Lets go back to last years rooks and give them a grade on their rookie seasons
B-Great Spark off the Bench and could've been just as productive as the other top scorers if a Starter in my mind.
D.J Augustin-A- The guy can score and shot the 3 very well, injuries kind of took away the season.
Marc Gasol- B- A solid center, but didn't do anything special. Alot better then I expected though and he had some big games.
Beasly just doesnt care about the stats. Its harder for him to dominate the way he did in college becasue the comp is the best of the best bigger and stronger. He will find his way tho.How can you give Danilo a B+ he showed some skills here an there but that was here and there, not everynite not even ever week he ws out so many games since the summer league to the reglur season. Marc gasol solid rookie, Brook solid, Anthony randoplh was projected to go early as the 5th pick but ended up being the 14th and a steal he has a crazy upside. Brandon rush? I didnt watch alot of pacer games where i saw him play so im not sure but i think im sure he went to early.Bayless is in a bad situation as of now... but great pick up for the team with the 13th pick he was projected 4th. the only team that gets a F is the bucks because
they could have got a real talented player but passed on one for joe....joe is going to be a bust i tell you.
nbatv is showing the '95 draft I will start with this class.
1- joe smith, c
2- antonio mcdyess, b-
3- jerry stackhouse, b+
4- rasheed wallace, b+
5- kevin garnett, a+
6- bryant reeves, d-
7- damion stoudamire, b
8- shaun respect, f
9- ed obannon, f
10- kut thomas, c-
11-gary trent, d-
12- cheeroke parks, f
13- corliss williamson, c
14- eric williams c-
As you all can see I think the '95 draft was the worst of all time. I hope this years crop turn out better than this pathetic class. No disrespect KG.
rose- a+
beasley- a-
mayo- b+
westbrook- a
love- b+
galinari(injuries)- b-
gordon- a
alexander- d( i heard somewhere he has a bad attitude)
augustin- c
lopez a+(steal of the draft)
bayless- c(not enough playing time)
lee- a
randolph- b+
chalmers- a+(out of nowhere starter)
jordan- a-(i was pleasantly surprised)
fernandez- a(a good shooter off the bench for years for portland)
gasol- a+(much better than i expected)
oden- c-(fouls too much)
Derrick Rose: A
Michael Beasley: C (A Big Disappointment IMO, but his lack of height clearly plays a factor in his performance)
OJ Mayo: A- (Up & Down, but great season nonetheless)
Russell Westbrook: B+ (Big surprise, but very poor A/TO% for a starting PG)
Kevin Love: B
Danilo Galinari: D (Injuries a Factor)
Eric Gordon: B
Joe Alexander: D (Big Disappointment but also couldn't get minutes)
DJ Augustin: B-
Brook Lopez: A
Jerryd Bayless: F (PT a factor, but not effective when given minutes)
Jason Thompson: B
Brandon Rush: C-
Anthony Randolph: C+ (Not effective yet)
Robin Lopez: D- (for Duhhh, what were you expecting?)
Marreese Speights: B- (Good Bench Player)
Roy Hibbert: D+
JaVale McGee: C
JJ Hickson: D
Alexis Ajinca: F
Ryan Anderson: C-
Courtney Lee: B (Great in Playoffs)
Kosta Koufos: D+
Serge Ibaka: INC
Nicolas Batum: C+ (Surprising effective, but not too productive)
George Hill: B- (Good pick here by SAS)
Darrell Arthur: D (Poor FG % for a PF)
Donte Greene: F
DJ White: C (Only played a few games but promising)
JR Giddens: D- (Only played a few games, not too promising)
Walter Sharpe: F
Joey Dorsey: F
Mario Chalmers: B (Shouldn't have fallen out of first round)
DeAndre Jordan: C (Not a big bust as predicted but not effective yet)
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute: C+(Big Surprise)
Kyle Weaver: C-
***
Rudy Fernandez: B+ (Needs to strengthen up to become more effective)
Marc Gasol: B+
Greg Oden: C+ (Injuries/hype a problem)
Yes, Gallo showed flashes of brillance, but for the guys picked behind him (Eric Gordon, a guy the Knicks could have used) Gallo gets a C, maybe a C+ b/c of the injuries also. Not bad for a rookie year though. Hopefully he recovers 100% and plays well in 2009. GO KNICKS!!!!
Derrick Rose
Grade:A-
The reason is that he did not disappoint and "mikenike" pointed out that he did show up in the CHI-BOS series with posting up 30+ in his debut. Aside from that highlight, Rose did a good job in his rookie season (16.8 PPG; 6.3 APG). Even with a young team, they managed to make it to the first round. Needs to work on his 3pt shot and avoid becoming turnover prone.
