Which so called NBA ready players have we drafted in the lottery? Surely your not counting Jimmer. Yes, he was a four year player, and that's usually attributed to NBA ready players. But in Jimmer's case, there were a lot of question marks that the Maloofs decided to ignore. I wouldn't have called either McLemore or Thomas Robinson NBA ready players. Of late the only NBA ready player the Kings have drafted is Willie, and I think he's proved that he's ready to play in the NBA. Maybe your wern't referring to the Kings, but speaking in general.
Where Labissiere is concerned, I can see your point about drafting for the future, and I personally don't have a problem with that. However that doesn't fit the current scenario of winning now. My problem is that I'm not sure I see a future with Labissiere. I saw him have one good game, and almost every other game he was downright terrible. Calapari couldn't find a way to keep him on the floor. Yes, he's a very capable weak side shot blocker, but in man defense he got pushed around by guys that were 6'5". I don't think he weighs 200 pounds. I'd rather bet my money on Damian Jones, Henry Ellenson, or Jakob Poeltl. If for some reason the Kings decide to trade Cuz, then I would definitely grab Poeltl.
Not suggesting we trade Cuz, just covering my bases.
I think in our case, I would list "NBA Ready" players we've drafted as: Quincy Douby, Jason Thompson, Jimmer Fredette, Thomas Robinson, and Willie Cauley-Stein. All of them were upper classmen who put up impressive stats in their last college season. That doesn't mean they
were NBA ready of course, just that there was a perception pre-draft that they were safer picks because they had spent 3 or more years in college, had already developed their bodies, and already had NBA skills that theoretically should translate into rookie year production. McLemore, Evans, and Cousins were all one year wonders and you expect to spend some more time developing them but this is where the dividing line shows between elite talent and average talent because age didn't really matter for Tyreke or DeMarcus. It's a much bigger adjustment I think for a player with average NBA talent but a great college resume to adjust to playing with NBA players than it is for a younger player who's always been at the top of their class to adjust. The elite talent guys have exceptional physical attributes or preternatural instincts for the game that translate immediately. The college stars may have already maxed out their ability playing against much weaker competition and just aren't capable of competing on the same level against the best players in the world.
And with Jimmer specifically, I know for a fact he was a guy with "NBA ready" stamps all over him pre-draft because I raised my concerns about his ability to play PG, his lack of defensive aptitude, and his average at-best athleticism at the time we drafted him and I got all kinds of flack for it. The same kinds of flack I got for raising concerns about Willie Cauley-Stein -- though fortunately, those have mostly been proven false. Even Nik Stauskas -- in the context of the infamous Stuaskas or Payton debate -- was branded as the more NBA ready player and thus the "correct" choice for a team that wanted to get out of lottery hell and into the playoffs. Which player will have the better NBA career is still unknown, but Payton ended up having the better rookie year.
Ultimately this is just about how prospects are evaluated for me. A whole lot of star players have come with associated risks pre-draft and if you eliminate those types of prospects from consideration, your chances of drafting a star with a mid-lotto pick are approaching zero. And there's really no reason for us to think "win-now" with the draft. The only "win-now" solution with draft picks is to trade your high lottery picks to a team with an unhappy star they're looking to unload. If you're actually going to keep the pick you need to be picking the best talent available regardless of position. None of the upperclassmen we drafted came in and immediately tore up the league. None of them propelled us to playoff success. It's counter intuitive, but I think the success rate is much higher with one-and-done freshmen because of the talent gap involved. The college production may not be impressive but it's the physical tools, basketball IQ, work-ethic, and love of the game which propel prospects into becoming elite NBA players and college stats don't do enough to measure those qualities. That's why you see the combine measurements, player interviews, and individual workouts changing the outlook at the top of the draft so much every year.
To illustrate, look at all the success OKC had with the draft early on and the risks associated with their best picks:
Kevin Durant -- 2nd overall pick, pretty much a guaranteed star but he was a bone skinny one-and-done freshman and a tweener forward who took a few years to grow into his natural SF position
Russell Westbrook -- an uber-athletic sophomore whose tools were more impressive than his production at UCLA. Also he was considered by most to be an under-sized SG who would struggle if he was moved to PG
James Harden -- another one-and-done freshman, tested out very well but didn't look athletically impressive on game-tape. gifted scorer but does he do enough to be a star?
Eric Bledsoe -- one and done freshman who came off the bench behind John Wall. Impressive athlete but he's a PG who averaged more TOs than assists in his one season at Kentucky.
Serge Ibaka -- a 19 year shot blocking phenom playing in the Spanish League, didn't have a back to the basket game, quality of competition was considered questionable, limited game tape.
It's not really fair to call KD a risky pick, but they mined an awful lot of gold out of those other picks and none of them were considered can't miss players. Yeah there's always bust potential when you're looking for projects but there's a reason they call them boom or bust players. If you're not willing to take on a little bit of risk, you're unlikely to be drafting a star outside the top 3. And I want DeMarcus to stay too, but we
should be covering our bases in case Cousins decides to move on, not putting all our eggs in the "keep Cousins, win now" basket.