2004 NBA Draft Remix

Thanks Eboy. I think Biedrins is a real underrated player – especially considering he is only 23-years-old still.

Yeah Jeff, for real, how are you going to get through the 2003 piece? It was craptacular to it’s fullest.

Its going to be hard to write about 2003 – such a weak year for talent!

Harris was an allstar last year

Childress cracks me up with his fro…instantly recognizable

Yeah, Harris > Nelson. Good stuff though.

I admit I’m having second thoughts about where I put Harris on the list, but too late now. Was going to do a top 14 lottery but I didn’t want the story to drag on too long – we plan on going back and doing it for plenty of drafts from years past so hopefully that makes up for it.

I hate to keep piling on the Harris thing, but your logic for Nelson over Harris (other than the all star thing which is a wash) is that Nelson played for a better team last year. Huh? So if Harris played for the magic this year and Nelson for the Nets, you would have said Harris should have been drafted higher?? I’m confused.

Love the concept though, keep ‘em coming.

Who’s the giant in back center??

The big guy must be Pavel Podkolzine – 7’5″.

I have an echo today. thanks Jeff, I looked it up too.

Ahh, beat me to it.

No way!!!!! LOLLERSKATES

Jeff, I disagree with the whole ‘winning’ thing. Some people are notorious losers that affect their team in a bad way (the Ricky Davises, and Zach Randolphs of this world). But that’s the minority. The truth is, it has a lot to do with luck and ending up on the right teams. Mo Williams didn’t get ‘better’ last year, he did the exact same things he has been doing in Milwaukee. But now he’s on TV all the time, he’s deep into the playoffs and he doesn’t have to take anything but open shots. Of course, he looks better. To me, if you’re a role player the key is getting on a team with enough stars to let you play your role. Then you look like a winner. Robert Horry’s and Derek Fisher’s would have looked way different if they had played with the for the Clips the last 10 years. Even Gasol, we’re applauding him now saying that he finally ‘gets it’. He has been doing the same things ever since the Memphis days. But he was miscast, he’s not a go-to, he’s a 2nd banana. But now, he’s a winner.

I’ve never believed in the whole ‘winner’ tag. Would D-Fish lose the tag if he went to Sacramento tommorow? You’re either good at basketball or you’re not. Talent trumps everything. The only thing is that we put so much emphasis on scoring the basketball that we mistake guys like Ricky Davis and Nick Young as ‘talented’ even though they absolutely suck at anything else then putting the ball in the basket.

Z, putting the ball in the basket is pretty important. In terms of the whole winner thing, I agree that it’s foolish to discredit a good player on a bad team, as seems to be the case in the Devin Harris Jameer Nelson debate. Harris will undoubtedly be the point guard on a winning team very soon, he just wasn’t this year. All that said, you can’t say that there’s no legitimacy to the concept of a “winner.” I’m not sure how much legitimacy there is, but I know there’s some. If Duncan had gone somewhere else in the ’97 Draft, he’d still have his rings.

The guy I love to hate on this list is Iggy. I swear you never know what he wants to do on the court. One game he will go out and put up a damn near triple double and then the next game follow up with horrible numbers. He is so up and down but yet I still love his game. I just feel that he is the player who could be an all star every year but he just is consistent enough. 76ers was his team the moment AI left but he needs to take that by the horns now and not let Miller always take control. play wit it.

As a Bobcat fan, it WOULD NOT have made more sense to go with Al Jefferson. Were you high when you wrote this? Emeka just pwnd college, won a title and everyone thought he would be the #1 pick. The Bobcats thought they had a ‘steal’ getting him at #2. If Emeka played anywhere other than the Bobcats, he would have been a all-star last season. One of the best shot blockers in the NBA, great defender, and doesnt get enough touches to average 20 points a game, but he could if he did.

BETCATS, Okafor was a player with limited upside and a bad back coming out of college. However, I still like him as a player. In HINDSIGHT I think Jefferson is a better player. At the time of the draft I thought the Raptors were stupid to pass on Jefferson and take Araujo. Guess I was right that time (see – I don’t always screw up).

@Boing, what do you mean “had”. He still has that thing.

Warning you in advance Pardeep – you probably won’t want to read the 1996 one!!

@Jeff: Are you a A.I. hater too?

Pardeep, I used to like AI, when he was in college, but I came to realize what he was in the pros – an undersized shooting guard who shoots too much. He’s gritty and has a big heart and his fun to watch though, I’ll give him that.

How about Jameer’s ominously colored tie?!