2002 Rookie Draft Peak Grades

Name Pos INS OUT HAN DEF REB
Al Jefferson C B+ C C- C+ B-
Amar'e Stoudemire PF A- C C- B- B-
Anderson Varejao C C+ C- D+ B- B-
Andre Iguodala SF B- B- B- A- C
Anthony Grundy SG C C C- C D
Bostjan Nachbar SF C B D+ C C-
Brendan Haywood C C+ D+ D C+ B-
Brian Cardinal PF C B C- C C
Carmelo Anthony SF A- B C C+ C
Charlie Villanueva PF C+ B- D+ C C
Chris Porter SF C+ D+ D+ C C
Dajuan Wagner SG C C+ C C D
Damone Brown SF C C+ C- C C-
Dan Dickau PG C B- C C D+
Darius Miles SF B D+ C B- C
David Harrison C C D+ D C+ C
Dean Oliver PG C C C C D+
Desmon Farmer SG C C C- C- D+
Eddie Griffin PF C+ C+ D C+ C+
Eduardo Najera PF C+ C+ D C+ C+
Frank Williams PG C B- C C+ D+
Gerald Fitch SG C C+ C C C-
Gilbert Arenas PG B+ B+ B B- C-
Hakim Warrick PF B- C D+ C C
J.R. Bremer PG C B- C C D+
Jabari Smith PF C+ C- D C C
Jake Tsakalidis C C D+ D- C C+
Jake Voskuhl C C C- D C C+
Jamison Brewer PG C C C C+ C-
Jarrett Jack PG C+ B B- C+ C-
Jarvis Hayes SF C+ B D+ C C-
Jason Collier C C C D- C- C
Jason Collins C C C- D+ C+ C
Jason Hart PG C B- C B- C-
Jay Williams PG C+ C C+ C+ D+
Jeryl Sasser SG C C+ D+ C C
Josh Powell PF C+ C D C C+
Kaniel Dickens PF C C+ D- C C-
Ken Johnson C C D F+ C C
Kendrick Perkins C C+ D+ D+ B B-
Kenyon Martin PF B+ C C B C+
Kevinn Pinkney PF C C D C- C
Kwame Brown C C+ D+ D+ C C+
LeBron James SF A B B+ A- C+
Loren Woods C C C- D- C B-
Luis Scola PF B- C C- C C+
Marcelo Huertas PG C- C C C D+
Maurice Baker PG C- C C- C D+
Mehmet Okur C C+ B C- C C+
Mickael Pietrus SF C+ B D+ C+ C
Mike Batiste PF C C+ D C C
Mike Miller SF C+ B+ C C+ C
Ndudi Ebi SF C D+ D+ C C
Nene Hilario C B C- C- B C+
Nikoloz Tskitishvili SF C C D+ C C-
Omar Cook PG C C- C C D
Pavel Podkolzin C C- C- F C- C
Qyntel Woods SF C+ C+ D+ C C
Reggie Evans PF C D+ D C A-
Sebastian Telfair PG C C+ C+ C+ D
Shaun Livingston PG C+ C C+ B- C-
Speedy Claxton PG C+ C B- B- C-
Tamar Slay SG C C+ C- C C-
Terence Morris SF C+ C D C C
Tierre Brown PG C C+ C C D+
Vincent Yarbrough SG C C+ C- C D+
Zaza Pachulia C C C- D+ C+ B-

Here's the 2002 Rookie Draft class, in full. Just as before, these are the estimated peak ratings for these prospects, not how they will come into the league. The ratings are here to be griped; not providing input won't make the league move on any faster.

Wagner being destined to be mid just doesn’t feel right. Scoring should look a bit more promising I’d say

Similiar feelings about Livy and Sebastian, feels like they’d have a bit better offensive ceilings

Dec 1, 2022 12:41:37 GMT -5 stunna said:

Wagner being destined to be mid just doesn’t feel right. Scoring should look a bit more promising I’d say

Similiar feelings about Livy and Sebastian, feels like they’d have a bit better offensive ceilings

Yeah even if Wagner is super one-dimensional as a scorer who doesn’t pass or defend well it would be fun and I think somewhat realistic for him to have a bit better upside than what he’s at. He’s not even mid. He’s worthless at his peak it seems.

Brendan Haywood - At his peak he was a 10-10-2 type big and he sustained this for a long time. I think at minimum he deserves a slight rebounding bump and maybe a bit of a shot blocking bump if he’s not already at a solid peak?

