Redrafting the 2008 NBA Draft

Welcome to the official rollout of the world of one-and-dones. No longer will kids be coming straight from high school, but instead going to campus for a school year, attending classes for four months (or just long enough to stay eligible) and then going to make a pay day.

That was the story of this draft. No more high school run wild and the foreign picks have tapered off. Four of the first five and five of the first seven picks were college freshmen, making this the start of a new trend that has taken over (note that three of the biggest prospects in the 2014 Draft are all freshmen).

It was also a nice look at how poorly the Miami Heat were run for a long time. After missing out on the number one pick, which should have statistically belonged to them after the most horrendous of seasons, the team passed on at least two future Hall of Fame players to select Michael Beasley. Geez.

This was also a tough one as I legitimately saw 18 guys for these top 15 positions (sorry George Hill, JJ Hickson and Ryan Anderson.)

Also, it is the first class where my analysis doesn’t and doesn’t have to run as deep because, well, we all know about these guys and what they do. We see it every day during the NBA season and we don’t need to look back so deeply.

Pick 1: Chicago Bulls

Who they took: Derrick Rose

Who they should have took: Kevin Love (5^th pick)

Why: Love is perhaps the most purely dominant player from this draft class. His size and agility make him hard to guard no matter where he is on the floor. In a class that is pretty damn good today, Love shines because he is such a complete players. Teaming him with Joakim Noah and other complimentary players would have made the Bulls the team to beat in the East almost every year since this draft.

Pick 2: Miami Heat

Who they took: Michael Beasley

Who they should have took: Russell Westbrook (4^th pick)

Why: Westbrook is a standalone prospect that hasn’t been give the opportunity to stand alone. He and Durant are too much alike, outside of size, that they will succeed on talent, but there isn’t much room for co-existence in Oklahoma City. Still, he is the best overall point guard from this draft and combined with a more subtle talent like Dwayne Wade in Miami, he would be a MVP candidate today without Miami losing much of a step. However, the reality here too is that if you would have drafted and kept Westbrook, adding LeBron wouldn’t have worked out because of the same type of personality clashes. Still, a ‘big three’ of Russell, Dwayne and Chris Bosh would be pretty damn good.

Pick 3: Minnesota Timberwolves

Who they took: OJ Mayo (traded to Grizzlies)

Who they should have took: Derrick Rose (1^st pick and keep the pick)

Why: Ok, injuries do hurt Rose’s stock here, but he would still be a huge pick up for the Timberwolves and would have saved them from their forthcoming Ricky Rubio/Jonny Flynn/Wayne Ellington point guard pileup draft. I don’t believe that D.Rose would be longed to stay in Minnesota, so maybe you still take Rubio so he arrives from Europe as Rose leaves the first chance he gets in free agency, but picking Rose here allows you to play more with your future drafts than the crazy David Kahn and company had the luxury to do. And again, injuries aside, Rose is an amazing talent and the third of these top three guys who is likely bound for the Hall of Fame. He is truly one of the best score first point guards in the modern era, possibly ever, of the NBA.

Pick 4: Seattle Supersonics

Who they took: Russell Westbrook

Who they should have took: Brook Lopez (10^th pick)

Why: Look, Lopez hasn't been healthy for the majority of his career it feels like. But when he is, he certainly can lay claim to being a top 5 center in the league. It sure would have left Oklahoma City without a critical piece at point guard, but would have made them so strong on the interior that they could have taken later money used for the Serge Ibakas and Kendrick Perkins' of the world and still brought in a quality point, who maybe could get along better with Durant? Lopez can rebound with anyone in this league is strong on defense, the pick would be a no brainer to me as his value certainly soared from the 10th pick after he actually played in the league.

Pick 5: Memphis Grizzlies

Who they took: Kevin Love (traded to Minnesota)

Who they should have took: Eric Gordon (7^th pick and keep the pick)

Why: Gordon never has been the player he was in high school. It was a stretch, mostly due to his size, to believe that he could be. But he still proved a valuable scorer at Indiana and has become a reliable second option in the NBA. For Memphis, with Rudy Gay and Mike Conley in the fold, Gordon could have had more flexibility without so much reliability. As a true shooting guard, he could have flourished. A lineup today (had they kept the team intact) of Conley, Gordon, Gay, Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph would be a tough squad to beat out West. Taking that pressure off Gordon in Memphis, which didn't happen in LA, would have done wonders for his career, which isn't too shabby at all anyway.

Pick 6: New York Knicks

Who they took: Danilio Gallinari

Who they should have took: OJ Mayo (3^rd pick)

Why: Mayo is a headcase, hence his drop off here. Nobody can deny his talent, but the problem is that as he gets more disciplined in his career, his production drops off. This past season, as the least ball hogging he's been. he scored a career low. But Mayo is still a prolific scorer and athlete that the Knicks coveted at a time where they had none before the Carmelo acquisition.

Pick 7: Los Angeles Clippers

Who they took: Eric Gordon

Who they should have took: DeAndre Jordan (35^th pick)

Why: I don't know who could have expected the meteoric rise of DeAndre, but I think too a lot can be credited to Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. If you look at his numbers, you wouldn't think Jordan would be a top 10 pick, but the reality is that he is an absolute game changer. Physicality, mentality, leadership, explosiveness, defensively, if I was building a team he would probably be the fourth guy from this draft I would actually take behind Love, Westbrook and Rose. He finally averaged in double digits in scoring this past year, but his rebounding numbers exploded from 7.2 rpg to a league high 13.6, all while leading the league in shooting percentage for a second straight year. The Clippers ended up with their man anyway, but in a redraft, he certainly wouldn't be there at #35.

Pick 8: Milwaukee Bucks

Who they took: Joe Alexander

Who they should have took: Danilio Gallinari (6^th pick)

Why: Because he isn't Joe Alexander? Gallinari was a highly touted prospect who really isn't looked at as a success. Why? I am not sure. He didn't perform well as a rookie in New York but steadily improved his numbers to the point that he was a key centerpiece on the New York side in a trade that brought the Knicks Carmelo Anthony. If it had not been for him and his consistency, the Knicks may have not had the assets to bring in Melo. Since then, he has been a leader in a generally decent Nuggets organization and just had his best year as a scorer and one of his best as a rebounder and passer. 

Pick 9: Charlotte Bobcats

Who they took: DJ Augustin

Who they should have took: Nicholas Batum (25^th pick)

Why: Batum came into the league with a lot of hype from Europe. He has been a critical piece for the thriving Trail Blazers and the Bobcats were still searching for a personality. And DJ Augustin wasn't it. Batum would have come in and immediately been a young prime time scorer at a time when Charlotte was relying heavily on a seemingly ever changing rotation of veterans who were not reliable in the long term.

Pick 10: New Jersey Nets

Who they took: Brook Lopez

Who they should have took: Goran Dragic (45^th pick)

Why: His production in the last two years is why I would see Dragic soar to this spot. While Deron Williams has been great in New Jersey/Brooklyn, could you imagine a world where they didn't need him and could spend his money elsewhere (hello Carmelo?). Dragic's assist per game went down last year, but only to see his scoring clip surpass 20 ppg and his shooting percentage soar above .500.

