Power Rankings: NBA Draft Classes - 2017 Edition

I have to admit something ... the 2016-2017 NBA season was the least interesting season of sports in any of the "Big 3" sports that I can remember.  It seemed predetermined before the season even started that it would come down to the Warriors and Cavs again for the third straight season, and no one else really had a shot.  I was completely disinterested from start to finish.  During the NBA Finals, I chose to watch Super Regional College Baseball and Track & Field National Championships over the showdown between Cleveland and Golden State.  I know I am in the minority on this since the NBA Finals were the highest rated since Jordan played.  However, in my opinion, super-teams are ruining the NBA and eliminate any sense of parody that may have existed before.  Unless they do something soon that makes more than two or three teams contenders, then the NBA will start losing fans quick.

With all that said, my interest immediately perked up again once the Finals ended.  I love the offseason of any sport.  One thing that makes the NBA unique is the fact that the NBA Draft comes up within a week or two of the end of the season.  As much as I loathed the NBA this season, I watched most of the NBA Draft.  This is because the Draft gives equal time to every team and not just the super-teams that dominate the regular season.

In 2014 and 2015, I put out rankings of NBA Draft classes in the recent incarnation of the draft that goes back to 1989 (lottery, 2 rounds).  I did not put out these rankings last year for several reasons.  I think it was partially due to the fact that I was leading into such an apathetic mood towards the NBA in general.  However, the biggest reason I shelved the idea was the subjectivity of it.  I created a complex formula that tried to make it as objective as possible, however there was a level of subjectivity, specifically in ranking the top picks and the best players in the draft, that I struggled with.  Honestly, I didn't feel qualified in my apathetic state to make those judgment calls.

Recently, I considered putting out the rankings this year, only if I could find a more objective way of evaluating.  I dug into some of the more analytic statistics and found the Win Shares stat, a calculation of the number of wins contributed by a player.  This is much like the WAR stat that has become so popular in baseball.  I decided to rank the top picks and best players in the drafts by Win Share per season for each player.  I also calculated top 10 busts as a player that had less than 2 WS per season and less than 20 WS for players drafted more than 10 years ago.  Likewise, a significant second round pick was determined as a player who contributed more than 2 WS per season and over 20 WS for players drafted more than 10 years ago.  The formula to determine the draft score is as follows...

Score = (All Stars) + (All NBA players) + (Hall of Famers) + (MVP Awards) + (MVP Players) + (Flipped Rank of #1 pick / 2) + (Flipped Rank of Best Player / 4) + (Notable 2nd Rounders / 2) - (Top 10 Flops) - (Players That Never Played / 2)

With that said, let's get into the rankings. The mean score for these drafts is 13.93.

28. 2016 Draft

'15: NR, '14: NR

Score: -17

1st Pick: Ben Simmons (28th, 0.0 WS/yr)

Best Player: 36th Pick - Malcolm Brogdon (28th, 4.1 WS/yr)

All Stars: 0

All-NBA: 0

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 15

Top 10 Flops: 10

Worst Top 10 Pick: 4th Pick - Dragan Bender (-0.3 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 1

Obviously, an evaluation process on a draft class just one year removed is still a work in progress.  It hurts that the top pick didn't even see the court, but none of the top 10 picks really played well this year.  For the first time ever, the Rookie of the Year came from outside the first round.  Once Simmons plays, and more international players make their debut, this draft has a potential to be much better.  Can't get much worse...

27. 2013 Draft
'15: 26, '14: 25

Score: -2.5

1st Pick: Anthony Bennett (27th, 0.13 WS/yr)

Best Player: 27th Pick - Rudy Gobert (20th, 7.6 WS/yr)

All Stars: 1 (Giannis Antetokounmpo)

All-NBA: 2 (Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rudy Gobert)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 9

Top 10 Flops: 4

Worst Top 10 Pick: 1st Pick - Anthony Bennett (0.13 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 1

Once again, terrible production out of the top pick destroyed this draft.  Anthony Bennett might be the worst pick of all time.  There are some decent players starting to develop though.  Gobert and the Greek Freak have star potential.

