2017 NBA Draft: Does this class have a franchise player?

[chilidawg]

I think some people are mistaking franchise players as transcendent superstars. Franchise players doesnt have to be Lebron, Kobe, KG, Duncan, Shaq. They can be Paul Pierce or Tracy McGrady. Im fine with that.

Exactly. Depends on how you define franchise. If you need Anthony Davis, the early answer would appear to be no. If you want Paul Pierce, Fultz and a healthy Giles would probably get you there.

Speaking of Giles: I don't have a medical degree (Well, actually, I do have access to the internet. Isn't that the same thing these days?) but, for somebody who is more educated in these things, is Giles's injury the type that you can fully heal from, or are we going to have this issue again in two years?

Mike

I'm hardly  a doctor either, but live in a ski town and know a number of people who've had knee surgeries.  It seems to me that the ACL injury itself is something you can fully recover from, but often there is meniscus damage as well.  If they end up removing significant meniscus, it's a bad sign for longer term recovery.

[PhoSita]

I'm OK with one knee injury.  It happens.  Young guys recover.

Multiple knee injuries, like multiple foot injuries ... that just doesn't bode well.

At least with broken bones e.g. Embiid, you can expect it to heal and then maybe the guy is still growing and he becomes solid and durable.

Knee injuries that require surgery to repair torn cartilage ... that's different.  Cartilage doesn't heal the way bone does.  I don't like the idea of drafting a guy with bad knees.

[hpantazo]

There has been a lot of hype for this 2017 draft class, and it looks like we will have a top 3 pick. My question is, is there a franchise player in this draft, like Lebron, Anthony Davis, Tim Duncan, type? I see a lot of point guards projected at the top, but when is the last time we had a top tier franchise player as a point guard in this league? Is there someone in this draft worth building a championship team around, or is it instead a deep top tier with many very good players but no franchise players?

Great question Harry.  The only consensus I seem to read right now is that this draft is loaded with quality players up top and there are several prospects better than the Jaylen/Dunn/Hield/Bender/Murray/Chriss tier we were selecting at with the #3 pick this year.  Like, based on what I've read I'm under the impression that there are several Tier 1/2 prospects in the top 8-10 picks. 

But what I can't get clarity on is if any of these guys are Tier 1 "franchise player potential" prospects like Towns, Simmons, Embiid, Davis, LeBron, etc. 

I did see someone that suggested Markelle Fultz is a better/more athletic version of D'Angelo Russell.  That sounds like a backhanded compliment, but for context it should be noted that Russell is a better prospect than any player on this team under the age of 25.  Kid has legit star potential.  We're seeing a glimpse of it right now.  His last 5 games he's averaged 21 points, 5.2 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals with 47%/40%/76% shooting.  He's only 20 years old.   If that's the type of player Russell is going to be long-term... and if Fultz is a better prospect than that, I'd much rather have Markelle Fultz than trade that pick + other assets for an older non-superstar like Jimmy Butler.  Fultz is the one on everyone's radar right now, but he's not even currently looked at as the consensus #1 pick.  He's not at the top of every mock right now.  So if there are multiple players with "rich man D'Angelo Russell" level potential, I'm very comfortable just keeping that pick and hoping for the best.

As more info comes out about this draft, my opinion could change for the better or worse. 

I brought this up last year...  opinions can change dramatically between January and the draft.  If you go back to January of 2015, the top 3 picks on nbadraft.net are listed as Okafor, Mudiay and Stanley Johnson.  They had Towns going 6th and Porzingis going 12th.    Draftexpress didn't have Towns in the top 2 either.  Flash forward months later and TOwns was widely regarded as a transcendent prospect and consensus #1 pick.   

I went back and looked at previous years and it was similar results.  Mocks evolved considerably between Jan and the draft.  Anthony Davis wasn't even listed at the top of mocks in Jan of 2012.   NBAdraft.net had Drummond going 1st.

So who knows who might rise up the draft ranks in the coming months.  It's still really early.

Thanks for the detailed answer David! Yeah, that's what I've been struggling with, are these top 8 or so players franchise player caliber prospects and if so why trade the pick for a guy like Butler? I guess your right though, it's too early to project these prospects. Things change a lot between now and June. The thing is though, if Ainge is considering a mid season trade , he has to make those projections now. Tough call.

[TrueFan]

Lonzo Ball and Fox look legit to me.