Thoughts on the first round:
Overall a very good draft for me lol, three players in the top 10 of my draft board have slid to the second round. Anyways on to the picks.
1. The correct pick imo. I feel that people don’t truly appreciate Jordan’s statistical profile during his peak: he combined top of the line scoring volume with elite efficiency and good shot selection as well as great distribution. His defense was strong as well, giving him the highest peak for any NBA player imo.
2. Good pick. LeBron actually wasn’t 2nd on my draft board but he was virtually tied with that player in my mind when it came to peak seasons in these drafts, with an unmatched floor raising skillset plus elite shooting in his 2013 season. Only concern is his ball dominance and inability to coexist with superstar big men.
3. Good pick. I underrated Jabbar in my draft board by 2 to 3 slots-his offensive efficiency was transcendent and he was only a rung below the true shutdown artists in NBA history on defense. Only concern would be which season would he be selected by-some of his best statistical seasons were not his peak “lift” season due to stats being inflated by expansion.
4. Slight reach. Bird has a top 5 offensive peak but it didn’t match with his best defensive seasons in 80-84. Not sure if all time offense and above average defense (not elite or great) equals top 4.
5. Reach-Wilt’s floor raising (even in his peak 67 season) isn’t good enough to justify picking him at #5 with his lack of scalability imo.
6. Reach. Magic’s offense was incredible-he led one of the greatest offensive dynasties (even better than Bird’s Celtics) if not the greatest in his prime. However, his ball dominance and only average defense doesn’t endear me to the idea of picking him at #6.
7. Steal of the first round. Shaq was the pick I wish Who made after reading his reasoning (no offense), his 2000 season was almost the complete package for a big man-high usage scorer with unparalleled efficiency for his volume who could also scale on good teams due to his passing and ability to finish off of great passes from good offensive teammates. His defense that season was great too as it was near peak Kareem’s level.
8. Um reach to say it politely. Kawhi’s a bit of a black hole on offense, he’s at best an average passer who can’t punish double teams effectively, which puts a cap on his good isolation offense. Don’t think his elite defense helps make up for it-the best players in my draft board for the first round are either great two way guys who can also create for their teammates at a high level, or are so utterly dominant on one side of the court that their deficiencies on the other end of the court are covered up.
9. Hakeem Olajuwon. Great pick, he slid a couple of slots compared to my draft board. One of the best floor raisers due to his inelastic offense, but requires a very specific team build to unlock it. Defensively elite, belongs in the “shutdown artist” category by virtue of him anchoring great defences despite of his mediocre teammates.
10. The other steal of the first round. Bill Russell was defensive royalty unmatched by any defensive specialist in history-look at how he vaporised the Hall of Fame centers of his era in head to head matchups:
He was also the greatest team defender as well, leading team defenses that are still the best in league history after 50 plus years in terms of relative defensive rating, despite the false narrative that he was carried by offensive stars. He had a mind unlike any other center in NBA history-he was an advanced analytics savant during the Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson presidencies, as seen by him correctly deducing that his Celtics would massively benefit if Wilt scored a lot against them but was forced to eat up a lot of extra possessions by doing so. All in all, a dominant player who had an onslaught of MVP seasons with his defense alone, as well as his finishing and passing being incredibly portable and additive skills to ANY team offense.
11. Reach. Kobe’s peak is a tad overrated, his offensive stats (both traditional and advanced) rank below the all time greats due to his propensity to take tough low efficiency shots. His peak was also limited by his overrated defensive value-people get hung up on his great Frobe defense when it was merely solid in his peak years. Overall a decent pick, but I’m not too high on it.
12. Surpisingly went where I rated him in my draft board. Duncan was the anchor to the best defensive dynasty after the 60s with his rim protection and ability to switch seamlessly in his prime, and had a strong offensive game that can score and create for his teammates. His lack of an elite shooting and passing game may limit him in an all time draft where he may need to take a backseat to someone else on offense though.
Topic: 2019 Historical Draft Thread(TIME TO REVEAL THE WINNER!!!) (Read 280224 times)