give the Hornets a safety net in case
backup center Brad Miller leaves via free agency, but he is not immensely
talented. Grade: B-
20. Philadelphia - Craig "Speedy" Claxton G
(Hofstra)
If Allen "Me, Myself &" Iverson wasn't such a
ballhog, the Sixers would not need a scoring point guard, but he is, so
Claxton makes sense here. Claxton is much more offensive-minded than
current Sixers point guard Eric Snow and provides Iversonesque
explosiveness in case Iverson is traded. Another steal. Grade:
A
21. Toronto - Morris Peterson F/G (Michigan State)
This
pick seems to indicate that the Raptors will go out and acquire a veteran
point guard. Peterson, who is very underrated despite the success he
enjoyed at MSU, and will replace Tracy McGrady as the sixth man for the
Raptors. Grade: A
22. Dallas (from New York) - Donnell Harvey F
(Florida)
Harvey was acquired, along with John Wallace, in exchange
for Erick Strickland and the draft rights to Pete Mickeal. He is a
rebounding/defending warrior in the Bo Outlaw mold, but unfortunately, his
offensive abilities are primitive at best. Harvey could receive a decent
amount of playing time next season if Gary Trent is not retained. Grade:
B
23. Utah - DeShawn Stevenson G (Fresno Washington
HS)
The retirement of Jeff Hornacek leaves the Jazz without a
viable starting shooting guard, unless Quincy Lewis can step up.
Stevenson, who may not be as much of a project as some people think, will
challenge for playing time as a rookie. A surprisingly ballsy pick by the
ultra-conservative Jazz organization.
24. Chicago - Dalibor
Bagaric C (Croatia)
European big men are like tech stocks right now
with all the teams are falling over one another to pick them up. Except
for the occasional Dirk Nowitzki or Zydrunas Ilgauskas, most of these big
guys have been huge busts, having their bubbles burst like an iVillage or
DrKoop.com. All I know about Bagaric is that in the TNT file footage he
didn't look very quick and could not catch the ball cleanly. Grade:
Incomplete
25. Phoenix - Iakovos Tsakalidis C
(AEK)
Tsakalidis is a huge guy with good touch, but there are legal
considerations involved here since Tsakalidis' pro team in Greece may not
release him from his long-term contract. Grade: Incomplete
26.
Denver - Mamadou N'Diaye C (Auburn)
N'Diaye is good athlete with
very crude offensive skills. He is a little overaged, but he definitely
could develop into a much better offensive threat in time. Grade:
B+
27. Indiana - Primoz Brezec C (Slovenia)
This guy was
a backup center for Olympija Ljubljana last year and only 4.8 PPG. Enough
said. Grade: Incomplete
28. Portland - Erick Barkley G (St.
John's)
This was the steal of the draft. We rated Barkley the
number one point guard available, yet Jamal Crawford, Keyon Dooling,
Mateen Cleaves and Speedy Claxton all went ahead of him. These teams will
all regret passing on Barkley some day. Barkley will also allow Portland
to let free agent Greg Anthony leave. Grade: A+
29. LA Lakers -
Mark Madsen F (Stanford)
The Lakers have picked up the new Kurt
Rambis. Unlike Rambis, Madsen does not wear broken nerd glasses. Grade: B
Good Second Round Picks
39. New York - Lavor Postell G (St.
John's)
40. Atlanta - Hanno Mottola F (Utah)
41. San Antonio - Chris
Carrawell G/F (Duke)
42. Seattle - Olumide Oyedeji F (Nigeria)
43.
Milwaukee - Michael Redd G (Ohio State)
45. Sacramento - Jabari Smith
C/F (LSU)
48. Philadelphia - Mark Karcher G/F (Temple)
49. Milwaukee
- Jason Hart G (Syracuse)
52. Miami - Ernest Brown C/F (Indian Hills
CC)
54. LA Lakers (from San Antonio) - Cory Hightower G (Indian Hills
CC)
57. Atlanta - Scoonie Penn G (Ohio
State)
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Scouting Report:
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2001-2002
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2001-2002
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