2016 draft class disappointing………….so far

 95% of this site made throwing shade on Ben Simmons a full-time job.

They wanted Ingram, Labissiere and even Buddy Hield to go first. They’ll all turn into hindsight experts now though..

76ers fans are especially lucky that they aren’t making the pick…they are the worst talent scouts of all.

I stand by my original claim that Simmons and Thon Maker are the 2 best players in the draft.

I remember a couple guys including myself calling this draft over hyped.. I graded this draft a B- with a healthy Simmons.. 

Ingram is getting better every week and is promising, but if he was a second rounder instead of the #2 pick, he would be riding the pine. The lakers are being smart making sure he gets plenty of minutes to develop. I do not see him as a star franchise changer but a damn good quality starter within a few years that could flirt with all-star selections in his prime.

 The class seems very bad indeed.  The fact that the rookie ladder is dominated by 2 guys from the 2014 draft (Embiid, Saric), is alarming.I think that was previsible due to all the international picks in the first round for players not considered as elite euro talent (Pappagiannis, Hernangomez, Yabusele, Zizic…). These  are the bread and butter of the secound round usually. Part of it surely was due to recognition that euro/international guys tend to bust out less often and are often underdrafted when taken after 20, but a lot was because the US prospects were particularly bad compared to avg. draft.

Some players still should become legit NBAers though. Buddy Hield is having an incredible turning point recently going from the one everyone calls "bust" to arguably the most promising. His last 10 games he has had 6 Ws, 12.4 ppg and 24/45 3Pts. He still is too old to believe he’ll become a star and has had too few good games to completely forget how disastrous the beginning of his year was (he might just be in a hot hand streak, like Jamal Murray last month…) but he is seemingly improving and that is encouraging. 

 Interesting point by R377,  only one "rookie" is in double figure scoring this season, that must be fairly unusual at this stage of the season. Also the top 2 scoring rookies were from 2014 draft – Embeast had been out for 2 years but Saric was definitely NBA ready so his numbers are expected to be decent.

Simmons hasn’t played, Bender is very much a long term prospect, Brown went to a contender so would not see as much time as if he had gone to a legit lottery team. Ingram has been made to wait to get a starting role by the Lakers which is fine by me and they also have a couple of very young guys in their starting line up so Luke Walton is trying to balance experience out.

Hield I agree has been developing well recently but as a 23 year old should be more NBA ready. Murray at Denver is looking promising and will need time. Chriss and Sabonis have gained starter positions so are doing okay.

Brogdon was a good pick up by the Bucks and can become a nice bench weapon for Jason Kidd. 

Siakam has become part of the Raptors rotation and looks a good late first round pick up.

I’ve been disappointed with Dunn and Poeltl so far this season I must admit.

This was more a potential draft than immediate impact guys. I mean I prob would have said Ingram would score 12ppg at a preseason guess and he was the 2 pick.  Apart from Simmons who is a combination of impact and potential hence being the no 1 pick, I expected little from most of these guys right away except maybe Dunn. But even him I thought maybe 8-10ppg 3ast in the first year. I would have peg Hield for about 12 ppg and he is looking like he might actually get there by seasons end( Also remember who seriously poor NOP is as a team as the get more reaql players in he fit his role better)

I feel like guys like Murray and Chriss, Bender and Brown are all future guys like in the next 2/3 years.

 I can’t lie. I’ve been somewhat dissapointed with Ingram thus far. The smooth offensive game and ability to score the ball that he showcased at Duke have been non-existent so far. He is getting mins. but not really doing much with them and is clearly hurting the team at times when he is out there. 

Confidence is clearly an issue. He just looks very unsure of himself. Adjusting to the speed and strength of the NBA game was always going to be an issue but the biggest disappointment for me has been his shooting. He just doesn’t look comfortable or confident at all shooting it, which is especially problematic right now because he doesn’t have the strength to get to the basket and finish. 

I’m not exactly in love with the pseudo PG role Walton has been using him in but I get the rationale behind it. If the goal were to try to win as many games as possible this year, he would probably be playing less and in a different role, but that’s not the goal for this season. I’m hoping that once he gets a few good games under his belt, he starts to gain some confidence and we get a better idea of what type of player he can be the second half of the season. 

I really like Chriss going forward. Has the size and athleticism and can stretch the floor a little bit. Reminds be of a young less polished Chris Bosh.