Hakim Warrick - I’d think he deserves a slight bump to some of his big man skills given he likely has really good athleticism ratings. Likely very empty apart from that. Rebounding/defense… not saying he should be that good but peaking at a C in both makes him basically unplayable. He was a bench spark IRL

Jay Williams - What if?

Eddie Griffin - What if? 

Melo - Feel his inside / outside should be more balanced, the A- rating feels a bit high if the jump rating is any higher than like 45 maybe a dip in that combined with a small inside dip would get him closer to that high B+ range. His outside game should be inflated by a 90+ jumper which was butter and feel like his post game played off that, in combination with a mid-ish 60s 3pt rating he’d look more like the B+ B+ guy I’d have expect him to be

Arenas - if that B+ rating is product of his post-knee issues jumping ability I feel like his defense should be higher than a B- as well. He was a quality defender on ball and played well in the passing lanes due to his quickness before the knee issues really took a step away from him. B B+ B B feels more accurate imo

I feel Okur and Scola deserve c+ defense

Andre Iguodala - 

I do think Iggy may deserve a higher inside scoring peak. I think B- is appropriate for his shooting peak as he was never super consistent from 3 or inside the arc but obviously capable. But inside, I think he proved himself as a high efficiency slasher with elite athleticism. The athleticism alone made Darius Miles a B peak - Iggy deserves that too

My only LeBron gripe… rebounding.

Shawn Marion is at a B- currently with presumably similar but maybe a bit worse athleticism than LeBron.

He averaged 7.1 rebounds this season. LeBron’s average, not peak, is above that for his entire career at the same position.

I’d think he deserves a B- at his peak, and probably a fairly high B-. At SF he’ll never put up a huge number in FBB but it’s worth considering that he’s elite for a point forward in that area.

Nene

His defense should be a B+ his average of over a steal per game along his other defensive stats made him stand out more than some Centers. Also his Handling should be bumped up a spot with his assists and startling and good hands to accomplish both.

Livvy C+ outside? He was pretty good in the midrange, no?

Dec 3, 2022 12:35:14 GMT -5 snipe said:

Livvy C+ outside? He was pretty good in the midrange, no?

guessing that’s a byproduct of his career 13-73 from 3 totals.

Dude takes less than a three per 10 games, and makes about 1.7!

I guess itd hard for that letter grade to increase without a 3 pointer

I think Pietrus deserves B- defense. In his “peak” he was often tasked with guarding the opposing teams best wing and him having the same rating there as Mike Miller and Melo doesn’t seem right to me.

Darius Miles probably got a high jump rating but probably should have his ins o down to B-

I think same with KMart. Had some ok scoring seasons but with not super great efficiency. He was pretty athletic which is probably why his inside game is at B+ but id lower it to a B.

Iggy B- > B Inside

Seems low he’s always been mad athletic, had springs his first few years and even still now can get up there

Arenas B- > C+ defense
Gil needs to be a liability on defense lol .. the chucking is there though lol

Kenyon C > C- outside/handle

C for each seems a little high, didn’t really operate outside the paint offensively or create off dribble.


Homer Gripes

Juanny C > C+ inside
Was more of a slasher middy player then anything, I believe his inside should be higher then outside

Melo A- > A inside
In comparison to Bron I’d say he’s a more capable inside scorer, arsenal in that post is way more advanced

Agree with KMart outside to some degree, feel Scola and KMart should be on opposite ends of the C spectrum maybe low C for Kenyon mid-high C for Scola.

Mike Miller C handles feels light he was a plus ball handler and decent facilitator similar to Joe Johnson minus the athletics imo

Dec 1, 2022 13:46:36 GMT -5 raidernation said:

Melo - Feel his inside / outside should be more balanced, the A- rating feels a bit high if the jump rating is any higher than like 45 maybe a dip in that combined with a small inside dip would get him closer to that high B+ range. His outside game should be inflated by a 90+ jumper which was butter and feel like his post game played off that, in combination with a mid-ish 60s 3pt rating he’d look more like the B+ B+ guy I’d have expect him to be

I probably agree more with this than I do with Dez’s feedback on Melo but that’s because I consider post fades and stuff “outside”

Dec 5, 2022 12:08:58 GMT -5 kdogg said:

I think Pietrus deserves B- defense. In his “peak” he was often tasked with guarding the opposing teams best wing and him having the same rating there as Mike Miller and Melo doesn’t seem right to me.

agree with this

And agreed on Miller being more of a playmaker. I’d think compared to someone like Hedo he’s close to there

Dec 5, 2022 17:43:54 GMT -5 dez said:

Iggy B- > B Inside

Seems low he’s always been mad athletic, had springs his first few years and even still now can get up there

Arenas B- > C+ defense
Gil needs to be a liability on defense lol .. the chucking is there though lol

Kenyon C > C- outside/handle

C for each seems a little high, didn’t really operate outside the paint offensively or create off dribble.


