I am a huge college basketball nerd. I invest a lot of time and energy tracking top players and their stats, development, and overall impact on games throughout the course of the season. All of this collected data and analysis I have accumulated all season hits a climax on Draft night as I sit in front of my TV with my microwaved popcorn and a cold six pack of beer, and eagerly await the picks. This is what’s important to me.
I say all of that to say this. Fellow CBB nerds rejoice because now we have the opportunity to become NBA executives and decide the 2015 NBA draft.
ESPN won the internet today with the 2015 Lottery Mock Draft simulator. Developed by ESPN NBA insider Chad Ford, this interactive multimedia simulator provides passionate hoop fans with the ‘chance to win the lottery’.
How it Works:
The home page displays 14 of the top lottery hopefuls from college and international leagues. Listed above their profiles is the 14 NBA teams that have a chance to win the lottery and grab the number one pick.
Each of those 14 teams are given a percentage chance of receiving the number one pick based on their record thus far and their projected overall record to finish the season. The Minnesota Timberwolves are listed as the frontrunners to win the number one overall pick with a 25% chance followed by the Knicks (20%), 76ers (16%), and Lakers (20%).
Users will hit the ‘play lottery’ button and begin the simulation.
Next a projected draft order is determined based off the lottery results. This draft order changes every time and is as unpredictable as the real life draft lottery.
The simulator will display each teams’ projected pick in order 1-14.
Every player listed has information about their game including their height, weight, position, college or league, and a quick paragraph summary of their strengths and weaknesses. Also included is a cool in-game photo of the player handling the ball.
The simulator displays a detailed scouting report button that users can click on to see players’ career stats, game logs, analysis breakdowns, and just about every aspect of the players’ game that someone would be interested in learning about.
What would make this better?
I am a big fan of this simulator but it misses on a couple of areas. For one, I would have liked a quick analysis as to why each pro team needed to select that player. With picks 1-4 I understand its best to draft the best talent that is available, but picks 5-14 require positional needs that NBA teams are looking to fill. It would be nice to see why teams would take certain guys. We demand explanations mr. Ford!
Also there are no video highlights of any of the players. Most of the top 14 players I am familiar with because they play college ball. Some of them are international hoopers that I have not seen play. Adding video highlights of each player on their scout page would help the audience get a better idea of how these guys look on the court.
Lastly — and this critique is strictly based off of hometown bias — Ford has Arizona‘s Stanley Johnson going 11 overall in every simulation. This seems very late for a Pac 12 player of the year candidate and the leading scorer on a team who’s top 6 in the country. Johnson’s physical attributes alone make him an easy top 5 grab, and lets not overlook his ability to completely take the other teams’ best player out of the game on the defensive side of the floor.
I would have liked to see Johnson at four or five in the draft to teams that make sense like the Lakers, Orlando, or Philadelphia.
Johnson at 11 to the Denver Nuggets seems laughable but there have been stranger happenings on draft night.
Overall this is a fun and addicting tool to see where your favorite college star might land. Basketball geeks will indulge.
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nick peppe 