2016 Opening Day Lineup by Draft Position:
3rd Overall
19th Overall
34th Overall
56th Overall
60th Overall
Mean draft position: 34.4
2017 Opening Day Lineup by Draft Position:
1st Overall
3rd Overall
3rd Overall
3rd Overall
9th Overall
Mean draft position: 3.8
I know it’s been talked about before, but, even as I don’t like all the summer’s moves, I find it really impressive that the starting lineup essentially improved from being a 2nd round pick, on average, to a top 3 pick. Draft position isn’t all that matters, but there is a reason that some basketball projection systems include it as a variable.
Also:
2016 starting lineup average age: 28 years old
2017 starting lineup average age: 25 years old
I think youth is ultimately going to be what limits this team this year, but the combination of draft pedigree improvement and significantly younger in age helps demonstrate the team’s ceiling, and why most of us (myself included despite some misgivings) are so excited.