mikeyvthedon
http://82games.com/nbadraftpicks.htm
People seem to look at role players in the NBA and think they were bad value picks in the mid-late first round area. That can’t be further from the truth. I mean, Matt Harpring averaged 17.9, 8 and 2.3 as a four year player at Georgia Tech. He was picked 15th in the 1998 draft. He played the 15th most NBA games of anyone in that draft, plus more than 8 players taken in front of him. Only 8 players averaged more than Harpring’s 11.5 ppg average in 665 games from that very draft.
Jeff Taylor is a solid player, averaged 16.4 ppg, 5.8 rpg and 1.8 apg as a senior this year at Vandy (compared to Harpring’s 21.6, 9.4 and 2.6 as a senior at G-Tech). Taylor is a versatile defender, has good strength and displayed solid athleticism during his time at Vandy. Regardless, he will be LUCKY to be Matt Harpring. Look at the expectations for a 15th pick. Harpring averaged more points than the average ppg/rpg/apg of 20 players drafted at 15.
If a GM was told, "hey, we have the 28th pick. Trust me, I rode my Delorean into the future and saw that this guy is going to give us Matt Harpring type production", he would be ecstatic. He’d probably be ecstatic at the 15th pick, also. To say Jeff Taylor is "like Matt Harpring" in a negative connotation just is a pretty unrealistic way of thinking when the guy is listed as 28th on a draft big board.