NBA

Jerry West no fan of NBA’s highly-touted draft class

If Jerry West still ran an NBA franchise, he wouldn’t be tanking for this year’s draft class. In fact, the Hall of Famer and former NBA executive said he was unimpressed by this group of freshmen, calling it “poor.”

Apparently, Jabari Parker, Joel Embiid, Aaron Gordon and Andrew Wiggins don’t do it for West.

“And everyone is talking about a great draft class this year, I think it’s just the opposite,” West said in an interview on ESPN Radio with Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Rusillo. ”I think it’s a poor one myself.”

West is down on the NBA as a whole, and he thinks organizations depending on these young players is a major problem.

“Just look at the league — this is the weakest I’ve ever seen this league,” West said. “We are depending on people who go to school for a year to come in and change a sports franchise. Rarely does that ever happen.”

“At one time you could get a branded name. These kids are not branded today. They’re not branded. And by that I mean kids who have played in school for three or four years and [he] comes out and people know who he is. He’s tutored, he’s more mature, more experienced. Those kinds of players come in and make an impact right away. But if you look at some of these kids, it takes about three years for them to get going. And for a team that’s really struggling, you’re selling your fans that this player’s going to make us better. Most of the time it does not happen today.”