2014 NBA Draft Results: Latest Grades for All Prospects Picked

The postmortem for the 2014 NBA draft can't truly be done until at least four or five years from now. With that said, the immediacy with which the players are integrated into their new teams makes it easier to judge the early value of each pick.

For instance, Jabari Parker to the Milwaukee Bucks at No. 2 overall is a good pick. Bruno Caboclo to the Toronto Raptors at No. 20 is a not-so-good pick. You can reach that conclusion by virtue of the fact that Parker will help the Bucks right away, while the Raptors will be lucky if Caboclo is ready in the next three years.

Using a combination of talent, immediate impact and fit, below are grades for all 60 picks of the 2014 draft, followed by four teams who had the most interesting draft hauls.

NBA Draft Grades

Pick	Team	Player	School	Grade
1	Cleveland Cavaliers	Andrew Wiggins	Kansas	A+
2	Milwaukee Bucks	Jabari Parker	Duke	A+
3	Philadelphia 76ers	Joel Embiid	Kansas	A-
4	Orlando Magic	Aaron Gordon	Arizona	B
5	Utah Jazz	Dante Exum	Australia	A
6	Boston Celtics	Marcus Smart	Oklahoma State	B+
7	Los Angeles Lakers	Julius Randle	Kentucky	A
8	Sacramento Kings	Nik Stauskas	Michigan	C
9	Charlotte Hornets	Noah Vonleh	Indiana	A-
10	Philadelphia 76ers (traded to Magic)	Elfrid Payton	Louisiana-Lafayette	B+
11	Denver Nuggets (traded to Bulls)	Doug McDermott	Creighton	B
12	Orland Magic (traded to 76ers)	Dario Saric	Croatia	B-
13	Minnesota Timberwolves	Zach LaVine	UCLA	B+
14	Phoenix Suns	T.J. Warren	NC State	B
15	Atlanta Hawks	Adreian Payne	Michigan State	A
16	Chicago Bulls (traded to Nuggets)	Jusuf Nurkic	Bosnia	B
17	Boston Celtics	James Young	Kentucky	A
18	Phoenix Suns	Tyler Ennis	Syracuse	B+
19	Chicago Bulls (traded to Nuggets)	Gary Harris	Michigan State	A-
20	Toronto Raptors	Bruno Caboclo	Brazil	D-
21	Oklahoma City Thunder	Mitch McGary	Michigan	B-
22	Memphis Grizzlies	Jordan Adams	UCLA	D+
23	Utah Jazz	Rodney Hood	Duke	A+
24	Charlotte Hornets (traded to Heat)	Shabazz Napier	Connecticut	B
25	Houston Rockets	Clint Capela	Switzerland	B+
26	Miami Heat (traded to Hornets)	P.J. Hairston	Texas Legends	A-
27	Phoenix Suns	Bogdan Bogdanovic	Serbia	B
28	Los Angeles Clippers	C.J. Wilcox	Washington	B-
29	Oklahoma City Thunder	Josh Huestis	Stanford	C+
30	San Antonio Spurs	Kyle Anderson	UCLA	A

