# Final 2002 NBA Draft grades



## lanigan34 (Dec 27, 2002)

Final NBA Draft Grades 
Disclaimer: This is just an opinion of the players status in relation as to where he was drafted in the lottery and the results that were posted this season. Future seasons=hopefully better results in some cases (Skita, Wilcox). Will do further analysis of the rest of the first round later on. 

Yao Ming – A-13.5ppg 8.2rpg- Has all the tools that will make him a great player in the league. Needs to get stronger to help him bang down low. Surpassed my expectations. 

Jay Williams-D+-9.5ppg 4.7apg- The only thing that saved him from getting an F is the fact that he was thrown to the wolves on a disastrous Bulls team and organization and suffered through(barely, wont see him here next season). Very high expectations for him never played out even though his numbers weren’t too bad for a rookie. J.R Bremer of the Celtics who was undrafted, had a better season. 

Mike Dunleavy- D- 5.7ppg 2.6rpg- His rail like frame kept him out of the post, where he had success in college. Also the sweet stroke never really came around untile the end of the season. Work in progress needs to hit the weight room hard. 

Drew Gooden- B+-12.5ppg 6.5rpg- Played well for most of the season for Memphis and played even better for Orlando, has a good upside and will help lessen the load on T-macs shoulders next season. Mistake by Jerry West for trading this kid. 

Tskitishvilli-F-3.9ppg 2.9apg- One of the two F’s given out, basically this kid was Euro hype that played like Euro-trash. He couldn’t even get minutes on a monstrosity of a team in Denver. I bet Denver is praying right now to land Lebron to bail them out on this one. Reminds me of Bruno Sundov. Imagine if they got Amare and Nene, wow. 

Wagner-C+-13.3ppg 2.8apg- Like this kid a lot. Came off the bench for the Cavs early in the season and was like microwave Johnson. Hit a bit of a wall (which brought his grade down a bit) before he went on the DL but Wagner will be a player in this league for years to come. Will never be a pg however. 

Nene Hilario- B- 10.5ppg 6.1 rpg- At least Denver got one right. He had a great rookie season once he got good minutes. Just a monster around the basket and once he finds a shot and a go to move, double double machine. 

Chris Wilcox- F- stats not avail- Who? Did not do anything for LA this year which was a big surprise to me, as he was a man among boys playing for Maryland last year. In hindsight he needed one more year to get himself ready for the league. Playing behind Brand also didn’t help his cause. Getting drafted ahead of Amare also didn’t help his grade out. 

Amare Stoudamire-A+-13.5ppg 8.8rpg- Could anyone have predicted that this kid would have as much of an impact as he had. A lot of people were knocking him when he declared but he proved them all wrong. His strength and athleticism are unbelievable. If he keeps developing, especially offensively, he will be unstoppable.

Caron Butler- A(-)- 15.4ppg 5.1 rpg- My preseason ROY played quite well for Riley down in Miami. Did not get much hype but was a great value for the 10th pick in the draft. Showed great maturity and the will to keep improving himself which will make him a star in the league.


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## DaBigTicketKG21 (Apr 27, 2003)

Dunleavy deserves an F. He was sorry the whole season with no signs of improvement.


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## scottskiles (May 7, 2003)

*Skitishvilli Factor*

Does a bad pick like this stifle the euro-craze a liitle bit? I know that a ton will be selected, but perhaps not so high in the lotto. For every good euro pick, there a 3 that don't make it, and one who rides the pine. Just curious.


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## JokerToTheThief (Feb 25, 2003)

*Re: Skitishvilli Factor*



> Originally posted by <b>scottskiles</b>!
> Does a bad pick like this stifle the euro-craze a liitle bit? I know that a ton will be selected, but perhaps not so high in the lotto. For every good euro pick, there a 3 that don't make it, and one who rides the pine. Just curious.


Well, the odds aren't appreciably better for college or high school picks.


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## lanigan34 (Dec 27, 2002)

Absolutely, just another case of too much hype for some of these Euro players. Part of the problem is that it is hard to scout many of these players and the level of talent around them. GM's around the league are being more cautious than ever.


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## desert lobster (May 3, 2003)

Gotta agree with Joker, the US high schoolers and college players don't do much better when they are drafted.


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## zerotre (Sep 28, 2002)

slowwwwwwwwwww down guys that kid in denver wasnt drafted to produce this year. They knew he was a project and will take aleast 3-4 years to develope. The kid didnt even play while in europe!! Drafts are hard to gauge after only one season, it takes aleast 3-5 seasons before you can judge the prospects, give tthem time to develope then you can compare.


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## Tetsujin (May 7, 2003)

As I recall, Dirk was a stiff for the couple of years.


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## Enigmatic1 (Apr 17, 2003)

I definitely think Tskitishvili will be good, but these grades I think were just to show how they did THIS SEASON not their potential, since most of the potential grades would be in the A or B range.


