86 Forever: Darlington Nagbe Is ‘Best Player Available’ In MLS Draft

When projecting the MLS Draft, there’s an understandable inclination for us media types to look at a team’s needs and draft accordingly. Problem is, as 86 Forever’s Benjamin Massey points out, precious few of these players are ready to contribute right away. Unlike the NBA and NHL, MLS rookies rarely open the season as starters and often don’t contribute significantly for a few years.

In an entry draft, barring unusual circumstances, a team should always draft the best player available even if they don’t need to fill the position. Not to get too tautological, but if you have the best player that means you have the best player: You can trade one of your spare parts for whatever hole you need to fill plus a little extra, and you’re not trying to play Nostradamus guessing your 2014 starting eleven in advance.

Of course, sometimes “best player available” and “drafting for need” happen to overlap, which led Massey to going with the conventional wisdom of picking Darlington Nagbe with the first pick of the SB Nation MLS Mock Draft.