[JMarchand1981]

When you think of the top 6 rookie classes of the last 20 years how does your list look? I have been working on a PC project where I am acquiring a RC and an auto of my perceived top five people in each draft class of the last 20 years(not including the 13-14 class because it is too early...and it ended up being 21 years since 92-93 though 12-13 is actually 21 years). This is where this is coming from, so kind of out of left field but not really.

In the interest of full disclosure, most of the years I did not look into the second year so I am primarily going off of the first rounds.

Further, "best" is a term that is up for interpretation. For me, one guy does not make a draft class good. It makes the one guy good. For me, "best" means the most meaningful NBA careers. I could give a crap less what a guy does in college since arguably the top two players in the NBA in the last decade never went to college.

I am also not judging "best draft class" by amount of rings, either. If that were the case the 92-93 draft class has Shaq (4) and Horry (is it 6 or 7??).

My list looks like this. Please bear in mind that after 96-97, there really is no order to the classes....I just believe the 96-97 IS that iconic:

1996/97- This year has no less than 3 HOF'ers(Kobe, Nash, Ray Allen) and probably a 4th with Iverson. To me this draft class is #1 of any draft, any sport and the only draft that even holds a candle to it is the 1983 NFL draft. Remove those four players and you STILL have a half decent draft class (Antoine Walker, Camby, Marbury, Peja, Big Z, Jermaine O'Neal).

2003-04- Lebron, Melo, Bosh, Wade, Perkins (Celtics fan here). Everyone knows about this class. It was a loaded draft class as well.

1998-99-Pierce, Dirk, Vince Carter, Bibby, the Kandiman, Antawn Jamison. This is an underrated draft class.

1994-95- Kidd, Grant Hill, Jalen Rose, Glenn Robinson, Juwan Howard. Another good Draft class.

2001-02 is stocked too. Tyson Chandler, Parker, Z-Bo, Joe JOhnson, Pau. This is a pretty deep draft IMO.

2009-10-I love this draft class but the best commodity (Blake) isn't what people thought he would be. With that being said, Curry, Harden, Tyreke, Ty Lawson....these guys are all good to great players....game changers.

2008-09 is a good but not great draft. I will call this the injured now or always draft. Rose and Kevin Love have had issues with....playing time....

1999-00- THis draft class is underrated and will always be underrated. Andre Miller MIGHT be the most underrated player in the league for the last 10 years. Lamar Odom has always been an above average player when his head is in the game. Baron Davis? This dude could ball when he wasn't having playing time issues (see the Rose/K-Love reference above). Ron Artest, Rip Hamilton...Elton Brand, Steve Francis, Shawn Marion, Jason Terry, Posey, AK47. So it isn't 96-97, I get it. There were no superstars or guys who excelled in the traditional media markets but why is this draft class essentially forgotten about, both in the hobby and in the annals of history?

Great one or two player draft years- 92-93(Shaq and Zo), 93-94 (C-Webb and Penny before the injury), 95-96(KG...Rasheed was good but I never saw him as a great player), 97-98 (Duncan, T-Mac), 07-08 (KD)

To the masses. Thoughts? Opinions?

[buckunteer]

Was Peja drafted in 96-97 and then didn't sign til 98-99? I know I have a couple RCs of him around here somewhere from 98-99.

I think 96-97 and 03-04 are unquestionably the two best classes of the last 20 years. I think when you get lower in your rankings though it's whether you prefer depth or star power up top. Zo and Shaq's draft, for instance, I would put ahead of 01-02 because not only are there two HOFers up front, but several guys who had pretty solid careers as well (Laettner, Sprewell, Horry, Gugliotta, and of course I gotta mention Jim Jackson as a Buckeye).

It's also scary how bad the drafts have been post 03-04 for the most part.

I also think it's amazing how much fanfare the 94-95 draft class had in comparison to 96-97. Still a good class, but Hill got hurt and Big Dog and Juwan never lived up to the hype.

[rybowski97]

big dog lived up to the hype but he played for milwaukee...not getting much press in a small market team thaw was awful in the 90s. the 96-97 class is clearly the best the best one since the 80s. the 96-97 class hase what 4-5 future hof...nash, kobe, iverson, allen and all stars like walker, oneal, marbury, rahim, ilgauskas, camby, dampier. then u have some guys with solid careers and titles-- kittles, delk, mccarty, fisher. i dont think that draft will be topped unless we have michael jordan 2.0

[taffster74]

JMarch, you left out a few good guys from the 03-04 Draft ... Hinrich, Josh Howard, Kaman, David West - all of whom have had solid careers, with West probably the best player outside of Wade, Bosh, James and Anthony.

Other left outs ... 1995-96 - Jerry Stackhouse, Antonio McDyess, Joe Smith, Michael Finley, Damon Stoudemire; 1994-95 ... Brian Grant, Eddie Jones; 97-98 ... Chauncey Billups, Bobby Jackson (solid career), Danny Fortson (injuries hurt his career), Van Horn; 1993-94 ... Van Exel, Baker, Cassell, Rider, Houston, Mashburn; 1992-93 ... Sprewell, Gugliotta, Horry (not a star, but still a solid career), Jim Jackson, Laettner; 07-08 is more than just Durant ... Jeff Green is coming into his own now (yes on a poor team, but still...), there's also Noah, Hawes is now stepping up, Yi Jianlian (solid), Sefalosha (solid defender), Belinelli (solid back up, shooter); 08-09 is more than just D-Rose and Love ... Gallinari, Mayo, Brook Lopez, Hibbert, DeAndre Jordan, Marc Gasol, Ryan Anderson.

