NBA Draft 2001

[miami_fan]

I forgot to put this out there before last night's draft. Time to truly evaluate the 2001 draft plus five years

NO. PLAYER, SCHOOL/COUNTRY TEAM
1. Kwame Brown, Glynn Academy (Ga.) Washington
2. Tyson Chandler, Dominguez HS (Calif.) L.A. Clippers (1)
3. Pau Gasol, Spain Atlanta (2)
4. Eddy Curry, Thornwood HS (Ill.) Chicago
5. Jason Richardson, Michigan State Golden State
6. Shane Battier, Duke Memphis
7. Eddie Griffin, Seton Hall New Jersey (3)
8. DeSagana Diop, Oak Hill Academy (Va.) Cleveland
9. Rodney White, UNC-Charlotte Detroit
10. Joe Johnson, Arkansas Boston
11. Kedrick Brown, Okaloosa-Walton CC (Fla.) Boston
12. Vladimir Radmanovic, Serbia & Montenegro Seattle
13. Richard Jefferson, Arizona Houston (3)
14. Troy Murphy, Notre Dame Golden State
15. Steven Hunter, DePaul Orlando
16. Kirk Haston, Indiana Charlotte
17. Michael Bradley, Villanova Toronto
18. Jason Collins, Stanford Houston (3)
19. Zach Randolph, Michigan State Portland
20. Brendan Haywood, North Carolina Cleveland (4)
21. Joseph Forte, North Carolina Boston
22. Jeryl Sasser, Southern Methodist Orlando
23. Brandon Armstrong, Pepperdine Houston (3)
24. Raul Lopez, Spain Utah
25. Gerald Wallace, Alabama Sacramento
26. Samuel Dalembert, Seton Hall Philadelphia
27. Jamaal Tinsley, Iowa State Memphis (5)
28. Tony Parker, France San Antonio

(1) Chicago trades Brian Skinner and rights to Tyson Chandler to L.A. Clippers for Elton Brand.
(2) Atlanta trades rights to Pau Gasol to Memphis for Shareef Abdur-Rahim.
(3) New Jersey trades rights to Eddie Griffin to Houston for rights to Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins and Brandon Armstrong.
(4) Cleveland trades rights to Brendan Haywood to Orlando for Michael Doleac.
(5) Memphis trades rights to Jamaal Tinsley to Indiana via Atlanta, finalizing earlier trade.


Ummm wow. This really was an ugly ugly draft in hindsight.

[stevew]

Best player in the draft was Arenas, in the 2nd round.

[miami_fan]

30. Chicago
Trenton Hassell , G, Austin Peay

31. Golden State
Gilbert Arenas, G, Arizona

32. Orlando (from Washington)
Omar Cook, G, St. John's
(Rights traded to Denver)

33. Grizzlies
Willie Solomon, G, Clemson

34. Atlanta
Terence Morris, F, Maryland
(Rights traded to Houston)

35. New Jersey
Brian Scalabrine, F, Southern California

36. Cleveland
Jeff Trepagnier, G, Southern California

37. Philadelphia (from L.A. Clippers)
Damone Brown, F, Syracuse

38. Detroit
Mehmet Okur, F/C, Turkey

39. New York (from Boston via Seattle)
Michael Wright, F, Arizona

40. Seattle (from Denver via Boston)
Earl Watson, F, UCLA

41. Indiana
Jamison Brewer, G, Auburn

42. Seattle (from Orlando)
Bobby Simmons, G/F, DePaul
(Rights traded to Washington)

43. New York (from Seattle)
Eric Chenowith, C, Kansas

44. Dallas (from Houston)
Kyle Hill, G, Eastern Illinois

45. Chicago (from Charlotte)
Sean Lampley, F, California

46. Minnesota
Loren Woods, C, Arizona

47. Denver (from Toronto)
Ousmane Cisse, C, St. Jude High School (Montgomery, Ala.)

48. Grizzlies (from New York)
Antonis Fotis, F, (Greece)

49. Miami
Ken Johnson, C, Ohio State

50. Portland
Ruben Boumtje C, Georgetown

51. Phoenix
Alton Ford, F, Houston

52. Milwaukee
Andre Hutson, F, Michigan State

53. Utah
Jarron Collins, F Stanford

54. Dallas
Kenny Satterfield, G, Cincinnati

55. Sacramento
Maurice Jeffers, G, St. Louis

56. San Antonio (from L.A. Lakers)
Robertas Javtokas, F, (Lithuania)

57. Philadelphia
Alvin Jones, C, Georgia Tech

58. San Antonio
Bryan Bracey, F, Oregon

[timmynausea]

Horrid.