Pick 11: Indiana Pacers

Who they took: Jerryd Bayless (traded to Blazers)

Who they should have took: Roy Hibbert (17^th pick and keep the pick)

Why: The Pacers ended up with Hibbert anyway, but you actually need to make this choice earlier. Yes, he faltered a lot this past postseason, but he is still over 7-feet with a huge upside. His inconsistency keeps him out of the top 10, but his size and ability (if he ever fully uses it) make him a guy you absolutely have to take here and Indiana is way better off with him than had they gone in any other direction in 2008 with this pick.

Pick 12: Sacramento Kings

Who they took: Jason Thompson

Who they should have took: Courtney Lee (22^nd pick)

Why: Lee is a steady scorer to come off a bench. He's already been with five teams and will probably always be a journeyman add-on in trade. But he still fills his role no matter where he goes and that is really all you can ask most of the time from anyone picked outside the top 10.

Pick 13: Portland Trail Blazers

Who they took: Brandon Rush (traded to Pacers)

Who they should have took: Michael Beasley (2^nd pick and trade the pick)

Why: Beasley isn't a bad player, he's just a role player in the league and not the star that Miami wanted or that he was at Kansas State. But let's face facts, there is a huge difference between Kansas State and the NBA. But his biggest detriment are six off the court issues, including being kicked out of the rookie camp shortly after the draft. On the court, he could fill a void in Portland and give them more of an edge, both then and now.

Pick 14: Golden State Warriors

Who they took: Anthony Randolph

Who they should have took: Serge Ibaka (24^th pick)

Why: Ibaka has ended up being what Golden State thought they were getting originally in Randolph. He's a shot blocking machine, already leading the NBA in blocks on two separate occasions and his rebound and scoring numbers are often on the increase.

Pick 15: Phoenix Suns

Who they took: Robin Lopez

Who they should have took: Mario Chalmers (34^th pick)

Why: Chalmers probably didn't need the 'big three' yelling at him for years in Miami while being relegated to the bench in favor of Norris Cole. Phoenix has been without a real point guard since Steve Nash and today they could really use a nice point guard. Meanwhile, the lesser Lopez has been nothing but trade fodder.

Redrafting the 2006 NBA Draft

I am pretty sure that then-NBA commissioner David Stern traded his mother at some point during this draft. It really was like one big game of “Let’s make a Deal.” 19 trades that happened anytime before this draft ended up affecting this draft. On draft night alone, there were 14 trades (6 of which were with lottery picks). Just look at how things may have been with no redraft but with no trades. Lamarcus Aldridge a Bull? Rudy Gay a Rocket? Rajon Rondo a Sun?

And at the forefront of those trades were the Portland Trail Blazers. Going strictly by odds, they should have landed the top choice in this draft. They didn’t and instead scrambled to make the best deals they could. Had the draft choices stayed their course, Portland would have ended up with an overrated (again, often referred to as busy) Italian named Andrea Bargnani. Instead, they had to make some other moves and ended up with organizational foundation Lamarcus Aldridge and longtime team leader Brandon Roy. Not too shabby for a team who felt like the world was against them weeks earlier when the ping pong balls fell Toronto’s way for the first time in franchise history.

No Portland didn’t get their Jordan this time. But they also didn’t up with another Sam Bowie.

Pick 1: Toronto Raptors

Who they took: Andrea Bargnani

Who they should have took: Rudy Gay (8^th pick)

Why: Joining Andrew Bogut from a year earlier, Bargnani was not so much a bust as he is often described, just not a sure fire player or a top pick. That is why I would instead choose to take Rudy Gay if I was Toronto today. And that isn’t to say there aren’t several other valid options for this pick. But Gay brings acumen for getting to the basket and a shooting IQ that combined is unrivaled in this draft class. Toronto was looking for a killer to replace what they had lost with McGrady and Vince Carter in recent years and Gay knew how to do that from the word go. The team won the Atlantic Division following this draft, but not because of their pick. Needless to say that Gay’s 10.8 ppg as a rookie (and career best 20.1 ppg as a 2^nd year player) would have netted the Raptors more of a punch with Chris Bosh than Andrea did.

Pick 2: Chicago Bulls

Who they took: Lamarcus Aldridge (traded to Blazers)

Who they should have took: Lamarcus Aldridge (and kept the pick)

Why: The Chicago Bulls post player carousel had made a full rotation the team had ran out of options outside an aging Ben Wallace, a past his prime PJ Brown and a never very good Andres Nocioni. They decided (via trade) that Tyrus Thomas would be the answer. He wasn’t. Aldridge had a NBA ready body and the Bulls let the Blazers steal him right out from under them. His rookie year numbers of 9 ppg and 5 rpg are the lowest of his career and he’s never averaged fewer than 17.8 or 7.5 again. He is one of the most talented, athletic and high motor forwards in the game today and has been a huge centerpiece for a Blazers team currently experiencing somewhat of a revival. If the Bulls could have kept him long term like Portland did, he’d currently be teamed up inside with Joakim Noah. Imagine that.

Pick 3: Charlotte Bobcats

Who they took: Adam Morrison

Who they should have took: Rajon Rondo (21^st pick)

Why: Charlotte had a lot of self destructive behavior in their early days. Adam Morrison was the worst of it. Morrison was the 2000’s version of that highly hyped, white, strong college athlete that just never stood a chance until the pros. Jimmer Fredette is today’s version. Instead, they could have had a small kid from Kentucky who has turned into one of the league’s most prolific playmakers. For any knocks (size, temperament) anyone has on Rondo, he’s got a play to shut you up. He’s twice led the league in assists and also led it in steals as a 4-time All-Star and former All-NBA performer. Easily a top five point guard in the league today, scoring Rondo to help build your franchise around would have been a major coup for a Bobcats team that used Morrison’s ability as their 4^th best player (what does that say about their other players?!?) to a 33-49 record.

Pick 4: Portland Trail Blazers

Who they took: Tyrus Thomas (traded to Bulls)

Who they should have took: Brandon Roy (6^th pick and kept the pick)

Why: In reality, they ended up getting Roy in a couple picks via trade, but with no trade here to land Aldridge, you take the next best playmaker (if not all around player). Before his degenerative knee situation took full effect, Roy was the one that looked like he could lead the Blazers back into contention. He immediately went for broke, averaging 16.8 ppg as a rookie and peaked in his third year with 22.6 ppg. He only had four good years in the league, but they were very good and if you are Portland, you still build on that foundation. Had his knees not gone so, so bad and he was still in the league today performing at the level he was capable of, he easily tops this list.

Pick 5: Atlanta Hawks

Who they took: Shelden Williams

Who they should have took: Paul Millsap (47^th pick)

Why: 46 times, someone passed on future all-star Paul Millsap. That was a hurter when he has that All-Star year just this last season. What’s worse is that he was still a 2^nd team rookie performer right after they all passed. He has always been nimble on his feet and it’s shocking that teams didn’t take a chance on him earlier. He played in all 82 games three of his first four years in the league and has made steady progress every year. Atlanta, still desperate for one more piece inside, really could have used that growth earlier, though they are happy they have Millsap now during his All-Star year and those that are still to come.

Pick 6: Minnesota Timberwolves

Who they took: Brandon Roy (traded to Blazers)

Who they should have took: Kyle Lowry (24^th pick and kept the pick)

Why: Lowry is probably not one you take for the initial appeal but rather for what he blossoms into. And considering the Timberwolves (still reeling from years without a pick due to the Joe Smith debacle) traded away one of the best players in this draft, you have to keep the pick here and hope Lowry pans out long term while still in Minnesota where you can pair him with Kevin Garnett briefly and later with Kevin Love. His numbers have grown every year and he has been an outstanding leader for Toronto. So if Minnesota could wait (which they may as well have by ending up with Randy Foye), then Lowry would have been a gem.

