I've compiled a quick and dirty summary of 1st round draft picks for 2000-2006. I can't find a team that stands out among the rest as picking solid players every opportunity. You be the judge.
http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/2760/draftbo7.png (http://imageshack.us)

You could make a case for the Charlotte Bobcats, although the team is so young they haven't made a huge impact yet. But having Okafor, May, Felton, and Morrison is a good combo.

Also, you can't forget about the San Antonio Spurs and drafting guys like Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli.

I like Portland's idea........QUANTITY..............

its good to see hits and misses all over the map. Joe D gets criticised for WHite and Milicic and rightfully so but some teams leverage picks foolishly as well as pick inconsistently. At least JD is shrewd.

What I meant by my posting is: nobody can pick out the best consistently. Every team has its share of hits and misses. If I get a chance I'll try to expand this table to add a few more years.
:hoops:

Here's another article just confirming the point:

Sports Central | Sports Articles and Columns | NBA | The Value of the No. 1 Pick (http://www.sports-central.org/sports/2007/07/03/the_value_of_the_no_1_pick.php)


The key stat: only four times in the last 10 years did the player who went No. 1 prove to be the right choice. For all you math majors out there, that's six times the player taken first turned out to be worse that a guy taken after him.
So, while a pick other than Oden would be an absolute mistake for Portland, perhaps Al Horford, Joakim Noah, or Mike Conley might prove to be this year's Chris Paul, Antawn Jamison, or Dwyane Wade in the making.
But if you ask me, Greg Oden is much more Elton Brand than he is Kwame Brown and he's gotta be the pick. While Kevin Durant (who in case you hadn't heard, failed to bench 185 pounds even once at pre-draft workouts) could very well be Marvin Williams, Part Deux.
As for the next Tim Duncan? Hey, let's not get carried away here. There's only one.

I'm kind of wondering who is drafting for the Detroit Shock. Maybe they can help Joe out with Pistons picks.

3 starters for the Eastern All-star team, 4 if you count Anna DeForge.

Those folks can spot talent.

I'm kind of wondering who is drafting for the Detroit Shock. Maybe they can help Joe out with Pistons picks.

3 starters for the Eastern All-star team, 4 if you count Anna DeForge.

Those folks can spot talent.
A month or so back I heard on a radio show that Billy Laims is a key decision maker in all personell issues. At that time I wondered aloud (in one thread or another) if lacking that power might be why he isn't coaching the Stones.

Mikhail, nice work. Your matrix makes for a really eye opening read.

Roscoe, this thread might be a great advertising tool on other sites. It provides hard data for one of the most commonly discussed Piston topics.

I've been trying to cut down on my manual promotion workload, but as always, feel free to link back to the threads here.

At the Detroit News, you will unfortunately have to create a TinyURL (http://tinyurl.com/) because they block our address.

best draft choices - Google Search (http://www.google.com/search?q=best+draft+choices)