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 2000 NBA Draft

Orlando had three top-13 picks. Chicago had two top-7 picks. Yet neither emerged from the 2000 NBA Draft with a legit prospect to help turn them into a contender. But why?

Because the 2000 NBA Draft sucked, that’s why. Universally panned as the worst draft of the modern era (and if it isn’t considered as such, it should be), the draft produced ok, mediocre and cry-yourself-to-sleep why-did-I-pick-him results. Mark Madsen may be one of the most memorable people to come out of this draft. Yes, the guy who danced a lot as a Laker.

Six picks between seven and fifteen were traded before their rookie seasons, showing just how inconsequential this group was and how no team was really all that interested in anyone.

I come back to write this paragraph after I wrote the rest of this blog. And why? Because this was just plan sad and boring. It made me hate that I decided to do this series and I seriously can’t wait until I get the chance to write about the 2001 class just because they weren’t this pile of whatever this pile is.

Its all just…gross.

Pick 1: New Jersey Nets

Who they took: Kenyon Martin

Who they should have took: Kenyon Martin

Why: Martin was instrumental early on and one of the only plays in this class to achieve any decent level of success. After averaging 12 ppg as a rookie, Martin would lead the Nets to the 2002 NBA Finals in his second season and then post career highs in scoring in seasons three and four, all while helping establish the Nets as an Eastern power. This was the right pick then and remains so now. Even after he left Jersey, Martin has been a helpful performer, posting a career high in field goal percentage during the 2012-2013 season.

Pick 2: Vancouver Grizzlies

Who they took: Stromile Swift

Who they should have took: Mike Miller (5^th pick)

Why: Another guy in this series who ended up there anyway, Miller was a lights out shooter and still is when called upon. His best years were in Memphis, where he shot 50-percent from three-point range in 2003 and averaged 18.5 ppg in 2007. The Grizzlies could have used him earlier to ease their continued pain of bad picks.

Pick 3: Los Angeles Clippers

Who they took: Darius Miles

Who they should have took: Jamal Crawford (8^th pick)

Why: When he scores, he break records. 44 times Jamal Crawford has made four-point plays. It’s a record….because it’s 44 times! Crawford has been here, there and everywhere (including the Clippers) and is a 2-time sixth man award winner. Wherever he ends up, he helps and was a pretty prolific scorer during one of the sets of down years for the Knicks. He led the league in free throw shooting in 2012 in Portland and has averaged over 18 ppg five times, including this last season on a roster that boasts big time scorers Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. He has turned out significantly better than people thought he would and probably still doesn’t get the respect that he deserves.

Pick 4: Chicago Bulls

Who they took: Marcus Fizer

Who they should have took: Hedo Turkoglu (16^th pick)

Why: Because he wasn’t Marcus Fizer? No seriously, Hedo is a guy who can spread the floor and play pretty much any position other than point guard, especially in his younger days. With the Bulls pretty much needing everything right here, Hedo would have helped literally everywhere. He was a terrific role player early on in Sacramento (about the time the Bulls would have had him) and only got better as the contracts got bigger. And my guess is the Bulls would have tried harder to keep him on the payroll than the Kings did. And as good of an unlikely three-point shooter as he always has been, he posted his best numbers there (44%) just this last season.

Pick 5: Orlando Magic

Who they took: Mike Miller

Who they should have took: Deshawn Stevenson (23^rd pick)

Why: Yup, he sure is a lifetime 7.2 ppg guy who didn’t even play in the league last year. But Stevenson has done so many intangible things in his career and has been reliable when a team shows him that he is relied on, playing in and starting all 82 games for three straight seasons from 2005-2008, all while averaging 11 or so points. He was a gifted natural athlete from the get go and true bruiser.

Pick 6: Atlanta Hawks

Who they took: DerMarr Johnson

Who they should have took: Jamaal Magloire (19^th pick)

Why: Magloire ended up being a bust that has been out of the league for 2 years but it seems much longer. But spent his first 5 years in the league (a big part of that rookie contract) as a possible long term All-Star, instead of a one-and-done All-Star (which is still way more than most this class can boast). He played, played often, played a lot of minutes and averaged 13.6 ppg and 10.3 rpg in his fourth season. Magloire would have been a band aid, not any long term care. But he was, at that time, a pretty damn good band aid.