O.J. Mayo
Grade:B
O.J. Mayo was quite a scorer this season. A starter for the Grizzlies. He averages 18.5 PPG and he did not miss any games. He played all 82 games and turned out to be a win-win situation for that Minnesota - Memphis draft day trade, favoring Memphis. It is unfortunate that with such a young core they lost some games they would've won.
Brook Lopez
Grade:B+
Turned out to be a solid player. He is #9 within the top 10 league leaders in blocks last season. He filled out the Nets' need of a center. Now they could work on finding the pieces for their team. Brook is doing a good job. He had 18 double-doubles.
Michael Beasley
Grade:B-
Beasley did not have that double-double season like had in Kansas State. Well, that's the NCAA, this is the NBA. Definitely needs to work in the post sometime. Grab more boards and more aggressive. Yes, he might have more mins next season, but we'll never know. He had an "OK" rookie season.
Eric Gordon
Grade:B-
He is in the starting five and is doing good for his rookie season. Posting up 16.8 ppg. Adds youth to a team cursed with injuries (Clippers). However, he managed to play about 78 games. He did not disappoint like some rookies (Gallinari). Good season overall.
Danillo Gallinari
Grade:D
He only played 28 games, he got injured during the summer camp. He has back problems. The Knicks had a chance of snatching Gordon but they went with Gallinari. However, I'm going to give it some time until he gets himself healed from injuries. See how he fares next season. On the other hand, for his rookie season he gets a 'D'.
Greg Oden and Micheal Beasley are severely underrated, Greg Oden will have an amazing year this year, he didn't do that bad last year; him and Bynum are probably just the worst two players in the league in getting themselves in foul trouble. Oden will make all-star teams, and prove himself un-busted. Beasley just started to figure things out, he came on fire at the end of the year...I think based on his college number, and Durant's, he will have a second year to the same kind of degree - given he gets the role and touches he deserves.
Grades based on where they were drafted for rookie year, and performance:
Rose: A
Beasley: C+, given starting role and minutes like rose, he would have lead rookies in scoring
Mayo: A-
Westbrook: B+
Love: B+, he didn't get as much playing time as the guys ahead of him, I expect 15 10 out of him next year
Gallinari: C-, only for the glimpses he did show, but they had better options, seemingly
Gordon: A, it's suprising out of the clippers, but he can score, and he will
Alexander: D+, they were way to in love with him, for potential???
Augustin: B, I am not sure which way he will go yet, he was better than Felton...
Lopez: A, smart move, Stanford 7 footer, with the fundementals on lock down, his basketball IQ surpasses most 7 footers easily
Bayless: D, For this late it's a steal, he can score, he proved that in the summer league, everyone thought he slipped big time, he is supposed to start this year, which means he probably learened defense given his coach
Thompson: B+, people thought this was a stretch....not so much
Rush: C, he did exactly what we thought he would and should do...so C
Randolph: A-, once Nelly played him, my jaw dropped, he needs to get traded to OKC and him and Durant can be the skinny wonders
Other notable picks:
Speights: B+, a good defensive presence, will give PFs trouble
Ryan Anderson: B, for the right system he is a great 6th man
Lee: A-, a steal for that late
Hill: B+, he needs to go somewhere he can start because he isn't as good role playing
Chalmers: A, a second rounder that starts right off, and then stays there all year and plays well, why did he drop, did no one watch the NCAA finals.
Jerryd Bayless wasnt givin much mintues and when he was he got to the line at will. Blake had a great year and instead of scoring nate wanted a playmaker so he would use sergio alot. bayless didnt get much Tick if u watched if giving big PT and more freedom he could have easily done what mayo,rose, gordon, and westbrook did. I dont even think it was defense that put him on the bench even tho every player can improve their d. it was lack of pg skills
D-Rose---A+ carried his tea to a seventh game against the defending champs and set a playoff debut record as a rookie( yea withought KG) and he showed us why he was 1st pick
B-Easy---B+ we all knew he could score, an he will be a dominant scorer for years to come ,but i wanna see him get mor min's next year,and do something other than score(get 20 boards,or 5 blocks)and i wanna see him be a team player, it seems like all he cares bout is the stats
Brook Lopez---A a good post presence for years to come, i thought this guy would be good not as early as he was and he's only getting better
Gallinari---B- he had flashes of brilliance in some games , but he was very limited to playing time due to injuries
Eric Gordon---B+ flat out pure scorer who had a good rookie year and showed that he will be able to take over games with his scoring ability for years to come
OJ Mayo---B+ he too showed he is an unstoppable scorer and why he will be a future star for a very long time, i would lke to see him be more of a leader and take over the end of games to get his team some W's, he seems like he just plays for stats right now but he will change because he's a fierce competitor
What do u think? any others?