RedBlackAttack
09-14-2016, 10:59 PM
While the 1984, 1996 and 2003 drafts are debated endlessly, which of these recent drafts was the better one, top-to-bottom?
Keep in mind that the 2009 draft class is at an advantage because we're basically into the prime of all these players, whereas the best still may be yet to come for many in the 2011 draft.
Anyway, here's a quick rundown starting with the stars and all the way down to the contributors off the bench, who still remain at least somewhat vital. Where they were drafted is in parenthesis.
I put them in a somewhat random order as I found guys, but I tried to separate the tiers of players as I see them.
** = at least (1) All NBA selection
* = at least (1) All-Star selection
2009
Steph Curry (7)**
James Harden (3)**
Blake Griffin (1)**
Demar Derozen (9)*
Jeff Teague (19)*
Jrue Holiday (17)*
Danny Green (46)
DeMarre Carroll (27)
Ricky Rubio (5)
Taj Gibson (26)
Patty Mills (55)
Tyreke Evans (4)
Patrick Beverley (42)
Brandon Jennings (10)
Ty Lawson (18)
Jodie Meeks (41)
DeJuan Blair (37)
Omri Casspi (23)
Jonas Jerebko (39)
Jordan Hill (8)
Gerald Henderson (12)
Tyler Hansbrough (13)
Darren Collison (21)
Marcus Thornton (43)
Wayne Ellington (28)
Earl Clark (14)
2011
Kawhi Leonard (15)**
Kyrie Irving (1)**
Jimmy Butler (30)*
Klay Thompson (11)*
Isaiah Thomas (60)*
Kemba Walker (9)
Tristan Thompson (4)
Reggie Jackson (24)
Chandler Parsons (38)
Jonas Valanciunas (5)
Enes Kanter (3)
Kenneth Faried (22)
Nikola Vucevic (16)
Bismack Biyombo (7)
Donatas Montiejunas (20)
Tobias Harris (19)
Iman Shumpert (17)
Cory Joseph (29)
Alec Burks (12)
Bojan Bogdanovic (31)
Marcus Morris (14)
Markieff Morris (13)
Kyle Singler (33)
Brandon Knight (8)
Jon Leuer (40)
Norris Cole (28)
Derrick Williams (2)
E'Twaun Moore (55)
Shelvin Mack (34)
Lavoy Allen (50)
It seems like 2008 still has the edge with a top-heavy group of players firmly in their collective primes, including two guys in the MVP talks annually. The 2011 draft looks better and better each year and arguably could be considered the deeper draft already.
It'll be interesting to check back in with this thread 4-5 years from now. I think these are the two best drafts of the last decade, just in terms of the combination of volume/depth and elite talent at the top.
Keep in mind that the 2009 draft class is at an advantage because we're basically into the prime of all these players, whereas the best still may be yet to come for many in the 2011 draft.
Anyway, here's a quick rundown starting with the stars and all the way down to the contributors off the bench, who still remain at least somewhat vital. Where they were drafted is in parenthesis.
I put them in a somewhat random order as I found guys, but I tried to separate the tiers of players as I see them.
** = at least (1) All NBA selection
* = at least (1) All-Star selection
2009
Steph Curry (7)**
James Harden (3)**
Blake Griffin (1)**
Demar Derozen (9)*
Jeff Teague (19)*
Jrue Holiday (17)*
Danny Green (46)
DeMarre Carroll (27)
Ricky Rubio (5)
Taj Gibson (26)
Patty Mills (55)
Tyreke Evans (4)
Patrick Beverley (42)
Brandon Jennings (10)
Ty Lawson (18)
Jodie Meeks (41)
DeJuan Blair (37)
Omri Casspi (23)
Jonas Jerebko (39)
Jordan Hill (8)
Gerald Henderson (12)
Tyler Hansbrough (13)
Darren Collison (21)
Marcus Thornton (43)
Wayne Ellington (28)
Earl Clark (14)
2011
Kawhi Leonard (15)**
Kyrie Irving (1)**
Jimmy Butler (30)*
Klay Thompson (11)*
Isaiah Thomas (60)*
Kemba Walker (9)
Tristan Thompson (4)
Reggie Jackson (24)
Chandler Parsons (38)
Jonas Valanciunas (5)
Enes Kanter (3)
Kenneth Faried (22)
Nikola Vucevic (16)
Bismack Biyombo (7)
Donatas Montiejunas (20)
Tobias Harris (19)
Iman Shumpert (17)
Cory Joseph (29)
Alec Burks (12)
Bojan Bogdanovic (31)
Marcus Morris (14)
Markieff Morris (13)
Kyle Singler (33)
Brandon Knight (8)
Jon Leuer (40)
Norris Cole (28)
Derrick Williams (2)
E'Twaun Moore (55)
Shelvin Mack (34)
Lavoy Allen (50)
It seems like 2008 still has the edge with a top-heavy group of players firmly in their collective primes, including two guys in the MVP talks annually. The 2011 draft looks better and better each year and arguably could be considered the deeper draft already.
It'll be interesting to check back in with this thread 4-5 years from now. I think these are the two best drafts of the last decade, just in terms of the combination of volume/depth and elite talent at the top.