OKC Thunder: Re-Grading the Perry Jones draft pick

The OKC Thunder have a ton of success when drafting in the first round of the NBA Draft, however, in 2012 Sam Presti made a mistake

As we are all locked inside, social distancing, working from home, frantically washing our hands, and having to wear masks if we step outside the front door, I am sitting at my desk thinking about…Perry Jones? Yes, that is correct.

I miss basketball that much. Last night before drifting off to sleep I was pondering the career of Erick Dampier. I know I am crazy, but let’s talk about 2012 OKC Thunder’s first-round pick Perry Jones.

With the 28th pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, the OKC Thunder made the selection of Perry Jones. The University of Baylor product entered the league at 6’11 and 235 pounds. Sam Presti was hoping he could be a modern-day big man to compliment a ready to win roster.

If we are going to re-grade a draft pick, it needs a starting point. So what was the mood once the OKC Thunder selected Perry Jones? I loved watching Perry Jones at Baylor and his run through the Big 12.

I was very happy with the pick, While at the time I would’ve selected Jae Crowder over Jones, I still graded the pick an A- at the time! Wow, was I way off.

So when re-grading with the privilege of hindsight let’s take a look at who went behind Perry Jones III that you would rather have. Luckily, once you get down to pick 28, that list is usually pretty small no matter how the 28th selection pans out.

Then, you also need to look at what the player did on the floor, relative to the expectations. For some players, you also have to evaluate if they still have upside left to improve their new grade (for example Terrance Ferguson).