2020 Draft Grades (Late Season 2020/2021)

[jonathangivony]

With the season progressing it is time for another draft grade special.

Changes:

• Draft day value grade has been dropped
• Added trend
• Second round steals have been added
• Early draft winners / losers

Pick	Selection	Selected By	Notes	Performance	Outlook	Overall Grade	Trend
1	James Wiseman	Hornets	Has a great opportunity to close out the year. Solid but not spectacular thus far. Passing on LaMelo is holding back the pick grade	B	A-	B	-
2	LaMelo Ball	Bucks	Bucks didn't fuck up the layup. LaMelo has potential to be a top 5 guard in this league	A+	A+	A+	^
3	Onyeka Okongwu	Mavs	Couldn't have gotten off to much worse of a start. Not showing much on offense and hasn't been on the court to rack up the defensive/volume stats needed. May need change of scenery with ATL roster construction. Scoring around 1fp/min confirms some upside if/when he gets a role	D+	B+	B-	v
4	Killian Hayes	Rockets	Injury shortened season. Promising outlook still but passing on Edwards looks questionable	D	B	C+	-
5	Obi Toppin	Heat	Hasn't looked great so far and Knicks fans are getting impatient. Should be doing better at his age. Thibs has not utilized him well. Still could turn into an easy 25+ fppg at any moment if thrust into the right role	D	B	C	v
6	Deni Avidja	Jazz	Has answered all the big questions people had about him coming into the draft, just young still and lowish usage. Future looks very bright. Only knock on this pick is passing on Edwards.	B	A	A-	-
7	Anthony Edwards	76ers	76ers didn't fuck up the layup. Scoring well already and he's 19. Remains to be seen if he will become more than a volume scorer in our format but perfect pick regardless	A-	A-	A	^
8	Isaac Okoro	Mavs	Contributes much more in real life than in here. Defense is keeping him on the court but he is a non-factor on offense right now. Need to see more assertiveness. Still young and has an elite trait though. Hurts to see Hali next though which weighs down the grade here.	C+	B	B-	v
9	Tyrese Haliburton	TWolves	Best pick of the draft because he wasn't the obvious choice necessarily and has been fantastic. Looks like a vet. Still not sure how much upside is left since he is so polished. Still, its just a matter of where in the range of 30-45fppg he'll fall which is incredible value at 9	A+	A+	A+	-
10	Cole Anthony	Jazz	Solid production when he was forced into starting role. Need to see more efficiency but arrow pointing slightly up from previous edition	A-	B	B+	^
11	Precious Achiuwa	Pelicans	Role hasn't been consistent. Looks good in limited minutes. Not sure I see a star or even a real life starter here but definitely a solid piece.	C	B	B-	v
12	Patrick Williams	Suns	Flown kinda under the radar after a hot start but been steady. Would like to see him take a jump to close the year out but a really good value pick here.	A-	A-	A	-
13	Devin Vassell	Bucks	Vassell's defense is elite and will keep him on the court going forwards. Has performed well in his minutes thus far and rates well in advanced stats.	B	A-	B+	-
14	Immanual Quickley	Kings	Would like to see more consistency game to game but appears to have solidified himself as the Knicks PG of the future. Needs to work on efficiency with his shot and with the ball (sub 40% shooter, 2.3 AST to TO)	A-	A-	A	^
15	Alecsej Pokusevski	Rockets	Has shown flashes of stardom sandwiched between some pathetic outings. To be expected at his age/experience level. Think he has just about as much star potential as anyone taken from here out though.	C	A-	B+	^
16	Jalen Smith	Knicks	Not looking good thus far in any measure. Pick was a reach in real life and a bad fit in PHX. Still think he could score well in this format but don't love the selection with who was on the board.	D	B-	C	v
17	Tyrese Maxey	Hornets	Had a hot stretch when PHI was all diseased. Hasn't been great or even good when playing since. Think his true talent is in between the extremes we've seen but think it may be until mid next year when we see him with a substantial role. Don't love his game for this format	B-	B	B	-
18	Kira Lewis Jr	Mavs	5:1 AST to TO rate as a 19 yo PG is insane. Lots of steals as well. Game has clearly slowed down a bit for him recently. His short/mid term value comes down to how Pels decide to handle Lonzo but there's a lot of Fox in his game in a good way	B-	A	A-	^
19	Isaiah Stewart	Mavs	Not sure I see a superstar here but his j is clean and falling consistently and he's an animal on the glass. Want to see more touch around the rim next and some post moves. His offense right now is just lobs, putbacks, and pick and pops.	A-	A-	A	^
20	Udoka Azubuike	Jazz	Jazz did really well aside from this pick. Gobert and Favors are on multi-year deals. Too early to call anyone a bust but need a change of scenery and some development here.	F	C	D	-
21	Aaron Nesmith	Warriors	Hasn't shown much despite serious opportunity with how banged up the Celtics have been. Didn't love his fit in this format to begin with	C	C	C	v
22	Saddiq Bey	Magic	Absolute steal in real life and in here. This is what older rookies are supposed to do. Plays a serious role for Detroit and looks good doing it. Next step is to get more involved in secondary stats	A	B+	A	^
23	Malachi Flynn	Pistons	Terrible shooting performance thus far (>30% overall, >20% from 3) but promising distributor (4:1 AST to TO). Needs to show more at his age as a rookie.	C-	C+	C	v
24	RJ Hampton	Cavs	Not much to go off of but looks explosive and has nice size for a guard. Check back in end of season after Magic give him some run.	C	B+	B-	^
25	Josh Green	Wizards	Was supposed to be a 3+D guy but shooting 15% from 3 and 53% from the line. Still 20 but need to see more 3 and more D. Small sample size at least	D+	B-	C+	v
26	Nico Mannion	Grizzlies	Getting some minutes lately and looking good in them. Was nice in the g-league. Very young. All signs pointing up here.	C+	B+	B	^
27	Payton Pritchard	Kings	Solid but not spectacular. Scoring as well as quite a few guys ahead of him but he's also 4+ years older than quite a few of them. There's a logjam of mediocrity at the guard spots in Boston right now that he needs to separate himself from. Should have a role in this league though for as long as he can stay around 40% from 3.	B-	B-	B	-
28	Tyrell Terry	Clippers	Hasn't played in months. Going to take a lot of time here. Still can squint and see a solid player though	D	C+	C	v
29	Desmond Bane	Timberwolves	Elite shooter so he'll stay on the court for the forseeable future. Not sure how much upside he has but already a steal at this range.	A-	B	A-	-
30	Zeke Nnaji	Pelicans	Stats aren't pretty but he's passing the eye test. He's big but agile and can shoot so the range of outcomes for him is really wide. Excited to see him develop and a great grab here.	C	A-	B+	^
31	Jaden McDaniels	Celtics	Long and young. Shooting a solid % from 3. Steal here.	B+	B+	A	^
33	Theo Maledon	Bulls	Thrown into a huge role and has looked solid. Seems to be more of a backup skillset but has demonstrated a really high floor. Great pick that has already provided big ROI for Bulls	B+	B+	A	^
38	Xavier Tillman	Rockets	Has been one of the top scoring rookies in the league and has quite a few NBA level traits. Really great pickup this late.	A-	B	A	^
39	Kenyon Martin Jr	Suns	Another leading scoring rookie picked late. Not as sure I understand his role on a team long term but a steal here regardless. Shooting solid % from all over floor	A-	B	A-	^
56	Saben Lee	Nuggets	Great pickup this late in the draft. Showing flashes of long term backup PG talent. Sitting in mid teens fppg since getting run and passes the eye test as well. Love how he attacks the hoop. Will need to be more confident popping from 3 (.1 3s per game) to have a role long term though.	A-	B	A-	^

