Historic Draft Class or Bust?

The 2014 NBA draft class was supposed to be one of the ages. Some said it was supposed to be the best draft class of all time, beating out the 2003 NBA Draft class with high value names such as Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dywane Wade, and Chris Bosh. Incredibly, however, just 15 games into the season there is already talk about how this draft class is a bust. These claims are absolutely ridiculous and here is why.

First, the word “potential” is a very important word for this draft class. By definition, potential is “having or showing the capacity to become or develop into something in the future”. In this case we are talking about these rookies developing into stars. Now this does not happen overnight and we have seen players who have high potential become studs, but we have also seen these players find themselves out of the NBA after a couple of years. Good examples of players becoming stars are guys like Russell Westbrook or Kevin Durant. Examples of players not living up to their potential are Hasheem Thabeet and Kwame Brown. Potential is all about the future and when over half of the first ten picks in the draft are teenagers, potential is what these NBA GM’s are looking at.

The 2014 NBA draft had a lot of hype, but the first five picks are what everyone is making noise about. Andrew Wiggins, 19, picked 1^st overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers, was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Kevin Love. The 6’8” 200 pound Small Forward out of Kansas is thought to be the next Lebron James. He has shown off his athleticism and glimpses of offensive production, but he is still shooting a very low percentage from the field and not rebounding well. He did show the world what he is capable of with a 29 point, 5 rebound, and 4 steal performance against the Sacramento Kings, but he needs to put on some muscle and continue to grow all aspects of his game before he can become a dominant force in this league.

Jabari Parker, 19, picked 2^nd overall by the Milwaukee Bucks, is a 6’8” 240 pound Small Forward out of Duke. Parker is supposed to be the safest pick in the draft and will be able to contribute right away with his polished skills and NBA body. Jabari is currently not putting up numbers that people projected that he would, but he is still averaging an efficient 11.9 points per game along with 6.1 rebounds in 29 minutes of play.

Joel Embiid, 20, was picked 3^rd overall by the Philadelphia 76ers and he is touted to be the next dominant big man in the NBA. The 7’0” 250 pound Center out of Kansas is currently nursing a foot injury, but when healthy he has advanced post moves, can shoot the basketball, and is a dominant presence in the paint on defense. Basketball is fairly new to Embiid as he started playing when he was 15 years old. He has made an immense amount of progress in the last five years and still has an abundance amount of potential still to fulfill.

Aaron Gordon, 19, was selected 4^th overall by the Orlando Magic. The 6’9” 240 pound Small Forward out of Arizona is an athletic specimen, but he is also very raw on the offensive end. His defense is already above average, but he will have to continue to improve his jump shot along with some post moves in order to be a force in the NBA.

Dante Exum, 19, was selected 5^th overall by the Utah Jazz. The 6’6” 190 pound point guard out Australia has shown glimpses of his untapped potential early in the year, but his shooting has been very poor to start the year. He is shooting 37% from the field to go along with 62% from the free throw line. His athleticism and passing ability is what excites the Jazz’s front office, but he needs to work on his jump shot if he wants to reach his full potential and separate himself from other point guards in the league.

Marcus Smart, 20, was selected 6^th overall by the Boston Celtics. The world was shocked when the 6’4” 220 pound point guard out of Oklahoma State did not enter the 2013 NBA Draft after his freshman year. He was a lock to go in the top 3, but instead he decided to play out his sophomore year and it hurt his draft stock. Smart is very explosive and he is very good at attacking the basket, but he needs to work on his shooting. Smart is currently out with an ankle injury, but in his first 5 games he shot 30% from the field and a poor 24% from the three-point line. The Celtics are going to need to see more improvement out of him before they can trade Rondo and give the reigns to Smart.

Julius Randle, 19, was selected 7^th overall by the Los Angeles Lakers. The 6’9” 250 pound power forward out of Kentucky suffered a broken leg during the first game of the season. This was a devastating injury for Laker fans as this was supposed to be a year for a lot of growth on a very poor Laker team. Randle was supposed to make an immediate impact and was already making noise about potentially winning Rookie of the Year honors. Randle has a long ways to go still as he needs to continue to improve his jump shot and his right hand. We will see if he can overcome this injury, but if he can watch out as he has the body, talent, and mindset to dominate in this league.