26. 2014 Draft
'15: 25, '14: NR

Score: -0.75

1st Pick: Andrew Wiggins (20th, 3.4 WS/yr)

Best Player: 41st Pick - Nikola Jokic (17th, 8.2 WS/yr)

All Stars: 0

All-NBA: 0

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 8

Top 10 Flops: 5

Worst Top 10 Pick: 5th Pick - Dante Exum (0.6 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 3

This draft class brings about some interesting questions of perception vs. production.  Everyone says that Andrew Wiggins is a star in the making.  However, with only 3.4 WS per year, he hasn't played like it yet.  Instead, a guy like Nikola Jokic claims the spot as the most productive player in the class.  The success of this class all revolves around if Wiggins actually develops into what he is supposed to.

25. 2000 Draft
'15: 24, '14: 24

Score: 0.25

1st Pick: Kenyon Martin (21st, 3.2 WS/yr)

Best Player: 16th Pick - Hedo Turkoglu (27th, 4.2 WS/yr)

All Stars: 3 (Kenyon Martin, Jamaal Magloire, Michael Redd)

All-NBA: 1 (Michael Redd)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 8

Top 10 Flops: 5

Worst Top 10 Pick: 4th Pick - Marcus Fizer (0.5 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 3

When there are only two players (Mike Miller, Jamal Crawford) in the draft class that were still in the league this year, you can't really improve your score.  So the fact that this class barely has a positive score is not a good sign.  This is doomed to be considered one of the least talented drafts in recent memory.

24. 2015 Draft
'15: NR, '14: NR

Score: 4.75

1st Pick: Karl-Anthony Towns (3rd, 10.5 WS/yr)

Best Player: 1st Pick - Karl-Anthony Towns (7th, 10.5 WS/yr)

All Stars: 0

All-NBA: 0

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 18

Top 10 Flops: 6

Worst Top 10 Pick: 7th Pick - Emmanuel Mudiay (-1.0 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 4

This draft makes a decent debut after two seasons for one reason: Karl-Anthony Towns.  If he continues at this pace, he could be one of the best players of all time.  You have to think some more players will make debuts as well which will help this class out too.

23. 2006 Draft
'15: 22, '14: 21

Score: 5.5

1st Pick: Andrea Bargnani (24th, 1.9 WS/yr)

Best Player: 2nd Pick - LaMarcus Aldridge (18th, 7.9 WS/yr)

All Stars: 5 (LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, Rajon Rondo, Kyle Lowry, Paul Millsap)

All-NBA: 4 (LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, Rajon Rondo, Kyle Lowry)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 8

Top 10 Flops: 5

Worst Top 10 Pick: 3rd Pick - Adam Morrison (-0.5 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 2

There were no real superstars to come out of this draft.  Aldridge is a good player that has hovered on the brink of being a superstar, but doesn't look like he will get there.  The best player of the draft was probably Brandon Roy, but his career ended way too early.  This draft instead will be remembered for guys like Bargnani and Morrison, two of the biggest busts of all time.

22. 1994 Draft
'15: 12, '14: 13

Score: 8.75

1st Pick: Glenn Robinson (19th, 3.6 WS/yr)

Best Player: 2nd Pick - Jason Kidd (21st, 7.3 WS/yr)

All Stars: 5 (Glenn Robinson, Jason Kidd, Grant Hill, Juwan Howard, Eddie Jones)

All-NBA: 4 (Jason Kidd, Grant Hill, Juwan Howard, Eddie Jones)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 9

Top 10 Flops: 3

Worst Top 10 Pick: 6th Pick - Sharone Wright (0.4 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 2

The Win Share stat is not kind to this draft class.  The eye test tells you Glenn Robinson, Jason Kidd, and Grant Hill had better careers than the numbers suggest, but that's what the numbers say.  This is what caused the sudden drop is rankings.

