The NBA Draft has come and gone. There were some surprises, snubs, and steals. However, you never really know which teams have made the right choices, until you see these prospects play in real professional action. Now that Vegas Summer League has progressed, let’s start grading some rebuilds!
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Rebuild Grades:
Houston Rockets: A+
I’ll be the first to admit it. When Houston blew everything up, I thought this was going to be a six-plus year rebuild. They traded away Russell Westbrook and James Harden. Two future Hall of Famers. It wasn’t a re-tool type of deal either, they were betting on prospects. Betting on their scouting department. That’s not a bet I’d like to make when looking at Houston’s history. Boy was I wrong. This team is going to make the playoffs this year. Not the play-in game. The playoffs. Top eight seed.
Notable Draft Picks’ Summer League Stats:
Jalen Green – 20ppg, 51%FG, 4.3rebs, 2asts… he’s the best player in the draft in my opinion. He shoots like Brad Beal, with the confidence and quickness of Allen Iverson. Simply put, he’s going to be a league scoring champ multiple times when he retires.
Alperen Sengun – 15 ppg, 11 rebs… he’s the 19-year-old Turkish League MVP. He can shoot the three. He’s athletic. He can move. He will mix well with Chris Wood. Did I mention he’s 19?
Here’s the starting lineup for Houston this year: John Wall, Jalen Green, Kevin Porter Jr., Alperen Sengun, and Chris Wood. That’s absolutely terrorizing. Will they play any defense? No. Will they score 110 points per game? Yes. Incredible job by the Houston front office.
Golden State Warriors: C+
I give the Warriors front office a C+ on their rebuild. Not because they’ve made bad decisions, but I feel like they’ve hedged. Instead of packaging their #7, #14, and James Wiseman assets to get an All-Star caliber third scorer to put with Curry, Thompson, and Draymond (like Brad Beal), they decided to draft two of the youngest players in the draft to either trade later, or develop into future centerpieces. They didn’t just draft them because they were young, Kuminga and Moody also have tremendous potential.
Notable Draft Picks’ Summer League Stats:
Jonathan Kuminga – 17.3 ppg, 6 rebs… I don’t expect Kuminga to get a lot of burn for the Warriors this year. It helps that he played in the G-League last year, but on the Warriors, you need to be a 3-point shooter and have great pro bball IQ. He shot 25% from three in the G-League last year and is shooting 27% in the summer league. He’s also too young to have great bball IQ. He’ll get there though.
Moses Moody – 17 ppg, 2 rebs… Moses really fell to them. I was shocked he was available at 14 when I had him mocked at 8. He’s mainly a spark plug defensively and scoring in Summer League. Moody was THE guy at Arkansas. They looked to him for scoring, energy, and defense. He’s a true 3 and D guy, shooting 36% from 3, and he’s got upside as a playmaker. On the Warriors though, I don’t think he’ll get enough responsibility to really grow. You need minutes to get better. Also, if they are going to trade him in the future, they need to give him minutes to showcase his potential. I really think the Warriors would’ve been better served trading these picks than drafting players that won’t contribute.
Washington Wizards: F+
They didn’t get an F- because I want to be optimistic for my hometown team. The basis for this grade is that I don’t understand what they’re doing. They traded away a 32-year-old, future Hall of Famer, triple-double averaging point guard away. They didn’t even get back a top-three pick. Further, they added Spencer Dinwiddie, KCP, Kuzma, and Montrezl Harrel. Now they won’t even be bad enough to get great odds in the draft lottery. They’re going to be middling. Again. If you’re going to blow it up, blow it up. They should’ve traded Brad Beal when his demand was highest.
Now they risk injury hurting his value. I like Kyree Walker. He was a YouTube All-Star and legitimate lottery prospect before he decided to drop out and work on his game. A move I don’t necessarily disagree with, but it seemed to hurt his stock. Isiah Todd is also a good get. Corey Kispert might be the best shooter in the draft. I say all that to say, this Wizards team looks directionless. Yikes.
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