2005 NBA DRAFT GRADES

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With the 2006 NBA Draft coming soon here is a look back at what teams did in 2005.

Best Pick, Overall- Chris Paul New Orleans #4
Best Pick, Value - Ryan Gomes Boston Celtics #50
Worst Pick Overall- Fran Vazquez Orlando #11
Worst Pick Value- Deron Williams Utah #3

(1)

B Milwaukee Bucks Andrew Bogut, Utah- Looking back you cant fault Milwaukee for drafting the big Australian, since they needed a big and were set at PG with TJ Ford and Mo Williams. The grade is a B, as there is a lack of talented big men in the league and he should be an All Star in the near future.

(2)

C+ Atlanta Hawks Marvin Williams, North Carolina – Started out very slow out of the gate, wasn’t ready for the speed of the NBA game. The adjustments made after the All Star break really seemed to help his game. Being picked #2 really hurts his grade at this point, considering the serious needs on the Atlanta Hawks roster (starting PG anyone?)

(3)

C Utah Jazz Deron Williams, Illinois – This pick would definitely not be made if the draft was today. How Utah had Deron Williams rated higher than Chris Paul is a mystery. Personally I think Utah liked the way Williams led Illinois in the NCAA’s to the final while Paul and the Deacons were knocked out early. Williams can play in the league no question but the wrong pick was made here.

(4)

A+ New Orleans Hornets Chris Paul, Wake Forest- The best player in the entire draft goes #4! Unanimous Rookie Of The Year and future All Star player for the next 10 years. Great distributor, makes players around him better and is very good defensively. Needs to be mentioned that Paul took a marginal team and almost got them into the playoffs.

(5)

C+ Charlotte Bobcats Raymond Felton, North Carolina- The third PG selected was maybe a pick for the fans of North Carolina. The Bobcats had greater needs and I don’t think that this was the best pick, although he will be a player in the L. Struggled shooting the ball most of the season but came on at the end. Should be a solid player but this was a little high for him.

(6)

C Portland Trail Blazers Martell Webster, Seattle Prep HS- Martell goes to a team with a lot of problems up and down the roster. Not the best place to be but the kid showed he will be a scorer in the league if nothing else. I personally watched him scorch the Celtics for 24 and 8 earlier this season. Has great shooting ability but showed little else, better players were on the board. Next season will be big for his development.

(7)

A+ Toronto Raptors Charlie Villanueva, Connecticut- Congratulate yourself if you saw this one coming. I thought the pick was very high but Charlie showed that he can play consistently like he did at times for UCONN. Could finish second for NBA Rookie Of The Year. Dropped 48 on the Bucks earlier this season. Pick looks real good now. Good passer and rebounder.

(8)

A New York Knicks Channing Frye, Arizona- Wow, Isiah makes a good pick here. Actually he is pretty good with the draft but Frye has outperformed expectations and has positioned himself as the Knicks #1 trade asset for a potential blockbuster trade.(Garnett?, AI?). Strong workouts got him picked this high and he was worth he selection.

(9)

B- Golden State Warriors Ike Diogu, Arizona State- Like the pick here as well as the talent level in this draft really starts to thin out here. Tough garbage man type player who will contribute to the Warriors big time starting next season once Troy Murphy is gone. Didn’t get the minutes that he should’ve.

(10)

Inc LA Lakers Andrew Bynum, St. Joseph (NJ) HS- Not a whole lot to go on here, although he looked good in summer league play. Needs to add serious muscle to his frame, but legit seven footers are hard to pass up.

(11)

F Orlando Magic Fran Vazquez, Spain- Considering he decided to not want to come to the United States to play, this pick was a total disaster. Magic would love to take this one back I am sure. They had too many holes to take this type of risk.

(12)

D LA Clippers Yaroslav Korolev, CSKA Moscow- Stock rose on the days heading into the draft, not sure why at this point. To be fair he is far from a finished product but this was a strange pick for me here. A promise was apparently made here by LAC. He won’t be NBA ready for another two years when his contract expires.

(13)

C- Charlotte Bobcats Sean May, North Carolina-Looked okay during the first quarter of the season before he got hurt. May has always looked slow to me on the court, but has great hands nice touch around the hoop. A very,very poor mans Elton Brand. Another pick I thought was a little high and the North Carolina connection defiantly had something to do with it. Helped sell tickets at the very least.

(14)

B - Minnesota Timberwolves Rashad McCants, North Carolina- Character issues crushed this Tar Heels stock like an ant. As it turns out this is probably where he should’ve been all along. There is no doubt he can score but really there is nothing at all that stands out to me besides that. I think at best he is a good sixth man type.

