The draft where David Kahn went crazy. We can look at the super freak athlete that Blake Griffin is or the monumental flop pick of Hasheem Thabeet. We can be in awe of Stephen Curry's shooting or James Harden's beard. But for me, 2009 will always be about the draft where Minnesota Timberwolves president David Kahn actually drafted four point guards in the first round including two with back-to-back picks at #5 and #6.
The decisions that Kahn made (or didn't make) in 2009 still haunt Minnesota today and are part of a string of events that would be the catalyst for the clearly pending Kevin Love exit which will mirror Kevin Garnett's 2007 exit and lead to the once-again downfall of the organization.
As no matter how good this class was and is today, I will always look at 2009 as the year that the Minnesota Timberwolves' prospect laden rise started to decline...again.
Pick 1: Los Angeles Clippers
Who they took: Blake Griffin
Who they should have took: Blake Griffin
Why: As smaller as the answers to this question get the more recent we get we these drafts, this is one I really feel like I should leave blank. It may be the biggest no brainer in the modern era of the NBA draft because I feel I have no reason to have to justify this. But in case I do, 18 points and 8.3 rebounds. Those are the lowest single season marks for Griffin in his short, yet successful NBA career. Lows.
Pick 2: Memphis Grizzlies
Who they took: Hasheem Thabeet
Who they should have took: James Harden (3rd pick)
Why: Harden is what we thought he was. Unfortunately, Oklahoma City had too may other (two to be exact) stars to notice. He is not a sixth man, he is a prolific scoring first option that you build an entire organization around. Would Memphis be able to see that, already loaded down with Rudy Gay and Mike Conley? Maybe not, but you still don't pass on a guy like Harden here who people follow like his game is the gospel.
Pick 3: Oklahoma City Thunder
Who they took: James Harden
Who they should have took: Stephen Curry (7th pick)
Why: People kind of cringed as Curry dropped down the draft board. But none of those people seemed to be executives with early picks. While Harden was built, in the eyes of OKC, as too much like Russell Westbrook to play alongside him all of the time, Curry was basically built for a role as a 2-guard in OKC. Imagine the defense worrying about how Kevin Durant will abuse them in the post, forcing them to halfway double him always, then collapse on a driving Westbrook, only for him to kick it out to WIDE open Steph Curry. Ouch.
Pick 4: Sacramento Kings
Who they took: Tyreke Evans
Who they should have took: Ricky Rubio (5th pick)
Why: In the downfall they were in at that point that they could have afforded to wait a couple years for a player of Rubio's ability. He is absolutely a guy you could build around and would be great in a modern Sacramento where he, Demarcus Cousins and Ben McLemore could all work off of each other.
Pick 5: Minnesota Timberwolves
Who they took: Ricky Rubio
Who they should have took: DeMar DeRozan (9th pick)
Why: DeRozan can fly. In my opinion, if you can nail down a good point, a true wing and solid big man, you can fill in those last two spots around them. Knowing that you can still get a point guard with the next pick (so I guess these two are interchangeable), you need to take that wing as you already have Kevin Love inside. DeRozan is the most long term scoring option at this point and has a natural athletic ability (I say that a lot, don't I?). His scoring prowess has steadily rose to over 22 ppg and is currently a go-to guy for the surging Raptors. In Minnesota, he would have taken a lot of heat off Love and vice-versa.
Pick 6: Minnesota Timberwolves
Who they took: Jonny Flynn
Who they should have took: Ty Lawson (18th pick)
Why: They actually picked him anyway at 18 before trading him away (might have had something to do with the other two point guards they had already drafted that night). Lawson has become easily the second best point guard from this draft by being able to adapt from being a score first guard to a pass first guard on any given night depending on what is need of him. Proof in the pudding? Last season, he put up career best 17.6 ppg and 8.8 apg numbers.