21. 2010 Draft
'15: 23, '14: 23

Score: 9.5

1st Pick: John Wall (13th, 5.8 WS/yr)

Best Player: 7th Pick - Greg Monroe (24th, 6.5 WS/yr)

All Stars: 4 (John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Gordon Hayward, Paul George)

All-NBA: 3 (John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Paul George)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 9

Top 10 Flops: 2

Worst Top 10 Pick: 6th Pick - Epke Udoh (1.1 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 1

Again, Win Shares is an interesting stat.  Superstars like John Wall and Paul George are in this draft.  An emerging star like Gordon Hayward is there too.  Yet, Greg Monroe is the most productive player of the draft class so far.  I have to think this won't last much longer as some of these players continue to dominate the league.

20. 1989 Draft
'15: 19, '14: 20

Score: 10.25

1st Pick: Pervis Ellison (23rd, 2.0 WS/yr)

Best Player: 26th Pick - Vlade Divac (25th, 6.0 WS/yr)

All Stars: 9 (Sean Elliott, Glen Rice, Mookie Blaylock, Tim Hardaway, Dana Barros, Shawn Kemp, B.J. Armstrong, Vlade Divac, Cliff Robinson)

All-NBA: 3 (Glen Rice, Tim Hardaway, Shawn Kemp)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 6

Top 10 Flops: 3

Worst Top 10 Pick: 8th Pick - Randy White (0.4 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 2

Pervis Ellison is said to be one of the biggest busts in NBA Draft history.  However, this draft is somewhat saved by the fact that there were so many good players that came out of this draft.  Nine All Stars is the second most of any draft class on this list.

19. 2007 Draft
'15: 18, '14: 16

Score: 12.25

1st Pick: Greg Oden (22nd, 2.4 WS/yr)

Best Player: 2nd Pick - Kevin Durant (3rd, 12.0 WS/yr)

All Stars: 4 (Kevin Durant, Al Horford, Joakim Noah, Marc Gasol)

All-NBA: 4 (Kevin Durant, Al Horford, Joakim Noah, Marc Gasol)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 1 (Kevin Durant)

Never Played: 11

Top 10 Flops: 3

Worst Top 10 Pick: 6th Pick - Yi Jianyian (0.6 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 3

For as disappointing as Greg Oden was as a top pick, Kevin Durant makes up for it as one of the best players of his generation.  However, thanks to Greg Oden, Durant's draft class is the lowest of all classes containing an MVP.

18. 1991 Draft
'15: 16, '14: 17

Score: 12.75

1st Pick: Larry Johnson (10th, 7.0 WS/yr)

Best Player: 4th Pick - Dikembe Mutombo (23rd, 6.5 WS/yr)

All Stars: 7 (Larry Johnson, Kenny Anderson, Dikembe Mutombo, Steve Smith, Terrell Brandon, Dale Davis, Chris Gatling)

All-NBA: 2 (Larry Johnson, Dikembe Mutombo)

Hall of Famers: 1 (Dikembe Mutombo)

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 10

Top 10 Flops: 3

Worst Top 10 Pick: 8th Pick - Mark Macon (0.0 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 1

The surprising part about this draft class is the low number of All-NBA players even though they have so many All Stars.  We also have our first Hall of Famer in Mutombo.  Larry Johnson is really a forgotten star of the NBA.

17. 1995 Draft
'15: 15, '14: 18

Score: 13

1st Pick: Joe Smith (18th, 3.8 WS/yr)

Best Player: 5th Pick - Kevin Garnett (12th, 9.1 WS/yr)

All Stars: 6 (Antonio McDyess, Jerry Stackhouse, Rasheed Wallace, Kevin Garnett, Theo Ratliff, Michael Finley)

All-NBA: 2 (Antonio McDyess, Kevin Garnett)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 1 (Kevin Garnett)

Never Played: 8

Top 10 Flops: 3

Worst Top 10 Pick: 9th Pick - Ed O'Bannon (0.6 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 2

There is no way Joe Smith should have been the top pick of any draft, but he was a servicable pro for 16 seasons which is a feat in itself.  The crown jewel of this draft is definitely Kevin Garnett, whose average WS/yr was hurt by a his last few years that were less than productive.

