I was sitting here and going through post after post, and thought to myself, i wonder how many first round draft picks actually deserved to be first rounders? So i went back to the year i started collecting and checked out the first and second round picks, and then rated my top 5.
#1-Kobe Bryant 13th the black mamba
#2-Steve Nash 15th
#3-Ray Allen 5th
#4-Allen Iverson 1st
#5-Stephon Marbury 4th, could have gone a different way here, but loved to watch him play.
1997
#1-Tim Duncan 1st
#2-Chancey Billups 3rd
#3-Tracey Mcgrady 9th
#4-Keith Van Horn 2nd
#5-Austin Croshere 12th, its a hard year to pick 5...glad we don't have to pick 10...lol
1998
#1-Vince Carter 5th
#2-Paul Pierce 10th
#3-Dirk Nowitzki 9th
#4-Rashard Lewis 32nd
#5-Antawn Jamison 4th, some quality players in this year.
1999
#1-Baron Davis 3rd
#2-Manu Ginobili 57th,possibly the Greatest draft steal of all time?
#3-Lamar Odom 4th
#4-Richard Hamilton 7th
#5-Elton Brand 1st
well that's it for the Naughties, where to next????
I think what @0kramrajnoc is proposing is, that he will go over each draft class, and with the power of hindsight, and now knowing what those draftees have achieved in their career, what order would you draft them in now.
#1 Gary Payton (2)
#2 Derrick Coleman (1)
#3 Cedric Ceballos (48)
#4 Kendall Gill (5)
#5 Toni Kukoc (29)
Of course the thing with this is it does not take into team needs (eg. Nets had just picked Mookie Blaylock with pick 12 in the 89 draft, so unlikely to take Gary Payton with the #1 pick in 1990)
1) Payton (2)- Clearly has to be the #1 pick with his career, nuff said.
2) Coleman (1)- Had about 5 good years to start off with, then got unfit and overweight which didn't help his career.
3) Antonio Davis (45)- No one has mentioned him yet, but he had very long solid career and was even an all star once I believe
4) Gill (5)- Had a long and productive career too, plenty of steals in that career. Without looking he would have to be top 20 all time?
5) Ceballos (48) - A bit biased, but had some very productive offensive numbers in the 90's and some very high %'s too from the field.
1) Mutombo (4)- Hard to argue, fan favourite and one of the best defensive players of all time. Gets the #1 nod due to lengthy career
2) Johnson (1)- Had a good 5 years or so and would be #1 had there been a bit more post 1998
3) Smith (5)- Definition of a solid player
4) Anderson (2)- Hard to bypass him in the 5, the only other all-star from the group
5) Phills (45)- Steal at that pick, pity that a car accident shortened his life/career
1) Shaq - Hard to argue, 1st ballot HOF
2) Mourning - Take away the kidney issues of the early 2000's and Zo is a 1st ballot HOF too, still will probably get it at some stage.
3) Horry - Count the rings.
4) Sprewell - Was in the All-NBA 1st team in just his 2nd year, would have been a better player has his head been screwed on.
5) Laettner - Fizzed a bit in his later years, much like a lot of players did after the lockout, still had solid years with the Wolves and Hawks