Redrafting the 2003 NBA Draft

Let's face it, this was the greatest draft in the modern era on the NBA. It provided countless All-Stars and award winners already and will produce at least three Hall of Famers.

There isn't much you can say about this draft. It was a four man draft thought to be a five man draft. There was LeBron, Carmelo, Wade and Bosh....and then there was Darko. Poor, poor Darko.

Pick 1: Cleveland Cavaliers

Who they took: LeBron James

Who they should have took: LeBron James

Why: This is a no brainer. For as much as I have never been a fan of LeBron, there is no denying his talents and how it has translated to the pro game. There a lot of reasons to hate on LeBron, some justified and others not. He is as polarizing as any player in professional sports today. However, his talent is on another level (and some, not me, believe that to be a level of its own). Any other pick here would have been ALMOST as bad as Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan.

Pick 2: Detroit Pistons

Who they took: Darko Milicic

Who they should have took: Carmelo Anthony (3^rd pick)

Why: You will read more about my feelings on Dwayne Wade shortly, but Carmelo is the pick here because of what he did different than anyone Detroit had. With Chauncey Billups, Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton as a steady guard core, someone would have gotten lost in the shuffle had D-Wade gone with this pick. I think that is partially why Detroit gambled with “can’t miss” European prospect Darko. The pick itself was one of the biggest busts, as going with Darko made more sense to the franchise than risk losing Carmelo or someone else in their bountiful collection of wing players. However, Carmelo ended up being more dynamic than expected, so they missed out. Imagine adding a prolific scorer like Melo to the group that Detroit had at this point. I doubt they would have only won a single title.

Pick 3: Denver Nuggets

Who they took: Carmelo Anthony

Who they should have took: Dwayne Wade (5^th pick)

Why: I will say, without reservation, that I believe a healthy and at the top of his game Dwayne Wade is the best player in the NBA. Period. To me, and likely not many other people I am aware of. And I am ok with that. Add that and his demeanor (and how it differs from Melo’s) and I think Dwayne Wade could have taken Denver to new heights. With Allen Iverson, with Kenyon Martin, with Chauncey Billups…I think that they could have put together a legacy in Denver, much the same as they have in Miami, but with less gap in between titles. Wade would likely still have been enough to draw Shaq, this time to Denver. And what if LeBron and Chris Bosh took their talents to the Rocky Mountains instead of South Beach. But even if nobody else came in blockbuster moves, Wade would still have blossomed and would still be every bit as likely to take the Nuggets to a crown or two.

Pick 4: Toronto Raptors

Who they took: Chris Bosh

Who they should have took Chris Bosh:

Why: Bosh wasn’t the best player available and Toronto missed out huge by not taking Wade. But here, he is the best. He is not smooth in my opinion, but he does work hard and do good things. He’s a strong interior defender and has found range in his shot in recent years. Toronto took a gamble with a big man and it wasn’t a bad one, Bosh has just never been a stand alone talent, hence why his greatest success and best play has come as part of Miami’s trio. Even if you know he still leaves if you are Toronto, you still take the gamble for him to elevate your organization for a few years.

Pick 5: Miami Heat

Who they took: Dwayne Wade

Who they should have took: David West (18^th pick)

Why: West has proven himself, especially in recent years, to be among the elite of today’s posts. He can score both inside and with a little range and he is an excellent, strong, defender. Is this the golden era of post players? No. But what West does is exceptional. It is hard to say what Miami would have done with him in the fold, as they still needed a go-to guard like Wade was, but he surely would have helped position the Heat to be a free agent destination, even if it wasn’t THE free agent destination.

Pick 6: Los Angeles Clippers

Who they took: Chris Kaman

Who they should have took: Kendrick Perkins (27^th pick)

Why: Perkins is tough because has always been what I would classify as helpful. With Boston’s NBA title, with runs in OKC the last few years. Perkins helps and that is something that until very recently, that the Clippers needed more than anything. If the people in LA could have figured out how to get the Boston versions’ work ethic and effort combined with the sleeker, more athletic build of the OKC version, Perkins would have been a huge steal right here at six.