I'm also suprised that the 05-06 Draft didn't make your list ... CP3, D-Will, Bogut, Felton, Lee, Granger, Monta Ellis, Nate Robinson...

[rjcj2017]

Was Peja drafted in 96-97 and then didn't sign til 98-99? I know I have a couple RCs of him around here somewhere from 98-99.

I think 96-97 and 03-04 are unquestionably the two best classes of the last 20 years. I think when you get lower in your rankings though it's whether you prefer depth or star power up top. Zo and Shaq's draft, for instance, I would put ahead of 01-02 because not only are there two HOFers up front, but several guys who had pretty solid careers as well (Laettner, Sprewell, Horry, Gugliotta, and of course I gotta mention Jim Jackson as a Buckeye).

It's also scary how bad the drafts have been post 03-04 for the most part.

I also think it's amazing how much fanfare the 94-95 draft class had in comparison to 96-97. Still a good class, but Hill got hurt and Big Dog and Juwan never lived up to the hype.

Peja was drafted in 1996 but had to honor the last two years of his contract with his team in Greece, hence he didn't play in the NBA until 1998.

Funny story — after he was drafted, the Kings threw a draft party type thing in downtown Sac ... he didn't have any cards yet (obviously) and I didn't have any new Kings stuff for him to sign, so I handed him an NBA Hoop Magazine (remember those?) with a bunch of different All-Stars on it.

And a pen, of course ... he grabbed the magazine, looked at it for like 10 seconds, and handed it back, without saying anything.

Because of the language barrier I couldn't explain to him that I wanted him to sign the generic magazine, and I guess since he didn't see his picture on it he didn't want to sign it.

Odd ... but memorable. I did get the Kings' coach and GM to sign it, so at least I didn't go home empty-handed.

[SHowley2003]

JMarch, great topic. I love analyzing drafts. When I get bored at my second job my buddy and I will jump onto Wikipedia and run through random drafts and re-organize them or evaluate them.

I don't think the 2009-10 draft belongs in the conversation and I would move up the 95-96 and 97-98 drafts. I obviously prefer a draft that is deep and multiple HOFers such as 96-97, 03-04 or even 98-99, however my next criteria is if the draft included one of the all time greats such as KG and Duncan. The NBA was changed when they came into the league. 97 also included Billups, as well as at least 5 other guys that had meaningful careers in the NBA (Van Horn, Blount, Battie, Pollard, Daniels, Thomas) and some big talent that simmered out to early such as Mercer.

95 was the same way with Smith, Stackhouse, and McDyess. All under rated players in my estimation. Just because they didn't pan out to reach the potential of their draft rank doesn't mean they weren't impact players. Then you factor in Finley and Ratliff and there was some talent there.

I think we sometimes underestimate what it takes to simply be a 20+ minute per game player over a span of 10 or 12 years. That alone means that a team drafted a player that had the skills to make an impact in the game. The counter to my argument is which drafts had the most picks fade out in under three years. I haven't looked at this yet, but that could easily change my perspective on things.

[JMarchand1981]

JMarch, great topic. I love analyzing drafts. When I get bored at my second job my buddy and I will jump onto Wikipedia and run through random drafts and re-organize them or evaluate them.

I don't think the 2009-10 draft belongs in the conversation and I would move up the 95-96 and 97-98 drafts. I obviously prefer a draft that is deep and multiple HOFers such as 96-97, 03-04 or even 98-99, however my next criteria is if the draft included one of the all time greats such as KG and Duncan. The NBA was changed when they came into the league. 97 also included Billups, as well as at least 5 other guys that had meaningful careers in the NBA (Van Horn, Blount, Battie, Pollard, Daniels, Thomas) and some big talent that simmered out to early such as Mercer.

95 was the same way with Smith, Stackhouse, and McDyess. All under rated players in my estimation. Just because they didn't pan out to reach the potential of their draft rank doesn't mean they weren't impact players. Then you factor in Finley and Ratliff and there was some talent there.

I think we sometimes underestimate what it takes to simply be a 20+ minute per game player over a span of 10 or 12 years. That alone means that a team drafted a player that had the skills to make an impact in the game. The counter to my argument is which drafts had the most picks fade out in under three years. I haven't looked at this yet, but that could easily change my perspective on things.

An example of a paltry draft was the Kenyon Martin draft. That whole freaking draft, save Hedo, just sucks. I am also bitter because I don't want to pay $25 combined for Jamal Crawford, Kenyon Martin and Hedo Chrome Rcs so take what I say about that year with a grain of salt.

If you consider the longevity of long careers, man, you have GOT to check out the roster from the 99-00 draft. I consider longevity over star power. My view on the 97-98 is jaded because of the Celtics disposition at the end of the draft (just as F'd as they were as a franchise prior to it). Duncan, Billups and T-mac. Good draft. 1 HOFer. 1999-00 has what will amount to zero HOFers but you could have built a championship team with 12 guys just from that draft (perhaps...there was no dominant big in that draft....and Elton Brand isn't that guy).

In terms of fade out guys, 02-03 had a good amount of them. Again though, I am all about the conversation but...that 99-00 draft is just killer.

Yup. Broken record here. I know it.