After watching these three play, 2004 is what I have been thinking of as a comparison for a while. Still need a couple years to evaluate, but these three have come out blazing just like their 2004 counterparts. They certainly have the potential to meet those three overall, but we will see.
In the short term, the 2015 draft looks like Ainge's best overall draft since 2004. Getting three guys who look good is a pretty big deal, but we have to see if they can keep it up.
No way these three end up and good as 2004. Mickey and Rozier still need to show they are actual NBA players. Hunter on the other hand I think will stick around. And none of them have star potential like Jefferson did (even though he never actually became a start).
And as was already said, Jefferson and West helped land KG and Allen.
I wouldn't be too dismissive of it. I loved those three players, and they ended up being big in our championship run (trades or playing, Tony Allen). The issue is all three of those players had major flaws, and they were well documented before the draft. The 3 players we got in 2015 have more well rounded skill sets than the 3 from 2004 coming out of high school/college.
Everyone knew Jefferson struggled on defense, and there were question marks about whether he would ever develop on that end of the floor. Everyone knew about Allen's erratic handle and broken shot mechanics. Delonte West was probably considered the most "well rounded" player of the three, but there were a lot of questions about his strength/frailness. It was also well known that he had no right hand whatsoever coming out of college.
The 3 in 2015, though? Their flaws were much less known/big than the 3 from 2004.
Rozier's largest flaw is that people had questions about his shot consistency but even then, no one thought his shot was broken like Allen's. There were questions about whether he would be able to work in a team structure also considering how much he "hogged" the ball at Louisville, but that may have been more the system than the player.
Rozier is athletic, has long arms, can score in isolation situations, and can play defense.
Mickey is fantastic rolling to the rim, can play defense, and has a potential jumpshot to work with. As far as I can tell, he doesn't have much of a low-post game to work with, but he has shown ability to play on both ends of the floor. Also very, very athletic as we all know by now.
Hunter's biggest question mark was his strength and ability to defend, but thus far, he has shown a lot of people that it may not be as large an issue as once thought. He's adapted defensively pretty fast and surprisingly, even for pre-season. Offensively, he can shoot and handle the ball in pick and roll situations.
All 3 have potential to be solid two-way players. None of them may turn into as good a defender as Allen or as amazing a post player as Jefferson, but all three have more overall
two-way potential.
It's been a long time since we've drafted players in the teens and beyond who have shown
both athleticism and skill (Mickey + Rozier). It's kinda exciting.
Topic: C's 2015 draft vs 2004 draft (Read 1492 times)