2013 Draft: 5 of top 6 picks were big men, Kelly Olynyk outplayed them all

[incoherent]

Kelly was taken at #13 and I believe he was the best rookie big man in the league last year.

Kelly's Competition: #1 Anthony Bennet 6-8 PF, #3 Otto Porter 6-9 SF/PF, #4 Cody Zeller 7-0 C/PF, #5 Alex Len 7-1 C, #6 Nerlens Noel 7-0 C (DNP)

Statistically none of these players even come close so I'm not going to bother listing their stats.

KO's only competition for best rookie big man is #22 Mason Plumlee and #12 Steven Adams, and Steven Adams is a clear 3rd in this scenario.


Season MPG/PPG/RPG/
KO: 20.0/ 8.7/ 5.2
MP: 18.2/ 7.2/ 4.2

Post All Star MPG/PPG/RPG
KO: 22.5/ 11.7/ 6.2
MP: 20.0/ 9.1/ 6.1

Final Month MPG/PPG/RPG (both players see their time increase)
KO: 25.8/ 16.6/ 7.3
MP: 24.6/ 11.7/ 6.0

KO and MP are very very close, and while Mason Plumlee shot a ridiculous FG% all season long, most of his attempts are layups and dunks.  KO has shown the ability to become a huge offensive threat from any spot on the court, shooting over 40% from 3 post allstar break and that's the main reason why I give him the edge. He is simply a lot more advanced then Plumlee on offense. But it's still very very close in my opinion. KO was getting passes from undrafted rookies while Plumlee played with much better talent around him to distract the defense, as another thing to consider.

KO's numbers skyrocketed from pre-All-Star break (6.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 42.8 FG%, 28.3 3PT%) to post (11.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 51.1 FG%, 42.6 3PT%

When KO got more playing time he not only produced more, as expected... but he also became vastly more efficient. Post All-Star,the only C/PF in the entire league shooting better from deep then KO was Spencer Hawes. 

Over Boston's final three games of the season, Olynyk averaged 25.7 points on 53.4 percent shooting overall, while adding 9.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists in just 34.7 minutes per game.

Does anyone else here think KO is the best rookie big man from 2014, or am I just looking at this through green tinted glasses?

[MBunge]

Look at the competition.  Last year's draft really was as weak as everyone said.  If KO can produce 3/4ths of what he did at the end of the season while becoming merely a mediocre defender, he might turn out to be the best player overall in the entire draft.

Mike

[Smokeeye123]

...Just don't bring up Defense because Kelly ranked near-last in a lot of those areas. 

[Randy]

I keep saying I don't wanna include Olynyk in a trade for love but people seem to think I'm crazy.

[celticsfan8591]

...Just don't bring up Defense because Kelly ranked near-last in a lot of those areas. 

Agreed.  Also, Noel and Len deserve to play a healthy season before being labeled busts.  Olynyk was also at least 2 years older than all of the guys taken in the top six you mentioned, so he should have entered the league more polished offensively. It's not guaranteed the other guys will catch up of course, but considering Olynyk wasn't even on the NBA's radar at the age most of these guys were last year, it's not fair to write them off.

[danglertx]

...Just don't bring up Defense because Kelly ranked near-last in a lot of those areas. 

Agreed.  Also, Noel and Len deserve to play a healthy season before being labeled busts.  Olynyk was also at least 2 years older than all of the guys taken in the top six you mentioned, so he should have entered the league more polished offensively. It's not guaranteed the other guys will catch up of course, but considering Olynyk wasn't even on the NBA's radar at the age most of these guys were last year, it's not fair to write them off.

I agree with that, but Olynyk was also hampered by some injuries and he still put up those numbers.  I'd like to keep KO and see how he grows.  Sully made a big leap year 1 to year 2, I'd love to see if KO does the same and I'd love to see it for Boston. 

[manl_lui]

remember the outroar we had when we drafted Kelly 

[NorthernLightning]

I keep saying I don't wanna include Olynyk in a trade for love but people seem to think I'm crazy.

I think he and Sully could both average 15 ppg this year, and they both have 19 ppg potential. KO, even higher.

[obnoxiousmime]

These kinds of comparisons are pointless because every draft doesn't have an equal amount of talent. It's like saying "Sullinger is 5th in a re-draft." What does that really mean? How good was the draft? How big of a gap is there between number 4 and 5? Sure, 5 sounds good until you see the other guys in front are clearly in a different tier.

Also, it's way too early to judge some of the younger guys. OK, some are clearly bums, but they're also very young. On the other hand, Olynyk was 22 most of last season, so even though he was a college junior (red shirted one year) he was already the age of some 4-year graduates.

[CelticsFanFromNYC]

Yea KO was a little older then the others when he was drafted. So yes his game should be slightly more polished through experience. But at the same time that is why the C's traded up to get him. For that exact reason.

[incoherent]

These kinds of comparisons are pointless because every draft doesn't have an equal amount of talent. It's like saying "Sullinger is 5th in a re-draft." What does that really mean? How good was the draft?

Going back a few years looking at rookie big men and KO's stats would put him near the top every time

[Chris22]

I don't know why people are so eager to trade KO and Sullinger.

They are good and cheap.

[footey]

I outplayed Noel too.

[footey]

...Just don't bring up Defense because Kelly ranked near-last in a lot of those areas. 

His defense improved over the 2nd half of season, that at least was my observation, though have no facts to back it up. Just looked a lot more comfortable at both ends of the court by the end of season.

[GreenWarrior]

those numbers still don't mean he's going to be the next Dirk. outplaying those players on that list wasn't hard either: Bennett was surprised as everyone else to be the #1 pick, even he knew he was gonna flop. Noel didn't play. zeller didn't get much mins. from what I remember(who I think is going to be pretty good actually).

I personally think Olynyk will be a unique player in this league. i'm not sure that will translate to being an All Star though. I could envision him being a 6th man easily.

if we can turn olynyk to get Love i'm doing it all day though.