Pick 7: Chicago Bulls

Who they took: Kirk Hinrich

Who they should have took: Chris Kaman (6^th pick)

Why: It’s hard to call Chris Kaman “not a success story.” After all, he didn’t come from a big time college program and he has been an All-Star. If anything, he would have been a bruiser in a Bulls area without any. No big man they drafted in the Bulls post player years was a physical guy at that point in their career. Tyson Chandler was still thin and while he didn’t fight inside, Kaman would have been a big help on the court and in practice toughening Chandler up a little earlier when it still would have helped Chicago.

Pick 8: Milwaukee Bucks

Who they took: TJ Ford

Who they should have took: Kyle Korver (51^st pick)

Why: Korver has the unfortunate honor of being one of the first (let’s face it) Caucasian stars coming from a mid-major program. Where we now have Doug McDermott, there was once Kyle Korver. Did he have the athleticism to perform in the NBA? Was he more than a shooter? More than a one trick pony? Most people said no, hence why he almost went undrafted. The reality is that yes, Korver can do a lot for teams. He’ll still shoot the lights out but he has endeared himself to fans, to other players and has learned to better create off the dribble. And now, his career serves as a blueprint for those McDermott type of players looking to adapt to a higher level.

Pick 9: New York Knicks

Who they took: Michael Sweetney

Who they should have took: Jose Calderon (undrafted)

Why: Not much was known about Calderon at this point coming from overseas. He has made a silent, but solid career mostly in Toronto, where he averaged 12.8 points and 8.9 assists per game in 2008-2009, while also leading the league and setting a NBA record shooting .981 from the free throw line. Setting league records isn’t bad for a guy who didn’t even get picked up. For comparison, actual pick Michael Sweetney shot a career high .749 from the line his second season but was only a career .689 guy. Oh yeah, he was out of the league two full seasons before Calderon set that record.

Pick 10: Washington Wizards

Who they took: Jarvis Hayes

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

Why: Hinrich got that nod at #7 originally because he was significantly taller than the other option (TJ Ford). Hinrich’s understanding of fundamentals would have been perfect in Washington where they were already trying to clean up the mess of the Kwame Brown debacle. While Hinrich never has developed into a “prolific” player on either side of the ball, he has great court vision and is one of the few above average natural passers in the league still today.

Pick 11: Golden State Warriors

Who they took: Michael Pietrus

Who they should have took: Nick Collison (12^th pick)

Why: No knock on Pietrus (even though you won’t see him mentioned again in this blog), but Collison was a rare NBA-ready back to the basket post. A prototypical power forward guy, he was never going to give you flare, but sure could work and was highly coordinated for a college center. That alone made him worth a pick. But his ability to work well on either end of the post was superb in 2003 and while he still has never given much flare, he has stayed a steady contributor in most aspects of the game. Bonus: he’s loyal. He has only played for two teams in his career and that only happened because the Sonics moved and took him to OKC with them.

Pick 12: Seattle Supersonics

Who they took: Nick Collison

Who they should have took: Boris Diaw (21^st pick)

Why: Letting Diaw slip out of the lottery was a bad move by NBA teams. He was an athletic freak when he came out in 2003 after twice making the educated decision to withdraw his name in 2001 and 2002 because he didn’t feel his game was ready. Like several mentioned in previous blogs, he was a key piece in the Mike D’Antoni run and gun Suns teams, who had they stayed together, could have logged a Spurs like push because of late foreign pick ups like Diaw. And in all fairness, that is probably why he is having a mini-revival in San Antonio now, scoring the best he has since 2011.

Pick 13: Memphis Grizzlies

Who they took: Marcus Banks (traded to Celtics)

Who they should have took: Steve Blake (38^th pick)

Why: And kept him. Blake was a question mark going into the league. He was clearly a strong shooter at Maryland, but his question marks following him are still ones that haunt smaller shooters, even at big schools: could he diversify his game on the next level. Blake did so in droves and took some of the pressure off for future guys and some succeed (JJ Redick) and some fail (Adam Morrison). Blake has turned out to be one of the most consistent second rounds on the new millennium, no matter where he traveled. While it’s unlikely he’d still be in Memphis, he would be a tough back up for Mike Conley.

