Revisiting the 2016 Draft

[keevsnick]

So there are 8 guys from the  2016 NBA draft playing at a pretty high level right now, guys who I think its at least conceivable could make an all star game in their career.

Ben Simmons (1) 14.4/6.7/8.1 on 59% TS
Brandon Ingram (2)  25/7/3.7 on 60% TS
Jaylen Brown (3) 20/7/2.3 on 60% TS
Buddy Heild (6) 21.5/5/3 on 56% TS
Jamaal Murray (7) 17.4/4.4/4.4 on 53% TS
Damontas Sabonis (11) 18/13.3/3.8 on 57% TS
Pascal Siakam (27)  25.1/8/3.6 on 55.5% TS
Malcolm Broggdon (36)  18.9/4.5/7.6 on 58% TS

Then you have Caris Levert (20) and Dejounte Murray (29) as starter level guys currenty dealing with injuries. Thats at least 10 starter level players.

And a bunch of guys in rotations like Ivica Zubac (32), Malik Beasley (19), Taurean Prince (12), Jakob Poetl (9), Furkan Korkmaz (26), Kris Dunn (5), Abdel Nader (58) and probbaly others I'm probably forgetting.
 
Not bad for a draft that has beeen much maligned the last three years. And just to get in one Ben Simmons barb I think you could make the argument that in a payoff series he's the 8th most valuable offensive player (certaintly in the half court) from this draft.

I guess the takeaway is..... it takes a couple years before you can really judge a draft. 2016 was considered somewhat weak with only 1 or 2 (depending on Ingram) real top notch talents. Now its not clear Ben Simmons would go top 3 and a bunch of guys have bright futures.

I wonder where Jaylen would go on a redraft. Ingram has been better offensively but that team isn't winning and his defense has really slipped. I like Jaylens two way play more than Murray, Heild.  Ben Simmons can't score in the half court like at all. Brogdon Siakam and Heild are all 2.5-4 years older. I'd take the wing over the big in Sabonis (tho that guy is growing on me). Hard to say, but he's been well worth the pick even in what is turning out to be a good draft.

[NKY fan]

As it stands now Siakam is clear number 1
Then probably Brogdon
Then it’s a split between Jaylen , Simmons and Murray

[nickagneta]

No transcendental players that could be once in a generation, but in what was thought ahead of time to be a bad draft, there are a lot of future All-Stars and some future All-NBA players in this draft.

I think Danny made the right pick at #3.

[Sophomore]

Frequently people tell you a draft is strong or weak. Except for a few huge talents like LeBron and Shaq, everybody is guessing - especially about 19 year olds.

[Emmette Bryant]

I remember Jaylen Brown being booed when the pick was announced.

[footey]

Was a good draft. Jury still out who the best of that lot will be. May take another 2-3 years to Declare who is best. Very pleased with our pick of Jaylen. The other two first rounders not so much.

[Sophomore]

I remember Jaylen Brown being booed when the pick was announced.

Some people hated the pick a long time after that.

[jambr380]

I remember Jaylen Brown being booed when the pick was announced.

The vast majority of people who booed the pick were those who wanted it traded for Jimmy Butler. When we actually made the selection, Kris Dunn was still the 'expected' pick since that is who CHI reportedly wanted.

I was not one who 'booed' Brown; I thought he was a decent choice if we were going to actually keep the pick, but I'm not going to lie and say that I didn't prefer Butler at the time. I quickly came to love Brown and he has been everything we could have hoped for. I am happy to see he is continuing to make impressive progress.

[bopna]

As it stands now Siakam is clear number 1
Then probably Brogdon
Then it’s a split between Jaylen , Simmons and Murray

I agree... Siakam has definitely separated himself from the pack.

Thing is these players still are going to improve and their rankings might differ again in 2 yrs time specially if Simmons develops a shot and Jaylen becomes a regular 25 to 30ppg scorer.

[Neurotic Guy]

As it stands now Siakam is clear number 1
Then probably Brogdon
Then it’s a split between Jaylen , Simmons and Murray

I agree... Siakam has definitely separated himself from the pack.

Thing is these players still are going to improve and their rankings might differ again in 2 yrs time specially if Simmons develops a shot and Jaylen becomes a regular 25 to 30ppg scorer.

Siakam is terrific but it has to be considered that he is 2-3 years older and Brogdon is 4-5 years older than the others.  I would be a GM disaster, but playing this low stakes game here, I'd probably pick Brogdon behind Jaylen, Murray and Simmons today.  Siakam probably is #1.

[footey]

As it stands now Siakam is clear number 1
Then probably Brogdon
Then it’s a split between Jaylen , Simmons and Murray

I agree... Siakam has definitely separated himself from the pack.

Thing is these players still are going to improve and their rankings might differ again in 2 yrs time specially if Simmons develops a shot and Jaylen becomes a regular 25 to 30ppg scorer.

Siakam is terrific but it has to be considered that he is 2-3 years older and Brogdon is 4-5 years older than the others.  I would be a GM disaster, but playing this low stakes game here, I'd probably pick Brogdon behind Jaylen, Murray and Simmons today.  Siakam probably is #1.

I was about to post this very thing so TP. Brogdon is 27!!  Siakam is 25. JB is only 23. Actually Ingram is really improved and also very young. We won’t know for another 3 years who the best guy is.

[MJohnnyboy]

I remember it being a total crapshoot in the 3-8 range. It's hilarious that Phoenix wound up with the two complete duds in that group. They also traded Bogdan Bogdanovic to get one of them.

Oh, and Brown was definitely the right man at #3. Great find by Danny.

[RPGenerate]

Imagine if Danny listened to all the armchair GMs and picked Dunn or Bender? What a disaster that would have been. It wasn't on this site, but I championed the hell out of the Jaylen. I'm glad I was right on a draft pick (for once lol).

[RockinRyA]

Imagine if Danny listened to all the armchair GMs and picked Dunn or Bender? What a disaster that would have been. It wasn't on this site, but I championed the hell out of the Jaylen. I'm glad I was right on a draft pick (for once lol).

I wanted Dunn then and I was wrong. Once we picked Brown I had some doubts because scouts said he was an athlete not a basketball player. I wasn't gonna trash the pick though because he hasn't played a game yet and I really dont know much about that draft.

I think the only first round picks I was really against was Fab Melo (wanted Ezeli)and Kelly (although I do think Kelly was an ok pick, I really felt Giannis was a good gamble)

[Emmette Bryant]

Speaking of the 2016 NBA draft, Danny traded the 31st (Deyonta Davis) and 35th (Rade Zagorac) picks to old friend Chris Wallace in Memphis. In return, the Celtics acquired a future#1 pick of the LA Clippers.

That pick (#20) was traded to Philly in the Matisse Thybulle trade. In return, the Celtics got the #24
and #33 pick. #24 was traded to Phoenix in the Aaron Baynes trade.  Carsen Edwards was drafted with #33. The Celtics acquired the Buck's #1 pick in 2020 for Baynes and #24.

I think I got that right. 

So the 2016 draft isn't quite finished yet.