2008 NBA Draft - A Look Back

[nickagneta]

So the season is coming to an end in less thasn a month and the Celtics plight is not looking good in the short term, so rather than pile on the negativity, I thought I'd take a look back at last year's draft and see how everyone was doing. It was supposed to be a very deep draft with good NBA players reaching all the way into the second round. It did not disappoint as there could be as many as 7-9 possible future All-Stars in this group with as many as 3-4 "build-a-franchise-around-this-guy" type of players. So here is a list of the first round and their stats.



PICK TEAM               PLAYER                       G     MIN   FG%   3P%   FT%   REB   STL   BLK    TO    AST    PTS
 
1    Chicago             Derrick Rose                68   36.7  .460   .235   .796     3.7     .82     .19     2.53   6.2    16.4
2    Miami                 Michael Beasley           65   24.2  .459   .393   .786     5.1     .49     .46     1.63   0.9    13.3   
3    Minnesota         O.J. Mayo                       66   37.9   .436  .382   .873     4.0    1.08    .18     2.58   3.0    18.7
4    Seattle               Russell Westbrook      67   32.5  .405   .291   .824     4.9    1.36    .18     3.37   5.0    15.8 
5    Memphis           Kevin Love                     67   24.9  .463  .133    .780     9.0     .42     .63     1.43   1.1    10.4 
6    New York           Danilo Gallinari            28   14.7  .448   .444   .963     2.0     .50    .14       .54     0.5     6.1 
7    L.A. Clippers     Eric Gordon                  63   33.4   .448   .384   .859     2.5   1.02    .46     1.97    2.7    15.4
8    Milwaukee         Joe Alexander              47   10.7   .433   .323   .766    1.8      .19    .40      .83      0.6     4.1
9    Charlotte            D.J. Augustin               57   26.6   .423   .426   .902    1.8      .53    .02     1.70     3.8    11.7
10   New Jersey      Brook Lopez                 67   30.3   .530  .000   .827     7.9     .57   1.85    1.81     1.0    12.7
11   Indiana             Jerryd Bayless             45   13.3   .365   .259   .820    1.2     .33      .04    1.16     1.6      4.7 
12   Sacramento     Jason Thompson       67   26.9   .487   .000   .706    6.9     .55      .64    1.79     1.1    10.4
13   Portland            Brandon Rush             61   21.7   .374   .347   .673    2.7     .52     .44     1.02     0.8     6.3 
14   Golden State    Anthony Randolph     49   15.0    .458   .000   .703    4.8     .51    1.10    1.98     0.6     6.8
15   Phoenix             Robin Lopez               46      9.7    .500   .000   .604   1.7      .20     .57       .39      0.1     2.7
16   Philadelphia     Marreese Speights    62   15.4    .529   .400  .755    3.7      .42     .77      .61      0.4     7.8   
17   Toronto              Roy Hibbert                 56   13.2    .495   .000   .663   3.0      .23    1.04     .80      0.7     6.4
18   Washington      JaVale McGee             62   15.1    .484   .000   .664   4.0      .39     .97      .74      0.2     6.2
19   Cleveland         J.J. Hickson                 57    11.9    .525   .000   .667   2.7      .23     .51      .79      0.2     4.1
20   Charlotte           Alexis Ajinca                31      5.9    .362   .000   .714   1.0     .23      .19      .39      0.1     2.3
21   New Jersey      Ryan Anderson           53    19.3    .390   .363   .833   4.7     .60      .30      .96      0.8     7.2
22   Orlando            Courtney Lee               62    23.9    .463   .411   .818    2.2     .98      .21      .94      1.1    7.8
23   Utah                   Kosta Koufos              48    11.8    .508   .000   .706    2.9     .25      .65      .54      0.4    4.7
24   Seattle               Serge Ibaka                                      Played Overseas
25   Houston            Nicolas Batum           67    18.1    .436   .347   .787    2.7     .66       .54     .70       1.0    5.3 
26   San Antonio     George Hill                  65    17.8    .408   .349   .782    2.3     .60       .32   1.06       2.0    6.3
27   New Orleans    Darrell Arthur              60    19.6    .442   .000   .642    4.4     .65       .65    .67        0.5    5.9
28   Memphis           Donte Greene            41    12.0    .354   .279   .800    1.5     .24       .27    .56        0.5    3.7
29   Detroit                D.J. White                                              Did Not Play
30   Boston              J.R. Giddens                 6      1.3     .667   .000   .000    0.5     .17       .00    .17        0.0     0.7 

Some of the transactions:

#3 - O.J. Mayo traded to Memphis
#5 - Kevin Love traded to Minnesota
#25 Nicolas Batum traded to Portland
#27 Darrell Arthur traded to Memphis
#28 Donte Green traded to Houston
#29 D.J. White traded to Seattle

***Seattle then moved to Oklahoma City

So my initial reaction is to pat myself on the back because I thought that Mayo and Westbrook would be great and that Galinari would be a horrible failure in his first year in NY. I was right. I also liked the Cleveland pickup of Hickson and thought Arthur would be a player after dropping way down on draft day. But I was wrong about a whole lot more:

 - I thought Kevin McHale was an idiot to trade O.J. Mayo for Kevin Love. While I think Mayo is still the better player, Love might eventually be the better fit. Although in retrospect, Wsetbrook would look really good in a T-Wolves uniform.

 - I was as wrong about derrick Rose as I could be. I thought he was all hype and flash and had little substance. The kid is a player and will probably emerge as the best player out of this draft.

 - I thought the Lopez brothers sucked. I was wrong about Brook. The kid's a player and a [dang] good one. He's got a long and properous NBA career in front of him.

