The Great Hawks and Mavericks Rebuilding Experiment

[Thomas]

On 6/10/2019 at 10:25 AM, Buzzard said:

One more pick from the Mavs to play with. I think this draft is a lot like the ones in which Klay Thompson, Myles Turner, Paul George, and Kawhi Leonard were in. There is a diamond waiting on us at 8 and/or 10.

Keep remembering Kawhi was the #15 pick in his draft. Jeepers.

[AHF]

50 minutes ago, Thomas said:

Keep remembering Kawhi was the #15 pick in his draft. Jeepers.

We've seen a handful of top guys specifically at that #15 spot which is a bit of an anomaly (Giannis, Nash and Kawhi).  If you look at the top seasons by WS since 1999-00, here are the top ones for players selected outside the lottery (i.e., top 14).  The ones in bold were taken after pick 20 and the underlined ones are not first rounders:

#45 Giannis

#59 Jimmy Butler

#64 Kawhi Leonard

#65 Gilbert Arenas

#68 Kawhi Leonard

#106 Steve Nash

#109 Isaiah Thomas

#110 Giannis

#111 Steve Nash

#118 Sam Cassell

#126 Giannis

#131 Nikola Jokic

#132 DeAndre Jordan

#135 Andrei Kirilenko

#136 Kyle Lowry

#137 Anthony Mason

#138 Steve Nash

#141 Gilbert Arenas

#146 Gerald Wallace

#152 Jimmy Butler

#156 John Stockton

#161 Draymond Green

#165 Manu Ginobili

#177 Gilbert Arenas

#194 Ben Wallace

#198 Jermaine O'Neal

 

So of the top 200 seasons, it breaks down like this:

Top 14 Picks:  174/200 = 87%

Top 20 Picks:  184/200 = 92%

First Round Picks:  189/200 = 94.5%

 

(Didn't have it in me to redo this for the full chart but of the top 60 seasons, 44/60 or 73% are from top 5 picks.)

[Thomas]

That number #15 pick just got his second championship MVP. A crazy but fun season all in all. 

[NBASupes]

These types are so hard because they need so much to work in the NBA.