2004 Delonte West, Celtics 2003 Brian Cook, Lakers 2002 Nenad Kristic, Nets 2001 Raul Lopez, Jazz 2000 Dalibar Zagreb, Chicago 1999 Andrei Kirilenko, Jazz 1998 Felipe Lopez, San Antonio 1997 Rodrick Rhodes, Houston 1996 Derek Fisher 1 Star 5 Rotational Players (some young) 3 Busts (Zagreb, Rhodes, FLopez)
Come on AK-47! Come on AK-47! But it's actually been a while since I've seen a draft this deep. Drafts lately have been about potential and just grabbing young talent. But this draft has a lot of upperclassmen who've played for winning programs and are good basketball players already.
Technically, the "#24" player selected in 2002 and 2001 NBA draft were Frank Williams (by Denver traded to NY) and Gerald Wallace (by Sacramento) respectively. Minesota forfeited their picks in those years and their slot fell in before the 24th pick. Nenad and Lopez were selected with #24 "selection" but were the 23rd overall players selected. Lopez is not a "bust" yet. It is too early to tell - Interesting no international player (IIRC) selected as a PG since 1995 has ever failed to deliver (at least most of them have albeit a very small sample). So I expect Vassy and Lopez to deliver in due time just like it took Aroyo a while to figure the NBA out. I personally believe that successful Euroleague and Brazillian league PGs are bound to succeed in the NBA with the new rules and trend.
This will be an interesting draft because of all the quality high school players coming out before the new CBA. Besides Green and Webster, who I think are locks to be lottery, the rest could fall just about anywhere in the draft.
Ya, but a lot of the players will probably pull their names when they find out they could possibly fall out of the 1st round. Bennet, Miles, and Ellis are all on the bubble.
