I was having a conversation with some mates and we were debating about draft steals / busts and where these different players should have been picked instead. Got me thinking and looking over the history how amazingly random it seems to be. Obviously superstars have been found in the top 5 again and again, but also a lot of the other best players in the draft seem to come from anywhere. So I decided to make a list of (my opinion - it would at least be close) top 5 2001-2007 draft selections (anything newer is possibly too early to tell). Really just goes to show the draft is still a massive crapshoot and getting the top few picks only really gives you a tiny bit higher chance of getting one of the better players in the draft). Some years were easier to pick in than others though (2003 for example). Here's hoping guys like Parsons and Jones show the world they were meant to be top 5 picks! 2001 NBA Draft 1 Tony Parker picked 28 (Real selection: Kwame Brown) 2 Pau Gasol picked 3 3 Zach Randolf picked 19 4 Joe Johnson picked 10 (Real selection: Eddy Curry) 5 Gilbert Arenas picked 30 (Real selection: Jason Richardson) 2002 NBA Draft 1 Yao Ming 2 Amare Stoudemire picked 9 (Real selection: Jay Williams) 3 Carlos Boozer picked 35 (Real selection: Mike Dunleavy) 4 Caron Butler picked 10 5 Tayshaun Prince picked 23 2003 NBA Draft 1 Lebron James 2 Dwayne Wade picked 5 (Real selection: Darko Milicic) 3 Carmelo Anthony 4 Chris Bosh 5 David West picked 18 2004 NBA Draft 1 Dwight Howard 2 Andre Iguodala picked 9 3 Luol Deng picked 7 (Real selection: Ben Gordon) 4 Emeka Okafor picked 2 (Real selection: Shaun Livingston) 5 Jameer Nelson picked 20 2005 NBA Draft 1 Chris Paul picked 4 2 Deron Williams picked 3 (Real selection: Marvin Williams) 3 Andrew Bynum picked 10 4 Andrew Bogut picked 1 5 David Lee picked 30 (Real selection: Raymond Felton) 2006 NBA Draft 1 LaMarcus Aldridge picked 2 (Real selection: Andrea Bargnani) 2 Rajon Rondo picked 21 3 Brandon Roy picked 6 (Real selection: Adam Morrison) 4 Paul Millsap picked 47 (Real selection: Tyrus Thomas) 5 Rudy Gay picked 8 (Real selection: Shelden Williams) 2007 NBA Draft 1 Kevin Durant picked 2 (Real selection: Greg Oden) 2 Marc Gasol picked 48 3 Al Horford picked 3 4 Joakim Noah picked 9 5 Mike Conley picked 4 (Real selection: Jeff Green) Feel free to give some of your comments and examples on draft steals and disasters!
Yeah those 3 there could definitely swing, I guess the crazy part is he was pick 9 and not lower! Marc at 48 looks crazy now even if you put him as the 4th best option (in hindsight).
Both healthy, I would take Marc personally. Defensively it's about even. Noah is a better in the pick and roll but Marc can bang better. They both are fantastic passers. Marc Gasol actually has an offensive scoring game though.
You've got post 2000 pretty well covered. Worst year in terms oversights was probably 1976 - four hall of famers, none of them taken in the top 5. Worst individual oversight is either Dan Issel slipping to the 8th round or Artis Gilmore to the 7th. No wonder the ABA got a decent footing. In 1970, Murph was drafted 18th, Nate Archibald was 19th, and Hall of Famer Dan Issel was drafted in the 8th round at pick #122. 1971, Artis Gilmore taken in 7th round, pick 117. 1972, Dr. J at #12 1974, Jamaal Wilkes #7, George Gervin in 3rd round at pick 40 1976, Adrian Dantly #6, Robert Parish #8, Alex English #23, Dennis Johnson #29 (No hall of famers in the top 5) 1977 Bernard King #7, no other HoFers 1978 Bird at #6, no other HoFers 1983 Clyde at #13 1984 Stockton at #16 1985 Karl Malone picked 13, Joe Dumars picked 18 Chris Mullins picked 7 1986 Dennis Rodman second rounder at #27 1987 Reggie Miller at #11 1988 John Starks undrafted (not hall of famer, but undrafted?) 1996 Kobe #13, Nash #15, Ben Wallace undrafted 1998 Dirk #9, Paul Pierce #10, Brad Miller undrafted 1999 Manu #57 2000 Michael Redd #43
Yep yep, there's plenty of room to argue for these positions to be switched around and it's not really meant to be about ranking them. The point was really just to show how wrong everyone is getting the draft and has done so for a long time (see; A.Bennett for recent memory)...
To me, David Lee would be #3 in that '05 draft. Bogut has been prone to injuries, while Bynum is prone to injuries as well as being a headcase. Lee is a double-double machine - just can't play defense. Kevin Love, basically, without the 3 point shooting.
I know this might sound blasphemous to Rockets fans, but I would put Stoudemire over Yao in the 02 draft.
no problem there if we coulda had Yao without sharing him with the Chinese govt then we likely could have seen 3 or 4 more years of the great Yao
Gimme a few more years and I'll let you know for sure.. but Griffin's potential ceiling seems a lot higher to me at this point.. But I'll take both over Thabeet :grin:
I think they're about equal players. Yao played much better defense but Amar'e didn't break down as quick as Yao did. It's a toss up.
So would I. If taking injuries into account, I would pick Stoudemire over Yao as well. But if injuries aren't taken into consideration, I'd go with Yao easily.
In any case, Bogut should be above Bynum. He's flat-out better and he's gong to wind up having a much longer career, even though he did get his arm broke into a pretzel.