Pick 7: Boston Celtics

Who they took: Randy Foye (traded to Timberwolves)

Who they should have took: Randy Foye (and kept the pick)

Why: Knock Foye with one pick and take him in the next. Yup. Boston should have taken Foye to sweeten the Kevin Garnett deal the following year. He ends up a T-Wolve anyway that way. It would have allowed Boston to keep another young piece, preferably Ryan Gomes or Gerald Green while giving up Foye.

Pick 8: Houston Rockets

Who they took: Rudy Gay (traded to Memphis)

Who they should have took: J.J. Redick (11^th pick and traded to Memphis)

Why: It is not as good of a move as Rudy Gay and Houston made a mistake by trading him specifically. But with Gay off the board, I think you take Redick and actually still trade the pick to Memphis. If you are Houston, you still get Shane Battier, a player you covet and if you are Memphis, you another piece to be a true shooter until he develops. He fills Battier’s shoes adequately and opens up Mike Miller to be a scoring point.

Pick 9: Golden State Warriors

Who they took: Patrick O’Bryant

Who they should have took: Andrea Bargnani (1^st pick)

Why: I reiterate Bargnani is not a bust. He never scored less than 10 ppg in a season; he just simply didn’t become Dirk 2.0 as the Raptors wanted. He is still a solid pick at 9, more so than most people are with the ninth pick and clearly better than O’Bryant, who washed out quicker than you can say his name. His shooting hasn’t been exceptional, but he scored 21.4 ppg midway through his current career stretch and would have filled some of the scoring needed in Golden State while having the chance to be a bigger part of the rebounding game than the Raptors ever needed him to be.

Pick 10: Seattle Supersonics

Who they took: Mouhamed Sene

Who they should have took: Ronnie Brewer (14^th pick)

Why: Brewer has bounced around a lot after spending his first 4 years in Utah mostly because of his significant tumble in production. This is a pick Seattle makes for immediate relief in the time leading to and of early Kevin Durant. Brewer helped the Jazz to three straight playoff appearances in his first three years, the hallmark of which being his 2^nd and 3^rd years where he averaged 12 and 13.7 ppg while starting all 156 games of the regular season and 17 playoff games that he played in. After he left Utah, not so much and I don’t expect him to be in the league next year after averaging 0.9, 0.3 and 0.0 ppg in the last three years over 38 total games. But if Seattle could get 4 years out of him like Utah did, it is a good deal.

Pick 11: Orlando Magic

Who they took: J.J. Redick

Who they should have took: Shannon Brown (25^th pick)

Why: Orlando brings Brown in to be a clutch shooter, plain and simple. It’s the same role they initially brought Redick in for, so this is not a bad move, though not exactly lateral either. Brown does almost everything in an “OK” way and that is alright for what service he would have provided in Orlando and ultimately did provide with the Lakers.

Pick 12: New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets

Who they took: Hilton Armstrong

Who they should have took: JJ Barea (undrafted)

Why: Did you even know that JJ Barea was on the Mavericks roster before their championship run in 2010-2011? No. He slid under the radar and was a valuable commodity without anyone really knowing it. He averaged 7.8 ppg for two years in Dallas, missing just 7 total games before people started paying attention. He would have been a motor guy to backup Chris Paul with the Hornets and one that could have helped where the Hornets lacked (depth).

Pick 13: Philadelphia 76ers

Who they took: Thabo Sefolosha (traded to Bulls)

Who they should have took: Thabo Sefolosha (and kept the pick)

Why: Sefolosha is a minute man. Give me 20-25 minutes a night, shoot the ball at a pretty respectable clip and get hustle points (loose balls, pass deflections, etc.). And Philly needed someone like him in the worst way. Iguodala had no interest in hustling, Kyle Korver could only do so much, Allen Iverson fell asleep while he was still there. Thabo would get you Kevin Ollie numbers, but would still put in more work and effort than anyone on this club.

Pick 14: Utah Jazz

Who they took: Ronnie Brewer

Who they should have took: Jordan Farmar (26^th pick)

Why: A suitable backup for Derek Fisher, which is what Brewer was. Farmar was never the player that he was at UCLA, but he still shot the ball well and gave Kobe and Smush Parker some breaks with the Lakers. He could have done so with a bigger chance to make an impact in Utah.

Pick 15: New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets

Who they took: Cedric Simmons

Who they should have took: Leon Powe (49^th pick)

Why: Powe was an enforcer every year he was in the league. His career wasn’t long but he was one of the critical elements on a deep Celtics team in just his second year that won the NBA title. And again, the Hornets needed depth, depth and more depth.

Redrafting the 2004 NBA Draft

2004 swung back away from the power of the playmakers and back into a realm of which big man do you gamble on. While the only real contender in the mind of the Orlando Magic, back at it with a number one pick, were untested high schooler Dwight Howard and dominant college big man Emeka Okafor, there were other less heralded but appealing options like foreign born BYU seven-footer Rafael Araujo, another high schooler in Robert Swift and Latvian Andris Biedrins.

For Orlando, it was all about making that absolute right choice and sticking with it. In the 90’s, they made that top pick twice, both on big men and both were the right pick, although they only kept one (Shaq) and the Chris Webber trade still haunted them.

So who was the right post?

Pick 1: Orlando Magic

Who they took: Dwight Howard

Who they should have took: Dwight Howard

Why: Howard was clearly the right choice, even if his career at this point is often deemed a let down. He was never a let down in Orlando and is really only considered one now because we as a society have deemed him as an elite player and he probably really isn’t. He is, at the top of his game, a physical dominant big man, as much so today as Shaq was in his prime to that generation of the league. Does that mean Dwight ever was as good as Shaq? No. But he was powerful in Orlando, clearly the league’s best post and even after the Dwight-cision that led him to LA and Houston, this remains (11 years later) by far the best choice for Orlando.

Pick 2: Charlotte Bobcats

Who they took: Emeka Okafor

Who they should have took: Andre Iguodala (9^th pick)

Why: With all of the talk being between Howard and Okafor pre draft, you can see why the Bobcats made this pick. Also, Okafor was legitimately strong in college at Uconn. The Bobcats picked who they thought would help them win immediately. But as is often the case in Charlotte, they were wrong. Mostly because they weren’t going to win immediately, no matter what. Knowing that fully now, Iguodala is the pick because he was NBA ready. His game was on a professional level from the get go and he has become the most overall prolific scorer from this draft, which would have been of a high value to a team building from the complete ground up like these expansion Bobcats.

Pick 3: Chicago Bulls

Who they took: Ben Gordon

Who they should have took: Al Jefferson (15^th pick)

Why: If you look at Al Jefferson’s high school stats (as I just did for the first time ever), it is so shocking to see that he fell to the 15^th pick of this draft. His scoring average rose every year at Prentiss (MS) High School, which is impressive since he scored 25 ppg as a freshman. I understand that he was criticized in the pre-draft process for being lazy and lacking effort, but if I am a GM I try to get or force effort out of a guy who his senior year averaged (with no exaggeration) 42.6 points, 18 rebounds, seven blocks and four assists PER GAME. And he’s gone on to do right in the league, scoring 21 and 23.1 ppg in his first two seasons in Minnesota after being part of the Kevin Garnett trade. He was at the top of his free agent class in 2010 and 2013 and has become the face of a suddenly viable Charlotte Hornets organization.