16. 2001 Draft
'15: 17, '14: 10

Score: 13.25

1st Pick: Kwame Brown (25th, 1.7 WS/yr)

Best Player: 3rd Pick - Pau Gasol (15th, 8.6 WS/yr)

All Stars: 8 (Tyson Chandler, Pau Gasol, Joe Johnson, Zach Randolph, Gerald Wallace, Tony Parker, Gilbert Arenas, Mehmet Okur)

All-NBA: 6 (Tyson Chandler, Pau Gasol, Joe Johnson, Zach Randolph, Tony Parker, Gilbert Arenas)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 8

Top 10 Flops: 3

Worst Top 10 Pick: 9th Pick - Rodney White (0.5 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 3

There were some pretty good players in this draft.  Tyson Chandler was one of the better defensive players for a good stretch, Tony Parker led the Spurs dynasty, and Pau Gasol was one of the quietest superstars of the last decade.  However, this draft will always be remembered for Kwame Brown.  What were they thinking?

15. 2002 Draft
'15: 10, '14: 14

Score: 14

1st Pick: Yao Ming (8th, 8.2 WS/yr)

Best Player: 9th Pick - Amar'e Stoudemire (22nd, 6.6 WS/yr)

All Stars: 4 (Yao Ming, Amar'e Stoudemire, Caron Butler, Carlos Boozer)

All-NBA: 3 (Yao Ming, Amar'e Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer)

Hall of Famers: 1 (Yao Ming)

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 9

Top 10 Flops: 3

Worst Top 10 Pick: 5th Pick - Nikoloz Tskitishvili (-0.4 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 4

An important note to make here as it applies to this and several other draft classes.  I decided the best player in the draft class would be the player with the highest total Win Shares.  Although Yao Ming has a higher WS/yr than Amar'e Stoudemire, Stoudemire had a higher total since Yao's career was cut short due to injury.  Yao may have been one of the most important draft picks of this era.  This is also the first draft class that is above the average mark.

14. 1990 Draft
'15: 11, '14: 9

Score: 15

1st Pick: Derrick Coleman (16th, 4.3 WS/yr)

Best Player: 2nd Pick - Gary Payton (16th, 8.6 WS/yr)

All Stars: 6 (Derrick Coleman, Gary Payton, Tyrone Hill, Jayson Williams, Antonio Davis, Cedric Ceballos)

All-NBA: 2 (Derrick Coleman, Gary Payton)

Hall of Famers: 1 (Gary Payton)

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 2

Top 10 Flops: 4

Worst Top 10 Pick: 8th Pick - Bo Kimble (0.0 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 4

Something that almost skews this draft class up a few notches is the fact that only two picks never appeared in the NBA, tied for the fewest of any draft class.  Derrick Coleman was a solid pro, but Gary Payton was the star of the group and now a Hall of Famer.

13. 1993 Draft
'15: 14, '14: 6

Score: 15

1st Pick: Chris Webber (14th, 5.6 WS/yr)

Best Player: 24th Pick - Sam Cassell (26th, 5.8 WS/yr)

All Stars: 7 (Chris Webber, Penny Hardaway, Jamal Mashburn, Vin Baker, Allan Houston, Sam Cassell, Nick Van Exel)

All-NBA: 5 (Chris Webber, Penny Hardaway, Jamal Mashburn, Vin Baker, Sam Cassell)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 11

Top 10 Flops: 1

Worst Top 10 Pick: 7th Pick - Bobby Hurley (-0.2 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 4

What gives this draft class a boost is the fact that only one draft pick in the top ten was not a solid pro (and that one was possibly the best collegiate player).  The combination of C-Webb and Penny made for a very strong top of this draft class.

