FanPost

Breaking down the 2015 NBA Draft prospects by Tiers

Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Several years ago, Chad Ford at ESPN revealed a draft ranking system employed by several teams that have been very successful in the draft. It's called a "Tier" system. You group players based on overall talent into tiers. Then you rank the players in each tier based on team need.

A team should always draft the highest-ranked player in a given tier; and never take a player from a lower tier if one from a higher tier is available. This keeps teams from reaching for a player based only on team needs, disregarding the higher rated player in the process.

In the case of the Wizards, with Nene's expiring contract, and the presumed departure of Seraphin and Pierce's, my opinion is that Power Forward should be the top team need; preferably a player that could eventually become a "stretch-4". The next highest need would be a Guard; hopefully a guard that could come off the bench and play both the 1 and 2. And finally, a back-up Center.

So here is my tiered draft prospect rankings, taking into account the Wizards' team needs.

Tier 1 (Truly Transcendent, franchise changing players)

This year, I don't see a player capable of carrying a team to the finals practically by himself. A player like LeBron James or Kevin Durant is not in this draft.

Tier 2 (Sure-fire All-Stars or "franchise" players)

Karl Anthony Towns

Jahlil Okafor

Tier 3 (projected as potential All-Stars)

Kristaps Porzingis

D'Angelo Russell

Emmanuel Mudiay

Willie Cauley-Stein

Justise Winslow

Tier 4 (projected as eventual NBA starters)

Frank Kaminsky

Bobby Portis

Justin Anderson

Devin Booker

Myles Turner

Mario Hezonja

Tier 5 (either starters or top-tier rotation players)

Trey Lyles

Kevon Looney

Jerian Grant

Delon Wright

R.J. Hunter

Tyus Jones

Cameron Payne

Sam Dekker

Kelly Oubre

Stanley Johnson

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson

Tier 6 (could play a significant bench role)

Christian Wood

Chris McCullough

Montrezl Harrell

Rashad Vaughn

Guillermo Hernangomez

Terry Rozier

Jarell Martin

Jordan Mickey

Tier 7 (hope for the best)

Robert Upshaw

Andrew Harrison

Rakeem Christmas

Norman Powell

J.P. Tokoto

Jonathan Holmes

Cliff Alexander

Vince Hunter

Aleksandar Vezenkov

Dakari Johnson

Cedi Osman

Joseph Young

Mouhammadou Jaiteh

(* * *)

The Wizards will most likely be drafting in the Tier 5 ranked players... unless someone from Tier 4 falls. I'm hoping Bobby Portis or Justin Anderson falls to the Wizards...

Tell me what you think in the comments. Do you think I ranked someone too low? Too high? Do you see a truly transcendent player in this draft?

This represents the view of the user who wrote the FanPost, and not the entire Bullets Forever community. We're a place of many opinions, not just one.