Pick 4: Los Angeles Clippers

Who they took: Shaun Livingston

Who they should have took: Luol Deng (7^th pick)

Why: There were a lot of question marks about Deng that he quickly erased. It was one thing for his uncanny understanding of the game at its fundamental core to transfer from England to Duke. But could he do the same in the league? After all, he was long and thin coming out of one year with Coach K. He developed nicely in the league and has increased his scoring and rebounding more seasons than not. Los Angeles was looking for a long complimentary wing and went with the guy who could also play point. Had Livingston not suffered a horrific injury, he may still be the pick here. But he did, so you take Deng, a 35+ minute a night guy with a high motor.

Pick 5: Washington Wizards

Who they took: Devin Harris (traded to Mavericks)

Who they should have took: Josh Smith (17^th pick)

Why: Josh Smith suffered in Atlanta from being a guy stuck between positions. He was a natural three-man with a height (6’10’’) and teammates (they took Josh Childress the same year) that forced him to be a four and I really think that is what forced him to put on weight to try play that position and ultimately to me, hindered his NBA development. In Washington, they had small guards and post players and Smith would have been able to slide right into a natural position. And he had longevity. Imagine a Wizards team adding John Wall if Josh Smith had still been around like he was in Atlanta, but at his natural position where he could give you more than 15 and 8 every night.

Pick 6: Atlanta Hawks

Who they took: Josh Childress

Who they should have took: Ben Gordon (2^nd pick)

Why: Ben Gordon was projected to be a Joe Dumars like player and it is a role that he really does fit into now as a veteran. Gone are the days when teams (like the Bulls when drafting him) expect him to be a lead guard and he can settle in as a role player. Detroit used him right when they traded for him in 2009, but still expected more. While his numbers were down, he was still filling a key role, but they already made the mistake of paying him too much and later made that mistake Charlotte’s problem. With a clear path after a March release, I look forward to Gordon proving his worth in a natural role finally.

Pick 7: Phoenix Suns

Who they took: Luol Deng (traded to Bulls)

Who they should have took: Jameer Nelson (20^th pick)

Why: Nelson’s draft stock fell because of his close association with the story of his college team at St. Joe’s. They were pretty highly touted, made an amazing undefeated run and then flopped in the NCAA Tournament. For a lot of teams, the story of St. Joe’s was a cautionary tale about drafting their star player Nelson. Also not working for Nelson was his size, but what did work for him was an ability to score as his passing game developed. It is hard to say Nelson struggled as he has consistently put up good numbers in Orlando, but in Phoenix, he could have had more time to develop and not expected to immediately be a high profile player as he was an accessory to Dwight Howard in Orlando.

Pick 8: Toronto Raptors

Who they took: Rafael Araujo

Who they should have took: Devin Harris (5^th pick)

Why: Harris is another guy, like so many in this draft (see Gordon, Ben or Nelson, Jameer) who has seen his production, role and value drop off dramatically over the years. However, he was very viable early and often in Dallas and later New Jersey and Utah. In 2009-2009, he was a breath of fresh air for the Nets as an All-Star who averaged over 21 ppg. That was his sixth year in the league and his numbers climbed every year leading up to it. Sadly, they declined each year sense. But if you look at what Harris did to start his career, he would have been a revelation in Toronto during that stage.

Pick 9: Philadelphia 76ers

Who they took: Andre Iguodala

Who they should have took: JR Smith (18^th pick)

Why: With a solid, if not uninspired core of big men, Philly needed a legit scorer and scraper with their pick to offset Allen Iverson. They got the scorer part in Iguodala, but I feel like Smith would have been a great fit as a scrapper. Smith made an immediate impact in the league, scoring 10 ppg as a rookie in New Orleans and could have added to a physical and intimidation driven demeanor in Philly usually perpetrated by Iverson, Samuel Dalembert and Chris Webber.

Pick 10: Cleveland Cavaliers

Who they took: Luke Jackson

Who they should have took: Anderson Varejao (31^st pick)

Why: The Cavs ended up with Varejao anyway after trading away Tony Battie and 2 second rounders for a package that included the Brazilian center. And it paid off as he has pretty quietly became one of the better Cavaliers of the new millennium not named LeBron. He has even gotten better with age, putting up career highs as recent as 2012-2013, including surpassing 14 rpg.

Pick 11: Golden State Warriors

Who they took: Andris Biedrins

Who they should have took: Kevin Martin (26^th pick)

Why: Because Biedrins was a bust. There was a lot of high hope for him to come in and be someone that the Warriors could build around and he surely wasn’t that guy. Martin could have been. It is hard to imagine, but he averaged just 2.9 points per game as rookie, the only time he has averaged in single digits. As a matter of fact, he has averaged over 20 ppg as many times (5) as he has averaged under (6). The only thing that keeps Martin from being higher in this redraft is that he is mostly a one trick pony. He can score, sometimes in droves, but he really isn’t diverse in much else. But when it comes to building around a scorer, like Golden State needed, he should have been the guy.

Pick 12: Seattle Supersonics

Who they took: Robert Swift

Who they should have took: Trevor Ariza (44^th pick)

Why: Seattle was in a weird spot. They had a couple of great options, a couple of good options and a lot of ‘eh’ options. They wanted to add someone and took a gamble on Swift, a highly regarded high school center. He played in 16 games as a rookie and scored 15 points. Ariza, not expected to be able to keep up at the NBA level did much better than that, averaging almost 6 ppg while playing in 80 for the New York Knicks. He adapted well over time to the NBA game and broke out strong in Houston, while continuing to be a valuable provider ever since (he had his second best year this past season in Washington).

Pick 13: Portland Trail Blazers

Who they took: Sebastian Telfair

Who they should have took: Tony Allen (25^th pick)

Why: Allen was a defensive ball hawk during the Celtics’ most recent NBA title run and has become a must have player for the emerging Memphis Grizzlies. His numbers may not always be the best, but he’s been part of the NBA All-Defensive team for two of the past three seasons and is a shut down player no matter where on the court his game takes him. Better yet, he’s regained some of the explosiveness lost after a knee injury in 2007 and has spent his four years in Memphis as four the best five offensive years of his career to go along with that defensive prowess.

Pick 14: Utah Jazz

Who they took: Kris Humphries

Who they should have took: Emeka Okafor (2^nd pick)

Why: Another time you have to use the word bust when he really isn’t one. Was he the number two pick in reality now that we can look back? No. But has Okafor Darko’d it up? Not close. He would have benefited greatly to have been able to be brought along slow behind Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur in Utah and would have provided another real threat for a team who had talent but was still lacking what could get them over the hump. Okafor’s still career high 15.1 ppg as a rookie would have gone a long way to help the rebuilding franchise without having to be THE guy to do so. While his numbers have slowly dropped off, he is still a production guy off the bench who averaged a double-double for his first five years in the league.

