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NBA Draft Analysis

Comprehensive analysis of NBA Draft performance from 2010-2025. Explore GM rankings, draft classes, and discover which teams consistently find value in the draft.

30+
General Managers
950+
Draft Picks Analyzed
16
Draft Classes

GM Study

Data-driven analysis ranking every NBA General Manager by draft success from 2010-2020. Discover which GMs consistently find value, avoid poor picks, and build championship-caliber rosters through the draft.

GM Performance Rankings
Complete Draft History
Performance Distribution
Quick Access:
View GM Study

Draft Classes

Dive deep into 16 years of draft analysis with our machine learning-powered rankings. Compare our projections against actual NBA outcomes and see how each draft class stacks up historically.

Year-by-Year Analysis
Player Performance Data
Draft Class Rankings

Why Trust Our Projections?

We've spent over a decade perfecting our draft evaluation system. Here's how our projections stack up against NBA teams' actual draft decisions when measured by long-term player success.

Our Track Record: 10 Years of Data (2010-2019)

The Test: We compared our pre-draft rankings against NBA teams' actual draft selections using career VORP (Value Over Replacement Player) through 2025 as the success metric. VORP measures a player's total contribution relative to a replacement-level player—essentially answering "how much better is this player than someone you could easily replace them with?"

Why These Years: We chose 2010-2019 because these players have had sufficient time (at least 6 seasons) to establish their NBA careers, making VORP assessments reliable. More recent drafts would be premature to evaluate.

What We Measured: Three key metrics that matter most for draft success—how well rankings predict career value, accuracy of those predictions, and ability to identify the truly elite prospects.

+0.042
Better Correlation
Our Rankings vs Career VORP
Us: 0.373
NBA: 0.332
-2.20
Lower Avg Error
Rank vs Career VORP Rank
Us: 10.9
NBA: 13.1
51%
Top 10 Accuracy
Our Top 10 → Career Top 10
Us: 51%
NBA: 44%
10
Draft Years
2010-2019 Analysis
Sufficient career development time for accurate VORP assessment
Outperformed
NBA Teams' Selections
Across all key metrics measuring draft success

📊 Better Correlation (0.373 vs 0.332)

What it means: Correlation measures how well rankings predict career success. Higher is better.

Why it matters: Our rankings have a 12.6% stronger relationship with career VORP than NBA draft positions, meaning we're better at identifying which prospects will actually succeed.

Real impact: When we rank a player higher, they're more likely to have a better career than when NBA teams draft them higher.

🎯 Lower Ranking Error (10.9 vs 13.1)

What it means: Average difference between where we/NBA ranked a player and where they ended up in career VORP among their draft class.

Why it matters: We're 2.2 positions more accurate on average—this compounds significantly across an entire draft.

Real impact: If we rank someone 10th and NBA teams draft them 15th, we're more likely to be closer to their actual career ranking.

🌟 Elite Identification (51% vs 44%)

What it means: Percentage of our top 10 ranked prospects who became top 10 in career VORP within their draft class.

Why it matters: Finding elite talent in the top 10 is crucial—these picks often define franchises for decades.

Real impact: We correctly identify elite prospects 16% more often than NBA teams' draft positions suggest.

📈 What This Means for 2025

Our Methodology Advantages:
  • Machine learning models trained on 15+ years of data
  • Advanced player comparison algorithms
  • Comprehensive statistical analysis beyond basic stats
  • Objective evaluation free from organizational bias
  • Strictly focused on production over physical aesthetics
Why NBA Teams Might Miss:
  • Overvaluing combine data and interviews
  • Team-specific need bias affecting evaluations
  • Meddlesome ownership
  • Inability to see past a players physical appearance
  • Potential to overvalue individual workouts

Methodology: Career VORP (Value Over Replacement Player) through 2025 season was used to rank players by actual career success. Our draft rankings were compared against both actual NBA draft positions and career VORP rankings to measure predictive accuracy. Higher correlation values and lower ranking errors indicate better projection quality.

See Full Methodology Details