Evaluating first 4 draft classes
Sept 23, 2024 16:41:23 GMT
A. Silver, vanimmer, and 4 more like this
Post by ucfinfan86 on Sept 23, 2024 16:41:23 GMT
I was talking with Joseph about how the overall talent level in the league feels low right now. Very few teams have “strong” rosters and we were discussing whether it’s because of the lack of talent in the draft classes. So I decided it’d make for a good article to evaluate the first few draft classes and see what kind of talent has come into the league.
2024 NBN Draft
Allstar (order)
PG Isaiah Collier #9
SG DJ Wagner #3
SG Monte Leyva #10
C Aday Mara #28
SF Ron Holland #4
Starter (order)
PG Carlton Carrington #5
PG Nikola Topic #2
C Alexandre Sarr #1
Role Player (no order)
SG Reed Sheppard #41
SG Josiah Jordan-James #31
SF Carson Tarrant #13
SF Baba Miller #18
C Zach Edey #29
C Ryan Kalkbrenner #33
PG Caleb Love #39
Bust (no order – lotto only)
PF Izan Almansa #6
SF Dillon Mitchell #7
SF Justin Edwards #8
PF Tidjane Salaun #12
The inaugural rookie draft turned out to be an average draft class. There are around 8 players who turned into starter or better worthy players. The biggest thing for this draft is that there’s been a lot of role players found later in the draft. That could be because they’ve had more time to develop than future classes though. This class had one of the higher lottery bust rates with 4 players. 2 of them were foreign PFs who just never seem to work out in any version of NBN. Collier at one point was considered one of the best players in the league, but has settled into a tier 2 PG. Wagner and Levya are 2 extremely different SGs, but both within the top 5 of their positions. Maya is one of the biggest draft steals in any draft thus far. Holland had a slow start to his career, but has turned into a very good SF. A borderline all-star player who did make the team once. Carrington, Topic and Sarr are all players who are starter worthy, but most have disappointed based on their top 5 draft slots.
2025 NBN Draft
Allstar (order)
PF Cooper Flagg #1
SG Judah Mintz #33
SF Dame Sarr #6
PG Egor Demin #20
Starter (order)
SF Matas Buzelis #2
C Khaman Maluach #3
PG Trey Alexander #7
C Felix Okpara #14
PG Tahaad Pettiford #15
Role Player (no order)
PG Bronny James #5
C Ismaila Diagne #9
PF Derron Reid #10
SG Stephon Castle #13
PF Kyle Filipowski #17
PG Tyrese Proctor #23
SG Kanaan Carlyle #51
Bust (no order – lotto only)
SG Dink Pate #4
PG Elliott Cadeau #8
C Ulrich Chomche #11
SF Andrej Stojakovic #12
The 2025 draft featured the first elite draft prospect in Cooper Flagg who has lived up to the hype. He is one of the best players in the league. Mintz is up there with Mara as the best draft steal of all time. Sarr is one of the best pure scorers in the league and a top 5 SF. Egor is a bit of a late bloomer but is one of the best young PGs in the league. Looking at that list again you have the 1, 6, 20, and 33rd pick as the top 4. The next 5 “starters” are all top 15 picks. Pate is the biggest bust in this draft. He could probably squeeze in as a role player, but as the #4 pick he has been a huge disappointment. Same for Cadeau. He was part of the 5 PGs tied together with a draft note. He is better than Proctor, but was drafted much higher. Overall this was a mehh draft class that is carried by an elite prospect.