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## bruno34115 (Apr 14, 2003)

at the time i didnt understand skita going # 5 and i still dont. he didnt even get much playing time over in europe i dont understand why that would make him a great nba prospect


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## RickyBlaze (Apr 25, 2003)

*Skita and Dirk*

All the scouts said Skita will be the next Dirk type player. Range from 3 and big body inside.


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## dmilesai (Jul 19, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>DaBigTicketKG21</b>!
> Dunleavy deserves an F. He was sorry the whole season with no signs of improvement.


Hahahaha. Apparently you didn't seen him play at the end of the season.


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## #1BucksFan (Apr 14, 2003)

Nene deserves better then a B-. he carried the team from matching the sixers mark of 9 total wins


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## Bball_Doctor (Dec 29, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>dmilesai</b>!
> 
> 
> Hahahaha. Apparently you didn't seen him play at the end of the season.


Truth...Dunleavy improved a lot as the season finished. His shot and confidence got better. I still don't think he deserved the number 3 pick (I was never impressed by Dunleavy) but at least he is working hard to prove he does. Overall his rookie year deserves a D+


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## Bball_Doctor (Dec 29, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>lanigan34</b>!
> Final NBA Draft Grades
> Disclaimer: This is just an opinion of the players status in relation as to where he was drafted in the lottery and the results that were posted this season. Future seasons=hopefully better results in some cases (Skita, Wilcox). Will do further analysis of the rest of the first round later on.
> 
> ...


Here are my grades based on my expectations:

Note: Rookie projected stats were made after knowledge of the teams who drafted the players. Obviously they are different than before knowing what teams drafted them. They were made after the 2002 NBA Draft.

1) Yao Ming

Rookie Projected Stats: 11 ppg, 7-8 rpg, 2 bpg.

Yao's selection to the allstar game was a shock but his overall season was not. His final stats were actually similar to what I projected for him last year (see above). Overall Yao surpassed by expectations.

Grade: A

2) Jay Williams

Rookie Projected Stats: 16 ppg, 6-7 apg, 1.5 spg.

Jay was a confusion to me. He definitely underachieved but I thought after that great duel with Kidd he would go on an uprise...but it never happened. I was never impressed by Jay's speed or shot in college but I thought his leadership and confidence would compensate for that. His confidence seemed to be hindered after his slow start and he never really regained what it used to be in college. Jay is definitely a disappointment in the standpoint of hype but overall he actually had a good season for a rook. I believe he led all rooks in APG. Just compare his numbers to Baron or Andre Miller and he is pretty much up there. He definitely needs to improve but the whole Crawford and Cartwright situation in Chicago will probably not help him.

Grade: C+

3) Mike Dunleavy

Rookie Projected Stats: 7-8 ppg, 2-4 rpg, 2-3 apg.

I never thought that Dunleavy deserved the #3 pick. He never really impressed me in college and I never saw the potential most scouts saw in him. Dunleavy started off really bad but as the season finished he showed signs of improvement. His final stats were not much different from what I projected so he can't really be a disappointment. However, he WAS a disappointment for a 3rd pick and that was why his grade had to be lowered. 

Grade: D+

4) Drew Gooden

Rookie Projected Stats: 14-15 ppg, 7-8 rpg, 1-2 apg.

I thought Gooden would become a better rebounder than what he displayed in his rook year. But to his credit he did become that in Orlando. Overall, Gooden cannot really be called a disappointment as far as statwise but he could be considered a disappointment for the team who drafted him. There is no question that West was looking to dump Gooden when the right chance came to him. To Memphis, Gooden was probably an F but he put up too good stats to be that. Of course, Magic fans would disagree as well. In the end, his grade had to lowered because of that whole Memphis thing...he would have gotten a B if not for that.

Grade: B-

5) Skit

Rookie Projected Stats: 7 ppg, 4 rpg, 2 apg.

Skit was always a projected and that is why I questioned him being a lottery pick. Sure other players are projects too but Skit is truly a project. He hardly even got off the bench in Europe. Most of his potential was seen in scrimages not in real games. Skit is the biggest example of a player drafted purly based on potential and not merit. With that said his season cannot be considered that much of a disappointment because of that fact so I will never give him an F because he is a "project". Also, many people are labelling a bust but it is too early to label him as that as well as any player in their rook year. Skit did as I expected him to do...struggle. That is part of the learning process. I just hope he has learned enough to increase that ugly, ugly FG%. Sub .300..:no:.

Grade: D

6) Wagner

Rookie Projected Stats: 18-20 ppg, 2-3 rpg, 3-4 apg.

Wagner was an enigma to me. I have followed him since Camden and at one point I even had him above of Lebron among HS players. Of course Lebron was only 16 at the time. Wagner accomplished exactly what I projected him to in college. His stats were great and he if was on a more established school like Syracuse...he might have did exactly what Melo did this year. However, it was all different in the pros. After a great start...he simply went downhill. I knew Wagner had an inconsistent shot but I could never imagined it would have been this inconsistent. To me Wagner has been my biggest disappointment (he was my rookie of the year before the season started) but his rook numbers were decent and above average compared to his rook class. Also injuries definitely hindered his play. Wagner will be a star in the league when healthy but from what I saw...as long as the Cavs start him as PG he will never be. 