Nick Stauskas, 21, was selected 8^th overall by the Sacramento Kings. The 6’6” 205 pound shooting guard out of Michigan has not had a good start to the year. Many Kings fans were puzzled by this selection as they just selected shooting guard, Ben McLemore, with their first round pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. Stauskas’ value comes from his ability to score and he has not been doing a great job of that. He is shooting 32% from the field and 24% from the three-point line. Although he has lost minutes early in the year, he still possesses the skills to make a difference in the NBA as a shooter. Now he just needs to mature physically and find his shooting stroke!

Noah Vonleh, 19, was selected 9^th overall by the Charlotte Hornets. The 6’10” 240 pound power forward out of Indiana is a very raw player. Vonleh is a very long and athletic power forward who could be a potential All-Star in the NBA. He had an offseason injury that kept him out of training camp and has only received a total of 25 minutes this season. Vonleh is a beast on the boards and he also has a nice jumper as he shot 16-33 from 3-point range last year at Indiana. He will need to continue to get stronger and work on his post moves in order to be the star that GM’s are projected him to be.

Elfrid Payton, 20, was selected 10^th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers and then traded to the Magic on draft day for Dario Saric and future picks. The 6’4” 185 pound point guard out of Louisiana-Lafayette is a pass-first point guard who showed us a lot in his junior year of college when he averaged 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. Although these numbers haven’t translated too well to the NBA, Payton has still showed us that he can contribute as he is averaging 6.6 points a game to go along with 4.9 assists and 3.4 rebounds. In order for Payton to earn starter minutes and become a solid NBA player, Payton is going to need to improve his jump shot. He is currently shooting 39% from the field and only 49% from the free throw line. He also turns the ball over quite a bit, but once he can develop a jumper and learn to be a little more disciplined, don’t be surprised if Payton is a top point guard in the league one day.

The majority of these rookies are not getting very much playing time. Not single rookie in the top ten is averaging over 30 minutes a game and they are still in the process of learning. Jabari Parker, the number 2 pick in the draft, is averaging 11.9 points along with 6.1 rebounds a game in 29 minutes. Now compare that to Anthony Davis’ rookie season where he put up 13.5 points and 8.2 rebounds a game in 29 minutes. Those numbers are very similar and Anthony Davis is now a top five player in the NBA! Now some might say three rebounds is a big difference but Parker is playing SF compared to Anthony Davis who spends a majority of his time in the paint. It is going to take these players a couple of years to mature physically and get adjusted to NBA basketball.

Why hasn’t there been at least one rookie who has shine? Well, again you are looking at a lot of young bodies and Wiggins and Parker have not been bad to start the year. Andrew Wiggins, who is supposed to be the next Lebron James, is coming into the league at 6’8” 200 pounds. Going up against a 6’8” 250 pound Lebron James is not a fair comparison at this point in his career. So now instead of looking at the first 15 games, show some patience and allow these players to really develop.

Keep in mind that Julius Randle and Joel Embiid, two of the top seven picks in the draft, have season ending injuries. Julius Randle was projected to go in the top three before his freshman year in college, and Embiid was supposed to go 1^st overall before he suffered a foot injury just before the draft. Both of these guys are on rebuilding teams and would have seen a lot of playing time. Either one of these guys could have been the “breakout” rookie to begin the year, especially with Julius Randle having the most NBA ready body out of all of the players selected in the first ten picks of the draft. These players are a big chunk of the 2014 draft class and labeling this draft class as a bust without even seeing these two play is unfair.

The first ten picks of the draft consist of six 19 year olds, three 20 years olds, and one 21 year old. I cannot stress this enough as a majority of these players were picked based off of potential. Two years ago half of these guys were graduating from high school! Yes, a lot of the 2014 draft class doesn’t appear quite ready for “prime time”, but lets give them a chance. Time will tell if these players turn their potential into star talent.