Did you know Pau Gasol was drafted by the Hawks?

[Moranis]

I was looking through some old drafts and had totally forgotten that Pau was the Hawks first round pick in 2001.  He was the 3rd pick.  They then traded his rights along with Brevin Knight and Lorenzen Wright to the Grizzlies for Shareef Abdur-Rahim and the rights to Jamaal Tinsley (the 27th pick that year).

I know Abdur-Rahim had a few good years in Atlanta, but that is perhaps the worst draft day trade of the last 10 years (Brandon Roy for Randy Foye may top it).  I mean it isn't Dirk Nowitzki and Pat Garrity for Tractor Traylor bad, but it is still a very poor trade in retrospect.

[The DarkPassenger]

Yeah and you can imagine how different the NBA would be and teams would be if they still had the players they drafted. The Celtics would be a completely different team.

Celtics drafted some known names: Randy Foye for one then we traded to Portland who then traded it to Minnesota, Joe Johnson, Chauncey Billups, Jeff Green, Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes. How different would this team look?

Although if that were to happen then we wouldn't have Rondo cause the Suns drafted him originally. BIGGEST blunder on draft day?? Charlotte Hornets traded Kobe Bryant for Vlade Divac.

[tyrone biggums]

Yeah and you can imagine how different the NBA would be and teams would be if they still had the players they drafted. The Celtics would be a completely different team.

Celtics drafted some known names: Randy Foye for one then we traded to Portland who then traded it to Minnesota, Joe Johnson, Chauncey Billups, Jeff Green, Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes. How different would this team look?

Although if that were to happen then we wouldn't have Rondo cause the Suns drafted him originally. BIGGEST blunder on draft day?? Charlotte Hornets traded Kobe Bryant for Vlade Divac.

Don't forget some guy named Pierce too

[droponov]

Those guys - Gasol, Rondo, Kobe - they were actually picked by Memphis (Vancouver, actually), Boston and LA. The trades were already in place before the draft, it was the pick that was traded, not the players. Due to the CBA rules, they can only make those deals official after the trade, so formally they are drafted and then traded. But it's just formally. It was Ainge that decided to pick Rondo with that draft pick, not the Suns GM .

Btw, the Celtics were very interested in trading for that Atlanta pick to get Gasol. Unfortunately, the Hawks prefered SAR over Boston's 2 lottery picks (that ended up being Joe Johnson and Derrick Brown). It'd have been interesting to see how far a Pierce+Gasol core could have gone.

[tyrone biggums]

Those guys - Gasol, Rondo, Kobe - they were actually picked by Memphis (Vancouver, actually), Boston and LA. The trades were already in place before the draft, it was the pick that was traded, not the players. Due to the CBA rules, they can only make those deals official after the trade, so formally they are drafted and then traded. But it's just formally. It was Ainge that decided to pick Rondo with that draft pick, not the Suns GM .

Btw, the Celtics were very interested in trading for that Atlanta pick to get Gasol. Unfortunately, the Hawks prefered SAR over Boston's 2 lottery picks (that ended up being Joe Johnson and Derrick Brown). It'd have been interesting to see how far a Pierce+Gasol core could have gone.

Kedrick Brown...what a talent