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How well does Danny work the draft?

The Jazz Wonderbra

The Jazz Wonderbra

Well-Known Member
hoopshype.com

Research: Which executives have drafted the most NBA stars?

To a large extent, the NBA draft is a crapshoot. But some executives excel at that crapshoot more than others. In the modern era, Sam Presti, for example, has an impressive track record with three …
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I thought this article was interesting. I think it has some holes. What position you draft and how many picks you have makes a big difference in the odds of getting an all nba player. And heaven knows Danny has drafted more than most each season.

Still, interesting food for though considering we are betting on the draft.
 
Just out of curiosity, I went to check who he has drafted over the years and where. Here is a short summary listing every DA FRP made before his Jazz era. I excluded guys who he traded away on draft day. I may have missed some incoming trades that he did on draft day but the transaction logs are kinda painful to check for rookies, so maybe I come back to check those later.

Top 10 draft picks
  • Marcus Smart (#6 in 2014)
  • Jaylen Brown (#3 in 2016)
  • Jayson Tatum (#3 in 2017)
In addition to these three, Ainge also had two other top 10 picks that he traded away on draft day in the early 2000s' (Randy Foye and Jeff Green were selected with those).

Picks at 11-20
  • Troy Bell (#16 in 2003)
  • Dahntay Jones (#20 in 2003)
  • Al Jefferson (#15 in 2004)
  • Gerald Green (#18 in 2005)
  • Avery Bradley (#19 in 2010)
  • James Young (#17 in 2014)
  • Terry Rozier (#16 in 2015)
  • Guerschon Yabusele (#16 in 2016)
  • Romeo Langford (#14 in 2019)
  • Matisse Thybulle (#20 in 2019) (traded the next day)
  • Aaron Nesmith (#14 in 2020)
Picks at 21-30
  • Delonte West (#24 in 2004)
  • Tony Allen (#25 in 2004)
  • Rajon Rondo (#21 in 2006) (traded a 2007 FRP for Rondo + Brian Grant on draft day)
  • J.R. Giddens (#30 in 2008)
  • Jared Sullinger (#21 in 2012)
  • Fab Melo (#22 in 2012)
  • R.J. Hunter (#28 in 2015)
  • Ante Zizic (#23 in 2016)
  • Robert Williams III (#27 in 2018)
  • Grant Williams (#22 in 2019)
  • Payton Pritchard (#26 in 2020)
  • Desmond Bane (#30 in 2020) (traded two days later)
I would say overall he has done much better than average on his picks. He has traded out of the top 10 twice but other than that Taylor Hendricks is actually only the 4th top 10 selection of Ainge's career who he has kept beyond draft day, with every top 10 pick before TH making either All-NBA 1st or 2nd or All-Defense 1st team.
 
From that list, I'd say the three top 10 picks are all very good picks, of the 11-20 picks Al Jefferson, Avery Bradley, Terry Rozier and Aaron Nesmith at least have been good picks and in 21-30 Rondo, Tony Allen, both Williamses and Bane are great picks, looks like Pritchard is pretty useful too.
 
Saint Cy of JFC said:
Danny got a different team here. Drafting is probably more democratic than we think.
Click to expand...
I think the buck still stops with the GM for the most part but a lot of the info filtering up to them and the voices in the room matter. It should also be stated that guys can improve or learn from past mistakes on this stuff. Also I still think there is a fair amount of luck in the draft. As long as the process and thought behind each pick is sound I don't have issues with hits and misses. I don't think I've had issue with any of the picks he has made even if they aren't guys I loved.
 
HermanG said:
Just out of curiosity, I went to check who he has drafted over the years and where. Here is a short summary listing every DA FRP made before his Jazz era. I excluded guys who he traded away on draft day. I may have missed some incoming trades that he did on draft day but the transaction logs are kinda painful to check for rookies, so maybe I come back to check those later.

Top 10 draft picks
  • Marcus Smart (#6 in 2014)
  • Jaylen Brown (#3 in 2016)
  • Jayson Tatum (#3 in 2017)
Click to expand...
2016 and 2017 draft was bonkers. Philly picked ben simmons/fultz at #1 then LA picked ingram/lonzo at #2. DA is the lord of all lords
 
Handlogten's Heros said:
I think the buck still stops with the GM for the most part but a lot of the info filtering up to them and the voices in the room matter. It should also be stated that guys can improve or learn from past mistakes on this stuff. Also I still think there is a fair amount of luck in the draft. As long as the process and thought behind each pick is sound I don't have issues with hits and misses. I don't think I've had issue with any of the picks he has made even if they aren't guys I loved.
Click to expand...
But isn't JZ the GM?
 
He got it very right in 2016 and 2017. But arguably has been pretty hit and miss on other picks pretty regularly.

Keyonte is a solid pickup based on the 16th pick. But there are lots of Romeo Langfords there too.

I feel like Ainge wins on quantity more than quality.
 
The Jazz Wonderbra said:
He got it very right in 2016 and 2017. But arguably has been pretty hit and miss on other picks pretty regularly.

Keyonte is a solid pickup based on the 16th pick. But there are lots of Romeo Langfords there too.

I feel like Ainge wins on quantity more than quality.
Click to expand...
He had 6 top 15 picks in Boston that produced 3 All-NBA players, 1 DPOY and you single out the only real miss that was Romeo Langford ar #14.

i guess that cherry fits your agenda.

DA has spent most of his career picking outside of lottery and has done pretty well. Best move was definitely trading back in to snatch Rondo, but there are several other great finds with late firsts.
 
Does Danny work it? Make it worth it? Let me work it
I put my thing down, flip it and reverse it
Ti esrever dna ti pilf nwod gnaht ym tup i
Ti esrever dna ti pilf nwod gnaht ym tup i
 
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