In his 16th year, Paul Pierce is considered one of the elder statesmen in the NBA, but while he's a respected champion now, the man nicknamed The Truth says he's not even sure a team would draft him were he coming out of college in this day and age.

"I probably wouldn't have got drafted." Pierce said on "The Dan Patrick Show."

"A lot of stuff is based on potential, or I probably would've went later in the first round or something."

Paul Pierce isn't sure he'd be drafted now if he were a prospect, as he says potential outweighs talent. Cem Ozdel/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Pierce, 37, says at this point, draft picks are being selected not on collegiate accolades but on potential.

"I think a lot of these young talented kids are just rated on their pure length and athleticism, but really no basketball IQ, really no footwork, really can't shoot the ball," Pierce said. "When they look at [a] guy and they say he has potential, he's fast, he has long arms, he can jump. And then he gets out there and can't throw a rock in the ocean, or he can't run a play. Or his basketball IQ is low. I think those things sometimes get overrated. A lot of kids get drafted just on that."

Pierce, now with the Washington Wizards, spent three years at Kansas before entering the 1998 draft, where he slipped to the Boston Celtics with the 10th overall pick.

While Pierce admits he likely wouldn't get selected that high now, he also said he's not yet impressed by this year's crop of draft picks.

"This draft class was supposed to be one of the great draft classes of this era, and as you see, I really don't see nobody in this class really standing out so far, even though it's only been 10 games," Pierce told the radio show. "Unlike the LeBron [James] class where you had a number of franchise guys, you just kinda knew that class was going to be great, but this class has been dubbed the same thing based off potential, and we haven't seen much of it."

Pierce and the Wizards (7-2) next take the court Wednesday night when they host the Dallas Mavericks (8-3).