Made a new prospect grading rubric...it's similar to the one I used last year, but a little more streamlined I think. There are 6 categories, 3 on offense and 3 on defense, and the idea is you simply add to get a player's overall projected impact. As an example, I graded Zion at the bottom, and I'll do more guys in the future. I will in general be factoring in age when I make these grades, i.e. I'll think about what improvements guys will realistically make between now and when they reach their prime.
EDIT: Oh yeah, I'm thinking in units of +/- per 100 possessions. So +6 and up overall is an MVP candidate, +3 and up is an All-Star, +1 and up is a good starter, -1 and up is a useful rotation guy
Perimeter offense:
+3: An absolutely ridiculous shooter...deadly off the bounce or off the catch with range far beyond the NBA 3-point line.
+2: An elite shooter off the catch and above-average off the dribble, comfortable shooting stepbacks, fading away to get shots off under duress
+1: A very good shooter off the catch with enough off the dribble ability to punish defenders for sagging off of him
+0: A good spot-up shooter but not much more
-1: Can hit a wide open shot just often enough that defenses can't ignore him on the 3-point line
-2: Doesn't attempt threes, or is so inaccurate that defenses are happy to let him take wide-open threes
Interior offense:
+3: A dominant scorer, able to get to the rim at will and finish at an elite level
+2: A very good interior scorer held back slightly either by sub-elite finishing, or by an inability to consistently get to the basket off his own dribble
+1: Same weaknesses as +2, but a little more pronounced, or some combination of the two
+0: Not too much of a threat to create his own offense going to the rim; mostly capitalizes on defensive mistakes to score, or scores on lobs and putbacks
-1: Ability to get to the rim seriously hampered by a lack of athleticism/physicality or a loose handle
-2: A total non-threat to score inside unless left wide open.
Team offense:
+3: The perfect floor general, charismatic, intelligent, every pass from routine to spectacular is delivered with perfect zip and placement
+2: Completely capable of running an offense, great ballhandling and vision, a clear leader on the floor
+1: A clearly above-average passer, can run the offense for stretches but not quite good enough ballhandling/vision to run it full time
+0: A glue-guy level passer, capable of making quick decisions to get the ball to the open man, ball doesn't stick in his hands
-1: A poor passer, may dribble with his head down, may have a selfish streak, may just be a half step slow processing what's going on around him
-2: An seriously bad passer with very poor awareness, may be a black hole scorer type or a very clumsy player who has trouble catching/handling the ball at all
Perimeter defense:
+2: Combination of length and lateral quickness to contain speedy ballhandlers, good contests, quick hands to disrupt
+1: Very good all-around perimeter defender, but not a gamechanger, not someone you'd ideally have guarding a perimeter star
+0: An adequate perimeter defender who doesn't typically guard the ball, but isn't a complete liability switched onto a ballhandling scorer
-1: A below-average perimeter defender with slow feet, may not use his hands well or at all, dies on screens
-2: A hopeless perimeter defender, must be hidden on a non-scoring-threat at all times, poor fundamentals, poor effort
Interior defense:
+2: Elite rebounder and shotblocker, strength and fundamentals to wall off the biggest post players
+1: Very good, but either lacking elite length, lower body strength to reliably hold position, or proper technique
+0: A decent interior defender who will contest shots and put up a fight against dangerous big man scorers but isn't a difference maker
-1: A poor interior defender, may be soft or simply very short, little or no instinct to take charges or contest shots in the paint
-2: A completely useless interior defender, actively gets out of the way, opposing players act like he's not there
Team defense:
+2: Expert at playing passing lanes, never loses track of his man, leads and communicates actively, quick-rotating shot blocking help defender
+1: The typical glue guy defender, a low-mistake player who will pounce on errant passes and get some sneaky blocks
+0: A totally unremarkable off-ball defender, rarely loses track of his man and good general awareness, but doesn't make highlight plays
-1: A somewhat lackadaisical defender, gets caught ball-watching, unwilling or unable to understand advanced defensive schemes
-2: An actively bad team defender, falls asleep or makes terrible gambles, poor effort, rotates late or not at all way too often
Zion Williamson
Perimeter offense: -0.5
Interior offense: +2.5
Team offense: +0
Total offense: +2
Perimeter defense: +1
Interior defense: +1.5
Team defense: +1.5
Total defense: +4
Overall: +6