Interesting

[TheFuture]

This is Chad Ford's insider info on the top prospects of the last 15 years...

Note that this ranking has nothing to do with how a player has -- or has not -- performed in the NBA. Rather, it's solely based on each prospect's perceived potential coming into the draft.

Here are the top 25 prospects from the past 15 years to enter the NBA draft.

1. LeBron James (2003)
2. Greg Oden (2007)
3. Yao Ming (2002)
4. Kevin Durant (2007)
5. Anthony Davis (2012)
6. Darko Milicic (2003)
7. Carmelo Anthony (2003)
8. Jay Williams (2002)
9. Joel Embiid (2014)
10. Andrew Wiggins (2014)
11. Derrick Rose (2008)
12. Jabari Parker (2014)
13. Blake Griffin (2009)
14. Ricky Rubio (2009)
15. Chris Paul (2005)
16. John Wall (2010)
17. Michael Beasley (2008)
18. Dwight Howard (2004)
19. O.J. Mayo (2008)
20. Marvin Williams (2004)
21. Adam Morrison (2006)
22. Nikoloz Tskitishvili (2002)
23. Kwame Brown (2001)
24. Shaun Livingston (2004)
25. Emeka Okafor (2004)

I remember most of these players being touted as very good prospects. I am mostly surprised by how high he has the 3 players from this years draft listed. Just something to gain more hits for Ford, or do you agree that those 3 prospects had that much hype this year? Beasley after Parker and Rose after Wiggins? IDK about all that. Embiid definitely had tons of hype with comparisons to Hakeem, but the other two?? It's also nice to see Rubio up there, hopefully he lives up to that slot above Paul!

P.S. Poor Darko and Detroit! :lol:

[AbeVigodaLive]

I need to know more about this list.

In no way were Blake Griffin and Ricky Rubio basically interchangeable in the 2009 draft. Now, Rubio had a lot of hype surrounding him... but that wasn't necessarily for his potential as a franchise savior.

[alexftbl8181 [enjin:6648741]]

I need to know more about this list.

In no way were Blake Griffin and Ricky Rubio basically interchangeable in the 2009 draft. Now, Rubio had a lot of hype surrounding him... but that wasn't necessarily for his potential as a franchise savior.

If I remember correctly, the biggest thing that dropped Rubio was that he wasn't able to come over for two years because of his deal.

He was super hyped because he was playing pro ball in Europe in his teens and doing pretty well against NBA players

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I agree with Abe that it would be good to know a little more about the criteria in assembling this list. And the presence of busts on the list (Hello Darko) shows that reputation at the time of draft is not a guarantee of success.

But having said that, there are a lot of excellent players on the list, and even some sure Hall of Famers, and it's exciting to know that the #10 guy on this list is likely coming our way. Love put a gun to Flip's head in making it clear he didn't want to be here, and generally that doesn't bode well for the team that is being held up. But Flip (with some help from LeBron) is poised to get the 10th highest rated prospect of the past 15 years plus other assets, and perhaps even clear out some unneeded players in the process.

This just doesn't happen when a team is forced to trade a superstar, and for once, the Wolves appear to be on the right side of good fortune on this deal.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I need to know more about this list.

In no way were Blake Griffin and Ricky Rubio basically interchangeable in the 2009 draft. Now, Rubio had a lot of hype surrounding him... but that wasn't necessarily for his potential as a franchise savior.

Abe, As you know, DraftExpress will start its mock draft 2 years out. When they first started the mock for what was going to be the 2009 class, Rubio was #1 and I believe it stayed that way for quite a while. As the 2009 draft drew closer and the college season had played out, he slipped a bit for the reason Alex mentions above.

I remember a number of us believing that Ricky Rubio really could be a franchise-changer when we drafted him. But his shooting/finishing never really improved that much in the subsequent years playing with Barcelona and that same issue of course has translated to the NBA. But back when he was 17 and 18 yrs old, the sky was the limit for him because it was clear he had preternatural instincts that simply couldn't be taught.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I'm not worried about Wiggins turning into Adam Morrison, but I do worry about him becoming Marvin Williams, which is just sort of a meh player. Harrison Barnes is another very highly touted prospect - in fact, I'm surprised he didn't make the list above - that has just been sort of OK-ish. These guys aren't busts in the worst sense of the word, but they certainly never reached the potential originally projected.

[Phenom]

Chad Ford was the one driving the Tskitishvili hype train back then. This is a interesting list though. It's easy to forget how hyped some of those guys were.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

http://www.nba.com/news/features/john_schuhmann/2014-15-nba-rookie-survey/index.html?cid=nba_12_twitter_L

Who will be the 2014-15 Rookie of the Year?

1: Jabari Parker, Milwaukee -- 52.8 percent

T-2: Doug McDermott, Chicago -- 8.3 percent
Andrew Wiggins, Cleveland -- 8.3 percent

T-4: Shabazz Napier, Miami -- 5.6 percent
Nerlens Noel, Philadelphia -- 5.6 percent
Elfrid Payton, Orlando -- 5.6 percent

Which rookie will have the best career?

1: Jabari Parker, Milwaukee -- 45.9 percent

2: Doug McDermott, Chicago -- 13.5 percent

3: T.J. Warren, Phoenix -- 8.1 percent

T-4: Zach LaVine, Minnesota -- 5.4 percent
Andrew Wiggins, Cleveland -- 5.4 percent

Which rookie is being most overlooked?

1: Kyle Anderson, San Antonio -- 11.1 percent

T-2: Mitch McGary, Oklahoma City -- 8.3 percent
Glen Robinson III, Minnesota -- 8.3 percent
C.J. Wilcox, L.A. Clippers -- 8.3 percent

T-5: Gary Harris, Denver -- 5.6 percent
K.J. McDaniels, Philadelphia -- 5.6 percent
Doug McDermott, Chicago -- 5.6 percent
Andrew Wiggins, Cleveland -- 5.6 percent
James Young, Boston -- 5.6 percent

Which rookie is the most athletic?

1: Zach LaVine, Minnesota -- 56.6 percent
2: Andrew Wiggins, Cleveland -- 30.3 percent
3: Aaron Gordon, Orlando -- 10.5 percent
4: Cleanthony Early, New York -- 2.6 percent


Most surprising was the question: Which rookie is the best defender? Very little love shown for Andrew Wiggins there. Really surprised me. Seems like we're in good shape from this years draft, though. I'm happy about LaVine, Wiggins and Robinson for the future.

[Crazysauce]

Do you think wiggins chose lebron as his favorite player in the nba?

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Thanks for posting the rookie survey, cam...pretty interesting stuff. One question...did Shabazz get to vote, seeing as he is there again this year :) ?

I agree that it's surprising neither Wiggins nor LaVine received any votes for best defensive player, given Wiggins' reputation in this area and Zach's remarkable on-the-ball defensive stats last year. It's really exciting that we have two of the top five picks for best career in this highly regarded draft...kudos to Flip! It's also kind of interesting that Wiggins got votes for "most overlooked", considering he was drafted first!

I'm a little down that none of our guys received any votes for "funniest"...doesn't bode well for post-game interviews. :(

Finally, 15 current players received votes for "favorite player", including Lamar Odom...but alas, none for our soon to be departed superstar.