Thursday night’s NBA Draft is in the books, and now we can see how each team did. Or, more specifically, we can see how various draft gurus feel about how each team did, opinions which are pretty wildly variable and bound to be wrong on somebody’s end.
2013 NBA Draft grades: Wizards, 76ers get best reviews in Eastern Conference
The Washington Wizards nailed it with Otto Porter, and the 76ers’ draft night gamble might not pay off, but the boldness of starting over with Nerlens Noel and Michael Carter-Williams was appreciated.
USA TODAY Sports
In addition to SB Nation’s NBA Draft Grades -- which are extremely pretty and pretty much require that you go look at them -- we analyzed how three other sites, Chad Ford at ESPN (Insider required), Matt Moore at CBS, and Adi Joseph at USA Today, graded each team in the Eastern Conference.
Atlanta Hawks
No. 16, Lucas Nogueira, No. 17, Dennis Schroeder, No. 44, Mike Muscala, No. 47, Raul Neto
SB Nation: Nogueira (B+ upside, B fit, D immediate impact), Schroeder (A- upside, A fit, C immediate impact)
ESPN: C
USA Today: A
CBS: Nogueira, C, Schroeder, A+, Muscala, C-, Neto, D-
The Hawks made the interesting decision of trading up a single pick to ensure they could get Nogueira, which is all the more interesting because he might be a few years from being an NBA-rotation-level player, even though the team is set to replace a lot of their talent this offseason. People are high on Schroeder, though, and the team also brought in Jared Cunningham via trade as the Mavs looked to dump salary.
Boston Celtics
No. 13, Kelly Olynyk, No. 53, Colton Iverson
SB Nation: Olynyk (B- upside, B fit, B immediate impact)
ESPN: B+
USA Today: C-
CBS: Olynyk, C, Iverson, B
Let’s be honest. Nobody is viewing the Celtics based on who they selected, considering they pressed the implode button on their franchise Thursday night and committed to rebuilding.
Brooklyn Nets
No. 22, Mason Plumlee
SB Nation: C+ upside, A fit, B immediate impact
ESPN: B
USA Today: B+
CBS: A-
Same here, although the pick of Plumlee seems to have gone over pretty well.
Charlotte Bobcats
No. 4, Cody Zeller
SB Nation: A- upside, C- fit, C immediate impact
ESPN: C
USA Today: B+
CBS: D+
Everybody acknowledges that taking Zeller was a reach, especially with Nerlens Noel and Alex Len surprisingly still on the board. So that docks the Bobcats a bit. The question is whether the athletic big man from Indiana is actually a fit with the Bobcats. Opinions are mixed on that, although it raises the question of why you’re trying to find a roster fit when you’re the Bobcats in the first place.
Chicago Bulls
No. 20, Tony Snell, No. 49, Erik Murphy
SB Nation: Snell (C+ upside, B fit, C immediate impact)
ESPN: C-
USA Today: A-
CBS: Snell, A-, Murphy, A-
The Bulls drafted for need -- a three-D player in Snell and a stretch four in Murphy -- and in both cases seem to have gotten players capable of filling those roles. Some felt that the Bulls may have been better suited taking Allen Crabbe than Snell, but these were generally well-received picks.
Cleveland Cavaliers
No. 1, Anthony Bennett, No. 19, Sergey Karasev, No. 33, Carrick Felix
SB Nation: Bennett (A upside, D fit, B- immediate impact), Karasev (B- upside, A fit, D immediate impact)
ESPN: B
USA Today: B
CBS Sports: Bennett, B, Karasev, A-, Felix, C+
The Cavs had the top pick and left everybody waiting, eventually surprising by taking Bennett. There were flaws with whoever they were going to select, and nobody will fault them for taking Bennett over Alex Len or Nerlens Noel -- for a No. 1 pick, they were in a pretty damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t scenario. The Karasev pick earned raves.
