ABCA Draft Day Winners (and losers)

[Washington]

Every year at this time, every fan likes to see their team drafting well and reading all the draft grades online praising their teams moves. Here is what I liked (and didn't like) from the draft.

Winners


Beijing Aoshen
Elton Brand (#6), Andrei Kirilenko (#11), Andre Miller (#14), Antwan Jamison (#25)

Beijing made their fair share of draft day trades as they looked to re-tool their roster, moving Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Allan Houston, Antonio McDyess, Maurice Cheeks, Bob Lanier and Allen Iversonin draft day trades in exchange for mainly draft picks. I love three of their picks, Elton Brand, Andrei Kirilenko and Andre Miller, I think all three players if they develop like they should will be great players in this league. There has been talk that Beijing should of drafted Shawn Marion at #6 but I don't necessarily agree especially after they drafted Andrei Kirilenko at #11. Elton Brand gives them a low post scorer and is the perfect fit in their front court next to Marcus Camby. Next up Andrei Kirilenko, one of if not my favorite prospect in this draft class, bit of a risk given his age at only 18 but with his size and potentially unique skill set on both sides of the ball could be a special talent in this league. Andre Miller was a great pickup at #14 as well, another one of my favorite prospects, I think he is the best pure point guard in the class, was kind of surprising to see Baron Davis go ahead of him if I'm honest. At 23 years old he has the skill set to contribute straight away, is a great athlete and despite being a rookie he will bring leadership to their young core. Antwan Jamison was my less favorite pick of theirs, maybe would of gone with someone like Antonio Davis or Raja Bell but can't really deny his value at #25 and could bring decent depth to their bench.


Tel Aviv Maccabi
Gilbert Arenas (#8), Ron Artest (#9), Carlos Boozer (#18), Shane Battier (#20), Brent Barry (#40), Earl Watson (#56)

Between Tel Aviv and Beijing they had eight first round picks, and both teams drafted really well. First up for Tel Aviv was pick number eight and they went with Gilbert Arenas. Gilbert Arenas looks like an interesting prospect, first thing with Gilbert will be to decide where his best position will be in ABCA wither its shooting guard or point guard, although he is a little undersized I'd probably edge more towards SG, think an Otis Birdsong type but more athletic. If he lives up to his potential he could become one of the best scorers in this class. Ron Artest is another one of my favorite prospects in this class, he looks to be a great prospect, potentially an elite defensive player but onto of that has a solid offensive game and is a decent athletic. At #18 Tel Aviv selected Carlos Boozer, although he is a little raw at the moment he will have time to develop his game behind Dirk Nowitzki. He comes into the league already as a decent rebounder and low post scorer and those two areas look like they will be be his biggest strengths in his pro game. Shane Battier is a great value pick at #20 maybe not an area of need with Robert Horry and Ron Artest already on board but feel he was the best player left at that time. Not the greatest athlete but has the potential to be a great defensive player and three point shooter and every team needs a guy like that. Brent Barry and Earl Watson are second round picks, don't really expect either to have much of a pro career though. Much like Beijing each pick was great value.


Bayi Rockets
Shawn Marion (#7), Kenyon Martin (#24)

Bayi Rockets had two draft picks in the 1st round and boy did they make the most of them. In most mock drafts from the experts Shawn Marion was going top 4 and that was where I expected him to go but he fell onto Bayi's laps at #7. There is a lot of talented defensive Small Forward's in this draft with the likes of Ron Artest, Andrei Kirilenko, Tayshaun Prince, Shane Battier but Shawn Marion could very well be the best of the bunch. He has great size, is a great athlete and comes into the league ready to make an impact and is the perfect fit in their defensive system next to rookie of the year Tim Duncan. Kenyon Martin was a great value pick at #24 onto of that, although he is a little raw at the moment Kenyon is one of the best big man athlete's in the class and looks to have potential in the right areas on his game and could very well develop into a solid starter for Bayi Rockets.

International Players
Pau Gasol (San Miguel @ #2), Tony Parker (Real @ #3), Manu Ginobii (Cairo @ #5), Andrei Kirilenko (Beijing @ #11)


The number of International players in ABCA seems to be on the rise and there's nothing more evident than the fact three of the top five picks in draft were International players, four in the top 11 in fact. Take note because these guys are good and you could be seeing a lot more of this in drafts to come. San Miguel Beerman must of seen alot in Pau Gasol to of moved Patrick Ewing for the chance to draft him and he certainly has played very well in the Spanish league for Barcelona winning two Spanish Leagues and a finals MVP. Tony Parker looks like he has all the tools to make a massive impact in ABCA, and after drafting Zoran Slavnic and Isiah Thomas Real Madrid know a thing or two about drafting star point guards. Manu Ginobii although not being the best athlete looks to have the tools to be a great scorer in this league and add that to his mental toughness and drive to succeed, Cairo may have a special talent on their hands. Time will obviously tell but all five of these guys could become stars of the future so is your team investing in international scouting?

London Towers: Tayshaun Prince (#16),
San Francisco Warriors: Raja Bell (#33)

Just a quick word to talk about a couple of picks that I liked. Tayshaun Prince is another one of my favorite prospects in this class, and at #16 is great value. With Scottie Pippen a free agent, if he does decide to sign elsewhere he is a ready made replacement. Raja Bell at #33 could be one of the steals of the draft imo, he is a 1st round talent and comes into the league as a great defender and three point shooter.

And picks I didn't love so much
Steve Francis (Bulls @4), Baron Davis (Spurs @ 10), Rashard Lewis (Boca @ 15)

Quickly, couple of picks which I didn't like as much. Firstly Steve Francis at #4, I don't mind Francis as a prospect but feel #4 was a little early for him, guys like Brand, Marion and Manu could of been a better choice but hey the Bulls did get Patrick Ewing on draft day so it's all good. Baron Davis was a stretch for me at #10, they did need a point guard maybe Andre Miller would of been the better option, however they did make a good draft day move to get Bill Walton. Lastly Rashard Lewis at #15, didn't like this pick especially ahead of guys like Tayshaun Prince, Jason Richardson etc, feel his range was more early 20's.

[London]

FWIW - the committee consulted a few of our scouts (for pick 15) and there were at least 2-3 of ours (including BA's) who all REC'd Lewis over the rest of the people on the board (it also seemed like Lewis' combo of offense and defense was what BA needed - more so the offense though). As I was processing the draft that 12-20 range was all over the place with who liked which player. All of the guys you mentioned (Lewis, Prince, Richardson, even guys like Brad Miller, KMart, and Davis) were all REC favorites of some teams.

Seemed like that was a particularly deep part of the draft.

Great write-up though. You covered a lot of teams and picks.

Well done.

+100 Respect Points (you need 35000 to go up to level 2)

[Bayi]

+200 more Respect Points for saying nice things about me.

[San Francisco]

Nice article + 31999 respect points, the last one is always the toughest to get tho

in terms of points that matter 150 pp!

[Washington]

May 13, 2015 10:12:07 GMT -6 London said:

FWIW - the committee consulted a few of our scouts (for pick 15) and there were at least 2-3 of ours (including BA's) who all REC'd Lewis over the rest of the people on the board (it also seemed like Lewis' combo of offense and defense was what BA needed - more so the offense though). As I was processing the draft that 12-20 range was all over the place with who liked which player. All of the guys you mentioned (Lewis, Prince, Richardson, even guys like Brad Miller, KMart, and Davis) were all REC favorites of some teams.

Seemed like that was a particularly deep part of the draft.

Great write-up though. You covered a lot of teams and picks.

Well done.

+100 Respect Points (you need 35000 to go up to level 2)

Yea I'm sure, didn't mean anything by it just don't really rate him as a prospect ahead of those guys, think my scout had him around that range aswell though. And Thanks...

So that's +300 respect points with Bayi's 200, working my way upto level 2, what does that get me exactly?

[London]

May 13, 2015 10:29:34 GMT -6 Washington said:

May 13, 2015 10:12:07 GMT -6 London said:

FWIW - the committee consulted a few of our scouts (for pick 15) and there were at least 2-3 of ours (including BA's) who all REC'd Lewis over the rest of the people on the board (it also seemed like Lewis' combo of offense and defense was what BA needed - more so the offense though). As I was processing the draft that 12-20 range was all over the place with who liked which player. All of the guys you mentioned (Lewis, Prince, Richardson, even guys like Brad Miller, KMart, and Davis) were all REC favorites of some teams.

Seemed like that was a particularly deep part of the draft.

Great write-up though. You covered a lot of teams and picks.

Well done.

+100 Respect Points (you need 35000 to go up to level 2)

Yea I'm sure, didn't mean anything by it just don't really rate him as a prospect ahead of those guys, think my scout had him around that range aswell though. And Thanks...

So that's +300 respect points with Bayi's 200, working my way upto level 2, what does that get me exactly?

No of course. I was just informing what the process was in case people were curious.

Level 2 comes with more article expectations and we learn your board name instead of just calling you Washington

[Los Angeles]

-all your respect points for not mentioning me once

[San Francisco]

May 13, 2015 10:51:28 GMT -6 Los Angeles said:

-all your respect points for not mentioning me once

Trade me the dream and you go to level 19 respect and I am required to mention you in every non DC post i make for the next year of real time

[Beijing]

Thanks for the praise. You basically wrote out my entire thought process on the Brand pick. If I didn't have 11 then I would've taken Marion no questions asked, but 11 gave me the chance to pick one of the two other SFs I wanted in Artest or AK. I wanted Baron at 14 but since he went at 10, I took Dre. And then the Jamison pick was more because I really liked his game in real life and I think he could be similar to Horry minus the 3pt shooting in this game.

[San Francisco]

Really like your draft Beijing. I know there is the Marion Question but you filled 3 spors with what look like high quality starters that fit together in Brand, AK47 and Dre. One of my favorite drafts

[San Francisco]

pp credited