Wow. Quite a few opinions and ideas about the draft. Some vehement assertions...daring me to name players better than so-and-so in tones that are tough to gauge in a blog/forum format. Interesting reading all around, though.
Some things I take from this:
I've been convinced now that Danny is above average, but still not quite excellent. I hope future picks bump him up further (all agreed? cool.). I don't think Rondo and Al put him over the top, since there are obvious reasons that ON DRAFT DAY they were not the top-5 picks or whatever. I remember watching the draft, and nobody was screaming "why is nobody picking Rajon Rondo!!!" all the way through it. I think several teams thought about him after 10? We bought the pick from PHX, who obviously had no need for a PG (Nash?). Which is a point not menioned here: sometimes, players drop because of position and fit/needs of certain teams, even though everyone says they'll take the best player available, etc.
The best argument that Danny had wild success, to me, after reading all of this, seems to be one of the least mentioned: Gomes. He is a decent starter, definitely a rotation player on any team, and went LATE in the 2nd round. I underestimated the importance of this pick. It is, by far, the best value pick he made. He could have went 25 picks earlier, and it would still be a success. 30 picks earlier.
BBD was a good pick, but not far out of the 1st round, so not as good value. Maybe time will change that as/if he develops. Powe was a good second round pick, obviously, but the knock was his injury history, which has turned out to be important. Perhaps...perhaps we were lucky that Powe didn't get injured sooner. I think luck may have been a factor there. But Gomes is a standout here, an incredible value.
The other thing that I'm finding is the next best argument that Danny is better than average is the lack of busts late in the first round, though there are some other factors here. TA/Delonte/Perk = no busts. That's harder to do than I gave him credit for. That they each were given both several years to develop (instead of 1-2 like current draftees get) is a factor in their success, and that they got playing time since we stunck so bad then.