The 2nd Rounders

We have just passed that time of year where everyone and their dog gives you an NBA draft class analysis, grading either the players picked, or the team’s decision to pick them. If you’re unfamiliar with how the NBA draft works, only 60 players are chosen out of an entire NCAA and international pool of players that have entered their names, in hopes of being selected. I often read an excess amount of “grading draft picks” articles, and every year they make me more and more frustrated. The reason for my frustration is based on 2 principles: the lack of research done on the players, and these journalists writing the articles often deciding that the 2nd round of players drafted are unworthy of being examined. The NBA draft consists of 2 rounds, the first 30 players selected are in the first round, the last 30 players selected are in the 2nd round. The first round of selections obviously gets more attention, especially with players like Zion Williamson and Ja Morant, who have created video game-like highlights in their college careers. The fact that bigger networks refuse to even acknowledge the 2nd round of picks as worthy of analysis is pretty ignorant. This is especially in considering the pure amount of talent that has been drafted out of the latter round in the past. Players like Manu Ginobli, Marc Gasol, and Draymond Green all became all-stars after being overlooked by so many teams in the draft, and in-turn were much more complete players than most of the 1st round picks selected before them. As a huge college basketball fan myself, I would urge journalists creating these “draft grade” articles to watch more full college basketball seasons, and abstain from hopping on the hype train of the first 3 picks.

I have examined 5 players selected in the 2nd round of this year’s draft (2019) who I believe can make an impact on their teams, higher than what their draft number would indicate. Instead of pretending these players came out of nowhere like your average ESPN’s and CBS’s of the world, I would love to give 5 players the notoriety that all 60 draft selections deserve.

Stats Legend

Ppg - Points per game

Rpg - Rebounds per game

Ast - Assists per game

Fg - Field goal percentage

3pt - 3 point shooting percentage

IMPORTANT STATS

EFG - Effective Field Goal Percentage - This percentage takes into account that the value of a 3 point shot being worth more than a 2 point shot, measuring true shooting percentage more accurately. This makes it an important stat to pay attention to while drafting in the later rounds. A prime example is Eric Paschall who has a 44.7 FG%, but a 52.8 EFG%. He shoots the ball at a pretty good clip from the 3 point line, so EFG values 3 point shots at 1.5x the value of a 2 point shot. Upon first glance at Paschall’s field goal percentage, you would probably say it is too low for a guy who played in the power forward slot for most of his college season. This is why we have EFG, especially considering how big 3 point shooting has become in the modern NBA game. 52.8% EFG lets us know that Paschall has a good level of efficiency to his game.

PER - Player Efficiency Rating - The Player Efficiency Rating (PER) is a per-minute rating developed by ESPN.com columnist, John Hollinger. In John's words, "The PER sums up all a player's positive accomplishments, subtracts the negative accomplishments, and returns a per-minute rating of a player's performance." This rating takes into account the teams pace of play and compares it to the league averages as well. To sum it up, it means how much of a positive impact you are on the court when you’re out there. Wilt Chamberlain has the highest PER of all time, and he’s the only player to ever score 100 points in a game. The next closest guys are Micheal Jordan and Lebron James...so yes, PER means a lot. Wilt’s best PER was 31.82, so for our draft picks, I would say anything close to 20 is pretty enticing.

WS - Win Share - Win Shares is a stat that attempts to delegate credit for team wins to individual players on the team, or how much you really contribute to your team’s success. The absolute best example to make you understand the value of this is Lebron James in the 08/09 NBA season. Lebron had a 20.27 WS in that season, where he took a severely under-qualified team to the NBA Finals. High PER and WS is a good indication of a valuable player, Because it means their positive impact is actually translating to wins for their team. For our draft picks, anything around a 5.0 WS would be considered a good ratio for college basketball.

Eric Paschall - Pick #41 - Golden State Warriors

College : Villanova Wildcats

Position : 6’7 Small Forward/Power Forward

2019 Stats : 16.5 ppg 6.1 rpg 2.1 ast 44.7% fg 35% 3pt EFG 52.8% PER 19.0 WS 4.7

Eric Paschall has just been drafted into a bit of a dream situation for a rookie with his position. Golden State has just lost Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala, and everyone else in their small forward position. Paschall just recently finished a very successful career at Villanova, winning 2 out of the last 4 college national championships. Aside from his winning ways under legendary head coach Jay Wright, Paschall is a FREAK athlete with a reliable 3 point stroke, and an excellent defensive IQ. The main question about Eric Paschall is what position he really is? He played a lot of power forward at Villanova and would be undersized for that position in the NBA. The undersized 4 is becoming a bit of an archetype in the NBA though, and he’d be learning from Draymond Green, who is possibly the best “Tweener” power forward in the league and former defensive player of the year. Paschall should get an opportunity to play right away, especially with Golden State’s thinned out bench, which is what it really comes down to, opportunity. He’s proven to be very strong off the ball at Villanova, and should slot in nicely beside Stephen Curry and D’angelo Russell this next season. It’s honestly unfair how good of a fit this looks to be for the Warriors, a player from a winning culture, a team player, the potential to be an elite defender, and looks like he could be their next Andre Iguodala in a couple of years.

