When I'm not covering the draft for ESPN, I grade students for a living as a university professor. So I know that grades can be arbitrary, and in the case of instant draft grades, they are based on incomplete information.
But they are also a necessary tool for evaluation.
So how did the 30 NBA teams do in Thursday night's draft?
Before Thursday, we billed it as the deepest draft in years -- and this year's grades reflect the quality of players available, thanks to Greg Oden, Kevin Durant and a host of others.