[Schmidty]

Rodney White is the biggest bust in Detroit history.

[Schmidty]

Best player in the draft was Arenas, in the 2nd round.

Nah, Tony Parker is better.

[miami_fan]

Best player in the draft was Arenas, in the 2nd round.

You could argue for that unknown European guy that the Spurs took with the last pick in the first round;)

[Schmidty]

Horrid.

It's really not that bad.

The TOP is bad, but the rest is solid.

[stevew]

Notable seconds.


Jarron Collins at 53
Bobby Simmons at 42
Earl Watson at 40
Mehmet Okur at 38
Brian Scalabrine at 35
Gilbert Arenas at 31
Trenton Hassell at 30

This was a "dark period" where I didnt really watch the NBA/Cavs all that much. But I remember being excited about Diop for some reason. Trading Haywood for Doleac was pretty stupid.

[stevew]

Nah, Tony Parker is better.
I'll agree to disagree with you, but I would pick Arenas 10 out of 10 times over Parker. But Parker is a great PG, don't get me wrong.

[Neuqua]

Thank you Jerry Krause.

[Groundhog]

I was devestated when the Cavs chose Diop. I was hoping for Joe Johnson. Of course, it's good that it worked out like it did, or else the Cavs don't end up with LeBron.

[Schmidty]

I'll agree to disagree with you, but I would pick Arenas 10 out of 10 times over Parker. But Parker is a great PG, don't get me wrong.

Parker makes his entire team better, plus he has skills. Arenas is a great scorer. It's a play-style choice, but I take Tony 10 out of 10 times.

[stevew]

IIRC, somewhere in this draft, Detroit made a manuever which made it so that Memphis couldn't pick up a lower first round pick and trade that to the Pistons to complete the Otis Thorpe trade. Which eventually led to the Griz being locked into having to send their own pick to complete the trade, which led to surrendering the 2003 #2 pick which became Darko.

[vex]

You could argue for that unknown European guy that the Spurs took with the last pick in the first round;)

No, not really.

[miami_fan]

Kwame Brown
NBA Comparison: Kevin Garnett

Strengths: Like Garnett, KB has freakish athleticism. Already bulkier than Garnett and could turn into more of a Webber type post player. Very graceful running the floor. Tremendous leaping aility. Passes and handles extraordinarily well for a 6-11 player. May still be growing. Touch on shots is excellent, and should only improve. Post game is solid. Very good shot blocker.

Weaknesses: Inconsistency. Like any 18 year old coming straight to the league will take his lumps and see plenty of pine. Some have questions about his competiveness

Eddy Curry
NBA Comparison: Shaquille O'Neal

Strengths: Has more strength and polish than Shaq at the same age. The only thing that can stop Eddy Curry from becoming the next dominant force in the NBA is Eddy Curry. Has off the charts strength. athleticism is very good for a player his size. Has learned to score despite constant double and triple teams. Has a nifty turn around, can even knock down the occaisional 18 footer. Unlike Shaq and Wilt, does not have the achilles freethrow curse.

Weaknesses: Weight has become a concern. Consistency. Has had his ups and downs over the course of his senior season. In a much hyped matchup with Tyson Chandler, Curry left the 30+ scouts who came to see the matchup scratching their heads. Must continue to "want it" and develop to ever become the player that Shaq is.

DeSagana Diop
NBA Comparison: Bob Lanier

Strengths: Sagana Diop is a very athletic big man. he's close to 300 pounds and runs the floor like a small forward. he's very fast. coming from senegal, africa, he's only been playing competitive basketball for a few years so he figures to get a lot better. right now his best asset is his defense. he can hold opposing centers virtually scoreless with his smothering style of defense. he is a very good shot blocker, and can also help out and block other opposing players shots.

Weaknesses: he is not super polished offensively. he has soft touch around the basket but just hasn't developed the post moves to where they are automatic. there are very few centers in the nba game with his combination of strength, speed, and athleticism.

Amazingly agile and athletic for a 7 foot 310 pound center. Runs the floor very well. Still very raw offensively but the makings are there. Shows soft touch around the cup. Super strong, very good defender with great shotblocking instincts. Guarded Tyson Chandler twice last season and ate him up the first matchup, Chandler had a much better game the second time around but rarely scored over Diop. (Pronounced JOP).


The next KG, Shaq and Bob Lanier?:confused:
The optimism of draft night is a wonderful thing.