Grade: B-

7) Nene

Rookie Projected Stats: 6-7 ppg, 7 rpg, 2-3 bpg.

I never saw Nene until Denver so those stats I projected were purely based on scouting reports. Nene did a great job in his rook year and played much better than I expected. I expected him to a better shotblocker than he was but his offense was much more polished than I ever expected. Nene has a great future in the league.

Grade: B

8) Chris Wilcox

Rookie Projected Stats: 4-5 ppg, 3 rpg.

You can't blame Wilcox for his unimpressive stats. Playing behind a player of Brand's caliber will do that to any player. Therefore, I will grade Wilcox on his game and what I have seen (even though that wasn't much). He still has the skills to be the player scouts projected him to be. To be fair he shouldn't be graded until Brand is gone. Overall his stats were not different than what I projected and it would have been higher minus Brand (anyone who projected Wilcox to come out and post big numbers in his rook year is a no..no...remember the Brand factor). But his I did not see much improvement in his game as the season finished but hey neither did I see that in J O'Neal until he went to Indiana and got PT.

Grade: Too hard to call but....C-

9) Amare

Rookie Projected Stats: 8-9 ppg, 7 rpg, 1-2 bpg.

I think me and the Phoenix Suns were the only ones to see Amare's tremendous upside. Amare was a beast in HS. To me Amare was a top 4 talent in his draft class. His potential and athleticism were off the roof. The thing I loved most about him in HS was his agressiveness (something that Curry lacks...imagine if he had it like Amare!) and I knew he would carry that onto the pros. That aggressiveness allows him to be confident and not afraid when against older pros. Also Amare to me was different than other HS players becuz he had an NBA developed body even much more than KG. That is why I think Lebron will be able to contribute much earlier than most critics project. Lebron has the most NBA ready body out of himself, Amare, and KG. Amare's stats surprised me (especially his scoring) but it wasn't a shock because I kind of knew he had the capability to do it.

Grade: A+

10) Caron

Rookie Projected Stats: 17 ppg, 4-5 rpg, 2-3 apg.

Caron was my 2nd favorite to win the ROTY honours. His scoring was a little less than what I projected but you can't penalize a rook who lead his whole rook class in PPG (15.4). Butler was awesome in the second half of the season and it looks like he is on his way to becoming a very good player in the league. I wouldn't be surprised if Caron became a 20 ppg scorer next season and become a perennial 23 ppg after that.

Grade: A


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## Bball_Doctor (Dec 29, 2002)

*Re: Re: Final 2002 NBA Draft grades*



> Originally posted by <b>Bball_Doctor</b>!
> 
> 
> Here are my grades based on my expectations:
> ...


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## NugzFan (Jul 26, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>lanigan34</b>!
> Tskitishvilli-F-3.9ppg 2.9apg- One of the two F’s given out, basically this kid was Euro hype that played like Euro-trash. He couldn’t even get minutes on a monstrosity of a team in Denver. I bet Denver is praying right now to land Lebron to bail them out on this one. Reminds me of Bruno Sundov. Imagine if they got Amare and Nene, wow.


:laugh: 

sundov! skita will be fine. dont need to justify it to you though.


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## NugzFan (Jul 26, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>zerotre</b>!
> slowwwwwwwwwww down guys that kid in denver wasnt drafted to produce this year. They knew he was a project and will take aleast 3-4 years to develope. The kid didnt even play while in europe!! Drafts are hard to gauge after only one season, it takes aleast 3-5 seasons before you can judge the prospects, give tthem time to develope then you can compare.


:yes:


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## The OUTLAW (Jun 13, 2002)

Don't forget the Cavs rookie of the year Carlos Boozer

10ppg 7.5rpg I grade him out as an B+maybe even a bit higher since he was a second rounder


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## lanigan34 (Dec 27, 2002)

im going to grade the rest of the first round as well as some second rounders like Boozer


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## bigbabyjesus (Mar 1, 2003)

Wow stop hating Skita! Darko will probli only average two more points, rebounds then skita did this year..


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## lanigan34 (Dec 27, 2002)

I think Darko looks much more polished than Skita, also Scouts know a lot more about Darko's game as he has played a lot more than Skita. Im not giving up on Skita but his first season was a complete bust.


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## NugzFan (Jul 26, 2002)

wrong. while darko will defintely have a better rookie season than skita did, skitas rookie season was not a complete bust. this was expected. if hes still playing like this in 3 years then you can say that. til then, lay off the kid.


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## AdamIllman (May 12, 2003)

Thank you zerotre!!!! the guy didn't pick up a basketball until he was 17! come on boys lets give him some time. Imagine a healthy(better version) of Theo Ratliff at 5 (nene), a slightly lesser version of dirk at 4 (skita) and McGrady at the 2 (lebron). All this along with whoever they sign this year with there abundance of cash to throw around (gilbert arenas). Look out for this team after Shaq takes off.


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