12. 2004 Draft
'15: 20, '14: 12

Score: 15.5

1st Pick: Dwight Howard (6th, 9.3 WS/yr)

Best Player: 1st Pick - Dwight Howard (10th, 9.3 WS/yr)

All Stars: 5 (Dwight Howard, Devin Harris, Luol Deng, Andre Iguodala, Jameer Nelson)

All-NBA: 2 (Dwight Howard, Al Jefferson)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 13

Top 10 Flops: 2

Worst Top 10 Pick: 8th Pick - Rafael Araujo (-0.1 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 3

Dwight Howard, although he has greatly struggled over the last few seasons, is one of only eight number one picks to also be the top player in his draft class.  Even with his struggles, he makes the top ten out of the top picks and the best players lists.  He single-handedly lifts this draft almost to the top ten.

11. 1998 Draft
'15: 9, '14: 15

Score: 16

1st Pick: Michael Olowokandi (26th, 0.3 WS/yr)

Best Player: 9th Pick - Dirk Nowitzki (6th, 10.6 WS/yr)

All Stars: 5 (Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce, Rashard Lewis)

All-NBA: 3 (Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 1 (Dirk Nowitzki)

Never Played: 2

Top 10 Flops: 2

Worst Top 10 Pick: 1st Pick - Michael Olowokandi (0.3 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 5

Michael Olowokandi is one of only two top picks (along with Anthony Bennett) to be the biggest bust from their class.  So why did 1998 almost reach the top ten while 2013 is one of the worst of the era?  The answer is everyone else.  Dirk Nowitzki, Vince Carter, and Paul Pierce are future Hall of Famers.  Only two top ten picks didn't work out, and only two picks never played.  This was a great class, with the exception of numero uno.

10. 1999 Draft
'15: 7, '14: 4

Score: 17.75

1st Pick: Elton Brand (12th, 6.4 WS/yr)

Best Player: 9th Pick - Shawn Marion (19th, 7.8 WS/yr)

All Stars: 9 (Elton Brand, Steve Francis, Baron Davis, Wally Szczerbiak, Richard Hamilton, Shawn Marion, Ron Artest, Andrei Kirilenko, Manu Ginobili)

All-NBA: 5 (Elton Brand, Baron Davis, Shawn Marion, Ron Artest, Manu Ginobili)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 12

Top 10 Flops: 1

Worst Top 10 Pick: 5th Pick - Jonathan Bender (0.5 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 1

The first draft class in the top ten is an interesting one.  Neither the first pick nor the best player reached the top ten in their categories, and 12 players never played in the NBA.  With all that, they also had 9 All Stars, 5 All-NBA players, and only one flop.  A deep class can make you a good draft class, but great players are what make a great class.

9. 2011 Draft
'15: 21, '14: 22

Score: 19.75

1st Pick: Kyrie Irving (11th, 6.7 WS/yr)

Best Player: 15th Pick - Kawhi Leonard (11th, 9.2 WS/yr)

All Stars: 6 (Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Isaiah Thomas)

All-NBA: 5 (Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Isaiah Thomas)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 6

Top 10 Flops: 3

Worst Top 10 Pick: 10th Pick - Jimmer Fredette (0.5 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 4

In the last two years, this draft class jumped from outside the top 20 to inside the top 10.  This is due to the emergence of some serious stars from this draft class.  Kyrie is the 11th best number one pick in the era, but can't even claim the best player in his class.  The five players that have made the All-NBA Team are some of the top superstars in the league today.  Few classes have produced this much firepower.

8. 2008 Draft
'15: 4, '14: 7

Score: 21.75

1st Pick: Derrick Rose (15th, 4.3 WS/yr)

Best Player: 4th Pick - Russell Westbrook (13th, 8.9 WS/yr)

All Stars: 6 (Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Brook Lopez, Roy Hibbert, DeAndre Jordan)

All-NBA: 5 (Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, DeAndre Jordan, Goran Dragic)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 2 (Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook)

Never Played: 9

Top 10 Flops: 2

Worst Top 10 Pick: 8th Pick - Joe Alexander (0.3 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 6

Russell Westbrook's incredible 2016-2017 season has given this draft class a boost by improving their best player as well as providing a second MVP for the class.  The final standing of this class all depends on if Westbrook continues to produce since it seems most of the production out of guys like Rose, Love, Lopez, and Hibbert has all but stopped.

