There are three ways an NBA team can improve: 1) Draft 2) Trades 3) Free Agency.
I've taken a look at how well teams have drafted since 2003. I used the number of rebounds, points, assist, steals, and blocks to help me rank the teams on their ability to draft. If a player was acquired via a trade, he counts towards the team that received him in the trade. Also, the statistics that count are only the ones that the player acquired while with the team that drafted him. So, if a player was traded and then became a good player, that team lost out. Let's see the results.
The first list is the most simple. It is how teams rank by just counting all the points, rebounds, steals, blocks and assists:
1) Chicago
2) Portland
3) Oklahoma City
4) Atlanta
5) New Orleans
6) Toronto
7) Boston
8) Orlando
9) New York
10) Miami
11) Cleveland
12) Sacramento
13) Charlotte
14) Philadelphia
15) Denver
16) Memphis
17) LA Clippers
18) Utah
19) Washington
20) Indiana
21) Golden State
22) Minnesota
23) La Lakers
24) Milwaukee
25) New Jersey
26) Detroit
27) Phoenix
28) Houston
29) Dallas
30) San Antonio
This is a pretty good look at how well teams have been drafting. Portland is really high on the list, but has 15 picks since 2003. Oklahoma City had 12, while NY and Memphis each had 10. On the flip side, other teams had less than one per year. So, stockpiling picks has a positive effect.
On the other hand, some teams are consistently picking towards the top while others have been picking at the bottom. So, the next list is based on how well a team has drafted based on where the picked. For example, Milwaukee has had the best draft position during this time frame with picking at 6.6. San Antonio has had the worst picking at 27.5 per pick.
The list shows the difference of where they picked and how that player turned out overall. Again, Milwaukee avergae selecting at 6.6, but the pick averaged out being the 15.0 best performance. That is a -8.4. Meaning, the player they choose pans out to being 8.4 places lower than what he was picked.
1) Houston 12.5
2) Sacramento 7.3
3) LA Lakers 6.2
4) Boston 6.0
5) San Antonio 4.8
6) Indiana 4.0
7) Washington 3.0
8) New York 2.9
9) Denver 2.8
10) Philadelphia 2.7
11) Miami 2.6
12) Chicago 2.2
13) New Jersey 1.9
14) New Orleans 1.7
15) Detroit 1.5
16) Memphis 1.0
17) Portland 0.3
18) Phoenix -0.4
19) Atlanta -1.25
20) Dallas -1.75
21) Oklahoma City -1.83
22) Minnesota -2.44
23) utah -2.8
24) Orlando -3.2
25) Cleveland -3.2
26) Charlotte -6
27) Toronto -6.5
28) Golden STate -6.6
29) Clippers -8.2
30) Milwaukee -8.4
As you can see, top teams year in and year out like the Lakers, Celtics, and Spurs, draft very well for their position. On the flip side, you can see why the Clippers, Buck, and Warriors just don't ever seem to get better.
This is some food for thought while you watch your favorite team Thursday night ;)
