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The Step Back Composite NBA Draft Big Board: The best 30 draft prospects of the 2010s

By Trevor Magnotti

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 19: Anthony Davis #23 of the New Orleans Pelicans and John Wall #2 of the Washington Wizards talk following the Wizards 116-106 win at Capital One Arena on December 19, 2017 in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 19: Anthony Davis #23 of the New Orleans Pelicans and John Wall #2 of the Washington Wizards talk following the Wizards 116-106 win at Capital One Arena on December 19, 2017 in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images
Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images /

No. 3 overall pick, Washington Wizards, 2012

An important thing to remember with Bradley Beal, and a big reason he gets nudged ahead of Cousins and Lillard, is that his stress-related injuries that plagued his early career hadn’t surfaced at this point. Instead, college Beal was just coming in as one of the best off-movement shooting prospects of the decade. Questions about how much on-ball responsibility he could handle existed, as most of his attempts came on assisted 3s, but he had a good diversity of shots he could get to. His form in all settings was pretty established and easily transferred over to what we see today.

Beal is a case study in why numbers can’t capture everything with a draft prospect. Going by production, he had a very mediocre freshman season, shooting just 33.9 percent from 3, having just a 12.7 percent assist rate, and having measurables that equaled out to mediocre traditional defensive projections. But on film, you could see how the jumper was obviously going to grow and translate. You could see his handle go to work when he took the rare chance to get to the basket. You could see the court vision and awareness as a passer, and the intelligent team defense he showed off ball.

Statistically, Beal wasn’t very enticing, but compared to a similar-looking shooting guard prospect statistically in Dion Waiters, Beal outclassed him across the board. A case was there for Beal to go No. 2 in 2012 if he even hits probably 36 percent from 3, or if Florida is a little better defensively with him on the floor. The indications of All-Star talent were there on film, even if they weren’t on paper.

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