Rank Our Draft Day

[Pelicanidae]

I give it an A. Here's my evaluation of each pick we made.

- Zion Williamson: A++++ Pick. It was the obvious pick, there was no other choice: it was can't miss, just like Duncan was can't miss when he entered the draft. Still, you have to give it the A+ marks despite how obvious it was because it's just so perfect. First pick too the clear best prospect.

- Jaxson Hayes: B+ Pick. I can't give it an A, because Hayes isn't clearly superior to some of the other options who were around at that point. There were a few names who you can argue may have been just as good. But he does get the B+ grade because despite that lack of clear cut superiority, he is an extremely promising young big. Projects incredibly well as a rim protector, as a rim runner, as a switchable defender who can work out to the perimeter, and he shot well enough from the line that, combined with his super fluid movement, I believe he can possibly develop a jumper as time goes on. Even if that doesn't work out, he easily projects as a Clint Capela+ type guy, and a fantastic compliment to Zion.

- Nickiel Alexander-Walker: C Pick. I can't give it a D or an E or anything because it's not a bad pick. He's a fine player. He shot very well from three both years he spent in college, he's a reasonable defender, and while his vision and passing aren't extraordinary, it's all perfectly competent. He's that good, solid, reliable style combo guard that can be so valuable for a lot of teams. That reliability comes with a downside: he's got very little star potential, and that steady, reliable presence is probably all he will be. Again, that's fine and it's not a bad pick, because teams need good solid reliable shooting combo guards who can capably run an offense. But it can't be higher than a C for those reasons.

- Didi, Marcos Louzada Silva: Wingdings Letter Pick. I can't grade it because I know nothing about him. He was apparently a good three point shooter and defender, so that's nice. I trust Trajan Langdon knew what he was doing here.

So, our night was an A. We had the best draft of anyone.

Second place goes to Memphis, for securing Ja Morant and Brandon Clarke, yowzer.

[bustah]

lel Silver

[Pelicanidae]

Ugh, I'll fix that. Give me a break it's 7:30am and I've been up all night for the draft.

[Darkhorse985]

Overall: A

1.Williamson:A+, No brainer.

8. Hayes: B+, most athletic center prospect in the draft, but still very raw and offers no shooting/spacing.

17. Alexander-Walker: A, Perfect 3 and D wing player at this spot in the draft.

35. Marcos Louzada Silva: B, Can anyone really grade a Euro stash player in the second round?

[bustah]

Send Silva to Australia!

[Impose]

I think we did great, I'm excited about Hayes' potential even if it takes 3 years to develop. I'm glad everyone we drafted has been touted for their defense. Griff is tryna set the tone moving forward that we take pride in defense

[Mount Zion]

It's an A+ for me. Assuming that Barrett wouldn't fall to the Pels at #4, the players I wanted most after that were Hunter, Hayes or White. Trading down, gaining other assets and still getting Hayes, was outstanding IMHO. I may have preferred Clarke or a couple of others to Walker, but I can get behind the choice. He is smart, plays under control and within himself, so he could turn out to be a terrific fit with the hyper-athletic guys the Pels drafted and already have. Didi, while I admittedly know nothing about him, was exactly the draft and stash kind of players I wanted with the second round picks. I am 100% happy with this draft, especially with the knowledge that Griffin isn't nearly finished building the roster for this year and has a plan to flesh out this year's team. Of course, having all of those draft assets over the next five to six years should allow him to execute the plan more easily too. I'm stoked!

[NOEngineer]

Grade = A+

Added Zion, who I HOPE will be Draymond Green but with a good attitude. I don't think he can be as good in the NBA as the hype suggests....
Relieved ourselves of Solomon Hill
Picked some guys who wear nice clothing for the occasion
Added more second-round picks which are useful tools when arranging trades for the future

[da ThRONe]

B+. I think we needed to draft as much top end talent as possible not sure trading back did anything in terms of that. Haynes is interesting seems like a reach though. NAW seems like a mediocre prospect. I would have rather kept 4 and just taking BPA. Or even tried to move up. I honestly would have like keeping Hill and taking Hawks 8-10 picks better than going all the way to 17.