2026 NBN Draft
Allstar (order)
PG Xavian Lee #20
Starter (order)
SF Cody Williams #4
C Rocco Zikarsky #9
PF DJ Burns #19
SG Ja’Kobe Walter #2
C Aiden Sherrell #20
PF Caleb Boozer #1
PF Koa Peat #12
PG Caleb Foster #31
Role (no order)
C Xavier Booker #6
SG Dash Daniels #7
SF Zaccharie Risacher #8
SF Kiyan Anthony #10
SF Jalan Haralson #14
PF Bryson Tiller #15
SF Vrenz Bleijenbergh #17
PF Carter Bryant #24
C Patrick Ngongba #25
Bust (no order – lotto only)
PF Caleb Wilson #3
PG Labaron Philon #5
SF Ace Bailey #11
SF Karter Knox #13
This is a deeper class, but lacks star power at the top. These players are only in their 5th year so there is still time for some of them to climb up a tier to 2. The Magic absolutely crushed this draft selecting my #1, #2 and #4 rated players in the class despite having the 4, 19, and 20th picks. Lee isn’t the pure PG so will never win awards, but he is a certified bucket getter. The next 4-5 guys are all very similar and hard to rank. They all recently got paid handsomely in FA. Boozer could be considered a draft bust, but he is still a solid player despite not living up to #1 pick expectations. There’s a decent amount of role players in this draft and some of them could be considered borderline starters. If Booker was in a different situation, I bet he would start. Daniels/Risacher/Kiyan/Haralson have all been starters are times in their young careers, but not necessarily would be one on a good team. Caleb Wilson was the biggest draft bust, but he also was part of mattfaria’s run and didn’t receive proper camping.
2027 NBN Draft
Allstar (order)
PG Jaren McCain #4
SF Aj Dybansta #1
Starter (order)
SF Tahj Ariza #2
SG Dylan Harper #5
C Keiner Aspriilla #8
PF DaRon Holmes #9
SF Dwyane Aristode #11
SG Alijah Arenas #7
SF Mackenzie Mgbako #20
Role (no order)
SF Alex Toohey #10
SG Hugo Gonzalez #12
PG Jason Crowe #13
PF Caleb Gaskins #14
C Xavion Stanton #15
PG Marcus Johnson #19
SF Jacob Wilkins #21
PG Aaron Rowe #24
Bust (no order – lotto only)
PG Cayden Boozer #3
SG Jaxon Richardson #6
It’s probably to early to evaluate this draft class, but I wanted to put some more data in this article. It’s a toss up whose better IMO between McCain and AJ. AJ probably has a better chance to be a top 5 player at his position since PG is loaded at the top, but both are franchise building blocks. Ariza/Harper have a chance to be a future allstar. Asprilla took a jump this offseason and is off to a nice start. This is just Aristode’s first season playing after being overseas for 3 years so who knows where he will end up slotting in. The biggest takeway so far is that no one outside the lotto expect for Mgbako looks like a future starter YET. Boozer and Jaxon both look like busts at this point, but Boozer has a chance to be a decent role player
What do we think of the draft classes so far?
2024 NBN Draft
Allstar (order)
PG Isaiah Collier #9
SG DJ Wagner #3
SG Monte Leyva #10
C Aday Mara #28
SF Ron Holland #4
Starter (order)
PG Carlton Carrington #5
PG Nikola Topic #2
C Alexandre Sarr #1
Role Player (no order)
SG Reed Sheppard #41
SG Josiah Jordan-James #31
SF Carson Tarrant #13
SF Baba Miller #18
C Zach Edey #29
C Ryan Kalkbrenner #33
PG Caleb Love #39
Bust (no order – lotto only)
PF Izan Almansa #6
SF Dillon Mitchell #7
SF Justin Edwards #8
PF Tidjane Salaun #12
The inaugural rookie draft turned out to be an average draft class. There are around 8 players who turned into starter or better worthy players. The biggest thing for this draft is that there’s been a lot of role players found later in the draft. That could be because they’ve had more time to develop than future classes though. This class had one of the higher lottery bust rates with 4 players. 2 of them were foreign PFs who just never seem to work out in any version of NBN. Collier at one point was considered one of the best players in the league, but has settled into a tier 2 PG. Wagner and Levya are 2 extremely different SGs, but both within the top 5 of their positions. Maya is one of the biggest draft steals in any draft thus far. Holland had a slow start to his career, but has turned into a very good SF. A borderline all-star player who did make the team once. Carrington, Topic and Sarr are all players who are starter worthy, but most have disappointed based on their top 5 draft slots.