Notable Team Performances:

Team	Type	Note
Wolves	Winner	Arguably made the perfect pick at both selections. Potentially capped upside with both but undeniable value nonetheless.
Suns	Winner	Williams and Martin were both great picks. Depending on development could be the winner. Finally did something and immediately got kicked from the league lol
Bucks	Winner	Nailed both picks. If Vassell grows on offense this will be the clear winner.
Jazz	Winner	Two really strong picks. Needs Udoka to come around or will fall out of winners section
Mavs	Winner	Lots of rookie production but not coming from where it was anticipated. Okongwu needs to show up or one of Stew/Kira needs to become a star to stay here
Rockets	Winner	Hayes is dragging down an impressive performance but lots of time left for him. Poku / Tillman were great grabs. Also out of the league after getting caught asking for feedback of his really good draft lol
Bulls	Winner	Turned a 2 (Maledon) into a 1 and has the hype machine roaring on Marko. Potentially going 2/2 on 2s is worthy of a low Winner grade
Heat	Loser	Only notable pick thus far was a big bust in the top 5. There's still time at least. Like Carey long term but haven't had opportunities to see much from him yet
Warriors	Loser	Picked a predictably bad player with much more interesting talent on the board. Vit is the only chance of salvaging a disappointing draft. Luckily didn't waste any big assets
Knicks	Loser	Reached and watched a run of awesome players go right after him. Extracted some value out of Smith at least