Pick 14: Seattle Supersonics

Who they took: Luke Ridenour

Who they should have took: Leandro Barbosa (28^th pick)

Why: Speaking of Suns key to their mid-2000s runs, here is where you have to take Barbosa, giving Seattle and redraft duo of those former Suns. Barbosa was so much the same players as Diaw out of the draft, but the way the two worked together was always fun and explosive. Taking Diaw, it was a no brainer to want to take his athletic equal and mirror. Barbosa also adds a little better three-point game and was a less talented template of what Kevin Durant would eventually bring to the table for the organization.

Pick 15: Orlando Magic

Who they took: Reece Gaines

Who they should have took: Dahntay Jones (20^th pick)

Why: Jones is a guy who has quietly been helpful even though he was never really a good fit with the teams he was with, possibly outside of Denver. He’s done well to try to change that in Atlanta. His upside is his freaky athletic ability once out on the break. The downside: he’s so inconsistent (hence the often trades and releases). A highlight of that inconsistency: he shot 17% from three point range in 07-08 in Sacramento, only to head to Denver the following year and hit 65% of his long range shots.

Fixing the Indiana Pacers

So this started out as me talking to and kind of joking with my dad a few days ago, but I think I have the solution to what ails the Indiana Pacers. A proposal of sorts for Larry Bird, an answer to the question “what do we do/where do we go now?”

Blow the whole thing up. Embrace Lance Stephenson. Become the Bad Boys. Yeah, you know the Bad Boys Mr. Bird, they beat on you. You took some games from them, they took some from you. But at the end of the day, nobody wanted to mess with the Bad Boys. And not generic bad boys in Indiana like Ron Artest and Jermaine O’Neal tried to be. Literally and beat em up, hardcore defensive team…but one that can also score.

Time to stay “blue collar” and drop the “gold swagger.” So here is what you do in my possibly demented mind:

Start with free agency where you have five guys to decide on and two more whose salary cap hit you lose.

First thing is first: pay Lance Stephenson the money you pay Evan Turner and send Evan on his way. Will this be enough for Lance? I’m not really sure. But, going from his $1 million dollar contract to Evan Turner’s $6.6M would be a major step up for a guy who contributed so much more.

Let Lavoy Allen and Rasual Butler walk away. $4.4M total salary for the season for two guys who combined for 150 points? No thanks.

Let Andrew Bynum hobble away. It was worth a shot, right? Well, probably not in reality. But paying Bynum any more money would be silly. Sillier than my theory on how to rebuild this team.

Losing the $1.4M combined cap hit for Orlando Johnson (who you waived this spring) and Ben Hansbrough.

Automatically through free agency, you are getting rid of five guys who provide nothing. Any money at all to resign them would be pointless. In 2014-2015, you spent about $67.5 million against your $58.7M salary cap. So why let any of those five inflate you more. Only Lance is worth the effort.

But you can’t stop there. Not by a long shot. Why? Because you signed Paul George to a dumb contract. Even losing those five guys, your salary would now be about $71.8 million because Paul’s salary goes up TEN MILLION DOLLARS next year. For a guy who had 1 point in the first half of a crucial Eastern Conference Finals game. So what next?

Trade away the big money.

First of, trade Paul George, Luis Scola, Donald Sloan and future considerations or draft picks ($19.7 M value) to Oklahoma City for Russell Westbrook and Reggie Jackson ($17.9 M value).

Is this far fetched? Probably. Probably extremely. But, it would let OKC (also in need of some kind of overhaul) to get another star to package around Kevin Durant and maybe they can get along better. The honeymoon has ended for Westbrook and Durant, so why not make this move if you are OKC to improve? George brings a different game to the table and with the money OKC could save by using the amnesty on Kendrick Perkins, they can get a credible point guard to replace Russell. For Indiana, it unloads more contracts so they have future flexibility and you have a true point guard that can take Lance Stephenson off the ball.