7. 2012 Draft
'15: 8, '14: 19

Score: 22

1st Pick: Anthony Davis (4th, 9.8 WS/yr)

Best Player: 1st Pick - Anthony Davis (8th, 9.8 WS/yr)

All Stars: 4 (Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, Andre Drummond, Draymond Green)

All-NBA: 4 (Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, Andre Drummond, Draymond Green)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 4

Top 10 Flops: 3

Worst Top 10 Pick: 5th Pick - Thomas Robinson (0.9 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 4

As Anthony Davis continues to turn himself into one of the best players in the league, this draft class will continue to move up this list.  There can easily be multiple MVP's that get added to this class from either Davis or Lillard.  Even Andre Drummond has a shot if he gets on a good team at some point.  This draft class will keep getting better.

6. 2005 Draft
'15: 13, '14: 5

Score: 22

1st Pick: Andrew Bogut (17th, 4.2 WS/yr)

Best Player: 4th Pick - Chris Paul (2nd, 12.9 WS/yr)

All Stars: 5 (Deron Williams, Chris Paul, Andrew Bynum, Danny Granger, David Lee)

All-NBA: 5 (Andrew Bogut, Deron Williams, Chris Paul, Andrew Bynum, David Lee)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 5

Top 10 Flops: 1

Worst Top 10 Pick: 9th Pick - Ike Diogu (1.1 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 7

The Win Shares stat loves Chris Paul!  He is an amazing player, but I don't think I would put him as the second best player drafted over the last 28 years.  Nevertheless, there he sits.  Also, on the surface, Bogut looks like a bust, but he is average compared with his other top picks and showed he had the skill if it weren't for injuries.  Also, only having one flop in the top ten is helpful too.

5. 1997 Draft
'15: 6, '14: 8

Score: 23.25

1st Pick: Tim Duncan (2nd, 10.9 WS/yr)

Best Player: 1st Pick - Tim Duncan (5th, 10.9 WS/yr)

All Stars: 3 (Tim Duncan, Chauncey Billups, Tracy McGrady)

All-NBA: 3 (Tim Duncan, Chauncey Billups, Tracy McGrady)

Hall of Famers: 1 (Tracy McGrady)

MVP's: 2 (Tim Duncan*)

Never Played: 10

Top 10 Flops: 2

Worst Top 10 Pick: 6th Pick - Ron Mercer (1.2 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 3

Every draft class has at least one MVP.  The 1997 boasts one of the greatest draft picks of all time in Tim Duncan.  The Great Fundamentalist won 2 MVP's and will soon join his draft classmate Tracy McGrady in the Hall of Fame.  So this draft class, although no one still plays, still has room to grow.

4. 1992 Draft
'15: 3, '14: 3

Score: 25.75

1st Pick: Shaquille O'Neal (5th, 9.6 WS/yr)

Best Player: 1st Pick - Shaquille O'Neal (9th, 9.6 WS/yr)

All Stars: 5 (Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Christian Laettner, Tom Gugliotta, Latrell Sprewell)

All-NBA: 3 (Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Latrell Sprewell)

Hall of Famers: 2 (Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning)

MVP's: 1 (Shaquille O'Neal)

Never Played: 6

Top 10 Flops: 1

Worst Top 10 Pick: 8th Pick - Todd Day (2.2 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 3

This draft features two of the greatest centers of their generation in Shaq and Zo.  However, on top of that, they also featured a very strong top 10, with only one flop (and the only thing making Todd Day a flop was he didn't play for 10+ years, but he averaged over 2 WS/yr).  This class was solidly in the top three, but it slips one slot more from the strength of the new number three than this class losing something.

