1994 proved to be an interesting draft. At the top were Hall
of Famers but by mid-lottery, it was bust after bust after bust. Some of the
better NBA hanger ons in this class came late in the first round and even in
the second round. Players were starting to leave early and next top crop of
kids were going into college. It was kind of an in between year that produced a
unique sampling of career results and a rarity: co-rookies of the year. And
neither was the top pick, at least in 1994.
Pick 1: Milwaukee
Bucks
Who they took: Glenn Robinson
Who they should have took: Jason Kidd (2nd pick)
Why: Well just on the surface, let’s talk about his 10
All-Star appearances. How about being the co-Rookie of the Year that first
season? Kidd was one of only four guys in this draft to make an All-Star team
and an All-NBA team. The Bucks’ actual top pick, Robinson, wasn’t one of those
four. Kidd spent his career as a top point guard from start to finish, no
matter where he landed. He was the assist leader in the league five times, made
six All-NBA teams, 9 All-NBA defensive teams and a couple of Sportsmanship
awards all while racking up 17,000 career points and 12,000 career assists. Was
Kidd the most complete player in this draft at the time? No. If it weren’t for
injuries to others, would he be at the top of this list? No. But that isn’t how
this works and the Bucks would have thrived much better with Kidd at the helm
for a few years than what they got out of the ‘Big Dog.’
Pick 2: Dallas
Mavericks
Who they took: Jason Kidd
Who they should have took: Grant Hill (3rd pick)
Why: The next ‘next Jordan ,’
Hill didn’t “pan out” as projected. But, expectations were too lofty and his Achilles
didn’t like him. However, that didn’t stop Hill from being a more than serviceable
athlete during his long NBA tenure. And a Mavericks team that could have
combined Jamal Mashburn and Hill would have been pretty powerful and had a nice
place to build from offensively with Hill and actual pick Kidd scoring at about
the same clip for their careers.
Pick 3: Detroit
Pistons
Who they took: Grant Hill
Who they should have took: Juwan Howard (5th
pick)
Why: The third of the guys who would go on to be All-Stars
and All-NBA performers. Howard was quietly consistent always, from his time at Michigan
through his retirement at the end of the 2012-2013 season. Howard’s strengths at the time of the 1994
Draft were evident. He could play with his back to the basket and was a strong
interior defender. The question marks? How does he play on his own? He was probably
the least brash of the Fab Five, so what did Howard’s personality due when
alone? He showed that early and was diverse in his approach perhaps as the most
overall NBA ready player in this draft, as evidenced by his long tenure in the
league. In a world without Grant Hill, Detroit
would have served well building around Howard.
Pick 4: Minnesota
Timberwolves
Who they took: Donyell Marshall
Who they should have took: Glenn Robinson (1st
pick)
Why: For all I criticized Robinson for going first, he was a
solid NBA role player and at times peak performer. Minnesota
wanted a bruising small forward and with Robinson and Hill off the board, they
took the best option. But looking back, Robinson would have been available and
the right choice to team with Laettner on what may have been the worst
franchise in the league.
Pick 5: Washington
Bullets
Who they took: Juwan Howard
Who they should have took: Jalen Rose (13th pick)
Why: Washington
wanted to see if they could get some of that Wolverine brashness, which is why
they took on Howard and later Chris Webber via a trade. They would have gotten
that by the buckets picking Rose. In Washington ,
Rose would have thrived better with an immediate opportunity to run the show
unlike the floundering in Denver
like he did before his trade two years into the league. And if being the
captain didn’t work out with the Bullets, he showed (especially during his
tenure in Indiana ) that he could
be a good deck hand while making a run at a title.
Pick 6: Philadelphia
76ers
Who they took: Sharone Wright
Who they should have took: Eddie Jones (10th
pick)
Why: At this point, Philadelphia
was pretty quietly establishing busts. Shawn Bradley was Shawn Bradley and
Clarence Weatherspoon was a decent filler guy, but Philly needed a playmaker here.
Sharone Wright was never that guy, floundered and was out of the league by
1998. And while there were still guys like Rose on the board then, he wouldn’t
be now so you take the best player maker in Eddie Jones who had a solid career
as a started, culminating in 2000 when he was in his 3rd All-Star
game, made the All-NBA 3rd Team and was on the All-NBA Defensive 2nd
Team.