Homer Gripes

Juanny C > C+ inside
Was more of a slasher middy player then anything, I believe his inside should be higher then outside

Melo A- > A inside
In comparison to Bron I’d say he’s a more capable inside scorer, arsenal in that post is way more advanced

huge agreement on Kenyon. Good defender and rebounder and great rim runner. Probably not much of a playmaker at all

I’d argue Telfair deserves higher handles. He wasn’t nearly the prospect we thought he was, but a fairly solid career as a distributor. Only peaked at 6APG but was a career 1.5topg PG.

Dec 5, 2022 12:08:58 GMT -5 kdogg said:

I think Pietrus deserves B- defense. In his “peak” he was often tasked with guarding the opposing teams best wing and him having the same rating there as Mike Miller and Melo doesn’t seem right to me.

I totally missed him. B+ defense if it was up to me

I think we’re underestimating Al Jefferson’s rebounding here tbh. He was an 11rpg guy for 3 straight years in his peak and was always quite effective per minute.

Dec 1, 2022 12:41:37 GMT -5 stunna said:

Wagner being destined to be mid just doesn’t feel right. Scoring should look a bit more promising I’d say

Similiar feelings about Livy and Sebastian, feels like they’d have a bit better offensive ceilings

Both of Wagner's scoring ratings are right on the fringe. There's no evidence that he was ever going to be good in real life. For what we did see, I think he'll be fine in this league.

As for the other two, I think Telfair is fine. With Livingston, there's just no evidence he was ever going to develop into a good scorer. I'm fine with upping his handling, and maybe his defense a tad, but his scoring ratings are accurate.

Thanks for the gripes.

Dec 1, 2022 13:37:11 GMT -5 Icarus said:

Brendan Haywood - At his peak he was a 10-10-2 type big and he sustained this for a long time. I think at minimum he deserves a slight rebounding bump and maybe a bit of a shot blocking bump if he’s not already at a solid peak?

Hakim Warrick - I’d think he deserves a slight bump to some of his big man skills given he likely has really good athleticism ratings. Likely very empty apart from that. Rebounding/defense… not saying he should be that good but peaking at a C in both makes him basically unplayable. He was a bench spark IRL

Jay Williams - What if?

Eddie Griffin - What if? 

I'm fine with upping Haywood's rebounding to a B-. He was a very good offensive rebounder although he was not nearly as strong on the defensive end. His ratings reflect that.

I don't agree with Warrick being worthless, but he's definitely offensive-centric. He had pretty lackluster defensive and rebounding numbers in the NBA.

Iguodala C+ handles
Arenas A- outside
Hakim Warrick C+ reb
JJack B- outside B handles
Perk B+ def (due to strength rating)
Scola B/B+ inside
Kmart B- reb
Pietrus B/B- def
Nene B- ins
Livingston C+ outside (high jumpshot low 3pt)
Zaza B- def

Dec 1, 2022 13:46:36 GMT -5 raidernation said:

Melo - Feel his inside / outside should be more balanced, the A- rating feels a bit high if the jump rating is any higher than like 45 maybe a dip in that combined with a small inside dip would get him closer to that high B+ range. His outside game should be inflated by a 90+ jumper which was butter and feel like his post game played off that, in combination with a mid-ish 60s 3pt rating he’d look more like the B+ B+ guy I’d have expect him to be

I think this is just another example of the file generating guys with higher inside ratings and lower outside ratings, which I prefer. Michael Redd was a good example of a guy people expected to be B/B- INS A- OUT and the generator saw it differently. I trust this version of Melo will play just fine.

Dec 1, 2022 13:48:30 GMT -5 raidernation said:

Arenas - if that B+ rating is product of his post-knee issues jumping ability I feel like his defense should be higher than a B- as well. He was a quality defender on ball and played well in the passing lanes due to his quickness before the knee issues really took a step away from him. B B+ B B feels more accurate imo

I'd lower his defense before I raised it, B is such a solid defensive rating for this file and I think Arenas is far from being in that class of defender.

Dec 1, 2022 14:00:10 GMT -5 jord said:

I feel Okur and Scola deserve c+ defense

I'm fine upping Okur's defense to C+. Scola is just too below average in the shot blocking department to get him up there, but his defensive fundamentals are sound.