2025 NBN Draft
Allstar (order)
PF Cooper Flagg #1
SG Judah Mintz #33
SF Dame Sarr #6
PG Egor Demin #20
Starter (order)
SF Matas Buzelis #2
C Khaman Maluach #3
PG Trey Alexander #7
C Felix Okpara #14
PG Tahaad Pettiford #15
Role Player (no order)
PG Bronny James #5
C Ismaila Diagne #9
PF Derron Reid #10
SG Stephon Castle #13
PF Kyle Filipowski #17
PG Tyrese Proctor #23
SG Kanaan Carlyle #51
Bust (no order – lotto only)
SG Dink Pate #4
PG Elliott Cadeau #8
C Ulrich Chomche #11
SF Andrej Stojakovic #12
The 2025 draft featured the first elite draft prospect in Cooper Flagg who has lived up to the hype. He is one of the best players in the league. Mintz is up there with Mara as the best draft steal of all time. Sarr is one of the best pure scorers in the league and a top 5 SF. Egor is a bit of a late bloomer but is one of the best young PGs in the league. Looking at that list again you have the 1, 6, 20, and 33rd pick as the top 4. The next 5 “starters” are all top 15 picks. Pate is the biggest bust in this draft. He could probably squeeze in as a role player, but as the #4 pick he has been a huge disappointment. Same for Cadeau. He was part of the 5 PGs tied together with a draft note. He is better than Proctor, but was drafted much higher. Overall this was a mehh draft class that is carried by an elite prospect.
2026 NBN Draft
Allstar (order)
PG Xavian Lee #20
Starter (order)
SF Cody Williams #4
C Rocco Zikarsky #9
PF DJ Burns #19
SG Ja’Kobe Walter #2
C Aiden Sherrell #20
PF Caleb Boozer #1
PF Koa Peat #12
PG Caleb Foster #31
Role (no order)
C Xavier Booker #6
SG Dash Daniels #7
SF Zaccharie Risacher #8
SF Kiyan Anthony #10
SF Jalan Haralson #14
PF Bryson Tiller #15
SF Vrenz Bleijenbergh #17
PF Carter Bryant #24
C Patrick Ngongba #25
Bust (no order – lotto only)
PF Caleb Wilson #3
PG Labaron Philon #5
SF Ace Bailey #11
SF Karter Knox #13
This is a deeper class, but lacks star power at the top. These players are only in their 5th year so there is still time for some of them to climb up a tier to 2. The Magic absolutely crushed this draft selecting my #1, #2 and #4 rated players in the class despite having the 4, 19, and 20th picks. Lee isn’t the pure PG so will never win awards, but he is a certified bucket getter. The next 4-5 guys are all very similar and hard to rank. They all recently got paid handsomely in FA. Boozer could be considered a draft bust, but he is still a solid player despite not living up to #1 pick expectations. There’s a decent amount of role players in this draft and some of them could be considered borderline starters. If Booker was in a different situation, I bet he would start. Daniels/Risacher/Kiyan/Haralson have all been starters are times in their young careers, but not necessarily would be one on a good team. Caleb Wilson was the biggest draft bust, but he also was part of mattfaria’s run and didn’t receive proper camping.
2027 NBN Draft
Allstar (order)
PG Jaren McCain #4
SF Aj Dybansta #1
Starter (order)
SF Tahj Ariza #2
SG Dylan Harper #5
C Keiner Aspriilla #8
PF DaRon Holmes #9
SF Dwyane Aristode #11
SG Alijah Arenas #7
SF Mackenzie Mgbako #20
Role (no order)
SF Alex Toohey #10
SG Hugo Gonzalez #12
PG Jason Crowe #13
PF Caleb Gaskins #14
C Xavion Stanton #15
PG Marcus Johnson #19
SF Jacob Wilkins #21
PG Aaron Rowe #24
Bust (no order – lotto only)
PG Cayden Boozer #3
SG Jaxon Richardson #6
It’s probably to early to evaluate this draft class, but I wanted to put some more data in this article. It’s a toss up whose better IMO between McCain and AJ. AJ probably has a better chance to be a top 5 player at his position since PG is loaded at the top, but both are franchise building blocks. Ariza/Harper have a chance to be a future allstar. Asprilla took a jump this offseason and is off to a nice start. This is just Aristode’s first season playing after being overseas for 3 years so who knows where he will end up slotting in. The biggest takeway so far is that no one outside the lotto expect for Mgbako looks like a future starter YET. Boozer and Jaxon both look like busts at this point, but Boozer has a chance to be a decent role player
What do we think of the draft classes so far?
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