2009 NBA Draft: Franchise Players vs. Role Players

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

First off, let me break down the difference between a franchise player, an All-Star, and a starter.  There's one more level higher than that of a franchise player, and that is a megastar (not the official term).

This year's NBA draft was considered just okay.  Although there were no megastars in this draft in my personal opinion, there's always a chance that I could be wrong.  However, I do believe that there were some franchise players selected in this draft.  I will be listing the notable rookies and ranking them on their caliber type.  I will give explanations to their respective ranks that I have chosen for them.

Calibers:

1. Megastars: Extremely rare in the NBA game.  One of a kind, a man among boys.  A player completely above the competition, a player that prides themselves in being the absolute best in any way, shape or form.  A record breaker, a face of the NBA, and the complete player.  They are the ticket sellers, the ones that hype up the crowd, the buzzer beaters, the ones that everyone aspires to be like.  They are megastars because of the simple fact of their team always has a good chance of winning games due to this player being there.  Examples: LeBron James, Chris Paul, Kevin Garnett, Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan, and Kobe Bryant.
   
2. Franchise Players: Players in this category can be considered megastars in some aspects.  The franchise player is considered the go-to guy on the team if there's no megastars.  There are maybe 10 of them. They excel in almost every stat and category. Examples: Brandon Roy, Gilbert Arenas, Steve Nash, Deron Williams, Carmelo Anthony, Tony Parker, Rajon Rondo, Dirk Nowitzki, etc.
3. All-Stars: The main difference between All-Stars and franchise players (and I stress this a lot), is that an All-Star does not win games as much as franchise players.  An All-Star-caliber player can be with a team for six years, yet they never win more than 35 games each season.  Franchise players and megastars always puts their team in positions to win almost all the time.  All franchise players could be considered All-Stars, but not All-Stars are franchise players.  Examples: Al Jefferson, Kevin Martin, Danny Granger, Kevin Durant, Carlos Boozer, Pau Gasol, LaMarcus Aldridge, Joe Johnson, Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, etc.
4. Starters: A solid all-around player, a player needed for more specifics than a role player, whether it be scoring in small amounts of minutes, leadership, defense or other intangibles.  Starters are not All-Stars in the respect that they are just good players, and will always have a future in the NBA, but as far as making the All-Star cut, they probably will never make it. Nevertheless, their value to NBA teams should  always be respected. Examples: Ron Artest, Trevor Ariza, Mo Williams, Jamal Crawford, Richard Jefferson, Jason Richardson, Emeka Okafor, etc.
5. Role Players: Some role players are starters, but most are not.  Some are used for their specific strengths in tight situations.  A respected player who develops in other areas to eventually become starter.  Examples: Ryan Gomes, Shane Battier, Chris Anderson, Corey Brewer, Ryan Hollins, Shannon Brown, Eddie House etc.
6. Bench Warmers: Speaks for itself.  For my purposes, this classification won't be important.
   

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