Simmyball: Ethan Simmons' NBA Musings

The draft is usually awesome. A night of franchise-building wonder! Plenty of player speculation, massive trades, and names you’ve never heard before and will never hear again (if you stay for the second round). You’ll witness steals and gaffes of epic proportions, sometimes in real-time! Like when the Cavs took Anthony Bennett 10 or 15 slots higher than he was projected. He missed his first 16 career field goals. Or when the Kings selected unknown big man from Greece at 13 just because of his last name was Papagiannis. It’s Papa Johns but Greek! WOW! Or when the Wolves selected not one, but TWO point guards that weren’t Stephen Curry in the 2009 Draft while he was still on the board. Curry won back-to-back MVP’s and the first unanimous one, while Jonny Flynn is out of the league and Ricky Rubio still can’t make layups. Okay! It’s hard to remember anything but the gaffes. No one truly realizes the steals until the season is underway. Like in 2015, everyone gushed over the Heat gett...

I spent most of the 2017-2018 season drooling over the rookie class. These dudes are STUDS! After a decidedly mediocre '15 and '16 draft haul, NBA fans and draftniks were spoiled by the talent present in 2017’s prodigious class. Jayson Tatum--who was 19 for most of the year--filled in for injured Gordon Hayward in spectacular fashion, scoring 14 a night while scorching from three at a 43% clip. Likewise, 13th pick Donovan Mitchell filled in for the ghost of Gordon Hayward in Utah. He emptied his clip on the entire NBA, leading his class in points per game at 20.5 a contest. 27th pick Kyle Kuzma cemented himself as one of the better draft steals in recent memory, bringing his wacky jump hooks and wet shot to the next level far easier than anyone expected. I could go on, but basically these dudes make the last 10 classes look like a festering pile of garbage . These munchkins are probably gonna fill like 85% of the All-Star games from 2020-2025. I’m sorry, but no class in wh...