Pick 7: Chicago Bulls

Who they took: Chris Mihm (traded to Cavaliers)

Who they should have took: Michael Redd (43^rd pick)

Why: For an Olympic Gold Medalist and NBA All-Star, Michael Redd’s name wasn’t on the tip of people’s tongues nearly as long as it should have been because of back-to-back torn ACLs. Before that ACL tear, he was one of the biggest steals in draft history with five seasons averaging 20+ ppg. Redd established himself, in the mid-2000s, as one of the best players in the NBA no only in scoring, but just working to get to the basket. On top of his ability to create, he was a great shooter, only shooting less than 40-percent from three-point range two seasons, including his rookie campaign. He could have been the fact of the Bulls in an era where they were so desperate for their “new Michael,” before Derrick Rose came in.

Pick 8: Cleveland Cavaliers

Who they took: Jamal Crawford (traded to Bulls)

Who they should have took: Quentin Richardson (18^th pick)

Why: Expectation hurt Richardson early. That and his teaming with Darius Miles that forced that young guns expectation. But under that, Richardson was a charger and the Cavs essentially used this pick to take beat up and boring Chris Mihm. Cleveland was still limping to that light at the end of the tunnel that was a couple of years away and Richardson would have been a great person to have with some experience when LeBron came to town. His best season? LeBron’s rookie year where 17.2 ppg in Cleveland would have gone a long further than it did with the Clippers.

Pick 9: Houston Rockets

Who they took: Joel Przybilla (traded to Bucks)

Who they should have took: Keyon Dooling (10^th pick)

Why: Because I am grasping at straws? No really, I am. The Rockets ended up with Jason Collier with this pick essentially and even though they didn’t know the best player in franchise history (Hakeem Olajuwon) was headed out the door, they really needed a scoring punch that they didn’t have. If it wasn’t for Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley, this team would have been awful. Worse than they were, which despite their 48-34 record in 2010-2011, was pretty bad. Dooling would have provided way more of a lift than Collier, who was the 13^th best player on the team.

Pick 10: Orlando Magic

Who they took: Keyon Dooling (traded to Clippers)

Who they should have took: Joel Przybilla (9^th pick)

Why: Pszybilla is functional. That function isn’t always solid, but it does exist. And that counts for something, right? Who am I kidding; he was a big body who wouldn’t have helped the Magic. Draft him, trade him while he has some stock in 2000 (before he went on to be a top 10 pick who averaged less than one point a game as a rookie)

Pick 11: Boston Celtics

Who they took: Jerome Moiso

Who they should have took: Eddie House (37^th pick)

Why: Because he’s not Jerome Moiso. No seriously, I could put anyone’s name here and it would be valid. House went on to be a reliable third or fourth guy off the bench. That’s not usually worth an 11^th pick, but in this draft it sure is. The Celtics loved him eventually when he was a big-time bench catalyst for their 2008 title team. He played for nine teams and even though he was only good enough to get mostly one-year contracts, there was a reason he kept getting picked up and that is because teams knew he wasn’t going to hurt you and he would work hard. Boston needed him in 2008 and really they could have used him much earlier.

Pick 12: Dallas Mavericks

Who they took: Etan Thomas

Who they should have took: Desmond Mason (17^th pick)

Why: Mason was another solid out of the gate guy who didn’t pan out. After a rookie struggle, he did well in Seattle before being a pawn in the Ray Allen trade which helped him lift off in Milwaukee because while he was the second best name value heading from Seattle (behind Gary Payton), the Glove’s ability was dropping and someone needed to pick up the slack for losing Allen. He put up 17.2 ppg in 2004-05, earning a great contract with the Hornets, where his career started to flounder. Dallas was loaded for that time and he could have slide in nicely to help up backups Juwan Howard and Christian Laettner.

Pick 13: Orlando Magic

Who they took: Courtney Alexander (traded to Mavericks)

Who they should have took: Eduardo Najera (38^th pick)

Why: As noted, Orlando was garbage and Najera was a work horse, though never the best scorer. He was a guy who was brought in for 15 minutes of mid range jump shots. But in this shallow pool, I’d take it.

Pick 14: Detroit Pistons

Who they took: Mateen Cleaves

Who they should have took: Brian Cardinal (44^th pick)

Why: This team had no short term prospects and they knew it. They were a year from putting together their best team and knowing that they were waiting for a good free agency boom, bringing in a misguided and overrated Mateen Cleaves was pointless. They needed a blue collar 20 minute guy who would throw around his weight and back up the emerging Ben Wallace better than the Jerome Williams/John Wallace dud farm.

Pick 15: Milwaukee Bucks

Who they took: Jason Collier (traded to Rockets)

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

Why: Because he was 7-feet tall and had some athletic ability. The end.

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.

