Second Guessing the NBA Draft

[Andrew]

This feature appears as part of NBA.com's coverage of the 2003 Draft.

Second Guessing: 1994

Top 5 in the re-Draft:

1. Jason Kidd (was 2nd pick)
2. Eddie Jones (was 10th pick)
3. Glenn Robinson (was 1st pick)
4. Grant Hill (was 3rd pick)
5. Jalen Rose (was 13th pick)

Significant guys gone from the top 5:

6. Juwan Howard (was 5th pick)
7. Donyell Marshall (was 4th pick)

No real arguments there, though Dallas may not have taken Jones second since they already had JJ.

Second Guessing: 1995

Top 5 in the re-Draft:

1. Kevin Garnett (was 5th pick)
2. Rasheed Wallace (was 4th pick)
3. Michael Finley (was 21st pick)
4. Jerry Stackhouse (was 3rd pick)
5. Antonio McDyess (was 2nd pick)

Significant guys gone from the top 5:

6. Joe Smith (was 1st pick)

Again, I more or less agree, though I think Philly would still have taken Stackhouse.

Second Guessing: 1996

Top 5 in the re-Draft:

1. Kobe Bryant (was 13th pick)
2. Allen Iverson (was 1st pick)
3. Ray Allen (was 5th pick)
4. Stephon Marbury (was 4th pick)
5. Jermaine O'Neal (was 17th pick)

Significant guys gone from the top 5:

9. Shareef Abdur-Rahim (was 3rd pick)
10. Marcus Camby (was 2nd pick)

I still think Philly would have taken Iverson first overall, but it's not unthinkable that they would have taken Kobe had they known how he would turn out. Interesting that Reef dropped that low.

Second Guessing: 1997

Top 5 in the re-Draft:

1. Tim Duncan (was 1st pick)
2. Tracy McGrady (was 9th pick)
3. Keith Van Horn (was 2nd pick)
4. Chauncey Billups (was 3rd pick)
5. Bobby Jackson (was 23rd pick)

Significant guys gone from the top 5:

12. Tony Battie (was 5th pick)

Nothing to say about this one. Philadelphia would be looking pretty good with a trio of Iverson, Stackhouse and McGrady.

Second Guessing: 1998

Top 5 in the re-Draft:

1. Paul Pierce (was 10th pick)
2. Dirk Nowitzki (was 9th pick)
3. Vince Carter (was 5th pick)
4. Antawn Jamison (was 4th pick)
5. Mike Bibby (was 2nd pick)

Significant guys gone from the top 5:

11. Michael Olowokandi (was 1st pick)
7. Raef LaFrentz (was 3rd pick)

Pretty sensible selections there. The Clippers were after a big man though, so perhaps Nowitzki would have gone first rather than Pierce.

[Bill Russell]

Pretty interesting how high draft picks would fall off the radar if those drafts were held nowadays... Guess those scouts don't know it all as some people think...

[Andrew]

We should probably keep in mind those listings don't take into account the needs and attitudes of the each team at the time. Who's to say that the Clippers wouldn't still have taken Olowokandi first overall back in 1998?

That said, there have been a lot of strange picks. Ed O'Bannon by the Nets as the 9th overall selection in 1995, and Todd Fuller by the Warriors 11th overall in 1996 come to mind. I noticed neither of those players made the re-Draft top 20.

[air gordon]

'page 2' of the espn ran a 'tournament' between lottery picks from 1985 to present. much easier to understand if you read it off the site

you guys should check it out if you haven't already. sorry no link but it shouldn't be too hard on espn.go.com

[Andrew]

The link: Page 2's Wacky Bracket