Money saved: $1.8 million

Second, trade Roy Hibbert and a future first round pick ($14.9 M value) to the Charlotte Hornets for Josh McRoberts, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, 9^th pick in 2014 Draft and 45^th pick in 2014 draft (7.7 M initial value).

The reality is that Hibbert still has trade value and now is the time to unload him. The trade essentially would break down to Hibbert for Kidd-Gilchrist and the 9^th pick. The steal of this trade would be Josh McRoberts, who will be a (at best) 10 point, 7 rebound a night guy. BUT, if you are following my theme and making your own Bad Boys, then McRoberts is your Bill Laimbeer. He’ll clothesline LeBron for fun, if you don’t believe me, then YouTube it. Meanwhile, Hibbert is 7’2’’, valuable and can play ball so Charlotte would want him as a proven commodity. Kidd-Gilchrist would be an added element because he has yet to prove himself and will come cheaper than a year ago and probably in the future. If he breaks out, like he may possibly do, this would be a great pick up. If he washes out, then you still have gotten this 9^th draft pick.

Money saved: $7.2 million

Third, trade CJ Watson and Ian Mahinmi ($6.1 M value) to Detroit for Chauncey Billups and Andre Drummond ($5.1 M value).

Detroit can reload a new center with potential as they have grown weary of Drummond, Indiana can have another backup for David West and now Josh McRoberts. It is a lateral move that would be cheaper for the Pacers. Dropping Watson to add the aged Billups does nothing but give you an experienced voice off the bench from a guy who won’t play much. A player/coach type of guy who has more of an overall upside because of his knowledge than Watson ever will.

Money saved: $1 million

So now you are draft ready and have saved yourself $10.4 million in trades while acquiring Russell Westbrook, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and a lottery pick with some other pieces that will help turn up the physicality.

So Adam Silver is at the podium now on Draft day. What do you do?

Draft Aaron Gordon (PF, Arizona) with the 9^th pick. He’s a physical specimen and athletic in the post like a young Kevin Garnett. Is he that good? Probably not. But, his unique skill set allows you to throw out multiple different looks between him, David West, McRoberts and Drummond.

Draft Andre Dawkins (SG, Duke) with the 57^th pick. A pure shooter for the league who can develop and who you have time to develop. By moving Stephenson to the 2-guard and having plenty of talent in your guard space, you can send Andre over to Fort Wayne and let him be a Mad Ant while he gets used to the NBA pace. He’ll help you in the future, just not now.

Based on the 2013 salaries of the 9^th (Trey Burke) and 56^th (Peyton Siva) picks (the 57^th pick hasn’t and probably won’t play in the NBA), these picks are worth $2.5 M and $400 K respectively. Brings up your salary to about $64.4 million.

But we aren’t done yet Mr. Bird. Now we amnesty George Hill. $8 million for George Hill? Nah. Plus, he’s a weird guard. He’s a point guard player in a wing body. And I know what you want to say…”then who will back up Westbrook? If Lance is now a two, Reggie Jackson is really a two and Chauncey Billups won’t play or suit up much, then why would we amnesty George Hill?”

Because, you sign Mario Chalmers. One, he is talented and would be a terrific backup for Westbrook. Two, he can be hot headed and fit into your new scheme I’ve given you. Three, it is a thorn in the side of the Miami Heat. Take one of theirs. That’s what they did to the Boston Celtics. Is Chalmers as much of a hurter as Ray Allen? No. But you are taking one of their originals, one of the clan who has to be weary of how the “big three” yell at him and treat him. And, you can get Chalmers for HALF of what you pay George Hill. Your salary now lies at 60.4 million, still over your cap but $7 M less than 2013-2014.

Your starting lineup for 2014-2015: Russell Westbrook, Lance Stephenson, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, David West and Josh McRoberts.

Yes, it is radical. But does Indiana need radical? Yes. Do you want to beat LeBron or do you want to BEAT LEBRON?!?!

Will any of this happen? Not a chance. But we can dream can’t we? If only they’d make me the GM.