Originally Posted by
Pelicanidae
Nobody really doubts that, I think.
When people say ''this is a 3 player draft'', they don't mean ''only three players from this draft will be any good''. They mean ''only three players from this draft have really shown those possible superstar vibes at this point''.
Now even that isn't really true. I think the vast majority of popular media says that, but if you read up drafting reports, scouting reports, draft day analysis, etc (visit scouting twitter), there are actually a bunch of names in this draft that are exciting for one reason or another. Maybe they aren't projected to be superstars, but they're projected to be very good. People like Chuma Okeke, PJ Washington, Talen Horten-Tucker, Brandon Clarke, Grant Williams, Jontay Porter, Goga Bitadze, Sekou Doumbouya, Jaxson Hayes, etc.
I will add though, and I know this isn't quite what you said but you just made me think of it, the people who say ''oh, the draft is a crapshoot'' are usually people who know relatively little about drafting. There are legitimate indicators of talent, that seem to predict with pretty decent accuracy and frequency quality NBA players. The disconnect isn't between players and scouting, it's between ownership and scouting: it doesn't matter if the scouts have everything worked out to the smallest detail. If they tell their GM to draft X, but the GM has fallen in love with Y, then it doesn't matter how good the metrics are. That's what's so encouraging about Griffs attitude towards teamwork and listening: you get the vibe that he will actually listen to his scouts.