Training camp and Pre-season are a few weeks away. The regular season starts in about a month and a half. It's time to start busting out player and team previews at a furious pace. We've already started previewing teams in the Not a Podcast series, and we'll be previewing the seasons of all 14 Sixers starting tomorrow with Jrue Holiday.
Since these types of previews are running rampant this time of year I usually attempt to be creative. This year I'm integrating a grading system into my previews, much like they do with prospects in baseball. First I'll grade each player on a scale of 1-10 based on their current skill level. Then I'll grade their potential on the same scale. The grades won't be based on any system in particular. I'll use a combination of advanced stats, conventional stats and personal observation. In other words, the grades you see will be completely and 100% my opinion. That said, I assure you a significant amount of thought will go into each grade. Here's the grading scale:
(P.S. I got the idea from one of my favorite baseball blogs, Crawfish Boxes.)
| Grade | Description | Example |
| 10 | All-time Great | LeBron James |
| 9 | Superstar |
Deron Williams |
| 8 | All-Star Caliber | Joe Johnson |
| 7 | Above Average Starter | LaMarcus Aldridge |
| 6 | Starter | Raymond Felton |
| 5 | Above Average Bench Player | Jared Dudley |
| 4 | Bench Player | Craig Smith |
| 3 | One-dimensional Bench player | Reggie Evans |
| 2 | Project | Earl Clark |
| 1 | Roster Filler | Primoz Brezec |
(Mike Edit: Primoz Brezec is a God.)
The system will be a work in progress, so let me know if you have any suggestions. If nothing else, it'll put a cool twist on the normally redundant player previews.
Up Next: Jrue Holiday