Everyone was talking about Oden or Durant, Oden or Durant. Damn, I'm glad that is over.
Now, I want to take a look back to some other major decisions GMs were faced with during previous drafts and the players whose performances will be compared forever.
Would we do these drafts the same? Let's rewind time... you pick them.
2006
1 - 8 picks were a toss up until workouts. I believe everyone has the ability to live up to their potential except for Adam Morrison (we haven't found the next Jordan, what makes you think there's going to be another Bird?) and Sheldon Williams (1st All-NBA Ugly Team).
2005
The consensus for top 2 prospects were Andrew Bogut and Marvin Williams. Seems like Bogut is more worried about his teammates financial longevity rather than his performance on the court. Marvin Williams seems like he's a little too comfortable playing the same role in the NBA that he played on North Carolina's championship team. But the real debate is who is the best PG in this class. It's between Deron Williams and Chris Paul. Check out these videos (Williams, Paul), I know everyone looks great in their highlights but they aren't on TV a lot so you might need a reminder of their potential. I think it's basically choosing between Jason Kidd before his MVPish years and Steve Nash before his MVP years.
2004
Dwight Howard or Emeka Okafor for #1. Here's Okafor's link in case you don't know who he is. HAHAHA. Ben Gordon was #3 but another debate was Shaun Livingston vs. Devin Harris at #4. In the 2005 playoffs, both these guys were killing and I was excited about their careers but Livingston got injured again and Harris hasn't improved but that might be because his touches come after behind Dirk's, Howard's, Terry's and even the 6th man, Stackhouse's.
2003
You know the whole LeBron, Darko, Melo, Bosh, D-Wade draft. We've gone through this one before too. You have to remember, we didn't know that Bosh and Wade would EXCEED expectations and be superstars. The debate was Darko vs. Melo for #2, and Bosh vs. Wade for #4. Imagine Melo on the Pistons. I don't care if you have a little hard on for Prince, Melo was/is an upgrade. And for the Bosh vs. Wade argument, Pat Riley has said if he had the #4 pick he would have picked Bosh.
2002
The Yao Ming draft. 2 Duke busts right after him. Really no debates. Pretty funny that Amare went 9th and Caron Butler went 10th behind a weak class.
2001
This draft is Shaq's fault. He was 25% better than anyone else in the league so everyone wanted to draft a center who would dominate like him. Jordan picked Kwame Brown 1st, and Tyson Chandler went 2nd, Memphis chose some dude from Spain #3 who gets 20-10 now, and Curry went 4th. (Shaking My Head).
2000
WORST DRAFT EVER. The first round has a total of one All-Star APPEARANCE (Kenyon Martin). Not even a Michael Redd went in the second round.
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1. Williams v. Paul is the greatest debate of all.
I still love Paul's dunk on Howard. If this makes sense, I think Paul's more talented but D-Will is the better player, due to factors like height, strength and supporting cast.
2. No need to hate on Okafor, B. He averages a double-double.
3. And I hope you are kidding by calling Pau Gasol "some dude." You might remember that he led Spain to the '06 FIBA World Championship, where a blundering US team finished third.
4. I agree with you that the 2000 draft class was/still is inept.
But the '02 class isn't too far behind.
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