[stevew]

Eddie Griffin
NBA Comparison: Tim Duncan

Strengths: One of the top overall talents in college basketball already... Has all the makings of a future NBA superstar.. Only 18, and has a ton of physical developing to do, a scary thought... Can stroke shots all the way out to college 3... Similar to A-Rahim with his smoothness, and offensive skills, but has even more athleticism.. Very strong post and intermediate game... Has excellent rebounding and defensive skills.. Very calm court demenor, (similar to Tim Duncan) doesn't get rattled easily.. Sometimes the lack of emotion gets confused with a lack of desire, but it's there...

Weaknesses: Ball Handling abilities are not super... Needs to get alot stronger.. Needs to get nastier (on the court).. Character questions have resulted from two separate incidents involving off the court fights with teammates, one in HS one in College

[stevew]

Not having to sign Joe Smith to a max deal, and only having to give up the 18th pick in the draft was a bit of a coup for the Timberwolves. :)

[Coffee Warlord]

Thank you Jerry Krause.

My sentiments exactly.

[Fouts]

Great draft for the Warriors.

[sovereignstar]

Not having to sign Joe Smith to a max deal, and only having to give up the 18th pick in the draft was a bit of a coup for the Timberwolves. :)

huh? that's not all they gave up.

[TroyF]

I guess I fail to see how "horrid" this draft was.

Yeah, Brown sucks ass. No doubt. But there are a lot of pretty good players in this draft. Gasol, Parker, Richardson, Arenas, Okur, Jefferson, Battier, Wallace, and Joe Johnson are all pretty good NBA player. A couple of them are centerpieces.

I'd also take TP over Gilbert (I don't like PG's who shoot the ball 25+ times a game. Never have, never will.)

All in all, that wasn't the worst draft we've ever seen. Wait until next year and you evaluate the '02 draft.

7 of the top 8 have bombed. (some can still recover like Nene, but overall terrible) Then, after pick 14, you have these impact players:

Prince
Boozer
Gadzuric
Flip Murray

You want to talk about terrible? Yuk.

[stevew]

huh? that's not all they gave up.

Well, this draft specifically it was pick 18, along with 3 or 4 other firsts.

[sovereignstar]

Well, this draft specifically it was pick 18, along with 3 or 4 other firsts.

It's pretty amazing that Kevin McHale is still general manager of the franchise considering the Wolves have gotten out of the 1st round once since he took over in 95.

[nilodor]

So why are there so few difference makers coming out in the draft? Does it have something to do with the lack of fundamentals? The pro game has so much skill that only a very small few will be good players? It would seem that so many players play basketball, you would think there would be alot of nba level talents out there.

I wonder what would happen if the court was made say 10 - 15 feet wider. Do you think it would make for a better game or would it be kinda wasted space because it would be difficult to score from out there so it wouldn't really be worthwhile.

[AgustusM]

Great draft for the Warriors.

yes, and you sure don't hear that very often.

[Gary Gorski]

Best player in the draft was Arenas, in the 2nd round.

Don't know about that - Gasol and Richard Jefferson are both legit players

[ThunderingHERD]

Pau Gasol is the best player out of this draft--in a year or two, however, it will be Gerald Wallace.

[JeeberD]

Man, I was SO pumped when the Rockets traded Jefferson for Griffin. Eddie was gonna be a STAR!

Ugh.

[Groundhog]

Eddie Griffin
NBA Comparison: Tim Duncan

Strengths: One of the top overall talents in college basketball already... Has all the makings of a future NBA superstar.. Only 18, and has a ton of physical developing to do, a scary thought... Can stroke shots all the way out to college 3... Similar to A-Rahim with his smoothness, and offensive skills, but has even more athleticism.. Very strong post and intermediate game... Has excellent rebounding and defensive skills.. Very calm court demenor, (similar to Tim Duncan) doesn't get rattled easily.. Sometimes the lack of emotion gets confused with a lack of desire, but it's there...

Weaknesses: Ball Handling abilities are not super... Needs to get alot stronger.. Needs to get nastier (on the court).. Character questions have resulted from two separate incidents involving off the court fights with teammates, one in HS one in College

OK, I know these "NBA Comparison" things are always stupid, but really, Tim Duncan? In college Griffin was NOTHING like Duncan - they were completely different players.

[Warhammer]

I wouldn't say 7 of the top 8 bombed, Battier and Gasol have been solid players. Not stars, but definitely starting caliber players.

[dawgfan]

I wouldn't say 7 of the top 8 bombed, Battier and Gasol have been solid players. Not stars, but definitely starting caliber players.
I believe Troy was referring to the 2002 draft.

