Minnesota Sports Forum

Remember a couple years back when everyone said last years draft class was going to be the best in xxxx number of years? I know it is VERY early....but this class looks as bad as other recent classes that were said to stink. Wiggins is going to win ROY by default, as the only guys that could potentially have beaten him out (Parker and Embiid) are obviously not playing. The rest (Gordon, Exum, Smart, Stauskas, Vonlah, etc, etc, etc,) have been absolutely BRUTAL! Personally, I expected more from this group.

I still like the class long term. I would love to trade AB or Payne for Vonlah. Heck have them both.

I think expectations for rookies in general has become way higher than they should be. This isn't football where guys have 3 years college experience and development time. Hockey and baseball players also have multiple buffer leagues before they get to the big leagues that are used quite frequently. It's hard to make someone significantly better in 1 year of college let alone have them take another step up immediately when they get to the pros. That's why it is normally a 2-3 year adjustment. Rookies aren't good almost all the time. I think it is time to dial back the expectations to levels that are closer to what rookies actually produce.

6 of the top 11 picks have missed at least 10 games due to injury, with 3 of the top 7 (Parker, Embiid, and Randle) missing at least half of the season or more with SERIOUS injuries. Literally impossible to use the word "BRUTAL" right now with such a small sample size.

And last year's draft class is starting to prove those Chad Ford-type analysts wrong, also. Oladipo has steadily improved, Greek Freak would probably go #1 in a redraft, and Gobert currently anchors the #1 defense in the league in Utah.

#Patience

That 2013 draft was actually loaded with big man talent. Dieng - Gobert - Steven Adams - Mason Plumlee - Len - Noel - Cody Zeller (not so great so far) - and Olynk.

I mean damn these guys are actually producing solid minutes for their teams and at least 4 have starter capabilities.

zigzag22 wrote:6 of the top 11 picks have missed at least 10 games due to injury, with 3 of the top 7 (Parker, Embiid, and Randle) missing at least half of the season or more with SERIOUS injuries. Literally impossible to use the word "BRUTAL" right now with such a small sample size.

And last year's draft class is starting to prove those Chad Ford-type analysts wrong, also. Oladipo has steadily improved, Greek Freak would probably go #1 in a redraft, and Gobert currently anchors the #1 defense in the league in Utah.

#Patience

This is partially my point. I think most drafts are crapshoots for talent.....but last years draft was projected early on to be the best one in years. As Kahns said, most often the expectations for rookies is overwhelmingly way to high. But when you have a draft class that was talked about for multiple seasons to be the best in a decade....this one, despite the injuries, has been underwhelming to say the least.

Hicks123 wrote:

zigzag22 wrote:6 of the top 11 picks have missed at least 10 games due to injury, with 3 of the top 7 (Parker, Embiid, and Randle) missing at least half of the season or more with SERIOUS injuries. Literally impossible to use the word "BRUTAL" right now with such a small sample size.

And last year's draft class is starting to prove those Chad Ford-type analysts wrong, also. Oladipo has steadily improved, Greek Freak would probably go #1 in a redraft, and Gobert currently anchors the #1 defense in the league in Utah.

#Patience

This is partially my point. I think most drafts are crapshoots for talent.....but last years draft was projected early on to be the best one in years. As Kahns said, most often the expectations for rookies is overwhelmingly way to high. But when you have a draft class that was talked about for multiple seasons to be the best in a decade....this one, despite the injuries, has been underwhelming to say the least.

Embiid was a big part of that hype and a lot of that was before he had 2 injury issues. That fact diminishes that draft class a lot even before the draft even took place because he was/is a terrific talent. I watched some video on DX of Okafor and a lot of Towns. I don't think they compare to Embiid the smooth athletic package he was/is. Not saying those guys aren't or won't be good but Embiid was pretty special in that regard. Parker and Randle being out really sucks for them and their teams but really hurts the draft class a ton. I was really high on Randle I thought had a chance to come in and produce right away. Also a couple guys that people thought would come out didn't and stayed in which lowered the talent level a little.