Are the NBA draft entrants the hardest to grade in pro sports?

[Yuma]

Man, after reading a ton of draft info for this draft, I see so many contradictions, differing reports on players, and just general confusion associated with these potential NBA players. I think it's easier to evaluate NFL, MLB, and even NHL draft prospects. The problem is there are so many basketball leagues around the world that are still secretive to the rest of the world. How does a european players stats compare to a south american player's stats? Why do two different scouts give exact opposite gradings to the same player? Even these draft camps are confusing because the players look great at one camp and disappear at the next. Not all players play in all the camps, or some don't even play in any at all. I know the top guys feel they don't want to get hurt and don't show because they have nothing to prove, but it takes away from evaluating how far away the second player is at that position to the first player. This draft in particular seems harder to grade than others recently. At this point, beyond the top 5 or 6 positions, it gets murky real quick. Usually in the NFL draft, you can get a feel of how players are going to go in the draft. This draft will be a wild one, I have a feeling.

 

[Joe Mama]

It is becoming very difficult to figure out the NBA draft because most of us have never seen the majority of the players projected to be taken in the first round.

BTW, if you think about it would you mind breaking up your posts a little bit, Yuma. It will make them a little bit easier to read.

Thanks,

Joe Mama

 

[Yuma]

No problem about breaking up the posts, however I thought this was one of my more coherent posts. I know I usually ramble a bit!

 

[jbeecham]

I think the biggest problem is that players are inconsistent. Maybe one guy sees him on his good day and the other sees him on a bad day. Also, some of these scouting reports might be written after seeing a player play once or maybe even just practice. Plus, we have no idea what the agendas could be behind the guys writing the player evals. Maybe they want to talk a guy down so he slips in the draft to a certain team or talk him up so he gets picked higher.

 

[arthurracoon]

No. NFL is the hardest.

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by arthurracoon
No. NFL is the hardest.

I disagree. The only reason that could be true is because there are so many players in the NFL draft.

But the NBA (and to a lesser extent the NHL) is now saturated with players that don't fit into a position. There is no PG, SG, SF, PF, and C delineation anymore. Instead, you have to totally focus on more specific items like shooting and rebounding, post defense, etc. Whereas in football, when guaging a quarterback or running back, you actually have a constant to refer to. Cuttino Mobley wouldn't be assessed the same way as Kobe Bryant, even though they play the same position.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Originally posted by Chaplin
I disagree. The only reason that could be true is because there are so many players in the NFL draft.

But the NBA (and to a lesser extent the NHL) is now saturated with players that don't fit into a position. There is no PG, SG, SF, PF, and C delineation anymore. Instead, you have to totally focus on more specific items like shooting and rebounding, post defense, etc. Whereas in football, when guaging a quarterback or running back, you actually have a constant to refer to. Cuttino Mobley wouldn't be assessed the same way as Kobe Bryant, even though they play the same position.

I agree, and there is actually more room for error in the NFL.

An NFL rookie class, with draft picks and undrafted free agents, can be 30 or so players depending on the team. The Cards brought 20 players, while the Suns bring in maybe 6.

 

[Joe Mama]

Also, with the NFL draft most people who follow college football have seen the players or know somebody who has seen the players a couple times. With the NBA draft there are so many foreign players and high school players now that hardly anybody has seen two thirds of the players taken in the first round. We all rely on a few guys in Europe who have seen a few of the prospects play or web sites to tell us who is good.

Joe Mama

 

[Krangodnzr]

Originally posted by Joe Mama
Also, with the NFL draft most people who follow college football have seen the players or know somebody who has seen the players a couple times. With the NBA draft there are so many foreign players and high school players now that hardly anybody has seen two thirds of the players taken in the first round. We all rely on a few guys in Europe who have seen a few of the prospects play or web sites to tell us who is good.

Joe Mama

I agree to an extent...

NFL teams have to judge at least 1,000 prospects yearly for the draft. Many of them are small college prospects that none of have seen, just like the Euro guys.

Football teams in College would comprise about 6-7 college basketball teams, so there is the same problem in football too, due to the very large pool of players out there...