NBA Draft thoughts

The NBA Draft is upon us, and perhaps no other draft night brings so much hope to so many cities, only to have them fizzle out. But for me, it’s still the best pro-sports draft of them all. Now looking at this year’s, many prognosticators say this may be the weakest draft in a decade. I went through them back to 1999 to evaluate the picks, just to compare how each draft ranking gets you. Starting from the top, with my draft guesses, which are never close, but it’s still fun:

#1 – Blake Griffin (6-10/PF) – LA Clippers

Best three #1’s since 1999:
2003 – LeBron James (CLE)
2002 – Yao Ming (HOU)
2004 – Dwight Howard (ORL)
Worst two #1’s since 1999:
2000 – Kwame Brown (WSH)
2006 – Andrea Bargnani (TOR)

#2 – Hasheem Thabeet (7-3/C) – Memphis

Best three #2’s since 1999:
2007 – Kevin Durant (SEA)
1999 – Steve Francis (VAN)
2006 – LaMarcus Aldridge (POR)
Worst two #2’s since 1999
2002 – Jay Williams (CHI)
2000 – Stromile Swift (VAN)

#3 – James Harden (6-5/SG) – Oklahoma City

Best three #3’s since 1999:
2001 – Pau Gasol (MEM)
2003 – Carmelo Anthony (DEN)
2005 – Deron Williams (UTA)
Worst two #3’s since 1999
2006 – Adam Morrison (CHA)
2000 – Darius Miles (LAC)

#4 – Ricky Rubio (6-3/PG) – Sacramento

Best three #4’s since 1999:
2005 – Chris Paul (NOH)
2003 – Chris Bosh (TOR)
1999 – Lamar Odom (LAC)
Worst two #4’s since 1999
2000 – Marcus Fizer (CHI)
2004 – Shaun Livingston (LAC)

#5 – Jordan Hill (6-10/PF) – Washington

Best three #5’s since 1999:
2003 – Dwyane Wade (MIA)
2004 – Devin Harris (DAL)
2001 – Jason Richardson (GS)
Worst two #5’s since 1999
2002 – Nickoloz Tskitishvili (DEN)
1999 – Jonathan Bender (TOR)

#6 – Stephen Curry (6-3/PG) – Minnesota

Best three #6’s since 1999:
2006 – Brandon Roy (POR)
2003 – Chris Kaman (LAC)
2001 – Shane Battier (HOU)
Worst two #6’s since 1999
2008 – Danilo Gallinari (NYK)
2000 – DerMarr Johnson (ATL)

#7 – Tyreke Evans (6-5/SG) – Golden State

Best three #7’s since 1999:
1999 – Richard Hamilton (DET)
2004 – Luol Deng (CHI)
2002 – Nene (DEN)
Worst two #7’s since 1999
2007 – Corey Brewer (MIN)
2000 – Chris Mihm (CLE)

#8 – Jrue Holiday (6-4/PG) – New York

Best three #8’s since 1999:
2006 – Rudy Gay (MEM)
1999 – Andre Miller (CLE)
2003 – TJ Ford (MIL)
Worst two #8’s since 1999
2004 – Rafael Araujo (TOR)
2008 – Joe Alexander (MIL)

#9 – Earl Clark (6-10/PF) - Toronto

Best three #9’s since 1999:
2002 – Amare Stoudamire (PHX)
1999 – Shawn Marion (PHX)
2004 – Andre Iguodala (PHI)
Worst two #9’s since 1999
2006 – Patrick O’Bryant (GS)
2003 – Mike Sweetney (NYK)

#10 – Gerald Henderson (6-5/SG) - Milwaukee

Best three #10’s since 1999:
2002 – Caron Butler (MIA)
2001 – Joe Johnson (BOS)
1999 – Jason Terry (ATL)
Worst two #10’s since 1999
2004 – Luke Jackson (CLE)
2006 – Saer Sene (SEA)

#11 – Brandon Jennings (6-1/PG) – New Jersey

Best three #11’s since 1999:
2004 – Andris Biedrins (GS)
2003 – Mickael Pietrus (GS)
2001 – Jared Jeffries (WSH)
Worst two #11’s since 1999
2005 – Fran Vasquez (ORL)
2000 – Jerome Moiso (BOS)

#12 – DeMar DeRozan (6-7/SF) - Charlotte
#13 – DeJuan Blair (6-6/SF) - Indiana
#14 – Ty Lawson (6-1/PG) – Phoenix

Best three #12-14’s since 1999:
Richard Jefferson, Corey Maggette, Troy Murphy
Worst two #12-14’s since 1999:
Alek Redojevic, Yaroslav Korolev

#15-20 – BJ Mullens (7-1/C), Tyler Hansbrough (6-9/PF), Jonny Flynn (6-1/PG), Jeff Teague (6-2/PG), James Johnson (6-8/SF), Terence Williams (6-6/SG) – Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Atlanta, Utah

Best three #15-20’s since 1999:
Al Jefferson, Danny Granger, David West
Worst two #15-20’s since 1999:
Frederic Weis, Troy Bell

Best three #21-30’s since 1999:
Tony Parker, Kevin Martin, Josh Howard
Worst two #21-30’s since 1999:
Too many disappeared after a year or so to just pick two