ESPN NBA experts "re-do" draft (Burke and THJr featured)

Submitted by Indonacious on

BIll simmons, avery johnson, and jalen rose re-select their top 7 based on how the rookies have performed so far and both Trey Burke and THJr made the top 7 in all 3.

Great to see both our players doing well in the pros as rookies, but also getting acknowledged for their abilties.

Bill Simmons: burke 4 thjr 7
Avery Johnson burke 3 thjr 2
Jalen Rose burke 3 thjr 4

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=10487128&ex_cid=espnapi_public

Hagen

February 25th, 2014 at 9:56 AM ^

Watching THJ this year has been a lot of fun.  I'm not really an NBA guy, but I am a New Yorker and have watched more Knicks game this year than ever before because of THJ.  He's been a great spark off the bench for a team that, well, sucks.

Having said that, I think we can all agree that last year's draft was faily lackluster in overall talent.  It's showing to be on the weaker side of the draft class spectrum.  However, it's still great to see our guys doing so well.

Hagen

February 25th, 2014 at 10:19 AM ^

I believe the draft class to be lackluster due to a lack of guys who I see one day becoming perennial all-stars.  Sure, this class will have its gems as all do, but from top to bottom, especially looking at the top 15 picks, I just don't see it being very strong.  Take a look at drafts from the last twenty years and IMO you'll see more talent.

So I'm saying that after 60 games of 1 season, it's nice to see THJ and Trey being valued so highly.  But in other years, IMO, I believe you could pick a top seven that would far and away be better than what the 2013 class presents.  Obviously time can proove me wrong.

America

February 25th, 2014 at 10:37 AM ^

I could see how that would be your opinion if you are making a subjective talent evaluation. If you are looking at stats against NBA competition, the draft class looks similar to those of the past. One would also expect rookie's to raise their averages toward the end of the year so the stats from current rookies should be lower than previous classes with 20 games left:

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/players/rookies/rankings/_/year/2013

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/players/rookies/rankings/_/year/2012

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/players/rookies/rankings/_/year/2011

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/players/rookies/rankings/_/year/2010

America

February 25th, 2014 at 10:54 AM ^

I was confused because he was discussing how our guys were doing well in the NBA and then made a comment on the overall talent of the draft class, which isn't relevant to how good our guys are doing in the NBA.

Unless you can explain to me how Trey Burke's preformance in the NBA is dependent upon Anthony Bennett's preformance in the NBA? Then I agree you wouldn't need to imply anything.

WolvinLA2

February 25th, 2014 at 2:15 PM ^

I agree that his statement seemed clear and I agree with it. In most years, there is a rookie who is an all-star, another couple in the all-star discussion and a dozen or so who are solid starters. THJr is one of the top rookies and isn't even starting on a bad team (though he's gotten starter-ish minutes in a number of games).

ypsituckyboy

February 25th, 2014 at 9:58 AM ^

Given a 2nd shot at the 2013 draft, Joe Dumars traded the Pistons' picks for an underrated young gun named Baron Davis because he heard from a friend that Davis dominated at UCLA and his game would really translate to the NBA level.

mGrowOld

February 25th, 2014 at 10:02 AM ^

Burke at #3 or #4? Dumars is beyond thrilled at this re-draft because it basically shows there were other GMs just as stupid as he was regarding Burke.

Misery loves company.

umumum

February 25th, 2014 at 10:41 AM ^

again, KCP may be fine going forward, but to project that he will be better in the long run is based on almost nothing beyong contrarianism.  Trey has some work to do on the defensive end and on offense in the lane---but virtually all of his points already come when he creates his own shot--and as we know, few work harder than Trey, and odds are he will fix/reduce most of his deficiencies.

umumum

February 25th, 2014 at 10:57 AM ^

While I guess I could have been clearer---I think the fairer reading of my comment was that it was adding to the post and the criticism of Katzenstein. 

But thanks for the help. /s

MGoDC

February 25th, 2014 at 10:58 AM ^

I personally wouldn't rank THJ 2nd either but I don't think it's that farfetched especially if you are projecting how good he can be later down the line. His game is translating far better in the NBA than it ever did in college, and he is coming off the bench and not getting starters minutes. He has been extremely impressive this year. It's kind of crazy that a guy I would've thought was about our 4th best player last year (behind Burke, McGary, GR3) is a guy you can reasonably say is performing in the top-5 rookies in the NBA this year.

MGoGrendel

February 25th, 2014 at 10:39 AM ^

was impacted by the need of the team. For example, did they think the top two teams passed on Trey since they needed a different skill set. (...haven't read the background yet)

samsoccer7

February 25th, 2014 at 10:58 AM ^

Selection was supposed to be based on talent alone, not team needs.  They gave Burke and THJr a lot of love, it was great to see.  Avery Johnson called him (Timmy) the best shooter in the draft!  Pretty awesome segment to watch as a Michigan fan, that's for sure.

Genzilla

February 25th, 2014 at 12:46 PM ^

Avery Johnson was a successful coach and Bill Simmons is one of the better NBA journalists.  I realize they're not the Spurs front office, but their eye for talent is probably better than yours or mine.

Genzilla

February 25th, 2014 at 12:45 PM ^

The Greek Freak (Giannis Antetokounmpo - Bucks) is easily my favorite prospect from this draft class.  He might never amount to much, but he has the size/skill potential to be a perennial all-star.  Kid's fun to watch.

West German Judge

February 25th, 2014 at 2:23 PM ^

I always view these re-ranks as "who would I rather have on my team if a game were played today", which operates under a completely different set of criteria than "who I would want on my team for the next 3+ years with restricted free agency rights to boot".