[Vince]

Great draft for the Warriors.

Seriously. And we still suck. Whoopee.

[Emiliano]

I'd say one of the worst drafts, ever. Well, maybe not bad like the 2002 one, but still...

[IMetTrentGreen]

I'd also take TP over Gilbert (I don't like PG's who shoot the ball 25+ times a game. Never have, never will.)

why? if that is the best way to get your team points, why not take the shots? cleveland won 50 games with a pg that shot at least that much. make lebron a passer first, they don't win 40.

kobe and wade are other examples, but neither play a pg role as much as lebron does. still, they are the primary ball handlers. iverson before he suddenly aged took his team to the finals.

now if it's stephon marbury or sebastian telfair doing the shooting, then we agree. but you can't dismiss the shoot first pg because you don't like the stereotype.

also, tony parker isn't one of those makes-everyone-better distributors like jason kidd is. he penetrates and operates within the offense (unless he decides he needs to take 15 threes for some reason, which he'll do from time to time). i really don't see much difference between him and, say, devin harris, outside the professional experience. he's either penetrating and scoring, or he's getting to the arc and feeding the post. sometimes he swings it to the wing.

i'd take arenas everytime, and i say this as a spurs fan, albeit a spurs fan who watched parker tank the series with dallas.

[Fouts]

Seriously. And we still suck. Whoopee.

Yeah I don't get it. I thought Baron would change things. It was funny when Dan Patrick asked Chris Mullin (during the draft) if Mullin is still the best shooter the Warriors have.

[DanGarion]

(1) Chicago trades Brian Skinner and rights to Tyson Chandler to L.A. Clippers for Elton Brand.

Huh? Isn't this the other way around?

[Warhammer]

Brand was on the Bulls for a few years...

[DanGarion]

Brand was on the Bulls for a few years...
Yes I know that. But read what it says, the wording says the Clippers traded away Brand.

[QuikSand]

Rodney White is the biggest bust in Detroit history.

Heh. Fortunately for them, Detroit has managed to avoid using top picks in the NBA draft on players that turned out to be big worthless turds. Cheers!

(I don't even follow the NBA, and even I thought that was funny)

[JPhillips]

The wonderful world of Pitino drafts. We had three picks and two never made any impact and one got traded for Rodney Rogers. Uggh. That was the year I was really hoping they would get Tinsley or Parker with one of those picks.

[DaddyTorgo]

The wonderful world of Pitino drafts. We had three picks and two never made any impact and one got traded for Rodney Rogers. Uggh. That was the year I was really hoping they would get Tinsley or Parker with one of those picks.

seriously. lets look at how those 3 picks panned out for the celtics. ugh ugh ugh

and really, how bout we ship off billups and mercer? given mercer has never really been all that great, but couldnt we have given chauncy a bit more time to develop rick?

[rkmsuf]

The wonderful world of Pitino drafts. We had three picks and two never made any impact and one got traded for Rodney Rogers. Uggh. That was the year I was really hoping they would get Tinsley or Parker with one of those picks.

they picked forte because Red liked him. kind of a lifetime acheivement draft pick they gave Red.

I doubt you had any idea who Parker was at the time.

[Ryche]

It's pretty amazing that Kevin McHale is still general manager of the franchise considering the Wolves have gotten out of the 1st round once since he took over in 95.

Was looking at the Wolves draft history and noticed that they have kept 2 players that they drafted in their entire history for more than five years. Garnett and Doug West.

[rkmsuf]

seriously. lets look at how those 3 picks panned out for the celtics. ugh ugh ugh

and really, how bout we ship off billups and mercer? given mercer has never really been all that great, but couldnt we have given chauncy a bit more time to develop rick?

I don't fault them for billups. he sucked here and sucked in Denver, sucked in Toronto and sucked in Minnesota.

7 years later he finds the perfect system and is now hailed as some great talent. He's a career 41% shooter.

Granted he's a solid player but let's no get carried away here.

[TroyF]

So why are there so few difference makers coming out in the draft? Does it have something to do with the lack of fundamentals? The pro game has so much skill that only a very small few will be good players? It would seem that so many players play basketball, you would think there would be alot of nba level talents out there.

I wonder what would happen if the court was made say 10 - 15 feet wider. Do you think it would make for a better game or would it be kinda wasted space because it would be difficult to score from out there so it wouldn't really be worthwhile.

