NBA Draft: The Top Teams
The 2011 NBA Draft is now just a week away and with a relatively weak incoming class, the teams with a keen eye for spotting talent will have an advantage over those which don’t. With that in mind, HOOPSWORLD is taking a look at the best teams in the NBA Draft over the past five years.
Simply pulling in All-Star selections or Rookie of the Year award winners isn’t the sole criteria, however. Perennial playoff teams find themselves picking late in the draft year after year, so finding good value for draft selections, no matter where they come, will weigh heavily into the process.
The Top Five
Oklahoma City Thunder – After winning 52 games in the 2004-05 NBA season in Seattle, the franchise won a total of 109 in the four following campaigns. Under the leadership of Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti, the Thunder has navigated the crapshoot which is the draft as well as any team in the league. Landing Kevin Durant with the No. 2 overall selection in the 2007 NBA Draft was a bit of good luck, but Presti and his staff have taken advantage of good draft positioning while finding a gem or two late in the process as well.
Many so-called experts viewed selecting Russell Westbrook with the fourth pick in the 2008 NBA Draft as a reach, but the former UCLA standout became an All-Star this season while helping Oklahoma City to its second consecutive season with at least 50 wins and a trip to the Western Conference Finals. In the same draft, the Thunder took Congolese big man Serge Ibaka with the 24th pick. In his third NBA season, Ibaka averaged 9.9 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocked shots in just 27 minutes per game.
Oklahoma City’s ability to draft well has put the team in position to contend for the Western Conference title for the foreseeable future with the NBA’s fifth-lowest payroll and one of the youngest rosters in the league.
Houston Rockets – The Rockets haven’t had a top-ten pick in the NBA Draft since 2006, when the team drafted Rudy Gay with the eighth pick and immediately packaged him with Stromile Swift in exchange for veteran forward Shane Battier. While Gay has emerged as one of the game’s best young players, Battier’s leadership and versatility were invaluable to the Rockets until he was shipped back to Memphis this season.
The Rockets’ only other pick in the lottery came in the 2010 NBA Draft, when Houston took former Kentucky star Patrick Patterson. After the All-Star Break, the 6-9 power forward averaged 8.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 21.1 minutes per game while shooting .561 from the field. {AUTHOR_BOX}
Houston landed Aaron Brooks, who started all 82 games for Houston in 2009-10, with the 26th pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. In his third season with the team, Brooks averaged 19.6 points and 5.3 assists per game while becoming the league’s Most Improved Player.
General Manager Daryl Morey found another gem when he took former Arizona Wildcats swingman Chase Budinger with the 44th overall selection in the 2009 NBA Draft. The 6-7 Budinger started 22 of 24 games after the 2011 All-Star break, averaging 14.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.
Despite repeated injuries to then-stars Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, Houston’s ability to draft well has kept them competitive in an extremely deep Western Conference.
Sacramento Kings – I know, I know. The Kings draft picks have hardly resulted in wins on the basketball court but President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie has drafted well enough to give Sacramento a solid young core of player around which to build moving forward.
The Kings didn’t exactly hit a home run when they picked Spencer Hawes with the ninth selection in the 2007 NBA Draft, but Petrie was able to package Hawes with forward Andres Nocioni for Samuel Dalembert and his expiring contract, giving the Kings lowest payroll in the NBA.
Since then, Sacramento has had three successful drafts, landing blossoming forward Jason Thompson with the 12th pick in 2008 and versatile forward Omri Casspi with the 23rd pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. 2010 NBA Rookie of the Year, Tyreke Evans was their top pick in the 2009 NBA Draft and they landed a pair of talented big men in DeMarcus Cousins (2010-11 All-Rookie first team) and Hassan Whiteside, a shot-blocking specialist in the 2010 NBA Draft.
The Kings will, once again, have a top-ten pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, where they will look to add to an already talented, but young and inexperienced, roster.
San Antonio Spurs – San Antonio General Manager R.C. Buford has long been known for his ability to maximize the team’s draft positioning, finding players like Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili late in their respective drafts. While he hasn’t found Parker’s and Ginobili’s equals in the past five drafts, Buford has continued to find gems despite picking near the bottom of the first round year after year.
The Spurs tabbed one of the top international big men, Tiago Splitter, with the 28th pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. While this season (his first in the NBA) was challenging for him, Splitter is promising young center. In just over 12 minutes per game, the Brazilian averaged 4.6 points and 3.4 rebounds while shooting .529 from the field as a rookie.
In the 2008 NBA Draft, San Antonio landed point guard George Hill with the 26th pick. The former IUPUI star has become one of the best reserve guards in the NBA, proving to be a capable scorer and outstanding defender off the bench for San Antonio. His strong play over the course of the last two years could make Parker, the Spurs best trade asset, expendable as the Spurs look to re-tool following a first-round playoff exit in 2011.
The following year, Buford and his staff made DeJuan Blair, one of the best rebounders in college basketball history, the 37th pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. The 6-7, 270 lb., power forward has continued to rebound the ball at a high rate and is proving to be an efficient scorer and solid defensive player.
While San Antonio might not have reeled in some of the biggest names in past five drafts, the Spurs have managed to continue to add solid pieces despite the fact that they have had just three first-round selections over that span and never picked higher than 20th overall.
New York Knicks – You may be scratching your head at this one but, even when Isiah Thomas was calling the shots in the New York, the Knickerbockers have done a nice job on draft night.
New York hasn’t had as many lottery selections in the last five years as their less than spectacular regular season records might suggest (the Knicks have traded several picks), but the franchise has capitalized on the picks it has had.
The Knicks used the 23rd pick in the 2007 NBA Draft on DePaul forward Wilson Chandler. The 6-8 Chandler is a versatile player who saw his numbers improve, in nearly every statistical category, each year he was with New York. A strong defender, Chandler became a key piece in the trade that brought Carmelo Anthony to the Big Apple.
In the 2008 and 2009 NBA Drafts, the Knicks used the sixth and eighth picks on Danilo Gallinari and Jordan Hill, respectively. Gallinari has developed into one of the NBA’s best young scorers and sharp-shooters and was the center-piece of the ‘Melo deal with the Nuggets. Hill, who never really fit in with the Knicks, was shipped to Houston for Tracy McGrady, a deal which freed up the cap space necessary for New York to pursue, and eventually land, free agent forward Amar’e Stoudemire in the summer of 2010.
In the 2010 NBA Draft, the Knicks made shooting guard Landry Fields the 39th overall selection. The 6-7, Stanford product started 81 games as a rookie, averaging 9.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.0 steals while shooting .497 from the field and .393 from behind the three-point line.
The draft day moves made by the Knicks over the past five years may not jump off the page at anyone, but without acquiring those pieces, New York wouldn’t have been able to climb back into the playoff picture or acquire Stoudemire and Anthony over the course of the last year.
Luke Byrnes covers NCAA men’s basketball and the NBA for HOOPSWORLD. You can follow him on Twitter or drop him a question in his weekly chat.
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