Chad Ford's Draft Grades [Need an ESPN Insider please]

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Quat-tro!

TORONTO RAPTORS GRADE: Inc.

Round 1: Jonas Valanciunas (5)

Round 2: None.

Analysis: I'm not sure how I feel about the Raptors selecting Jonas Valanciunas. On one hand, he's a legit 7-foot center who isn't afraid to mix it up in the paint. On the other hand, it's still unclear when he's going to come to the NBA.

The Raptors took a big, long-term risk. It could pay off handsomely, but it won't pay off right away. Given the Raptors' fortunes the past few years, how long can they wait? If Valanciunas comes soon and develops, it was worth the risk. If it takes him a while to get here, they may have been better off with Biyombo.



UTAH JAZZ GRADE: A

Round 1: Enes Kanter (3, obtained from New Jersey), Alec Burks (12)

Round 2: None.

Analysis: I really like the Utah draft. Kanter has the ability to be a productive starting center in the league. And Burks is a very talented guard who, if he develops a jump shot, could become a star.

With the addition of Kanter and Burks plus Derrick Favors and last year's lottery pick, Gordon Hayward, the Jazz have quickly rebuilt a strong young talent base while keeping a nice core of veterans around to mentor them. The future looks very bright in Utah.





WASHINGTON WIZARDS GRADE: A

Round 1: Jan Vesely (6), Chris Singleton (18, obtained from Atlanta)

Round 2: Shelvin Mack (34)

Analysis: This was a critical summer for the Wizards. Drafting John Wall was easy last year. This year, the challenge was to surround him with players who complement his talents. Mission accomplished.

Vesely is one of the most athletic forwards in the draft and should be great flying up and down the floor with Wall. Singleton is also a terrific athlete and the best defender in the draft. Factor in Shelvin Mack as a solid backup guard at No. 34, and the Wizards came away more athletic and tougher. That's a great draft.

[MeLO MvP 15]

The Knicks managed to make a major reach and risky pick. Shumpert was definitely not the best player on the board and we need talent. Singleton should've been the pick and this is coming from a guy who really didn't want him, but the draft rly couldn't have played out worse for us IMO. The combination of Utah taking Kanter 3rd (causing them to go guard at 12, instead of maybe Knight at 3 and Singleton or Kawhi at 12 or something), Cleveland taking Thompson 4th (causing Biyombo to def go to either CHA or DET and moving up players like Markeiff and Vucevic) and the three team trade (which allowed for Charlotte to grab a big and a PG) messed up our board. The only good thing about that certain combination is it caused Leonard and Singleton to drop. But Leonard didn't drop enough (by the sounds of Walsh's comments, he would've been the pick had he been there) and that left us with a choice between Shumpert/ Brooks/ Motiejunas/ Jackson/ Singleton/ Faried. And for some reason we went with need over talent (despite our complete lack of talent outside of Melo/Stat/Billups/Landry/Douglas). But the thing is, Shumpert is really pretty much going to play the same exact role as Doulgas. Sure we needed a back up PG and SG, but we really should've gone with somebody with more talent. If anything, taking a guy like Singleton would add more value to the pick because other teams like him and would trade for him. But, hopefully I'm wrong and the risk of taking Shumpert pays off. At least if he plays, we should see some nice highlights considering his athleticism. I don't dislike Shumpert at all, it's just I think he could've been there later in the draft.

My biggest gripe is how we only got one other pick and used it on somebody who would've most likely gone undrafted. Pick #31 was sold for just cash and we could've used it to get one of the many good players that were still there like Honeycutt, Tyler, Selby, Parsons Jenkins or Leuer. As was Charlotte's pick (Tyler).