Even before the second month of the new
NBA season ends, a lot of people are already saying that this batch of rookies
is comparable to the 2000 NBA Draft Class, which is possibly the worst insult
any draft class can receive. I mean, remember 2000? Kenyon Martin, yes, that
hothead from the Cincinnati Bearcats program who has been part-journeyman,
part-laughingstock in the NBA, was the top overall pick that year.
The second pick? Stromile Swift. The
third? Darius Miles. The fourth? Marcus Fizer.
Of all the picks in this draft, only
Martin, 19th pick Jamaal Magloire, and 43rd pick Michael
Redd have played in an NBA All-Star Game. Only four guys have received
end-of-season awards – Hedo Turkoglu as the Most Improved Player in 2008, Jamal
Crawford as the Sixth Man of the Year in 2010, and Mike Miller as the Sixth Man
of the Year in 2006. Oh and the Rookie of the Year of this class? Mike Miller,
only because each draft class needed to have an ROY recipient, right?
This class was so bad it’s the only
class, THE ONLY CLASS, to ever be rated F according to Dave Schoenfield of
ESPN.com.
The class of 2013-2014, however, seems
to be challenging that ignominious distinction.
Top pick Anthony Bennett is playing
just 10 minutes per game as a forced small forward with an obvious power
forward’s skill-set. Nerlens Noel and CJ McCollum, both among the first ten
picks, haven’t played a lick of pro hoops. Two members of the top five picks –
Alex Len and Otto Porter – are norming just 7.8 and 10.5 minutes respectively.
Yes, things look bleak. There might not
be any potential franchise player in the whole bunch – definitely nobody who
has made the same impact as, say, Damian Lillard did last season. Still, there
are a handful of names worth remembering, worth mentioning, if only because
they’ve had some shining moments, though few and far between.
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| Michael Carter-Williams has emerged as one of the most promising prospects for the the rookie class of 2013. (image from the Philadelphia 76ers' Facebook page) |