All and all I'll reserve judgment for the moment.

[JJackisangry]

I’m not crazy about Hayes, so a B. He does fill a need in the team, so it isn’t necessarily a bad pick. Hopefully we can find a stretch 5 at some point because it certainly won’t be him- at least for his rookie contract.

D for Walker. I feel it was a reach and we have a ton of depth at the SG position already. Unless we make a move, this one doesn’t make sense to me.

A for Silva because it gave me a giggle and Bol was still on the board till 39

F for 39 because we passed on Bol again and sold our pick for a shrimp poboy.

A for Zion. He’s cool I guess.

[JJackisangry]

B+. I think we needed to draft as much top end talent as possible not sure trading back did anything in terms of that. Haynes is interesting seems like a reach though. NAW seems like a mediocre prospect. I would have rather kept 4 and just taking BPA. Or even tried to move up. I honestly would have like keeping Hill and taking Hawks 8-10 picks better than going all the way to 17.

All and all I'll reserve judgment for the moment.

I would have rather kept 4 as well. Culver/Garland/hunter would have been better picks for me.

[Pelicans78]

Zion is obviously A+

Jaxson Hayes was the right pick at number 8. He was projected as a lower top 10 pick and he has as much upside as the guys drafted from 4-7 if not more due to his size and athleticism. Not to mention trading Solo's contract and acquiring more picks - A

Alexander-Walker - I will see say B for him. He has potential to be a Lou Williams type of 6th man.

[Pelicanidae]

Not sure about all the ''Hayes was a reach at 8'' talk. He was pretty much universally projected to go between 7 and 11, so 8 is perfectly in line with where everyone expected him to go.

[Pelicanidae]

Grade = A+

Added Zion, who I HOPE will be Draymond Green but with a good attitude. I don't think he can be as good in the NBA as the hype suggests....

What makes you say that?

[N.O.Bronco]

- Zion: A+

Not much more needs to be said. A once in a generation talent that fell into our laps.

- Hayes: C-

I know I am breaking with the fanbase and the complete and total veneration with Griffin, but I don’t like this pick or this move at all. In terms of asset management, positional value, median projection, team fit, and opportunity cost, I think this was Griffin’s first swing and miss. Hayes is going to be fine I think, and remain a neutral asset throughout his rookie deal, so he gets at least a passing grade. But what Hayes projects to be is easily found in free agent markets today and I don’t really see the long term fit with Zion who barring a leap in his jump shot is going to need shooters around him like Giannis. And what we gave up to move down to get him was not worth it. You can never have enough wings in this league and when the opportunity cost is a potential all-star guard, you need to be sure that it is worth trading that upside for more quantity and I don’t think this move justified that. And as a rebuilding team you don’t settle for less to move expiring contracts.

- Nickeil Alexander-Walker: C+

He’s fine. I could see him being a solid rotational player that remains a neutral to slightly positive asset you bundle in a trade. And you need guys like that on the roster. And if we just had 17 and it didn’t have attached the opportunity cost of giving up the 4th pick I would grade it higher. But for me that cost can’t be separated out and to me, as of now, neither player justified the trade.



- Overall draft grade: A

Which just goes to show how incredible getting Zion is. That despite my disagreement with the rest of the night, it is still one of the best(if not the best) in Pels history. But it does give me pause about how Griffin(who I have been skeptical of his drafting IQ since day one) is going to manage this treasure trove of assets. As I think my grade for his management on this first swing is subpar.

[UNO Gracias]

We also signed this guy to a 2 way.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.si....ate-hidden-gem

[da ThRONe]

Not sure about all the ''Hayes was a reach at 8'' talk. He was pretty much universally projected to go between 7 and 11, so 8 is perfectly in line with where everyone expected him to go.