 - I thought Jason Thompson was a huge stretch for Sacramento. I wasn't alone. Turns out a lot of people were wrong about this guy. He definitely has NBA game and a pretty good one at that. I haven't seen him but 4-5 times but when I have the kid has been impressive.

 - Courtney Lee and George Hill turned out to be relative bargains down in the last third of the first round. Those two guys are about the only players after the 12th pick in the first round that I think I was wrong about. Their teams got some good value and they appear to be very good role players to possible starters some day.

Overall, I really good year by the rookies and this class will probably go down as a pretty solid one all around.

[Lucky17]

An outstanding draft class, really. I think nearly every rookie has been contributing or shows signs of doing so, with a few exceptions.

Gallinari and Alexander look like real reaches, Ajinca a washout, and Ibaka and White are complete unknowns. Giddens too, for that matter. I remain cautiously optimistic about his future.

[QuinielaBox]

There could be some future 1st All NBA teamers in there.


PG - Derrick Rose
SG - Russell Westbrook
SF - Micheal Beasley
PF - Anthony Randolph
C - Brook Lopez

Where is Rudy Fernandez on that list?

There has been a lot of new talent come into the league the last five years.

[nickagneta]

There could be some future 1st All NBA teamers in there.


PG - Derrick Rose
SG - Russell Westbrook
SF - Micheal Beasley
PF - Anthony Randolph
C - Brook Lopez

Where is Rudy Fernandez on that list?

There has been a lot of new talent come into the league the last five years.

I believe Rudy Fernandez was drafted a year or two earlier.

[housecall]

The biggest maybe best surprise to me is how good Philly's 16th pick has turned out to be so far.Marreese Speights is probably surprising the Philly organization as well.

[indeedproceed]

An outstanding draft class, really. I think nearly every rookie has been contributing or shows signs of doing so, with a few exceptions.

Gallinari and Alexander look like real reaches, Ajinca a washout, and Ibaka and White are complete unknowns. Giddens too, for that matter. I remain cautiously optimistic about his future.

Gallinari looks like a reach now but I haven't heard anything but absolute rave reviews about the kid.

If I were to rank the rookies knowing now what we know about them it would look something like....

1- Rose
2- Beasley
3- Mayo
4- B Lopez
5- K Love
6- M Speights
7- E Gordon
8- R Westbrook
9- Mario Chalmers
10- Jason Thompson
11- Courtney Lee
12- George Hill
13- Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
14- Javal McGee
15- JJ Hickson


As far as guys who haven't proved much so far, I think Donte Greene, Gallinari and Randolph will be the standout late bloomers. And Bill Walker. Sig.

[QuinielaBox]

The biggest maybe best surprise to me is how good Philly's 16th pick has turned out to be so far.Marreese Speights is probably surprising the Philly organization as well.

What are they going to do with Elton Brand once he comes back from injury? I'd play Marreese over Elton at this point.

[housecall]

The biggest maybe best surprise to me is how good Philly's 16th pick has turned out to be so far.Marreese Speights is probably surprising the Philly organization as well.

What are they going to do with Elton Brand once he comes back from injury? I'd play Marreese over Elton at this point.

Im not sure of what they will do with Brand but i agree,this young player fits better in their style of ball at this point.

[nickagneta]

The guy I really like in this draft that I think would make a great replacement for Ray Allen is Eric Gordon. He has just the sweetest stroke and has range and accuracy. I can see him having a Ray Allen type career where he languishes with bad teams while jaying his way to 25 PPG until he can get free and get a big contract where he will get a chance at some real cash and notoriety.

[housecall]

The guy I really like in this draft that I think would make a great replacement for Ray Allen is Eric Gordon. He has just the sweetest stroke and has range and accuracy. I can see him having a Ray Allen type career where he languishes with bad teams while jaying his way to 25 PPG until he can get free and get a big contract where he will get a chance at some real cash and notoriety.

I can see where you coming from with this down the road...seems like a good idea and something to consider for the future.Its all about the vision. 

[shiggins]

The guy I really like in this draft that I think would make a great replacement for Ray Allen is Eric Gordon. He has just the sweetest stroke and has range and accuracy. I can see him having a Ray Allen type career where he languishes with bad teams while jaying his way to 25 PPG until he can get free and get a big contract where he will get a chance at some real cash and notoriety.

Mitch Richmond?  Thats who i see when i watch Eric Gordon

[Rida]

Only real bust is Joel Alexander

what a joke the Bucks are. They should have picked Lopez a front line of Bogut, Jefferson and Lopez would be fantastic in the East

[perks-a-beast]

There could be some future 1st All NBA teamers in there.


PG - Derrick Rose
SG - Russell Westbrook
SF - Micheal Beasley
PF - Anthony Randolph
C - Brook Lopez

Where is Rudy Fernandez on that list?


There has been a lot of new talent come into the league the last five years.

You can add Jerryd Bayless to that list too. he has so much upside. Unfortuently, he doesnt get much PT for the Blazers.

[slamtheking]

Brandon Rush has looked like he'll have a nice NBA career too.  Not an all-star but a solid player.

[BUTerrier]

Only real bust is Joel Alexander

what a joke the Bucks are. They should have picked Lopez a front line of Bogut, Jefferson and Lopez would be fantastic in the East

I'm not ready to label Joe Alexander a bust yet. I'm living in Milwaukee right now, and I've watched Skiles give him VIRTUALLY no playing time. It would be understandable if he played and sucked, but he just doesn't play. So I'd argue that Alexander's really more of an unknown quantity at this point.