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.

Redrafting the 1994 NBA Draft

1994 proved to be an interesting draft. At the top were Hall of Famers but by mid-lottery, it was bust after bust after bust. Some of the better NBA hanger ons in this class came late in the first round and even in the second round. Players were starting to leave early and next top crop of kids were going into college. It was kind of an in between year that produced a unique sampling of career results and a rarity: co-rookies of the year. And neither was the top pick, at least in 1994.

Pick 1: Milwaukee Bucks

Who they took: Glenn Robinson

Who they should have took: Jason Kidd (2^nd pick)

Why: Well just on the surface, let’s talk about his 10 All-Star appearances. How about being the co-Rookie of the Year that first season? Kidd was one of only four guys in this draft to make an All-Star team and an All-NBA team. The Bucks’ actual top pick, Robinson, wasn’t one of those four. Kidd spent his career as a top point guard from start to finish, no matter where he landed. He was the assist leader in the league five times, made six All-NBA teams, 9 All-NBA defensive teams and a couple of Sportsmanship awards all while racking up 17,000 career points and 12,000 career assists. Was Kidd the most complete player in this draft at the time? No. If it weren’t for injuries to others, would he be at the top of this list? No. But that isn’t how this works and the Bucks would have thrived much better with Kidd at the helm for a few years than what they got out of the ‘Big Dog.’

Pick 2: Dallas Mavericks

Who they took: Jason Kidd

Who they should have took: Grant Hill (3^rd pick)

Why: The next ‘next Jordan,’ Hill didn’t “pan out” as projected. But, expectations were too lofty and his Achilles didn’t like him. However, that didn’t stop Hill from being a more than serviceable athlete during his long NBA tenure. And a Mavericks team that could have combined Jamal Mashburn and Hill would have been pretty powerful and had a nice place to build from offensively with Hill and actual pick Kidd scoring at about the same clip for their careers.

Pick 3: Detroit Pistons

Who they took: Grant Hill

Who they should have took: Juwan Howard (5^th pick)

Why: The third of the guys who would go on to be All-Stars and All-NBA performers. Howard was quietly consistent always, from his time at Michigan through his retirement at the end of the 2012-2013 season.  Howard’s strengths at the time of the 1994 Draft were evident. He could play with his back to the basket and was a strong interior defender. The question marks? How does he play on his own? He was probably the least brash of the Fab Five, so what did Howard’s personality due when alone? He showed that early and was diverse in his approach perhaps as the most overall NBA ready player in this draft, as evidenced by his long tenure in the league. In a world without Grant Hill, Detroit would have served well building around Howard.

Pick 4: Minnesota Timberwolves

Who they took: Donyell Marshall

Who they should have took: Glenn Robinson (1^st pick)

Why: For all I criticized Robinson for going first, he was a solid NBA role player and at times peak performer. Minnesota wanted a bruising small forward and with Robinson and Hill off the board, they took the best option. But looking back, Robinson would have been available and the right choice to team with Laettner on what may have been the worst franchise in the league.

Pick 5: Washington Bullets

Who they took: Juwan Howard

Who they should have took: Jalen Rose (13^th pick)

Why: Washington wanted to see if they could get some of that Wolverine brashness, which is why they took on Howard and later Chris Webber via a trade. They would have gotten that by the buckets picking Rose. In Washington, Rose would have thrived better with an immediate opportunity to run the show unlike the floundering in Denver like he did before his trade two years into the league. And if being the captain didn’t work out with the Bullets, he showed (especially during his tenure in Indiana) that he could be a good deck hand while making a run at a title.

Pick 6: Philadelphia 76ers

Who they took: Sharone Wright

Who they should have took: Eddie Jones (10^th pick)

Why: At this point, Philadelphia was pretty quietly establishing busts. Shawn Bradley was Shawn Bradley and Clarence Weatherspoon was a decent filler guy, but Philly needed a playmaker here. Sharone Wright was never that guy, floundered and was out of the league by 1998. And while there were still guys like Rose on the board then, he wouldn’t be now so you take the best player maker in Eddie Jones who had a solid career as a started, culminating in 2000 when he was in his 3^rd All-Star game, made the All-NBA 3^rd Team and was on the All-NBA Defensive 2^nd Team.

