How funny would it be if the draft that arguably could be considered our best ever, could be considered the weakest ever! http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/9915/no-soup-for-the-rest-of-the-draft-class-of-06
The one with Mike Miller was worse. Miller was mediocre at best, yet he won ROY that year. 2000 draft. Hands down the worst. http://www.nbadraft.net/nba_draft_history/2000.html
thats what I was thinking... sort of interesting that a mid-2nd rounder (Redd) is probably the best player from that class. STOMP
You know, that it was a weak draft might have played into our hands quite a bit; picks were valued less than the player people got back for them, and so the various GMs were much more willing to do business with a n00b GM who obviously had no idea what he was doing mucking about in a weak draft. As a result, we probably got a lot more flexibility to move up in the draft than we otherwise would have. There's no way in 2007 that the #4 pick and Viktor Kryhapa land us Kevin Durant at #2, for example (pretending for a moment that we'd gotten the #4 pick in 2007).
I do not think KP's reputation matters much since Indiana still dealed with him two years later and plenty of draft day deals have been made since the Roy/Aldridge draft. It is possible that could be said for other deals since no regular season move of importance have been made. Would probably guess that is more of KP's doing though. If Durant was available in 2006 when Chicago drafted, we would not have gotten him for a #4 and VK either.
But that's kind of the point; the draft was weak in '06 because players like Oden and Durant were "stuck in college" for the year. GM's knew this, and thus the very high picks were tradeable because any of the top 5 were supposed to basically be interchangeable and middling in talent anyway. If Durant (and thus Oden) was available at #2 in 06, you're absolutely right; we would have had no chance of prying Durant from Chicago. (the KP's reputation thing was more for flavor, but I do have to wonder if the GM's were more willing to deal with KP because they thought KP was a little clueless at the time -- you know, try and scam the newbie a little if he's giving away assets for picks)
That's the one draft KP really worked his magic. Not only did we get the two best players in the draft, KP took a chance on Joel Freeland, who's developing into one of the best bigs in Europe.
What's the best? 1999-Elton Brand Steve Francis Baron Davis Lamar Odom Wally Szczerbiak Rip Hamilton Andre Miller Shawn Marion Jason Terry Corey Maggette Ron Artest James Posey Kenny Thomas Devean George Andrei Kirilenko Manu Ginobili 2003-LeBron James Darko Milicic Carmelo Anthony Chris Bosh Dwyane Wade Chris Kaman Kirk Hinrich T.J. Ford Mickaël Pietrus Luke Ridnour David West Boris Diaw Carlos Delfino Leandro Barbosa Josh Howard Jason Kapono Luke Walton or 1984-1. HOU Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston 2. POR Sam Bowie, Kentucky 3. CHI Michael Jordan, North Carolina 4. DAL Sam Perkins, North Carolina 5. PHI Charles Barkley, Auburn 6. WSB Melvin Turpin, Kentucky 7. SAS Alvin Robertson, Arkansas 8. LAC Lancaster Gordon, Louisville 9. KCK Otis Thorpe, Providence 10. PHI Leon Wood, California-Fullerton 11. ATL Kevin Willis, Michigan State 12. CLE Tim McCormick, Michigan 13. PHO Jay Humphries, Colorado 14. LAC Michael Cage, San Diego State 15. DAL Terence Stansbury, Temple 16. UTA John Stockton, Gonzaga 17. NJN Jeff Turner, Vanderbilt 18. IND Vern Fleming, Georgia 19. POR Bernard Thompson, Fresno State 20. DET Tony Campbell, Ohio State 21. MIL Kenny Fields, UCLA 22. PHI Tom Sewell, Lamar 23. LAL Earl Jones, District of Columbia 24. BOS Michael Young, Houston
96 was pretty damn good. Iverson Camby Abdur-Rahim Stephon Marbury Ray Allen Antoine Walker Peja Stojakovic Kobe Bryant Steve Nash Jermaine O'Neal Ilgauskas Derek Fisher Pretty damn good batch of players.
Assembling ten-man rotations for each class: 1984 PG: John Stockton / Alvin Robertson SG: Michael Jordan / Vern Fleming SF: Sam Perkins / Tony Campbell PF: Charles Barkley / Otis Thorpe C: Hakeem Olajuwon / Kevin Willis 1996 PG: Steve Nash / Stephon Marbury SG: Kobe Bryant / Ray Allen SF: Peja Stojakovic / Antoine Walker PF: Shareef Abdur-Rahim / Marcus Camby C: Jermaine O'Neal / Zydrunas Ilgauskas 1999 PG: Baron Davis / Andre Miller SG: Manu Ginobili / Richard Hamilton SF: Ron Artest / James Posey PF: Shawn Marion / Lamar Odom C: Elton Brand / Andrei Kirilenko 2003 PG: TJ Ford / Kirk Hinrich SG: Dwyane Wade / Carlos Delfino SF: Carmelo Anthony / Josh Howard PF: LeBron James / David West C: Chris Bosh / Chris Kaman 1984 blows everyone out of the water with their starting unit, but it's amazing how top-heavy that draft was. A few big-time winners, a few solid players and then a bunch of duds. Since starters would play the vast majority of minutes, I'd say 1984 wins, with 2003 a solid second. 1999 is really handicapped by a lack of size and a lack of superstars, though it had a decent number of solid players. 1996 probably had the best balance...a handful of stars and then a group of good/above-average players.
Well, and you have to consider 1996 when those guys were healthy. Abdur-Rahim was very good until injuries tore him apart.
Yeah, that's true. 1996 is pretty close to 2003. And I really liked SAR prior to his injuries. I alwats wanted him on the team in 1999-2002 era. A bit bittersweet to get him on the team after he had broken down a bit and in return for Sheed. I wanted him WITH Sheed and Pippen.