Pick 15: Boston Celtics

Who they took: Al Jefferson

Who they should have took: Delonte West (24^th pick)

Why: You take Delonte West here because he is an enigma. He’s not great, he’s not horrible. Delonte West is, at best, suitable when put in the right roles. He provided a little boost as a rookie in Boston anyway and then went on to post career best numbers his next two years before the implementation of the Big Three left him out in the cold. He’s a streaky shooter who can be very irritating to opposing offenses.

Redrafting the 2002 NBA Draft

The 2002 draft was, and ended up being, loaded with solid talent. Only a few of those guys played at a high level for a certain amount of time, but this was a pretty solid draft of hard working guys who have mostly had longevity in the league. Sure, there were some misses (Nikoloz Tskitishvili ring a bell?), but still strong throughout the first round.

Yet still, there is always room for improvement. And here is why.

Pick 1: Houston Rockets

Who they took: Yao Ming

Who they should have took: Amare Stoudemire (9^th pick)

Why: Yao Ming was the great new foreign born hope for Houston, who had struggled to regain its identity since Hakeem’s heyday, even if he hadn’t been gone from Houston for very long. But the NBA had changed. Gone were those structured dominant big men and here were the run and gun, flying 6’10’’ guys throwing down dunks from all directions. Though his pace has slowed in later years, Amare Stoudemire would have led the Rockets to a whole new level. Getting up and down the court, eventually with Tracy McGrady by his side, would have been thrilling to watch and made the Rockets into a strong team to recon with come playoff time. Consistency and talent combined, Stoudemire ended up being the best pick in this draft.

Pick 2: Chicago Bulls

Who they took: Jay Williams

Who they should have took: Tayshaun Price (23^rd pick)

Why: The Bulls had been tinkering with big man combos for a few years when it came to draft picks and this was an attempt to balance them out. In theory, their pick was perfect. But bad decisions changed all that. So I would take Prince here. Like every pick from this and most drafts around 10 or so years ago, his contributions have declined, but he was a sensational scorer in his prime and a talented guard on defense during the Pistons’ championship run. Overall body of work says that he ended up being the best guard in this draft.

Pick 3: Golden State Warriors

Who they took: Mike Dunleavy Jr.

Who they should have took: Yao Ming (1^st pick)

Why: You can’t really pass on Yao here. He could have helped change the tempo of a listless Warriors squad so much. They had three young, explosive thousand point scorers in Antwan Jamison, Gilbert Arenas and Jason Richardson and adding Yao to the inside would have been interesting. The drive and dish would have been almost perfect and way better than to actual leading post Troy Murphy. In an era with tons of draft mistakes, this would have been a huge coupe for the Warriors.

Pick 4: Memphis Grizzlies

Who they took: Drew Gooden

Who they should have took: Carlos Boozer (35^th pick)

Why: Memphis did actually go in the right direction with this pick. They were solid at PG, SF and C and adding a power forward was the most intelligent step. They just took the wrong one with so many to choose from. Boozer went on to be one of the more prolific second round picks ever, with All-Star and All-NBA accolades to come after his rookie campaign where he averaged a career low 10 points and 7+ rebounds, still pretty helpful for a second round guy. Questions of work ethic and how in shape he was haunted his draft stock, but he quickly put those worries to bed in the league. He would have been awesome next to Pau in Memphis.

Pick 5: Denver Nuggets

Who they took: Nikoloz Tskitishvili

Who they should have took: Nene (7^th pick)

Why: They got him anyway, but Nene was the far better gamble. He has averaged more than 10 ppg more than Nikoloz and is still actually in the league. While never what I would refer to as dominant, Nene was a key part of the park talented Nuggets lineups with Kenyon Martin, Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson, scoring a still career high mark of 15.2 ppg during his third season.

Pick 6: Cleveland Cavaliers

Who they took: Dajuan Wagner

Who they should have took: Caron Butler (10^th pick)

Why: Cleveland was still toying. And at this point, sandbagging or not, they knew that almost hometown boy LeBron James was a lock in as the number one pick the following year. So did they help tank with their draft pick? Eh, maybe. But I don’t believe in tanking, so I would have taken versatile and prototypical small forward Caron Butler. Other than his shot selection, Butler was and is a strong option on the offensive side of the ball. Had they still gotten LeBron, Caron could have slid to the 2-guard if needed, but he was NBA ready after two years at Uconn, and not a lot of people are NBA ready that soon, even if they think they are.

Pick 7: New York Knicks

Who they took: Nene Hilario (traded to Nuggets)

Who they should have took: Udonis Haslem (undrafted)

Why: Today, Haslem stands 6-foot-inches and weights 235 pounds. He still is a physical specimen at age 33. So why did he not get drafted at all? Because after he left the Univ. of Florida, he ballooned up to over 300 pounds. And nobody wanted that kind of weight on their shoulders. But if they could go back, I assure you the Knicks would keep this pick and take Haslem, who got in shape and became a credible contributor for Miami along the way, with only his last three seasons, with diminished playing time, worse than his rookie campaign. He’s one of the league leaders in NBA titles as a current player and has always been a big, scary presence down low.

Pick 8: Los Angeles Clippers

Who they took: Chris Wilcox

Who they should have took: Mike Dunleavy (3^rd pick)

Why: The Clippers needed a hit in 2002 and they took another miss. Dunleavy however would have lended a lot of credence to a LA turnaround. The Clippers already had a pair of former Blue Devils in their starting lineup, but outside of those two and Andre Miller, it didn’t run deep in Los Angeles. At 39%, Eric Piatkowski was their best long range shooter, so to bring in someone purely made for that role like Dunleavy would have helped balance their inside-out game much more than a Magette drive did. Dunleavy would have helped get Elton Brand way more touches by drawing the defense out on his shot and perhaps the Clippers would have won more than 29 games.

Pick 9: Phoenix Suns

Who they took: Amare Stoudemire

Who they should have took: Matt Barnes (46^th pick)

Why: The take on Matt Barnes was pretty negative coming out of UCLA. For all of the things people said were positive about his game, there were two more things that took away from his luster. Not a good shooter, will struggle to play either forward position, settles for worse shots. He’s help erased those as one of the best work horses in the league, especially during Golden State’s big time 2007 playoff run to knock off Dallas in the playoffs. Barnes became, like Haslem, just a force and really the enforcer for any team he was on. He wouldn’t have been an adequate offensive replacement for Stoudemire in Phoenix with Steve Nash, but he would have helped the Suns push the tempo with his ball-to-the-wall play.

Pick 10: Miami Heat

Who they took: Caron Butler

Who they should have took: Luis Scola (56^th pick)

Why: Scola played more like a NBA guy in Europe than most international guys do. He did (and still can) get up and down the court well and has always had a nice touch around the basket, especially putting offensive rebounds back. Miami was looking for a little bit of everything and in my redraft, Scola would be the best option on the board to score, which is what they needed most (after all, Butler as a rookie ended up being this team’s best player).

Pick 11: Washington Wizards

Who they took: Jared Jeffries

Who they should have took: Drew Gooden (4^th pick)

Why: The team needed to be hungry in the post and they took a guy who was too small to do anything about his hunger. Kwame Brown already looked like somewhat of a wash out and a slightly oversized Christian Laettner was their leading big man. Gooden was able to attack straight at the basket or with his back to it, which would have made him an ideal partner for Michael Jordan and Jerry Stackhouse both, depending on what one of those guys was doing any given play.