Drafting someone that raw(even by NBA standards) in the lotto is a reach. Not sure what the consensus among the analysts were. Not to say that Griffin and co. didn't do their due diligence or that Haynes will be a bad pick.

[RaisingTheBar]

- Zion: A+

Not much more needs to be said. A once in a generation talent that fell into our laps.

- Hayes: C-

I know I am breaking with the fanbase and the complete and total veneration with Griffin, but I don’t like this pick or this move at all. In terms of asset management, positional value, median projection, team fit, and opportunity cost, I think this was Griffin’s first swing and miss. Hayes is going to be fine I think, and remain a neutral asset throughout his rookie deal, so he gets at least a passing grade. But what Hayes projects to be is easily found in free agent markets today and I don’t really see the long term fit with Zion who barring a leap in his jump shot is going to need shooters around him like Giannis. And what we gave up to move down to get him was not worth it. You can never have enough wings in this league and when the opportunity cost is a potential all-star guard, you need to be sure that it is worth trading that upside for more quantity and I don’t think this move justified that. And as a rebuilding team you don’t settle for less to move expiring contracts.

- Nickeil Alexander-Walker: C+

He’s fine. I could see him being a solid rotational player that remains a neutral to slightly positive asset you bundle in a trade. And you need guys like that on the roster. And if we just had 17 and it didn’t have attached the opportunity cost of giving up the 4th pick I would grade it higher. But for me that cost can’t be separated out and to me, as of now, neither player justified the trade.



- Overall draft grade: A

Which just goes to show how incredible getting Zion is. That despite my disagreement with the rest of the night, it is still one of the best(if not the best) in Pels history. But it does give me pause about how Griffin(who I have been skeptical of his drafting IQ since day one) is going to manage this treasure trove of assets. As I think my grade for his management on this first swing is subpar.

[UNO Gracias]

Hayes was mocked by almost every mock draft as a top 10 pick. He wasn’t a reach. If he had stayed in school another year he would have gone higher.

[Taker597]

A+++

Getting a raw high ceiling big for the best big coach in the league. We are gonna knock that pick out of the park. I hope Langston rep for finding gem foreigners turns out to be true. We built our identity around defense and let's just build a culture. Let's get one if the best offensive minded coaches mold these young men.

4 rookies is what I felt was gonna be our draft limit.

[DaFranchise80]

BEST DRAFT EVER!!! I give it an A+

Can we just fast forward to October already?

[Mythrol]

Ok this needs to 100% be cleared up right now because I've seen far too many people complain about us trading our 39th pick "for nothing".

NO! We didn't just sell out 39th pick. We traded it for TWO future 2nd round picks AND cash. We drafted 4 rookies and people want to complain about not keeping the 39th pick and instead turning it into future picks?

Stop.

[johnpagenola]

Ok this needs to 100% be cleared up right now because I've seen far too many people complain about us trading our 39th pick "for nothing".

NO! We didn't just sell out 39th pick. We traded it for TWO future 2nd round picks AND cash. We drafted 4 rookies and people want to complain about not keeping the 39th pick and instead turning it into future picks?

Stop.

This.

There seems to be some sort of trade magic with 2nd round picks. How do trades with 2nd round picks work? Can we trade them for players under contract?

[Chris]

I give it an "A" because no one ever expected us to trade AD and then turn around and get the #1 pick.

[N.O.Bronco]

Hayes was mocked by almost every mock draft as a top 10 pick. He wasn’t a reach. If he had stayed in school another year he would have gone higher.

Depends on how you value centers.

To me, unless a center is transitionally special, like an Embiid, like a Davis, like a Zion, you don’t pick them top 10 unless there is absolutely nothing with a greater ceiling or more sparse position.

And frankly, I’m not sure Christian Wood isn’t the better fit and prospect long term.

I really think we are going to regret that trade.