3. 2009 Draft
'15: 5, '14: 11

Score: 26.5

1st Pick: Blake Griffin (7th, 8.9 WS/yr)

Best Player: 3rd Pick - James Harden (4th, 11.4 WS/yr)

All Stars: 6 (Blake Griffin, James Harden, Stephen Curry, DeMar DeRozen, Jrue Holiday, Jeff Teague)

All-NBA: 4 (Blake Griffin, James Harden, Stephen Curry, DeMar DeRozen)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 2 (Stephen Curry*)

Never Played: 10

Top 10 Flops: 2

Worst Top 10 Pick: 6th Pick - Jonny Flynn (-0.4 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 8

Talk about a draft class on the rise!  Blake Griffin is a star that puts up high Win Shares.  Stephen Curry is one of the biggest stars in the NBA, winning two MVP's.  However, he isn't even the best player in his class according to WS.  James Harden, who almost won the MVP this season, shows just how dominant he has been over the last several seasons.  This class has a potential to keep moving up these rankings.

2. 2003 Draft
'15: 2, '14: 2

Score: 32.25

1st Pick: LeBron James (1st, 14.7 WS/yr)

Best Player: 1st Pick - LeBron James (1st, 14.7 WS/yr)

All Stars: 9 (LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Chris Kaman, David West, Josh Howard, Mo Williams, Kyle Korver)

All-NBA: 4 (LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 4 (LeBron James***)

Never Played: 11

Top 10 Flops: 4

Worst Top 10 Pick: 3rd Pick - Darko Milicic (0.7 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 7

When I first did this list 3 years ago, I thought the 2003 Draft Class would run away with the title.  They have the best player drafted during this time period, as well as possibly the strongest top five or six in NBA Draft history.  There is only one exception to this: Darko.  Darko had the potential of being the next Dirk Nowitzki.  Now he is just a punchline for being one of the worst draft picks in NBA history.  If Darko had developed into the player he could have been, this draft class might be number one.  One thing that will be interesting to see is how the development of super-teams will affect the legacies of some of these classes.  This season proved that a player forced to carry their team is more likely to win the award than the best player on a super-team.  Will LeBron win another MVP?  It's possible he will always lose out to guys like Westbrook or Harden.  However, now with Paul George on the Thunder and Chris Paul on the Rockets, who knows...

1. 1996 Draft
'15: 1, '14: 1

Score: 33.5

1st Pick: Allen Iverson (9th, 7.1 WS/yr)

Best Player: 13th Pick - Kobe Bryant (14th, 8.6 WS/yr)

All Stars: 10 (Allen Iverson, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Stephon Marbury, Ray Allen, Antoine Walker, Kobe Bryant, Peja Stojakovic, Steve Nash, Jermaine O'Neal, Zydrunas Ilgauskas)

All-NBA: 7 (Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury, Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant, Peja Stojakovic, Steve Nash, Jermaine O'Neal)

Hall of Famers: 1 (Allen Iverson)

MVP's: 4 (Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash*, Allen Iverson)

Never Played: 11

Top 10 Flops: 1

Worst Top 10 Pick: 9th Pick - Samaki Walker (1.4 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 4

This is once again the best and deepest draft class in the modern era.  Ten All Stars is the most by any class, and seven All-NBA players is also best out of any class.  This doesn't even include Ben Wallace, who was an All Star and All-NBA player that went undrafted that year.  They are one of only five draft classes with multiple MVP awards (tied for the lead with 4) and one of only two classes to produce more than one MVP winner (2008 just joined this club this season with Westbrook's win).  This is even taking into account the fact that the Win Shares stat is not very kind to Iverson and Kobe, as both have been listed in the top five of their lists in the past.  Even their one flop, Samaki Walker, had a 10 year career and one of the higher WS/yr out of all the worst picks.  This draft will only get better too as more of its members (Bryant, Nash, Allen for sure) join AI in the Hall of Fame.  It will take a lot for this class to be unseated in the future.


And with that, the rankings are completed.  I can go back to not caring about the NBA now.