Pick 12: Los Angeles Clippers

Who they took: Melvin Ely

Who they should have took: John Salmons (26^th pick)

Why: From very early, even if not at the same success rate as he would eventually attain, Salmons created a lot of mismatches. As a combo guard at Miami (FL), he liked to play in the post with his back to the basket, usually taking advantage of smaller and weaker guards. He would have been a fun backup to Corey Magette, who was doing those same things in Los Angeles, perhaps with a little more flare.

Pick 13: Milwaukee Bucks

Who they took: Marcus Haislip

Who they should have took: Kareem Rush (20^th pick)

Why: A smooth shooting lefty is a premium. And the Milwaukee Bucks sucked. What made them suck even more? Trading away arguably the best shooting guard of the modern era, perhaps the best 3-point shooter ever during the following season for an aging point guard you didn’t really need. Having Rush, not Haislip (the statistically third worst player on the team his rookie year), would have made the loss of Ray Allen sting quite a bit less. Rush didn’t perform as a rookie but wasn’t needed with the Lakers, where as the Bucks desperately needed someone of his ability in their core, again especially after the Ray Allen trade.

Pick 14: Indiana Pacers

Who they took: Fred Jones

Who they should have took: Jay Williams (2^nd pick)

Why: Jay Williams, had it not been for poor judgment and a motorcycle accident, I do believe would still be a premier point guard in the NBA. And if one team needs one of those, it is Indiana. Williams was mature at Duke and was bound to mature more in the NBA but never got the chance. With the Pacers, he would have been a legit threat off the dribble, thus making him one of the most dangerous point guards in the modern era because he could score from almost anywhere on the floor. This is one of those picks you make, even if you know it’s not going to pan out because of an accident, just because what he did give before the accident (including a rookie year triple-double against the Nets) would be well worth the price of the 14^th pick.

Pick 15: Houston Rockets

Who they took: Bostjan Nachbar

Who they should have took: Roger Mason (31^st pick)

Why: Because blue collar would have worked with Stoudemire’s flash. As a true combo guard, Mason would have been a high level sixth man in Houston and provided depth that the Rockets really didn’t have and surely didn’t get in Nachbar.

Redrafting the 2001 NBA Draft

In no way shape or form was the 2001 NBA Draft as bad as the year before. It was a bright outlook inching the league closer to that benchmark 2003 draft. This draft with ripe with potential, but still in the era of high school to the pros and international appeal, there was a lot of underdeveloped as well as untapped potential.

But it was still close to 2000 and there was still little draft hangover (see Brown, Kwame and Griffin, Eddie). The highlight of this draft was what the Chicago Bulls tried to do. They traded franchise centerpiece Elton Brand for the second pick Tyson Chandler and drafted a second high schooler in Eddy Curry. It was a bold move that paid some dividends, but not enough for having the second and fourth picks, especially looking as some of the talent that was left in the wings.

The year was also another eye opener with high school kids. And not just because only one of the three from the lottery panned out, but because of a high school kid going 43rd, therefore having no guaranteed contract. That pick, Ousmane Cisse would ultimately never play in the NBA after forgoing his high school eligibility.

Pick 1: Washington Wizards

Who they took: Kwame Brown

Who they should have took: Pau Gasol (3^rd pick)

Why: My only thought is that Washington knew Michael Jordan was planning on coming back and that is why they gambled. However, when you have the greatest ever playing past his prime and Rip Hamilton…and that’s it….you should probably plan better. The season after this draft produced the Wizards third best scorer as Chris Whitney. Yes, that Chris Whitney. Yes, the Chris Whitney that you have never even heard of before. And granted, I get the appeal of the big strong high school potential, but this is clearly where you take advantage of adding a guy who was just named the MVP of the Spanish National Cup. And that is even not knowing what we know now, which is that Gasol has become one of the more dominant and diverse big men of the modern era.

Pick 2: Los Angeles Clippers

Who they took: Tyson Chandler (traded to Bulls)

Who they should have took: Tony Parker (28^th pick)

Why: If you are the Clippers of 2001, you make this trade with Chicago no matter who you are giving in return. It was a wise move then, even if this pick had been Parker because of the (again, then) high level commodity that Elton Brand was. And the Bulls with Tony Parker? Intriguing. But what we know now if you are LA is that you take the Frenchman and you ride with him for years and years to come. Knowing Parker’s love of the Western Conference, his loyalty and his enjoyment of actresses, it is not a stretch to say that Parker would still be a Clipper today. Imagine adding him to the Griffin/Paul express? I doubt they would have fizzled out.

Pick 3: Atlanta Hawks

Who they took: Pau Gasol (traded to Grizzlies)

Who they should have took: Joe Johnson (10^th pick)

Why: You can’t blame Boston for shipping Joe out after a year, he was a dud. But if you are a pretty much always directionless Hawks club, you want to add one of your best players ever a little earlier. By the time Joe made his way to Atlanta in real life for his sixth season, he became a prolific scorer and only got better. This would have been a bad pick for Atlanta if Joe gave them the same 6.3 ppg/2.9 rpg effort he gave the Celtics, but if living in the ATL would have jump started him earlier in his career, this is the pick all the way.

Pick 4: Chicago Bulls

Who they took: Eddy Curry

Who they should have took: Tyson Chandler (1^st pick)

Why: Chandler was the right guy for the Bulls, just at the wrong spot. He was too lean and kind of meek for a kid from Compton to achieve early in the league. But he sprouted and became a force. He still is that force. Chicago was right in wanting him and going out and getting him. But, say they still make that trade for the 2^nd pick, there were probably better instant impact guys to take to fill Brand’s role.

Pick 5: Golden State Warriors

Who they took: Jason Richardson

Who they should have took: Zach Randolph (19^th pick)

Why: Randolph’s knock was his weight coming out of Michigan State and in the age of the muscular big man (thanks Shaq), the doughy Randolph didn’t fit in, hence his drop in stock and draft pick. But what he went on to prove was that when used the right way, a little of that Charles Barkley ‘round mound of rebound,’ could work in today’s age. And while he hasn’t had the exact right people around him to make a big contender run, he’s done his part for years in Memphis and is the type of player that the Warriors keep failing in trying to develop (David Lee, Andrew Bogut, Erick Dampier, etc.)

Pick 6: Vancouver Grizzlies

Who they took: Shane Battier

Who they should have took: Jason Richardson (5^th pick)

Why: Vancouver (weeks away from being Memphis) was lucky here that they weren’t trying to draft the face of their franchise because of their trade for the 3^rd pick Pau Gasol. But in this redraft, Atlanta doesn’t trade Joe Johnson, so this has to be a guy to immediately delight in the new confines. Shane Battier is a lot of things (see the next pick), but Shane Battier is not THAT guy. Richardson was a delight in the Bay Area immediately, scoring 14.4 ppg in 80 games as a rookie and improved every year in Golden State save for his last, an injury shortened 2006-2007. The Grizzlies, with a lot of bad draft mojo (their best pick demanded an immediate trade) want a guy to lead the franchise into the future and Richardson could have slammed that future home.