(15)

C- New Jersey Nets Antoine Wright, Texas A&M- A player here who I thought slipped a little and end result was that he got buried on the Nets roster. Can’t blame them for the pick here as he had the talent coming out of Texas A & M but something went on during the season and he ended up in the dog house. Still like the pick, no production though. Playing behind RJ and Vince will tend to do that.

(16)

B Toronto Raptors Joey Graham, Oklahoma State- Maybe the best athlete in the draft. Should develop into a defensive stopper with decent scoring ability, can rebound as well.

(17)

A- Indiana Pacers Danny Granger, New Mexico-One of the big sliders on draft day. Could end up being one of the steals of the draft. He is NBA ready starting talent, and at pick #17 you don’t get that often.

(18)

A Boston Celtics Gerald Green, Gulf Shores Acad (TX)- You could argue that this wasn’t even the Celtics best pick.Could be the biggest steal of the draft here. Didn’t play at all in the first half of the season and wasn’t expected to play in the second half either. Well he did and he played like he should’ve been a high lottery pick. The defense is not there but from a scoring/athletic standpoint how he lasted this long to me is a mistake. Look at the players that were taken after this kid, this was a gamble worth taking for the Celtics and it could pay off huge for them.

(19)

C+ Memphis Grizzlies Hakim Warrick, Syracuse- The lanky athletic forward from Syracuse probably should have come out earlier, either way he is what he is. A long high flyer who should improve defensively to create matchup problems against opposing forwards. Is not offensively ready for the NBA by any means but can score on putbacks and dunks. A nice midrange jumper would be a nice compliment. Needs muscle.

(20)

D Denver Nuggets Julius Hodge, North Carolina State- Recent gunshot victim spent most of his rookie year playing for the NBDL. The Nuggets roster is deep, I think it wasn’t the best opportunity for him as he showed that he can score in the summer league but against real NBA competition it remains to be seen. There were better players available here than flamingo legs Hodge.

(21)

B Phoenix Suns (to New York)
Nate Robinson, Washington- 2006 Slam Dunk Champ is a shooting guard stuck in a point guards body. Not sure where he fits in but I do know he would have been a perfect pick for Phoenix. In New York he had an up and down year with Larry Brown. Is an instant offense type player, at #21 he was a pretty good pick.

(22)

D Denver Nuggets (to Portland)
Jarrett Jack, Georgia Tech- Overrated PG who shouldn’t have been in the first round period. Showed flashes and ended up playing in just about every game but if your going to be a shoot first PG you need to be able to shoot well, especially from 3 pt. range. Maybe it will come but I am not high on Jack at all.

(23)

C Sacramento Kings Francisco Garcia, Louisville- Big time player coming out of high school and starred for Rick Pitino at the Lou. I like the pick here even though he didn’t show the type of ability I though he would. He is a good 3 pt shooter but didn’t show it this season. Should be a decent bench guy in the league but that’s about it.

(24)

A+ Houston Rockets Luther Head, Illinois- Great value pick here. Head really improved his stock in camps/workouts and proved this season that he is no fluke. Can score as well as playing solid D. Should’ve been drafted about ten picks higher than this.

(25)

B- Seattle SuperSonics Johan Petro, France- Strong pick for Seattle here as Petro is a defensive presence with some offensive upside. There were more polished players available but his late in the draft chances need to be taken. He should continue to improve in the offensive area as well as his shotblocking ability. Once Swift and Petro develop they should make a great defensive combination.

(26)

D Detroit Pistons Jason Maxiell, Cincinnati- Undersized PF who didn’t really have the best chance to play for the deep Pistons. I do not like the pick as I think they had other needs but even if they wanted a PF they picked the wrong one. Ryan Gomes or David Lee should’ve been the pick here.

(27)

C+ Portland Trail Blazers (to Denver)
Linas Kleiza, Missouri- Could be a good pick here. Kleiza needs a lot of work but showed enough flashes of talent in Denver that he could get minutes next season.

(28)

Inc San Antonio Spurs Ian Mahinmi, STB Le Havre (France)- This pick will be considered incomplete as Ian was not ready for the NBA this season.

(29)

C Miami Heat Wayne Simien, Kansas- Another team that would like to have Gomes here instead. Overall, it still was a decent pick here but injury issues still remain.

(30)

A- New York Knicks David Lee, Florida- Excellent pick here for the Knicks. Lee does all of the small things that help a team win. Can score in the post but it is his rebounding that sets him apart. Knicks need to get him more minutes next year.