Pick 7: Los Angeles
Clippers
Who they took: Lamond Murray
Who they should have took: Donyell Marshall (4th
pick)
Why: So it wasn’t a great year after the top four or five
picks, but Marshall would have
still been a strong fit in LA where they were throwing it all at the wall to
see what stuck. It was a small forward heavy draft with a lot of unknowns in
how guys could adjust to the NBA. Marshall
was about the last of the ones who could adjust on a competitive level and
would have been the best option.
Pick 8: Sacramento
Kings
Who they took: Brian Grant
Who they should have took: Wesley Person (23rd
pick)
Why: A lot of the longer tenured guys in the draft were
picked later and Person was one. He was a fringe lottery pick, but was thin and
wasn’t strong around the basket or in creating his own shot. In Sacramento ,
with Bobby Hurley sidelining himself, they needed another ball handler and shooter
and used Person more in this way than as the small forward that most teams
tried to use him as throughout his career.
Pick 9: Boston
Celtics
Who they took: Eric Montross
Who they should have took: Charlie Ward (26th
pick)
Why: Take the Heisman winner, he is an athlete. Ward had a
productive stay in New York and
his gritty style was the basis when he moved to the Spurs of how they play in San
Antonio now. The Celtics needed an identity and you
can’t blame them for taking Montross, well regarded as a Bill Laimbeer/Kevin
McHale guy who slipped to them at nine. But knowing now that he was more the Eric
Piatkowski kind of guy, you take a chance on the tough as nails point guard.
Pick 10: Los Angeles
Lakers
Who they took: Eddie Jones
Who they should have took: Brian Grant (8th pick)
Why: The draft wasn’t deep and Grant was going to be a
bruiser. The Lakers, like the Celtics needed an identity to get back to their
winning ways and Grant really was the best choice to at least establish some
fear from the opponents. Luckily for the Lakers, they didn’t have to draft in
retrospect and got a lot more out of Eddie Jones than teams drafting higher got
out of their prospects.
Pick 11: Seattle
Sonics
Who they took: Carlos Rogers
Who they should have took: Monty Williams (24th
pick)
Why: Seattle
wasn’t struggling in 1994 and all they needed was a role guy. Instead, they
brought in a guy they didn’t need and immediately traded him for no value. The
value they could have gotten from Williams, a true leader and coach (even then)
would have been better bang for the buck at 11. He could have played behind
Detlef Schrempf and beside Kendall Gill to give this pretty deep Seattle
team more depth.
Pick 12: Miami
Heat
Who they took: Khalid Reeves
Who they should have took: Carlos Rogers (11th
pick)
Why: Rogers was
strong for a couple of years. That is all anyone was getting out of him, but
the Heat needed a guy who could come in and get the job done. He had no
longevity but I don’t know that the Heat needed that in 1994, just something.
Pick 13: Denver
Nuggets
Who they took: Jalen Rose
Who they should have took: Lamond Murray (7th)
Why: I mean, take the best available player. This draft kind
of sucked.
Pick 14: New Jersey
Nets
Who they took: Yinka Dare
Who they should have took: Lawrence Funderburke (51st
pick)
Why: Considering eight guys were picked before him that
never played in the league and most picked before him weren’t as efficient, why
not. Can’t be any worse than Yinka Dare, right? Dare was out of the league
about the same time Funderburke found a footing and made his way into the
league. When he did, he was a vital backup for Chris Webber in Sacramento
during the Kings’ years almost capturing a Western Conference title. Even if he
didn’t come to New Jersey until
1997, it would have been helpful during a seven year stretch that the Nets were
pushing toward contendership, much like the Kings.
Pick 15: Indiana
Pacers
Who they took: Eric Piatkowski
Who they should have took: Voshon Lenard (46th
pick)
Why: How Piatkowski spent 14 years in the league is the
biggest mismanagement of funds since Enron. Lenard was an ace shooter when on
his game and found a footing in Miami
eventually where he was part of the team that took them out of the cellar at
the end of the 1990s.
No comments:
Post a Comment