Redrafting the 1996 NBA Draft

One of the best drafts, if not the best of the 90's, with four Hall of Famers and six more guys who were very good for what they did in their careers as quality NBA players. It was also a showcase for 12 of the biggest draft blunders ever. Those 12? The first 12 picks before the Charlotte Hornets drafted this kid named Kobe. But I guess you can count them as blunder #13 since they shipped him to Los Angeles for Vlade Divac.

After a share of forward and center heavy drafts, this was the guard draft that a lot of teams had been salivating for and when you look at the names selected, you can see why.

Pick 1: Philadelphia 76ers

Who they took: Allen Iverson

Who they should have took: Kobe Bryant (13th pick)

Why: Why? Do I even need to fill this out? Like Garnett the year prior, nobody really knew how to feel out a kid coming straight from high school yet. And while Garnett became a great, Kobe became a top 10 player in the history of the league and arguably the best overall since Michael Jordan. Iverson turned Philly's fortunes around but Kobe would have won them a title or two (or three or four). He was the best player in this draft because he was (in my humble opinion) the best player drafted in the 1990's or 2000's.

Pick 2: Toronto Raptors

Who they took: Marcus Camby

Who they should have took: Steve Nash (15th pick)

Why: He was a quiet unassuming ex-soccer player when he came into the league in 1996, but Steve Nash became an assassin on a basketball court, one of the all-time great point guards. Unfortunately, because of their pick of Damon Stoudamire the previous year, the Raptors were one of the few teams in this draft not interested in the guard pool, even in their second season. Camby wasn't a bad pick at the time for anyone, especially the Raptors needs. But looking back, you send Stoudamire packing at take one of our generation's great playmakers.

Pick 3: Vancouver Grizzlies

Who they took: Shareef Abdur-Rahim

Who they should have took: Allen Iverson (1st pick)

Why: He ended up there years and years later, but imagine an early Grizzlies with AI, where they wouldn't have had to (incorrectly) leaned so much on Bryant Reeves. Iverson was such a strong presence on the court throughout his career and while I doubt he would have been happy staying in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for long, I am willing to bet he would have led them to success to some degree before bolting after his rookie contract.

Pick 4: Milwaukee Bucks

Who they took: Stephon Marbury (traded to Timberwolves)

Who they should have took: Ray Allen (5th pick)

Why: While the Allen/Marbury pair was such a toss up from the beginning (hence being swapped eventually anyway), Allen ended up being the better NBA player mostly because of his willingness to play the game. When things were ending for him credibly in Milwaukee, he accepted his move to Seattle. When it was time to move on, he did again to Boston and again to Miami. Marbury however was never the player he could be because he wanted to do things the Stephon Marbury way. Allen reached his potential and was great for Milwaukee during his years there. I don't see any reason why they would want to change that.

Pick 5: Minnesota Timberwolves

Who they took: Ray Allen (traded to Bucks)

Who they should have took: Stephon Marbury (4th pick)

Why: In retrospect, I am sure they would rather just keep Allen. But it doesn't work that way. Marbury was a hell of a basketball player and even seeing how things shook out for him, you try to redo the hatred filled Marbury/Kevin Garnett relationship if you can. And even for all of his personality flaws, Marbury was still productive in all of the places he ended up (except for that late run in Boston) and still is productive on a lower level in China today. He was the third best option in 1996 and went fourth. With Kobe, Nash and Allen becoming Hall of Fame players, he dropped down in this group, but still stands as a tremendous player.

Pick 6: Boston Celtics

Who they took: Antoine Walker

Who they should have took: Jermaine O'Neal (17th pick)

Why: Another high school kid in 1996 and it is funny to think now that teams in the middle of the first round and late in the lottery were trying to decide between he and Kobe, not that Jermaine wasn't more than efficient. One of 10 All-Stars in this class, O'Neal was on the verge of being a long term upper echelon player when he was averaging over 20 points per game in Indiana before a basketbrawl kind of sent him backwards in performance and expectations. A combo of he and future Celtic Paul Pierce would have given Boston a great scoring duo to get them back towards the top quicker, even if Walker was helpful in his own right in doing just that.

Pick 7: Los Angeles Clippers

Who they took: Lorenzen Wright

Who they should have took: Peja Stojakovic (14th pick)

Why: Passing on KG and Kobe in back to back years? Well at least they weren't the only ones. Peja was almost as unknown of a commodity as the high school kids, but became such a clutch scorer and the Clippers needed anything at this point. But again, the European imports were just becoming popular like the high schoolers and it was just so hard to gage what their success would be. His 13,000 points and 40.1 percent from three-point range for his career indicate that this was also a golden era for European prospects coming in to the league.

