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NBA Mock Draft mania is now in full swing as the season is officially over and the NBA Draft is fast approaching - Thursday July 22 to be exact. While you will mostly see a top-down system for ranking players, Chad Ford and ESPN Insider have developed a tier system based on similar systems used by several NBA teams, and which he compiled talking to numerous scouts and having them rank players.
The tiers are as follows:
Tier 1 - Potential superstars*
Tier 2 - Potential All-Stars
Tier 3 - NBA starters
Tier 4 - Starters/High-level rotation players
Tier 5 - Rotation players
Tier 6 - Potential first-rounders
The tiers that affect the Detroit Pistons the most in this year’s draft are tiers 2 and 3. This year there are an unusually high number of players in Tier 2 - eight to be exact. That along with the also unusual two players in Tier 1 mean that although we have the 12th pick - which this year would mean Tier 3 - there’s a high chance a Tier 2 player falls to us, especially considering the completely useless incredibly unpredictable Sacramento Kings have two picks before ours (numbers 5 and 10).
I’m sure you can guess who the two players in Tier 1 are so let’s take a look at who are in Tiers 2 and 3.
Tier 2 - Potential All-Stars:
De’Aaron Fox, PG, Fr., Kentucky
Jonathan Isaac, F, Fr., Florida State
Josh Jackson, G/F, Fr., Kansas
Lauri Markkanen, PF, Fr., Arizona
Malik Monk, G, Fr., Kentucky
Frank Ntilikina, PG, France
Dennis Smith, PG, Fr., North Carolina State
Jayson Tatum, F, Fr., Duke
Tier 3 - NBA Starters:
OG Anunoby, F, So., Indiana
Zach Collins, F/C, Fr., Gonzaga
Harry Giles, PF, Fr., Duke
Luke Kennard, G, So., Duke
Donovan Mitchell, G, So., Louisville
There seems to be a pretty hard line between 2 and 3, with only Zach Collins getting votes for (and barely missing) Tier 2. Collins, Kennard, and Mitchell have all been seen as our potential picks in any number of mock drafts, with Ntilinkina and Smith falling out of Tier 2 in a few as well.
How do you feel about this tier system? Do you think they got the tiers right? Do you see any of the Tier 2 guys potentially falling to us at #12? Let us know in the comments below.
*Since ESPN started the tier system in 2009, only ten players have been ranked in Tier 1: Blake Griffin, John Wall, Anthony Davis, Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Joel Embiid, Markelle Fultz, and Lonzo Ball.