|
The best Chad Ford draft article (and a useful fantasy draft strategy) is listing players in tiers. So how do people break down this year's draft class?
My sports viewing has fallen off this year so I'll just throw out what I see as the Conventional Wisdom rankings to kick things off and people can go on from there.
FRANCHISE PLAYERS
1. Ben Simmons
2. Brandon Ingram
Even if you don't think these guys will be the best players in the draft, you still treat them as the top 2 because of their perceived value. For instance, if you like Dunn or Murray more and have a top two pick, you're not taking those guys at 1 or 2, you're trading down with the Celtics or Suns to pick up another asset or two.
---
STARS
3. Jamal Murray
4. Kris Dunn
5. Dragan Bender
6. Buddy Hield
7. Jaylen Brown
Bender is the unknown and I think, out of the five in this tier, Brown might be the one most likely to drop down a tier. Dunn is probably top of the class but age and injuries could knock him below Murray. After Simmon vs. Ingram, the rankings of these three guards is the big debate of this draft.
---
THE WILD CARDS
8. Skal Labissiere
9. Thon Maker
I actually feel inexplicably confident that Skal and Thon will become, at the very least, quality starters so I'd reach for them but they are all over draft boards. Maker is anywhere from the lotto to the mid-2nd round. If the Celtics landed either of these guys at 16, I'd be thrilled with the roll of the dice. If they went 8 or 9, it'd be a reach but given who is coming after them, I don't think it's an egregious decision.
I almost threw Chieck Diallo in here even though he's not as highly rated but he was the talk of the combine, had some hype in high school, and I could see him being a workout wonder who works his way up the draft boards.
---
THE STARTERS
This is where the pack gets more crowded but there seems to be a lot of potential in this group. I'll just throw these guys into groupings with their positions. Right now, Ulis is probably my favorite out of this group.
For the bigs, Ellenson and Sabonis stock has fluctuated the most. They got some early hype but have risen and then fallen while Poeitl has remained more constant ad Davis has slowly moved up as the others fell.
Not wild about the swingmen although I know nothing about the Euros. Beasley and Prince seem like the guys who could either develop into useful starters or be out of the league at the end of their rookie deal. Valentine's athleticism seems to limit his potential.
Again, I'm a huge fan of the little guy Ulis. Something about Jackson irks me. Don't know much about Baldwin.
BIGS
10. Cheick Diallo
11. Deyonta Davis
12. Jakob Poeitl
13. Marquese Chriss
14. Henry Ellenson
15. Domantas Sabonis
SWING
16. Denzel Valentine
17. Timothe Luwawu
18. Furkan Korkmaz
19. Taurean Prince
20. Malik Beasley
POINT
21. Tyler Ulis
22. Demetrius Jackson
23. Wade Baldwin
---
SLEEPERS
Damian Jones
Ivica Zubac
Ante Zizic
Zhou Qi
DeAndre Bembry
Dejounte Murray
Caris Levert (Probably wishes he struck while hype iron was hot.)
Diamond Stone ----
NBA MOCK DRAFT #1 - https://thecourierclass.com/whole-shebang/2017/5/18/2017-nba-mock-draft-1-just-lotto-and-lotta-trades
|
Printer-friendly copy 
Email this topic to a friend
Okay Sports