Pick 7: Los Angeles Clippers

Who they took: Lamond Murray

Who they should have took: Donyell Marshall (4^th pick)

Why: So it wasn’t a great year after the top four or five picks, but Marshall would have still been a strong fit in LA where they were throwing it all at the wall to see what stuck. It was a small forward heavy draft with a lot of unknowns in how guys could adjust to the NBA. Marshall was about the last of the ones who could adjust on a competitive level and would have been the best option.

Pick 8: Sacramento Kings

Who they took: Brian Grant

Who they should have took: Wesley Person (23^rd pick)

Why: A lot of the longer tenured guys in the draft were picked later and Person was one. He was a fringe lottery pick, but was thin and wasn’t strong around the basket or in creating his own shot. In Sacramento, with Bobby Hurley sidelining himself, they needed another ball handler and shooter and used Person more in this way than as the small forward that most teams tried to use him as throughout his career.

Pick 9: Boston Celtics

Who they took: Eric Montross

Who they should have took: Charlie Ward (26^th pick)

Why: Take the Heisman winner, he is an athlete. Ward had a productive stay in New York and his gritty style was the basis when he moved to the Spurs of how they play in San Antonio now. The Celtics needed an identity and you can’t blame them for taking Montross, well regarded as a Bill Laimbeer/Kevin McHale guy who slipped to them at nine. But knowing now that he was more the Eric Piatkowski kind of guy, you take a chance on the tough as nails point guard.

Pick 10: Los Angeles Lakers

Who they took: Eddie Jones

Who they should have took: Brian Grant (8^th pick)

Why: The draft wasn’t deep and Grant was going to be a bruiser. The Lakers, like the Celtics needed an identity to get back to their winning ways and Grant really was the best choice to at least establish some fear from the opponents. Luckily for the Lakers, they didn’t have to draft in retrospect and got a lot more out of Eddie Jones than teams drafting higher got out of their prospects.

Pick 11: Seattle Sonics

Who they took: Carlos Rogers

Who they should have took: Monty Williams (24^th pick)

Why: Seattle wasn’t struggling in 1994 and all they needed was a role guy. Instead, they brought in a guy they didn’t need and immediately traded him for no value. The value they could have gotten from Williams, a true leader and coach (even then) would have been better bang for the buck at 11. He could have played behind Detlef Schrempf and beside Kendall Gill to give this pretty deep Seattle team more depth.

Pick 12: Miami Heat

Who they took: Khalid Reeves

Who they should have took: Carlos Rogers (11^th pick)

Why: Rogers was strong for a couple of years. That is all anyone was getting out of him, but the Heat needed a guy who could come in and get the job done. He had no longevity but I don’t know that the Heat needed that in 1994, just something.

Pick 13: Denver Nuggets

Who they took: Jalen Rose

Who they should have took: Lamond Murray (7^th)

Why: I mean, take the best available player. This draft kind of sucked.

Pick 14: New Jersey Nets

Who they took: Yinka Dare

Who they should have took: Lawrence Funderburke (51^st pick)

Why: Considering eight guys were picked before him that never played in the league and most picked before him weren’t as efficient, why not. Can’t be any worse than Yinka Dare, right? Dare was out of the league about the same time Funderburke found a footing and made his way into the league. When he did, he was a vital backup for Chris Webber in Sacramento during the Kings’ years almost capturing a Western Conference title. Even if he didn’t come to New Jersey until 1997, it would have been helpful during a seven year stretch that the Nets were pushing toward contendership, much like the Kings.

Pick 15: Indiana Pacers

Who they took: Eric Piatkowski

Who they should have took: Voshon Lenard (46^th pick)

Why: How Piatkowski spent 14 years in the league is the biggest mismanagement of funds since Enron. Lenard was an ace shooter when on his game and found a footing in Miami eventually where he was part of the team that took them out of the cellar at the end of the 1990s.