Pick 8: New Jersey Nets

Who they took: Kerry Kittles

Who they should have took: Marcus Camby (2nd pick)

Why: Camby could have benefited from another year in college, but at this point he was looked at as a guy with an NBA ready body. He wasn’t quite NBA ready, but that didn’t stop him from a productive career spanning across the league. Sure his production has slipped, he never averaged more points per game than he did his rookie year and although still playing, he doesn’t do much. But at this stage, with the Ed O’Bannon experiment clearly failing, Camby would be a good solid piece for the Nets to work with. And his 14 points per game in his rookie year would have helped them a lot.

Pick 9: Dallas Mavericks

Who they took: Samaki Walker

Who they should have took: Zydrunas Ilgauskas (20th pick)

Why: When the Cavaliers ultimately decided to take a pair of Europeans. Ilgauskas was not the one expected to be productive. Years later he was an All-Star and had his jersey retired by the Cavaliers. As I said in the 1995 blog, the Mavericks were a team searching for an inside presence at this point. And while Walker had style...of some sort...Ilgauskas became the type of player that Dallas tried and failed with when taking Cherokee Parks and Samaki Walker.

Pick 10: Indiana Pacers

Who they took: Erick Dampier

Who they should have took: Derek Fisher (24th pick)

Why: Name a player in recent memory that has been reliable on and off the court than Derek Fisher. This kid from Arkansas-Little Rock didn’t turn many heads in 1996, but he did so almost every year afterwards. He has won five NBA title and has been crucial in them all. Though mostly a Laker during two separate runs, Fisher was helpful with every team he has been with, including currently in Oklahoma City. One day he will make a great coach because Fisher knows the ins and outs, in every way, of this game. He was pretty unknown and dropped to the Lakers (who combining the Fisher pick and getting Kobe, won this draft), but there is no way he slides out of the top 10 if this draft is today.

Pick 11: Golden State Warriors

Who they took: Todd Fuller

Who they should have took: Erick Dampier (10th pick)

Why: Dampier ended up having his best season in Golden State anyway, so why not go early. Another one of those career strong role players, Dampier shined in Golden State in the post, which they clearly wanted (though taking the way wrong guy for the second year in a row). He kept a respectable pace and was helpful in the Mavericks world title run in 2010. Take a break for a second and remember that the Magic could have had this pick had they not traded it back to Golden State and take Kobe Bryant to team with Shaq. Oops.

Pick 12: Cleveland Cavaliers

Who they took: Vitaly Potapenko

Who they should have took: Antoine Walker (6th pick)

Why: Walker’s decline was haunting. And that is one of the things we remember the very most about him. We remember this aging, fattening man in decline who went bankrupt and tried everything he could to get back to the league through the D-League. That Antoine Walker may not be worth a first round pick. But while in Boston early, he was a heck of a scorer. Six of his first 9 seasons were spent as a 20+ point per game scorer and he was a guy who was reliable right away. He knew how to get to the basket and be a bully once he was down there.

Pick 13: Charlotte Hornets

Who they took: Kobe Bryant (traded to Lakers)

Who they should have took: Shareef Abdur-Rahim (2nd pick)

Why: Do the Hornets win because the draft isn’t today? No. They lose. They lose a lot. They are the ultimate losers. The Charlotte Bobcats laugh at them. As bad as it is for the 12 other teams to have passed on Kobe Bryant (in retrospect), how much worse is it to have had him and then given him away. Kobe Bryant. Its like drafting Jordan or LeBron or Dwayne Wade and then just giving them up for Robin Lopez. Abdur-Rahim is a way better choice than Vlade Divac.

Pick 14: Sacramento Kings

Who they took: Peja Stojakovic

Who they should have took: Lorenzen Wright (7th pick)

Why: Wright floundered before finding his spot in Atlanta and getting shipped to Memphis where he led off with a 12 ppg and 9 rpg season, legitimizing his spot in the mid-echelon of post players. And then he declined, almost every year. Sacramento needed a strong strictly guard and at this point, there isn’t much talent that way left. So you take the best prospect and that was Wright and is Wright, you just hope you have him before the decline or can at least prevent it.

Pick 15: Phoenix Suns

Who they took: Steve Nash

Who they should have took: Kerry Kittles (8th pick)

Why: The face of the starving generation of the Nets, Kittles would still be a good pickup for a team because he had a worth ethic almost unrivaled in this draft class at the time when the class was picked.