Detroit Pistons
No. 8, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, No. 37, Tony Mitchell, No. 56, Peyton Siva
SB Nation: Caldwell-Pope (B upside, C fit, B+ immediate impact)
ESPN: B
USA Today: B
CBS: Caldwell-Pope, B-, Mitchell, A+, Siva, B+
The Caldwell-Pope pick surprised a lot of people, because the Pistons’ obvious choice was to fill their point guard role with Michigan product Trey Burke. But Caldwell-Pope will be a legitimate NBA shooter, and the Pistons might have had the best second round of any team in the draft, taking a likely first-rounder 20 picks after some expected him to go, and taking the point guard from the team that won the national championship.
Indiana Pacers
No. 23, Solomon Hill
SB Nation: C upside, F fit, B- immediate impact
ESPN: D-
USA Today: C
CBS: D+
Not a lot of love for Hill, the Arizona product who many feel was a reach as a first-round prospect and doesn’t particularly fill a team need.
Miami Heat
No. 50, James Ennis
ESPN: B-
USA Today: C-
CBS: B
Relatively quiet night for the two-time defending NBA champs, which is fine for them. The Heat liked Ennis enough to trade into the draft to pick him up, but he’s a third or fourth stringer down a very deep and talented depth chart.
Milwaukee Bucks
No. 15, Giannis Antetokounmbo, No. 38, Nate Wolters
SB Nation: Adetokunbo (A upside, B fit, F immediate impact)
ESPN: Incomplete
USA Today: B
CBS: Adetokunbo, B-, Wolters, A-
The Bucks might have gambled more than any team in the draft, so graders had mixed feelings about them. Adetokunbo is mysterious, with nobody really knowing enough about him to know whether he’ll be great or awful. And Wolters was an amazing scorer in college, but that might have been because he was playing in the Summit League. We’ll have to wait and see here.
New York Knicks
No. 24, Tim Hardaway
SB Nation: C upside, A fit, B- immediate impact
ESPN: C
USA Today, B-
CBS: B+
The hope is that Hardaway manages to fill the bench shooter/scorer role likely to be vacated by J.R. Smith. If he can manage to stick in the Knicks’ rotation as a rookie, this was a solid pick in the late first round.
Orlando Magic
No. 2, Victor Oladipo, No. 51, Romero Osby
SB Nation: Oladipo (B upside, A fit, A- immediate impact)
ESPN: A-
USA Today: B
CBS: Oladipo, A, Osby, F
Many feel that Oladipo was the safest pick in the NBA draft, the player most likely to pan out with the least likelihood of failing. That’s exactly what the Magic need as they look to piece together a decent franchise a year removed from the Dwight Howard deal.
Philadelphia 76ers
No. 6, Nerlens Noel, No. 11, Michael Carter-Williams, No. 54, Arsalan Kazemi
SB Nation: Noel (A- upside, B fit, D immediate impact), Carter-Williams (A- upside, A fit, B immediate impact)
ESPN: A+
USA Today: C+
CBS: Noel, A, Carter-Williams, B-, Kazemi, B-
The Sixers were the boldest squad Thursday night, dealing away Jrue Holiday for Noel, who some thought could be the top pick but slipped all the way to No. 6. Ending up with Noel and Carter-Williams is definitely a coup for Philadelphia, but the question is whether it was worth giving up Holiday. There’s a lot of promise here for a team that’s just decided to start over.
Toronto Raptors
No picks
ESPN: N/A
USA Today: B
CBS: N/A
You cannot lose if you do not play.
Washington Wizards
No. 3, Otto Porter, No. 35, Glen Rice Jr.
SB Nation: Porter (B upside, A fit, A- immediate impact)
ESPN: A
USA Today: A
CBS: Porter, A+, Rice, A+
And finally, we have ourselves a winner. Porter was the easy, perfect pick for Washington: a talent-level fit for the No. 3 pick, a fit in his hometown community after playing at Georgetown, and he fits a team need at small forward. Impossible to miss. And Rice seems like a great value pick after his career flamed out at Georgia Tech before leading his team to a D-League Championship. Throw these guys in alongside John Wall and Bradley Beal, and there are good things afoot in Washington.
More from SB Nation:
See More:
