The Nets got their man. After losing in the Lottery, the Nets fixed on doing the best they could at No. 6 which despite the disappointment last month was the highest pick by the franchise since before they moved from New Jersey to Brooklyn. That was 2010!
So how’d they do? Early reads is that draftniks generally liked what the Nets did up top with Mikel Brown Jr. of Cincinnati but had some disagreements on the 28th pick, Joshua Jefferson of Iowa State.
We chose five sites that graded the whole 30 picks in the first round. NBC Sports graded the Draft by team, giving a combined grade. ESPN
Bleacher Report:
Mikel Brown Jr. – B+
As one of the bigger risk-reward prospects in this class, Brown has both fascinating peaks and worrisome valleys. If everything breaks right, he might be a perfect conductor for a modern attack. Deep pull-up threes and full-speed, live-dribble passes are key parts of his arsenal, meaning he can create space and then promptly make the most of it.
But he was often injured in college and pretty inefficient when he stepped inside the lines. Professional gamblers would probably label his decision-making as bold, both with his shot selection and his tiny-window pass attempts. He also has to get stronger, or he could get skewered defensively.
Joshua Jefferson – D+
Jefferson is tricky. There’s a size-skill blend pointing toward do-everything potential, especially if he keeps improving as a shooter. He rebounds, he creates for others, he scores in a variety of ways and he defends across multiple positions.
But what if he’s your prototypical jack of all trades, master of none? That can be a glue guy, but it can also be someone who never finds their NBA niche. And he’ll already be racing against the clock with his 23rd birthday arriving in November.
The Athletic
Mikel Brown – C+
On-ball players this skinny who have entered the NBA recently have struggled. The NBA is a man’s league. There’s no other way to put it. Brown is going to have to keep filling out now that he has grown to 6 feet 4. On one hand, I tend to be hard on smaller guards — and despite Brown’s height, he plays like a smaller guard. On the other hand, I tend to value skill, high IQ and shooting ability as much as anything. Brown possesses those skills in an immense quantity for such a young player. – Sam Vecenie
This feels like a bit of a reach, and the Nets’ recent draft history doesn’t inspire confidence that they know more than the wisdom of crowds on this one. Brown’s back issues at Louisville are also a concern, but the Nets have never shied away from a medical case and have frequently profited from this under Sean Marks. – John Hollinger
Joshua Jefferson – B
Jefferson was one of my favorite players in college basketball this past season. He’s probably the closest thing I’ve seen to an Oso Ighodaro- and Kyle Anderson-type hybrid as a connective-tissue passer since Anderson entered the draft in 2014. – Sam Vecenie
I didn’t have a first-round grade on Jefferson, but the Nets may have inadvertently made a solid draft pick. He can read the game and pass, and if he can work on his body and improve the shooting a bit, he has a chance to be a plus rotation player. The Nets are also basically devoid of his player archetype – John Hollinger.
Yahoo! Sports
Mikel Brown – A+
The Nets took four guard-ish players in last year’s draft, but Egor Dёmin looks like the only true keeper and that hit shouldn’t necessarily stop them from taking an even better guard prospect here. When Brown is in the zone, he has an unstoppable pull-up jumper, an ambidextrous finishing ability, and the quick reads to rifle passes before the defense has time to react.
Joshua Jefferson – C
At almost 23 years old already, it felt like he’d be a better fit on a contender, rather than a Brooklyn team that’s trying to build something up. Jefferson does a lot of the little things very well, but he needs to improve his jumper and his off-the-dribble game. His lack of shooting ability is worrisome for a guy who figures to be a complementary player.
CBS Sports
Mikel Brown Jr. – B
Brown gives Brooklyn a naturally skilled, high-upside, late-blooming lead guard, whose athleticism is catching up. He’s incredibly skilled, naturally ambidextrous, has complete control of the ball, is a pinpoint passer, and a much better shooter than his numbers showed at Louisville. Brown Makes deep shots in bunches when he gets hot. Excellent left hand too. Very good floor-vision, passing, and ability to make reads coming off of ball-screens. Ranked in the 89th percentile as a pick-and-roll ball-handler. Grown into having positional size at 6-3.5 without shoes, long arms, and newfound athleticism. The concerns are Brown’s lack of strength and physicality. He can hunt high-level plays instead of making the easy one, and he has a history of injuries
Joshua Jefferson – B
Brooklyn showed a clear affinity for high-feel passers in last year’s draft cycle, and Jefferson checks those boxes. Jefferson is a strong-bodied four-man who was one of the best frontcourt passers in college basketball this year. He has terrific vision, dexterity, and uncommon feel for the game from the forward position. He has an NBA-ready frame and good defensive playmaking metrics. Jefferson should be, at minimum, a valuable connector at the next level.
NBC Sports
Mikel Brown Jr. – A
I’ll admit my bias here, I am higher on Brown than most, I think his combination of pace, shooting and vision is built for the more open game in the NBA. He’s got to get stronger and make better decisions at points, but Brooklyn is a great fit. Having Brown running pick-and-rolls with just-acquired Julius Randle, that is going to be a tough play to stop. Jefferson is also a nice late-round pick. There is a lot to like about Jefferson’s feel for the game and the way he can do a little bit of everything — he can defend, he can pass, he can do whatever is called for.
