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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 Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images /

Tier 1 — Certain franchise-changing talents

No. 1 overall pick, Minnesota Timberwolves, 2015

A fun thing to ponder, in hindsight: What does a Karl-Anthony Towns’ season look like on the 2017 Kentucky team? Or the 2019 Kentucky team? Or Towns’ second choice, the 2015 Baylor team? Basically, if Towns isn’t on a team that’s completely stacked with talent and engineered to make him look like an elite defender, do we parse out his defensive issues in the NBA a little bit earlier?

Towns was described as about as close to the perfect prospect as you could ask for prior to the draft, and his performance at Kentucky supported that assessment. KAT looked like both an elite rim protector and offensive talent at the five, someone who could easily put up 20 points a night with his combination of post play and spot-up shooting, and then control the other end of the floor with great communication, instincts and mobility. In hindsight, it looks like some of that decision-making on defense was manufactured by Kentucky’s system on that particular team, but at the time, the expectation was that Towns was going to be an elite defender from the jump. He’s a reminder that we certainly have not mastered projection from the ever-changing college game to the ever-changing NBA.

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