Carson Edwards - Pick #33 - Boston Celtics

College: Purdue Boilermakers

Position: 6’1 Point Guard/Shooting Guard

2019 Stats: 24.3 ppg 3.6 rpg 2.9 ast 39.4 fg% 35.5 3pt% EFG 49% PER 23.2 WS 5.6

I was really surprised when Carsen Edwards was not selected in the first round, but it’s probably because he fell under the “Jimmer Fredette” label of “what else can he do besides score?”. The biggest difference between Edwards and a guy like Fredette is ATHLETICISM, Carson Edwards can flat out fly around the court. We recently just saw Lou Williams dismantle the Warriors in the first round of playoffs, a guy who also got labeled with “what else can he do besides score?”. He doesn’t need to do anything besides score, clearly there can be a role carved out for you if your dominant skill is that proficient. Edwards shoots the ball extremely well from the outside, and has a super tight handle to navigate ball screens to get off his shot. His last season stats are a little low in percentage because of how much he needed to shoot the ball in order for Purdue to be successful. He is a career 40% 3pt shooter with a HIGH volume of shots, and the level of difficulty of those shots being also VERY HIGH. Brad Stevens has been proven to find roles for unique players like Carson Edwards in the lineup, especially for a Boston team that could not score the ball last season. His size has been considered a factor that could limit him on the court, but he’s also over 200 pounds and can play above the rim occasionally. Defensively he needs to make some improvements, he’s athletic and strong enough to become a solid defender, he just needs to apply himself. I recommend watching some of his NCAA Tournament highlights if you need some evidence of the potential he has.

Ignas Brazdeikas - Pick #47 - New York Knicks

College - Michigan Wolverines

Position - 6’7 Small Forward

2019 Stats : 14.8 ppg 5.4 rpg 0.8 ast 46.2 fg% 39.2 fg% EFG 53.1% PER 21.4 WS 5.5

I might be a biased Canadian rooting for a fellow Canadian but the Knicks may have made a solid pick? I’ll redact that statement when they trade Iggy mid-season for a bag of Lays Original. The Knicks are notably not a good landing spot for most players that want to win, but it’s a good landing spot for guys who want opportunities to play. Brazdeikas is a smart ball player who can find his offence in a good team system like he did with Michigan, but he can also play “rat ball” if he has too. He should have a lot of opportunities to play pretty decent minutes in New York, especially since they have no reason to be winning a lot of games, you’d hope that they play their young guys a significant amount. Iggy fills a shooting role on New York that they desperately need, and if they can surround RJ Barrett with guys who can knock down the 3 ball, it benefits the 3rd overall pick as well. Iggy is also a really good size for the small forward position and is big enough to bully some of his defenders in the post regularly. His downsides are that he’s generally just slow footed, offensively and defensively. Iggy is crafty enough on offense to survive being slow but will need to improve his defense drastically if he wants to be taken seriously. As mentioned before, the main point here is that he might get the opportunity to play big minutes, and that’s the best way anyone can improve.

Admiral Schofield - Pick #42 - Washington Wizards

College: Tennessee Volunteers

Position: 6’4 Shooting Guard/Small Forward

Stats: 16.5 ppg 6.1 rpg 2.0 ast 47.4 fg% 41.8 3pt% EFG 54.8% PER 20.1 WS 4.6

All you need to know is that Admiral Schofield is built like an armoured car, has one of the best names in sports history, as well as extremely similar traits to the 4th overall pick Deandre Hunter. No joke, they play very similar in style, except that Hunter is 3 inches taller. Schofield is a scary looking guy on the court, at 6’4 and 240 pounds, he moves extremely well for being built like an ox. Like most of the players I have chosen to cover on this list, Schofield shoots the ball extremely well from the 3 point line, which is obviously a trait you want to have in today’s NBA. He’s an excellent athlete that has proven he can defend multiple positions because of his Mack truck-like frame. Having a solid 3 and D player drafted out of the second round is a steal, and a role Washington also needed to fill. Schofield can bump guys nearly into the 4th row when he attacks, so when he figures out how to pick his spots to drive, he could end up being super dangerous. He managed to score 16.5 points per game surrounded by an extremely talented lineup at Tennessee, which proves his ability to play a role but still be dominant. That’s exactly what he would need to do playing with John Wall and Brad Beal, so this pick seems like a good fit. As long as Schofield can be the defender I believe he is, he should have a successful career.

Quindarry Weatherspoon - Pick #49 - San Antonio Spurs

College: Mississippi State Bulldogs

Position: 6’3 Shooting Guard

Stats: 18.5 ppg 4.7 rpg 2.8 ast 50.8 fg% 39.6 3pt% EFG 57.4 PER 24.0 WS 5.4

If you get drafted to the Spurs then there’s a good chance you’re going to be a great player at some point, especially as someone who’s an all-around talent like Weatherspoon. First off, he shot 50% from the field as a shooting guard, which is extremely efficient for that position. The man also almost shot 40% from the 3 point line, which is why his EFG and PER are so high, the efficiency he played with in college is rare. The Spurs main focus at this point should be continuing to build their young talent into a core that they used to have with Duncan, Ginobli, and Parker. They’ve already gotten off to a hot start on that front, with Dejounte Murray and Derrick White blooming into special talents. Adding Weatherspoon to their talent development pool will make him ready for at least a bench role in about a year. The Spurs look like they’re gonna be a conference threat again in a couple of years, and weatherspoon can easily be a part of that. He’s been a very serviceable defender in college, and if he continues on that trend then the Spurs get a steal in the draft for like the 1239th time.

The common theme for these players to excel is opportunity, whether that’s right away in their career or a couple years down the road. People often under-rate the situation a player is drafted into, sometimes higher picked players get drafted to teams with poor management and structure, causing them to burn out from lack of support to help them grow. These 2nd round picks I have just covered have all been drafted into situations where they’ll have the pieces around them to succeed, and won’t have to build a program all by themselves. The pressure is on for players like RJ Barrett and Ja Morant almost immediately, they’re expected to be stars right away. The 2nd round holds almost no expectations, teams are drafting you for a bench or developmental role, making any positive impact you have on a game shine that much brighter.