Pick	Team	Player	School	Grade
1	Milwaukee Bucks	Damien Inglis	France	B
2	Philadelphia 76ers	K.J. McDaniels	Clemson	A+
3	Cleveland Cavaliers	Joe Harris	Virginia	B
4	New York Knicks	Cleanthony Early	Wichita State	A
5	Utah Jazz (traded to Grizzlies)	Jarnell Stokes	Tennessee	B+
6	Milwaukee Bucks	Johnny O'Bryant	LSU	C
7	Toronto Raptors	DeAndre Daniels	Connecticut	B
8	Detroit Pistons	Spencer Dinwiddie	Colorado	C+
9	Philadelphia 76ers	Jerami Grant	Syracuse	A-
10	Minnesota Timberwolves	Glenn Robinson III	Michigan	B+
11	Denver Nuggets	Nikola Jokic	Serbia	C+
12	Houston Rockets	Nick Johnson	Arizona	B+
13	Atlanta Hawks	Walter Tavares	Spain	B+
14	Minnesota Timberwolves (traded to Nets)	Markel Brown	Oklahoma State	B+
15	Charlotte Hornets	Dwight Powell	Stanford	A-
16	Washington Wizards (traded to Lakers)	Jordan Clarkson	Missouri	A
17	Philadelphia 76ers (traded to Pelicans)	Russ Smith	Louisville	C
18	Milwaukee Bucks	Lamar Patterson	Pittsburgh	C-
19	Chicago Bulls	Cameron Bairstow	New Mexico	C+
20	Phoenix Suns	Alec Brown	Green Bay	C+
21	New York Knicks	Thanasis Antetokounmpo	Philadelphia 87ers	A
22	Philadelphia 76ers	Vasilije Micic	Serbia	A-
23	Minnesota Timberwolves	Alessandro Gentile	Italy	C+
24	Philadelphia 76ers (traded to Spurs)	Nemanja Dangubic	Serbia	C-
25	Miami Heat (traded to Thunder)	Semaj Christon	Xavier	B+
26	Denver Nuggets (traded to Magic)	Roy Devyn Marble	Iowa	A-
27	Indiana Pacers (traded to Knicks)	Louis Labeyrie	France	C+
28	San Antonio Spurs (traded to 76ers)	Jordan McRae	Tennessee	C+
29	Toronto Raptors (traded to Nets)	Xavier Thames	San Diego State	A-
30	San Antonio Spurs (traded to Nets)	Cory Jefferson	Baylor	A

Most Intriguing Drafts

Philadelphia 76ers

You gotta hand it to Philadelphia 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie. He's gonna tank, and he doesn't care who knows it. The NBA is a league where you either have to commit to being really good or really bad. Otherwise, you get stuck where the Atlanta Hawks were for a few years: good enough to make the playoffs but not good enough to make a deep run.

Slate's Josh Levin captured the paradoxical nature of the league:

The Sixers' draft pretty much hinges on how good Joel Embiid is and if he stays healthy.

Grabbing the next Hakeem Olajuwon at No. 3? A steal. Grabbing the next Sam Bowie at No. 3? Not so much.

Philly did a great job, though, with the second round. No. 32 pick K.J. McDaniels can be a lockdown defender with a competent enough offensive game, while Jerami Grant (No. 39 overall) will also help out on the defensive end.

Of course, the true success of this draft might not be known for three or four years.

Toronto Raptors

Three or four years might be a conservative estimate for Caboclo. ESPN's Fran Fraschilla saying the Brazilian is "two years away from being two years away" is the kind of thing that could become NBA draft folklore:

Calling Caboclo raw would be a massive understatement. This is somebody who averaged 4.9 points a game in the Brazilian league, per Nick Coffey of The Cardinal Connect:

Toronto Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri has arguably earned the benefit of the doubt to this point, so you can't dismiss this pick too much. If it works out, he and the Raptors will look like geniuses.

Utah Jazz

The Utah Jazz kinda lucked into Dante Exum. Most had the Australian point guard going third overall, but since he was there at No. 5, it was a no-brainer for Utah. Exum doesn't come without risk, though. Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis thinks he might be more of a gamble than Embiid:

Pairing him with Trey Burke will work out in the short term and give the Jazz a lot of flexibility in the long term if they want to move either player. Burke's a good player, but he arguably doesn't have the star potential that Exum possesses.

Rodney Hood was a massive steal at No. 23. You can't expect to get better value at that spot than an above-average shooter who can get to the basket. The only worry about Hood is whether or not he can make strides as a defender.

Boston Celtics

Is the clock ticking on Rajon Rondo's time in Boston? ESPN's SportsNation captured the reaction many fans immediately jumped to after the Celtics drafted Marcus Smart sixth overall:

If the team is indeed planning to trade Rondo, it's keeping its cards close to the vest. Head coach Brad Stevens said that he hasn't considered the idea, per Baxter Holmes of The Boston Globe:

General manager Danny Ainge doesn't envisage any issues in terms of cohesion between Smart and Rondo.

"I just think they’re two guys who can be starting players in the NBA for years to come," Ainge said, per Holmes. "I just don’t want to put too much pressure on them right away. We need to let these guys develop and sort of earn their stripes. I think they’re going to have very, very bright careers."

As long as Smart can improve his shot selection, he's more than capable of playing the 2, which would eliminate any potential problems between him and Rondo.