I find this phenomenon interesting too. I think the way we talk about/hype a player has to do with where a player is selected and the expectations that follow from that position. Like you pointed out, usually the only players facing expectations are the ones drafted 1-15. I'd say that's largely still the case. Because of this, the focus on players 1-15 isn't so much what they can do, as it is on what their weaknesses are. It's expected that they will be able to play the game, and drafting becomes more of creating hypothetical as to why they might not live up to their potential and be a bust. Thus, you hear a lot more about Bender's physical limitations, Brown's below average basketball IQ, Simmons' poor shooting, and Murray's lack of defense+effort than you do about their positives. At this high in the draft, the positives are almost taken for granted--they wouldn't even be in this kind of conversation if they were not considered exceptional or full of potential, thus rendering moot a discussion of how fantastic they are.
On the other hand, late first rounders and second rounders are not expected to ever amount to much (with the exception of James Young). Because of this, people tend to hype up/focus on the possible positives of these players. We hear a lot about Korkmaz's silky smooth shooting and both Qi and Maker's tremendous physical upside, and not a lot about their flaws--they are expected to be flawed, if they weren't flawed, they wouldn't be second round picks.
This tint to the conversation skews the way we as fans regard our picks. While the 3rd pick is undeniably better (and should be more exciting) than the 16th pick, picking 3rd in a "two player draft" feels like a let -down, but picking 16th when there are arguably 10 guys who can fall anywhere from 6 to 16 feels like a tremendous opportunity. Picking Bender 3rd would be par for the course, but picking up Sabonis, Korkmaz, Chriss, or Ellenson with the 16th would feel tremendously lucky. Bender would still probably be a better/more exciting pick in a vacuum, but that matters less than the idea that we "stole" someone with our later pick.
My understanding of this draft is that it's a deep draft after the first 2 players. Simmons and Ingram are a step or two above the rest, (with Bender arguably only one step behind) and then everyone else from 3-17 are kind of on similar footing. I've seen Sabonis going as high as 5 and as low as 19. I've seen Korkmaz going 8th and not being drafted in the first round.
Topic: Is this draft over-hyped or is it legit? (Read 10348 times)