This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
There are certain NBA draft classes you know have the chance to be better than the rest.
In 1996, Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, Ray Allen and Steve Nash headlined a group of players that did a ton to change the face of the NBA. The league was difficult to score in at that point, games looking like wrestling matches. The 1996 class, along with some rule changes, did much to reverse that narrative.
Not many can forget the 2003 group, the one with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony. Twelve years later, LeBron is still the best player in the world, and the rest, though on the downward slope, are playing at a high level.
Then, there is 1984, with Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwan and John Stockton. That is considered the best class in NBA history.
The current crop of rookies has a lot of work to do before being mentioned in the same breath as those other three. That doesn't mean the potential isn't there. In November, we saw Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor emerge for the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Philadelphia 76ers, respectively. We've seen Kristaps Porzingis go from being booed by New York Knicks fans on draft night to being one of the more popular athletes in the Big Apple.
And we're seeing the depth of the class. Of the first five players drafted last June, four are starters. Of the first 10 players, six are starters and all have proved to be solid rotation pieces, at the least. The 2015 class is doing what we predicted for the 2014 class, the one with Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker. That class wound up being good. This class has started out great.
"The thing that I like about this class is there are plenty of big men, and they've started out successfully," New York Knicks coach Derek Fisher said. "That's a good thing because all the talk lately has been that bigger guys are becoming extinct. There are a lot of really talented players in this class, but forecasting where they will end up is kind of hard to do, since it's so early in their careers. But I think this class can be memorable, if everyone stays healthy."
To have a great draft class, you need multiple players to show All-Star potential, and the 2015 class has that with Towns and Porzingis. Towns has anchored Minnesota's middle from Day One. He's averaging 15 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. He's shown great aptitude on both ends of the floor, hitting feathery jumpers and scoring in the post offensively, along with blocking shots on defense. The Timberwolves are clearly a better team with him on the floor, and he's a lead candidate for Rookie of the Year.
As good as Towns has been, Porzingis has almost been his equal. The 7-foot-1 power forward from Latvia has been a revelation, scoring in a variety of ways inside and out. Even better, he's shown the ability to defend and rebound, and has more than held his own physically against NBA big men. Porzingis's play has been borderline shocking. He's made the Knicks watchable for the first time in years, which is a win onto itself.
What's setting this class apart is the depth of good players at seemingly every position. Emmanuel Mudiay and D'Angelo Russell are standouts at point guard. Mario Hezonjia has been good for the Orlando Magic at shooting guard. Stanley Johnson and Justise Winslow have made their mark at small forward. Porzingis has been perhaps the best power forward to come into the league in years. And Towns and Okafor are manning the middle.
It's a class that looks to be the best in about a decade, which is usually how often these kinds of classes come along. How good will 2015 ultimately be? That remains to be proved. But if early returns mean anything, this class has a chance to be special.
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