First off, Dawgfan is right, when I said 7 of the top 8 bombed, I'm referring to the 2002 NBA draft. Ming, Dunleavey, Gooden, Skita, Wagner, Nene, Wilcox. (granted, some of those guys have a shot to improve, but not much)

As for the post above, there are plenty of impact players coming into the league. It just happened those drafts were pretty poor. Keep the 2003 draft in mind. 6 of the top 7 players drafted are essentially locks to have multiple all-star appearences in their NBA careers.

Next years class is also supposed to be pretty special.

[JeeberD]

First off, Dawgfan is right, when I said 7 of the top 8 bombed, I'm referring to the 2002 NBA draft. Ming, Dunleavey, Gooden, Skita, Wagner, Nene, Wilcox. (granted, some of those guys have a shot to improve, but not much)

Uhhh...you're saying that Yao Ming is a bust?

02-03: 13.5 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.79 bpg, & 29.0 mpg
03-04: 17.5 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.9 bpg, & 32.8 mpg
04-05: 18.3 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 0.8 asp, 2.0 bpg, & 30.6 mpg
05-06: 22.6 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.7 bpg, & 34.7 mpg

[RedKingGold]

Eddie Griffin
NBA Comparison: Tim Duncan

Strengths: One of the top overall talents in college basketball already... Has all the makings of a future NBA superstar.. Only 18, and has a ton of physical developing to do, a scary thought... Can stroke shots all the way out to college 3... Similar to A-Rahim with his smoothness, and offensive skills, but has even more athleticism.. Very strong post and intermediate game... Has excellent rebounding and defensive skills.. Very calm court demenor, (similar to Tim Duncan) doesn't get rattled easily.. Sometimes the lack of emotion gets confused with a lack of desire, but it's there...

Weaknesses: Ball Handling abilities are not super... Needs to get alot stronger.. Needs to get nastier (on the court).. Character questions have resulted from two separate incidents involving off the court fights with teammates, one in HS one in College

Wow...how is true this...

Embarassing (http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_180133016.html)

[bulletsponge]

omg! so glad hes not Rocket anymore. drunk and jackin off while driving! jeez be like the rest of us and do it on the computer at home

[bulletsponge]

Uhhh...you're saying that Yao Ming is a bust?


Code:
02-03: 13.5 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.79 bpg, & 29.0 mpg
03-04: 17.5 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.9 bpg, & 32.8 mpg
04-05: 18.3 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 0.8 asp, 2.0 bpg, & 30.6 mpg
05-06: 22.6 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.7 bpg, & 34.7 mpg

If his toe doesnt get reinjured he will probably avg over 25 pts next season

[JeeberD]

I'm with you. The second half of the season he averaged over 25ppg and 11rpg. Personally, I think he's the best center in the league right now.

[cschex]

Well, Troy probably meant Jay Williams instead of Yao, in his defense.

[sovereignstar]

Well, Troy probably meant Jay Williams instead of Yao, in his defense.

doubt it

[dawgfan]

First off, Dawgfan is right, when I said 7 of the top 8 bombed, I'm referring to the 2002 NBA draft. Ming, Dunleavey, Gooden, Skita, Wagner, Nene, Wilcox. (granted, some of those guys have a shot to improve, but not much)
I think Wilcox showed with the Sonics that he can still become an impact player. His shooting, rebounding and turnover rate all improved with the change in teams. He's not Karl Malone or Tim Duncan, but he can get you a double-double most nights and he'll be a high-percentage shot when he gets the ball. He has the athletic ability to explode for 20/20 games, and he's OK with getting his shots within the flow of the Sonics' offense, resulting in high-percentage looks.

The issue with the state of the draft in recent years is that with so many underclassmen, high-schoolers and foreigners in the pool, you saw teams making picks based on potential, and for many of these guys, the timeline to reach that potential coincides with the end of their rookie contracts. Also, since many of these guys were picked more on projection than performance, you obviously increase the risk of faulty projection and thus have a bust on your hands.

[Hammer755]

At first glance, I thought Troy's post meant Yao was a bust as well, but I assumed he meant that Yao was the 1 of the 8 that didn't bomb. I think the case can be made that Yao is the best center in the NBA, and even though I live in Houston, I'm far from a Rocket fan.

[JPhillips]

I doubt you had any idea who Parker was at the time.

And you'd be wrong. The two point guards discussed for the Cs at the time were Tinsley and Parker. Tinsley was favored to go to Boston, but Parker was an option as a pass first PG, but with limited experience. Either one would have been nice for a team that still has a big hole at PG.

But don't let facts get in the way of calling me a liar. Asswipe.