Pick 7: New Jersey Nets

Who they took: Eddie Griffin (traded to Rockets)

Who they should have took: Shane Battier (6^th pick)

Why: Try to find a better “team” guy that Shane Battier. I dare you. Ignore the prolific shooting (I still say Miami has been lucky he’s been on the roster the last two NBA Finals) and look at how well Battier brings it all together. He is the glue for any organization, always has been. The day after this draft, the Nets traded troubled Stephon Marbury for Jason Kidd and Battier would have been a better mate than Richard Jefferson in my opinion. Battier’s shooting touch would have been essential on a Nets team that advanced to the NBA Finals the season following this draft and his outside game would have been a perfect compliment to Kidd’s slashing and Kenyon Martin’s inside presence.

Pick 8: Cleveland Cavaliers

Who they took: DeSagana Diop

Who they should have took: Gilbert Arenas (30^th pick)

Why: This is one of those areas where you just have to take a shot at Gilbert Arenas (no pun intended). Before he played shoot em up, or tried to, Arenas was a high motor guy who made three All-Star teams. He averaged over 10 ppg right out of the gate and built up to a fifth year averaging 29.3. Cleveland would have gotten a guy who was not peaking, but building his way to the peak at the same time LeBron James came in. And even if the balls hadn’t rolled the Cavs’ way in 2003 for Bron Bron, Arenas would have been a more than viable option to build the franchise around.

Pick 9: Detroit Pistons

Who they took: Rodney White

Who they should have took: Gerald Wallace (25^th pick)

Why: I’ve said this in previous blogs and I mean it. Detroit would have done well in building around guys who could have fit in with the Bad Boys of the 80’s and Wallace is one of those guys. Yes, they did win a NBA Title with the core they put together, but how many of those guys themselves would have fit in with Dumars and Mahorn? Wallace needed some fine tuning and used his years in Sacramento to grow the same way he should have used his remaining years of eligibility at Alabama. When he did reach his peak, he was a decent scorer that did the intangible things on the floor and got after the ball every possession.

Pick 10: Boston Celtics

Who they took: Joe Johnson

Who they should have took: Mehmet Okur (37^th pick)

Why: Poor Boston. They sucked at the draft for so long. They finally took a good player in Johnson and he produced the worst year of his career. Okur could have been for them what they were looking for one year earlier with (shudder) Jerome Moiso. They had a who’s who of veteran garbage behind Paul Pierce and still managed to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals where they had to rely on a combo forward to handle the brunt of the rebounding. Okur, a career 7 rpg guy, would have helped in those finals to offset what Kenyon Martin was doing and given the Celtics another building block in the middle, something that was a constant struggle, even 8 years later when they won the NBA title.

Pick 11: Boston Celtics

Who they took: Kedrick Brown

Who they should have took: Richard Jefferson (13^th pick)

Why: Kedrick Brown was supposed to be Kendrick Perkins before Kendrick Perkins was Kendrick Perkins. He was not. Picking up Jefferson here would have taken some of the load off Paul Pierce in the aforementioned Eastern Finals because Jefferson and Pierce were very similar in their play styles at this point. It also would have afforded Jefferson the proper time to grow behind Pierce instead of needing to be as prolific as he could be from the outset in New Jersey. Maybe he wouldn’t have washed out as quickly and become the mediocre veteran that he is, but shouldn’t be, today.

Pick 12: Seattle Supersonics

Who they took: Vladimir Radmanovic

Who they should have took: Jamaal Tinsley (27^th pick)

Why: Ray Allen needed someone to pass him the ball correctly.

Pick 13: Houston Rockets

Who they took: Richard Jefferson (traded to Nets)

Who they should have took: Brendan Haywood (20^th pick)

Why: This was a big man draft and the case would be the same here for the Rockets as it was for Cleveland when they draft him (and Orlando and Washington when they received him before he ever played a pro game): it was him or Zach Randolph. Randolph went one pick before him in the draft and the two had similar games. Ultimately Cleveland showed they wanted Randolph more and shipped Haywood out. But, in a post-Hakeem era beginning in Houston, Haywood would have been a solid pick up here, but not sensational. As Randolph separated himself, Haywood still played decent for many years in Washington as a key reserve.

Pick 14: Golden State Warriors

Who they took: Troy Murphy

Who they should have took: Troy Murphy

Why: Murphy was a motor guy who would get on the floor. Golden State didn’t know their identity like they did during the RUN TMC era or today, and in trying to find it, they acquired blue collar guys. And Troy Murphy never let them down. He rebounded the ball well (five years in double digit average) for a guy who wasn’t a prototypical rebounder and bought himself a couple of extra stints in the league (in New Jersey, Boston, LA and Dallas) because of his stingy defense, which helped the Warriors (planned or otherwise), establish their mid-2000’s strong defensive philosophy.

Pick 15: Orlando Magic

Who they took: Steven Hunter

Who they should have took: Samuel Dalembert (26^th pick)

Why: Lather, rinse, repeat. See 2000’s redraft #15. See the first sentence of 2001’s #13 pick. It was a big man draft. Dalembert had height, looked athletic and moved ok. Welcome to the selling point of players in this early-2000s time period.

Redrafting the 1999 NBA Draft

1999 is almost a forgotten year when you talk about top draft classes, but this class really was loaded from top to bottom as the first and fifty-seventh picks each ended up being All-Stars and All-NBA performers during their careers. There were seven other All-Stars picked between them.

The letdowns there were, especially in the top 15 were both unfortunate and sad. Duke University saw four players go in the top 14 picks, but only two had extended NBA careers and only one (Elton Brand) had any high level of success. Trajan Langdon and William Avery both washed out in the league but had pretty great success overseas.

And the sad: Frederic Weis. Although Knicks fans still have a habit of booing their own draft picks when their names were called, this was perhaps the worst pick in the history of the draft, let alone in New York. Weis, best (and really only) known for being the victim of a Vince Carter leap-frog-your-opponent dunk in the Olympics, never played a single NBA minute. He became one of the highest picks ever, if not THE highest to never see the league.

Pick 1: Chicago Bulls

Who they took: Elton Brand

Who they should have took: Manu Ginobili (57^th pick)

Why: Had any single team had the slightest inkling about Manu, he would have been a locked in lottery pick. Had they known what we know now, he would have very clearly been the building block of Chicago’s post-Jordan reboot instead of Brand. He is quite possibly the best foreign player to ever play in the NBA and has shown his game and the level at which he plays has substantial longevity, especially when you consider that he had played professionally overseas for four years at this point. With a player like Manu to build around, Chicago could have made better roster decisions earlier.

Pick 2: Vancouver Grizzlies

Who they took: Steve Francis (traded to Rockets)

Who they should have took: Baron Davis (3^rd pick)

Why: First of all, drafting Davis would have given Vancouver someone to build around, as opposed to giving up Steve Francis for a litany of garbage (Othella Harrington may have been their best piece of the Houston trade). Davis went on to be one of the most reliable, gritty and tough point guards in the modern age of the league. He averaged over 16 points and 7 assists during his career, three times averaging 20+ points per game. The trophy years for Davis were his 22.9 ppg, 2.4 spg, 4.3 rpg, 7.5 apg outing in 2003-2004. That same year, had he been in then-Memphis, he would have teamed with Shane Battier and Pau Gasol and possibly been a major threat out West.

