2019 NBA Draft Coverage - New Features

Each year, the Box and One does in-depth coverage of the NBA Draft, with mock drafts, big boards, and player analysis. The coverage grows annually, with more in-depth breakdowns, and the hope to some day expand through video.

Check out our big board for 2019 here

You can venture over to the Box and One and see several changes to the landscape and formatting this season, updating not only our analysis but our presentation. Since the site is run via Google Sheets, all categories and statistical measures are sortable, giving you the opportunity to do your own research based on the advanced stats and analytics, physical profiles, position, or team.

One constant is our Big Board page. You'll notice all scouting is done by examining through six different positions, which are broken down more by which type of defensive role a prospect has than their offensive profile.

Those positions and their explanations:

• Point Guard - someone who guards the perimeter and initiates the offense, but is likely too small to consistently guard a win
• Combo Guard - a bit too small to consistently defend wings, but is not seen as a primary offensive creator
• Wing - a perimeter player with decent size that is not necessarily a primary creator. Defensively they can matchup with some guards and some forwards, but not all
• Forward - a player with a combination of interior and perimeter skill that has the ability to defend some posts and some wings, but not all
• Post - back-to-the-basket defender or rim protector whose main defensive positional number is the 5 and not the 4
• Athlete - a prospect that does not fit in any one traditional mold, either due to a unique skill set for their size or the fusion of multiple positional categories.

The format lends itself to easy perusal and sorting to whichever criteria the user would like. It's default sorting: overall big board order, which you can see below:

So with that, you get to see the late-March 2019 pre-first version of the actual Big Board. Certainly there will be some movement, but here is the initial rankings:

1. Zion Williamson, ATH - Duke
2. De'Andre Hunter, F - Virginia
3. RJ Barrett, W - Duke
4. Cam Reddish, W - Duke
5. Darius Garland, PG - Vanderbilt
6. Ja Morant, PG - Murray State
7. PJ Washington, F - Kentucky
8. Nickeil Alexander-Walker, CG - Virginia Tech
9. Jontay Porter - P, Missouri
10. Romeo Langford, W - Indiana
11. Brandon Clarke, ATH - Gonzaga
12. Jarrett Culver, CG - Texas Tech
13. Jaxson Hayes, P - Texas
14. Mattise Thybulle, W - Washington
15. Sekou Doumbouya, ATH - France
16. Bol Bol - P, Oregon
17. Coby White, CG - North Carolina
18. Ty Jerome, CG - Virginia
19. Tyler Herro, CG - Kentucky
20. Talen Horton-Tucker, ATH - Iowa State

In addition to the big board, we are adding in-depth prospect profiles this year. Complete with picture bios, analysis on strengths and weaknesses, in-depth statistics and more, these profiles combine a sleek design with an easy way to track prospects.

​Check out their format!

The new format will be sorted in order of prospects on the big board, making it easy to understand why players are ranked in certain orders. The goal of the prospect profiles is to more easily block their information than in spreadsheet form. It's more eye-popping and provides great detail.

Perhaps my favorite addition is the statistical section of each prospect's profile, which features three categories in detail: per game statistics, per 40 minute statistics, and shooting breakdowns. The per game stats and per 40 are vital to see side-by-side. Per 40 allows easier comparison among prospects, while the per game shows their actual production. Both should be taken with a grain of salt. The shooting splits show both effectiveness and volume, allowing individuals to determine how much they value each.

​The stats examples are shown below:

Please go read our draft page, as it continues to update and grow!

A few reminders before you do so:

• The Big Board is sorted by "who do I think will have the best career", not "which prospects are most likely to be drafted earliest". For example, Ja Morant is likely to be a top-three pick. He is sixth on my board, not because I think he'll fall out of that spot in the draft, but because he's not in my opinion the third-best player.
• The Mock Draft is the section that will more accurately reflect feelings on draft position. That page will not be officially updated until the draft order is set.
• Age is listed by age on draft night, not current age.
• Draft rankings are fluid. As a one-man show, it can be difficult to get through all players film and assess. The rankings will likely keep shuffling through the year.

Finally, make sure you check out previous iterations of our draft coverage to compare where we fell short and where we hit the mark:

2018 Big Board
2017 Big Board
2016 Big Board
2015 Big Board