I dig on Dunn, Heild, Sabonis, Siakam, Hernangomez and 2nd round picks Brogdon, McCaw, Bolomboy, and Layman whenever they can get into a game. They seem pretty comfortable out on the court. My disappointments so far…Valentine (14th pick), Bender (I know homeboy is young), and Papgiannis…has homeboy even played a minute on the sorry azz Kings yet?

 Andrew Harrison is technically a rookie, like Embiid and Saric but didn’t get drafted this year either.

He is going for 7.3 points, 3.6 assists, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.0 steal a game but shooting just under 30% from the field.

Gonna laugh — or cry — if/when he makes the All Rookie First Team.

At this point, he’s probably clinched a 2nd team All Rookie, and, at times, looks like a guy who shouldn’t even be in the league.  He can’t shoot for anything and he is slow as molasses.

 What happened to Ingrams shooting? All of a sudden the kids shot is broken. Time to get Jack Nicholsons role from the movie Anger Management in as a sports pshychologist. 

 No clear cut Bogdons in this draft class

 I agree that Ingram’s shooting hasn’t been very good so far this season but Luke Walton has worked with some great shooters especially at GSW so I’d back him and his staff to polish Ingram’s game.

Ingram has been playing 27.8mpg in a team containing a number of young players so has been seeing good court time. He has been allowed to develop from the bench and is surrounded by guys like MWP, Deng,Nick Young, Lou Williams who have a load of experience and can guide him.

Having MWP there who doesn’t play a lot npow but has seen it all, played with the greats will be especially useful to Ingram as MWP can point out all the little tricks that coaches may not show you and is a good locker room leader.

 The Lakers worked over the Grizzlies last night and Brandon Ingram looked ok.  Not Kevin Durant, but he might be good.  Looks like he can do a bit of everything, but although he is long and tall for a 2 guard (and about average height for a 3) he isn’t too strong and not a freak athlete.  I would think his upside would be somewhat limited.  UNLESS they run some offense through him… and he develops some point forward skills.

Didn’t really get the Ingram Love in college — I thought it was Ben Simmons and everyone else…

If he can get his shot back, then I can see him as being like Steve Smith — a 6’8 shooting guard who can create his own shot some, rebound a bit, pass, and handle the ball.  In today’s small ball era Ingram has a lot of size for the 3 unless he goes up against guys like Giannis, KD, or LeBron.

Maybe he turns into a version of the young and athletic Boris Diaw, but other than that I would compare him (at least size/length/athlecism wise) to Steve Smith.

As far as UPSIDE GOES, I always thought that if you had a really high upside comp for Ingram it should be Grant Hill and not Kevin Durant.  Similar size, length, and athleticism along with that Duke pedigree.

As far as Lake Show 2.0 goes, with the young guns it looks like D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle are 1 and 1A and I would give Randle the edge of being the alpha go-to matchup nightmare beast.  At least from what I saw last night, there is a lot of Chris Webber there, although I think that C Webb was a bit more explosive.  Ingram looks like he will be the 3rd guy there, although I like Jordan Clarkson, too, if they can figure out a way to shoehorn all of those Laker guards into a consistent rotation.

Larry Nance, Jr. looks like their 5th guy right now, or fourth on a long-term basis behind Ingram.  

This is not the draft for centers, really, except for maybe Adebayo out of Kentucky (if he is even a center), so maybe they should go out and get an extra pick to take a run at Tacko Fall.  

 Domantas Sabonis would be way more productive if Russ got him the ball more…

 You are sleeping on Jalyen Brown. He gets 7-14 minutes a game based on how well he plays, so his stats obviously aren’t very impressive, but when he comes in the game he contributes on a very good team and that is saying a lot for a rookie who supposedly was "just an athlete coming out of college". He is shooting a lot better than expected at 46% from the field and 33% from 3, but what’s most impressed me is the flashes that he shows. He has given us small glimpses of what he will be able to do in the future. Just last night he scored 10 points and grabbed 3 rebounds in just 12 minutes on 4/6 shooting. Us Celtics fans are very hign on our rook and think he has a chance to be a star, maybe even a superstar, in this league. 

 I mean you literally have a bunch of kids that are between the ages of 18-20 that are getting drafted into the NBA and people expect them to be good straight away in a league full of men who are more experienced and in some cases more talented. Occasionally you have the young rookie that makes a huge impact but most of these young guys are trying to find their niche in the league at the moment. If you think about it really the last few drafts since 2011 were initially disappointing. The guys from 2011 and 2012 are really just starting to make an impact now. You have to give these guys time before you make a conclusion.