Obviously Zion Williamson is worth 10 Anthony Bennett's, but, after Zion, by pick 5 or so, we are at bottom-of-the-first-level talent for most years. I mean, I like Jaxson Hayes but he is a real, project, and he is now thought of as high as pick #5. Nothing against these guys getting paid, but if there was ever a year when the NBA needed a ton of Euros to emerge then this is it.
I don’t think this draft is that bad. There are good high end players at the top and at the bottom or round one and top of round 2, I think there will be a lot of NBA players for 5+ years. The top of the draft has 3-4 marquee players. The end of the first and top of second has a lot of useful players/
Happens with regularity. If your scouts scout and your coaches coach there's an all-star or three in the 2nd round every year.
No draft class can beat James Harden's draft class lol it's like all the talent in that class got condensed in him.
There is no other star in Harden's draft class besides Curry and Blake, only 3 stars in the entire draft that is pretty weak even weaker than the Op's projection for this year's draft class. Blake has already faded away at age 30 and if Curry didnt land in GSW his ankles might have broken by now due to the heavy load he would have to carry on any other team. Sergio Lull? Lulz!
It seems like that is said about the draft every year now, and just think how bad it would be if players stayed in school 2-3 years like they did 20yrs ago.
Here's ESPN's list. New 2019 Lottery Odds (Vs. Previous Odds) PLAYER TEAM POS HT WT 1. Zion Williamson Duke F 6-6 272 2. Ja Morant Murray State G 6-3 170 3. RJ Barrett Duke G 6-7 208 4. Darius Garland Vanderbilt G 6-3 173 5. De'Andre Hunter Virginia F 6-8 222 6. Jarrett Culver Texas Tech G 6-5 190 7. Cam Reddish Duke F 6-9 205 8. Sekou Doumbouya Limoges F 6-9 210 9. Jaxson Hayes Texas C 6-11 220 10. Coby White UNC G 6-5 191 11. Romeo Langford Indiana F 6-6 202 12. Brandon Clarke Gonzaga F/C 6-8 210 13. Bol Bol Oregon C 7-2 222 14. Kevin Porter Jr. USC G 6-6 217 Starting with Hunter at #5, I add 8 full spots to a "normal" draft year's placement (he becomes #13). Well, excepting Porter, a true freak who has no business being ranked behind some of those scrubs.
What does everyone want...30 all star players? Not going to happen. The key is to look past the hyped players at the top and find the gems you can develop.
I just saw a video on youtube about it and when I looked up the players Jamal Crawford is the highest scorer from the entire class. Michael Redd had a higher ppg but his career was cut short by injury