Pick 7: Golden State Warriors
Who they took: Stephen Curry
Who they should have took: Brandon Jennings (10th pick)
Why: The question on Jennings was how does one adapt from the high school game to the European game and back to the pro game. Even scarier, he averaged only 5.5 ppg in Europe and proved why the two games were so different. Good news? He's never averaged lower than 15.5 ppg in the NBA. He wouldn't have been the same player Curry was, but he would still have helped a Golden State revival. This is one of those ones where I don't trade him on draft night, but I still pick him with every intention of trading him down the line, be it a year or two away.
Pick 8: New York Knicks
Who they took: Jordan Hill
Who they should have took: Taj Gibson (26th pick)
Why: Gibson was one of those guys who you thought you wanted, but maybe thought was too raw, but he was so strong...probably close to every team in this draft had a love/hate relationship with the idea of drafting Taj Gibson. The Knicks really could have used him here, because he has been the defensive power that they wanted from Hill, who never lived up to anywhere close to his hype. Gibson will never been a big scoring or rebounding guy, but he does enough to be a game changer on defense and that is what New York desperately needed when they took Hill. That and a prime time scorer that they missed out on by ONE SPOT when Golden State took Steph Curry.
Pick 9: Toronto Raptors
Who they took: DeMar DeRozan
Who they should have took: Tyreke Evans (4th pick)
Why: Evans is a prolific ball handler and assuming the Raptors still built up the same way they have, they could have used someone with his court sense. His drop is attributed to the fact that he isn't a prime time scorer in the league as expected, but his quickness, court vision and ball handling are all still major assets.
Pick 10: Milwaukee Bucks
Who they took: Brandon Jennings
Who they should have took: Jrue Holiday (17th pick)
Why: Holiday needed another year at UCLA to develop. Let's get that out of the way first. And while that is the case with a lot of these guys, it really is with Jrue. He proved over time in Philadelphia that he can be a number one or two scorer and can rebound when needed. Hopefully he can find his role in New Orleans, but should he have gone here, he would have immediately been the top dog in Milwaukee in pretty much the exact same way Jennings was.
Pick 11: New Jersey Nets
Who they took: Terrence Williams
Who they should have took: Jeff Teague (19th pick)
Why: New Jersey wanted an interior defender here but you can't pass on Teague, who has quietly become one of the more intriguing wings in the last couple of years. He shoots the ball well (.447 for his career) has really developed a great get-to-the-basket game which has helped him become the primary guard scoring option in Atlanta and has him lined up for a big free agent contract soon.
Pick 12: Charlotte Bobcats
Who they took: Gerald Henderson
Who they should have took: Wesley Matthews (undrafted)
Why: In recent years, has there been a better UNDRAFTED prospect than Matthews? He was a very solid player for four years at Marquette, which made his draft status questionable. He made sure people understood why by averaging 9+ ppg as a rookie and has seen his scoring and rebounding improve almost every year since. Like with pretty much always, Charlotte was looking to stockpile guys who could be of any help and Matthews could have been much more so than Henderson.
Pick 13: Indiana Pacers
Who they took: Tyler Hansbrough
Who they should have took: Danny Green (46th pick)
Why: There are a lot of very naturally gifted, athletic scorers in this draft and that is the only reason I have Green as far down as 13. He's today's Robert Horry, minus a few pounds (though still about the size of Horry during the Houston Rockets' mid-90s title runs). He can contribute, is unassuming and a crafty clutch three point shooter, all of which Indiana could use right now and in the past several years while they were looking for those intangible pieces to help topple Miami.
Pick 14: Phoenix Suns
Who they took: Earl Clark
Who they should have took: Darren Collison (21st pick)
Why: I don't have a great answer here. Collison is the best player today left on the hypothetical draft board at this point.
Pick 15: Detroit Pistons
Who they took: Austin Daye
Who they should have took: Demare Carroll (27th pick)
Why: Carroll has always been a really strong guy, which fits into the Pistons style. Last year in Atlanta, he proved he could score often in the NBA, which is something the Pistons are lacking, despite a constant rotation of those "physical" players over the last several years.
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