Pick 3: Charlotte Hornets

Who they took: Baron Davis

Who they should have took: Elton Brand (1^st pick)

Why: While not the best player in this draft now, anyone who sees Brand as near a bust doesn’t know much about the league. He never went on to be the most dominant post of the century as many believed he could, but he averaged 20+ six different years and could have been a foundation (as Davis became) for a soon to be relocating and rebuilding franchise. Elton Brand would have been a great face for the New Orleans Hornets. He is one of a handful of still active players from this draft and although his production has done down, his career point/rebound numbers still hover over 16 and 8. It’s a stretch to say he would have stayed in New Orleans through 2005, but had he, they would have benefited from back to back years of averaging over 20/10 and he instantly would have helped them in 1999, still stumbling over the Kobe debacle.

Pick 4: Los Angeles Clippers

Who they took: Lamar Odom

Who they should have took: Shawn Marion (9^th pick)

Why: The draft gets wide open for the next several picks as there may not have been a wrong choice in anybody I name from here through pick 10. But what Marion has provided in his career has been a winning attitude and nearly unparalleled effort. His numbers stay respectable, but Marion has been a guy who was clutch as a teammate. Could he have thrived as THE guy? Who knows. Maybe he wouldn’t have been that guy in LA anyway, but as a big puzzle piece, he was one of the guys who made Phoenix’s run and gun in the 2000s so efficient.

Pick 5: Toronto Raptors

Who they took: Jonathan Bender (traded to Pacers)

Who they should have took: Richard (Rip) Hamilton (7^th pick)

Why: Bender was a joke and so was his aged replacement Antonio Davis, so this is automatically and upgrade. Forget his 17.1 career points per game for a minute and remember that Richard Hamilton is one of the best face guarding players in the modern era of the NBA. There are very few guys I would rather have playing defense, especially off the ball. He made other guys work and work and work and work and then some. And I would much rather have Rip in the backcourt as a rookie than the aging Dell Curry or Muggsy Bouges.

Pick 6: Minnesota Timberwolves

Who they took: Wally Szczerbiak

Who they should have took: Steve Francis (2^nd pick)

Why: Because the Stephon Marbury experiment was unsuccessful and Minnesota really needed a point guard. Something that made their pick of Szczerbiak odd anyway as Terrell Brandon (the player they got in the Marbury trade) was not a long term fix. Also, with hindsight as it is, we know that Minnesota was on the verge of losing first round draft picks for years to come. Francis may have been happier in Minnesota and it would have given the T-Wolves another chance to partner an explosive point man in a high-scoring combo with Kevin Garnett.

Pick 7: Washington Wizards

Who they took: Richard Hamilton

Who they should have took: Jason Terry (10^th pick)

Why: Washington was hungry for a playmaker guard at this point and Terry looked more offensively ready than Rip at this point. And while his assist numbers have never quite added up as a point guard, he’s succeeded as a backup and an undersized shooting guard, hitting 38-percent for his career from long range. He’s also only had two seasons in single digit scoring (his first and 2013-2014) so he has shown consistency. Something that, for the most part, still lacks in Washington today. Also, with Terry on the roster, the Wizards may have never gotten involved with his college teammate Gilbert Arenas years later out of need, something that helped kill their franchise a little more.

Pick 8: Cleveland Cavaliers

Who they took: Andre Miller

Who they should have took: Lamar Odom (4^th pick)

Why: For the sad joke that Odom has turned into, he was a stellar prospect and solid contributor for almost his entire career. Cleveland’s guard first approach to lottery life in the years before Lebron didn’t pan out, so taking a nice combo forward like Odom could have been a better avenue, even if it did leave them in the lottery or the smelly end of the playoffs.

Pick 9: Phoenix Suns

Who they took: Shawn Marion

Who they should have took: Ron Artest (16^th pick)

Why: It is hard to say what to do here. The Suns lost Jason Kidd during the following season with an injury, so maybe you want another point guard so the brunt of the work doesn’t go to Penny Hardaway. But I say go physical and bring in Artest. Before the real anger issues or name changes, Artest was just a brute force. He would have helped Phoenix initially in their eventual playoff loss to San Antonio and this pick could have changed the path of the franchise. Maybe Artest, teaming with Kidd or even if they still traded for Marbury, becomes what leads Phoenix and never brings Nash or Amare Stoudemire to town. Would it be better? Hard to say, but Artest’s intensity would have been good for a talented, yet pretty emotionless club in 1999.

Pick 10: Atlanta Hawks

Who they took: Jason Terry

Who they should have took: Andre Miller (8^th pick)

Why: You basically get the same thing in Miller as you got in Terry, with a little less scoring and little better court vision. In just his third season, Miller put up a 16.5 ppg/10.9 apg season that would have been useful in Atlanta where Terry was the leading scorer pretty quickly. Would this pick have changed anything? No, but it would be a lateral move for another emotionless franchise.

Pick 11: Cleveland Cavaliers

Who they took: Trajan Langdon

Who they should have took: Corey Magette (13^th pick)

Why: Langdon was a prototypical Duke player. But there is a reason that old school look doesn’t breed much success for ex-Blue Devils and a reason that Magette lasted longer in the league. Magette and Odom would have been a fierce combo in Cleveland and led a youthful surge for a long ailing club. What Cleveland actually got from Langdon were two uneventful years where he never looked like the advertised “Alaskan Assassin.” Though he washed out and faded in obscurity recently, Magette was still a 16 ppg career scorer who at times looked like a dominant physical specimen capable of leading a franchise as their top guy.

Pick 12: Toronto Raptors

Who they took: Aleksander Radojevic

Who they should have took: Andrei Kirilenko (24^th pick)

Why: While Kirilenko has sadly never become the player he has the potential to be, he would have been an awesome player for Toronto to add to a roster that boasted Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady (and in the redraft version a better option than Antonio Davis with the earlier 5^th pick). They were already a playoff team, so imagine this Raptors team dropping Davis’ 11.5 ppg and Radojevic’s three games played for Rip Hamilton and AK-47. Yes please.

Pick 13: Seattle Supersonics

Who they took: Corey Magette (traded to Orlando)

Who they should have took: Wally Szczerbiak (6^th pick)

Why: Wally deserves to be graded with an incomplete for his career because injuries really prevented us from seeing what kind of longevity he could provide. He was a fresh face in Minnesota and a very different look from the KG run show, which helped him thrive. He averaged 20 ppg in the 2002 playoffs and peaked with 20.1 ppg in 2006 and while he would end up in Seattle eventually, they could have used his diversity, defensive enthusiasm and shooting (a career 40.6-percent shooter from downtown) at this point as they too looked for an identity in the early post-Kemp/Payton era.

Pick 14: Minnesota Timberwolves

Who they took: William Avery

Who they should have took: Raja Bell (undrafted)

Why: Raja was never going to significantly turn heads, but he was another guy who (as a sixth man) was crucial to the mid-2000 Phoenix Suns teams that looked like they may win an NBA title. Bell would have been great relief for Garnett in Minnesota, especially in his 2005-06 and 06-07 seasons when he averaged career high 14.7 ppg for the Suns.

Pick 15: New York Knicks

Who they took: Frederic Weis

Who they should have took: James Posey (18^th pick)

Why: Look, I know James Posey isn’t Michael Jordan. However, he also isn’t Frederic Weis. Thankfully. Posey averaged only 8.6 ppg throughout his career but was strong defensively and eventually a surprising revelation of a player during the Celtics’ ‘Big Three’ championship run. And he was consistent, providing about the same level of work until his final two seasons. He would have been the kind of blue collar player that the Knicks used years earlier at their peak and although he would have never been a star, he would have played harder than anyone else they really had at this point.