2001 NBA Draft Revisited

I was at the beach last week so I wasn't able to post what I usually post each year right before the NBA Draft, namely an analysis of the draft 5 years prior. But the 2001 NBA Draft was such a monumental draft in terms of spectacular successes and busts that I couldn't just let it pass. You'll see in this draft that the trend of picking high school players backfired a little bit while almost all the foreign picks paid off handsomely which accelerated that trend.

1. Washington - Kwame Brown - I think this pick perfectly summarizes the precariousness of picking a high schooler in the draft (even if those days are technically done). It's been five years and even though you'd have to rule this pick a bust, you still don't know what you have. There's still a chance Kwame might be a great player. Of course, now it would be with the Lakers as he was traded a few years ago.

2. LA Clippers - Tyson Chandler - LA traded this pick to Chicago for Elton Brand which is an excellent trade by the Clippers. Maybe this is the moment in time where their fortunes changed for the better. Chandler is still with Chicago and is a pretty decent defensive player, but is nowhere near the talent of Brand. It was clear in this draft that Jerry Krause was buying time which probably led to his "retirement" a few years later.

3. Memphis - Pau Gasol - Gasol has turned into an All-Star which makes this the best pick so far. I remember the commentators saying that this would be a big risk for Memphis as foreign players were still not quite as accepted as they are today. If I'm not mistaken, this was the highest a foreign player who didn't go to a U.S. college had been taken at that time.

4. Chicago - Eddy Curry - Not a bust by any means, but he's definitely not lived up to his potential. Curry is a 6'10" 300 lb center who can score but is soft as a doughnut. He had a heart condition which prompted Chicago to trade him to the New York Knicks who promptly signed him to a $60 million contract. Chicago has just turned the pick they got in return into superstud prospect Tyrus Thomas. Ah, Isiah. The NBA is definitely a more interesting place thanks to you.

5. Golden State - Jason Richardson - Richardson is a near All-Star so you can't say that this is a bad pick. But he's not exactly helping Golden State get out of the lottery. Of course, that might be too hard of a task for anyone to overcome.

6. Memphis - Shane Battier - Battier is a solid NBA pro who has just been traded to Houston. He plays good defense, hits open threes and generally does all the little things that annoyed me when he played for Duke. The knock on Battier is that he's too selfless to be a star which at the time I thought was a ridiculous criticism. Now that he's helped Memphis make the playoffs a couple times but never got them past the first round, I have to agree with that assessment. But if McGrady and Yao are healthy for Houston, he could become a very dangerous player for them much like Josh Howard was this year for the Mavericks.

7. New Jersey - Eddie Griffin - New Jersey drafted Griffin and traded him to Houston for Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins and Brandon Armstrong. This is probably my favorite draft trade of all time because it was so one-sided. I'll get more into as I reach the other picks, but Griffin was a spectacular bust for Houston. He was never that good on the court. Also, he had a drinking problem and missed the entire 2003-04 season. To his credit, he's still hanging around the league in Minnesota. Unfortunately, he's also still making stupid headlines.

8. Cleveland - Sagana Diop - As recently as a year ago, this pick would have been viewed as a flop. But Diop left Cleveland and went to Dallas where he was a very servicable backup center. He looks like he has a lot of potential for the future. I think this was the worst case scenario for GM's who drafted high school kids. Your team may not be the one that benefits when that player develops.

9. Detroit - Rodney White - It's odd that one of the better teams recently made one of the worst picks here. Detroit redeems themselves down the road, but this was a terrible pick. Not sure if Rodney White is anywhere near the NBA anymore, but I do remember someone lobbying for this guy as the number one pick.

10. Boston - Joe Johnson - This is a good pick. Unfortunately for Boston, Johnson really blossomed when he was traded to Phoenix midway through his rookie year. If Boston hadn't given up on some really good players (Johnson, Chauncey Billups), they might be contending for the Eastern Conference crown.

11. Boston - Kedrick Brown - Of course, if Boston also would have contended if they hadn't made dumb picks like these. Kedrick is out of the league already and Boston is still in the lottery. Amazingly, neither Rick Pitino nor Danny Ainge were responsible for this pick.

12. Seattle - Vladimir Radmanovic - A decent offensive player who played with the Sonics up until last year when he was traded to the Clippers. Now he just signed a contract with the Lakers so we'll see how much better Kobe makes him.

13. Houston - Richard Jefferson - Included in the Eddie Griffin deal that I mentioned above, Jefferson alone makes this trade lopsided. I'm not sure if Jefferson has ever been an All-Star, but he's pretty damn good. It was a good pick by Houston, just a bad trade.

14. Golden State - Troy Murphy - A pretty good player with a terrible team. I've heard his name mentioned in trade talks so if he gets moved somewhere, maybe we'll find out how good he really is.

15. Orlando - Steven Hunter - I remember this guy had some pretty good pre-draft camp performances which, combined with the fact he's 7 ft tall, got him picked here. He probably shouldn't have been picked this high, but he's still playing in the league and getting some minutes. So it's not a terrible pick like this next one coming up...

16. Charlotte - Kirk Haston - Oh boy. This is a really bad pick. I mean really bad. Not only did he not pan out, he left Indiana early while they went on to the NCAA Championship game the next year. He could have been the difference that helped Indiana win. So now he's out of the league and everybody in Indiana hates.

17. Toronto - Michael Bradley - I remember thinking that this would be a good pick, but that goes to show you that I can be wrong. Still in the league, but has bounced around being the end of bench cheerleader for a lot of teams.

18. Houston - Jason Collins - I was going to say this was a good pick for Houston as Collins is one of the top defensive centers in the league now, but in reality, New Jersey probably told Houston to make this pick. So Houston really blew it here too.

19. Portland - Zach Randolph - At this spot in the draft, this is an excellent pick. Randolph is now one of the few legitimate low-post threats in the league who can average 20 points per game. Unfortunately, he's also a knucklehead and probably didn't do anything to dispel the "Jailblazers" mystique.

20. Cleveland - Brendan Haywood - If I'm not mistaken, Brendan was traded to Orlando and then later traded to Washington where he now resides. Despite having a shooting range of about two inches, he's a defensive presence and can put in a few stickbacks for you. You could do a lot worse for the center position.

21. Boston - Joseph Forte - Well, Boston went 1 for 3 and then traded away the only one they got right. Nice job by them. This miss was a surprise to me though. If you would have asked me in 2001 which North Carolina player would have a better NBA future, Joe Forte or Brendan Haywood, I would have bet the house on Forte. But unfortunately, his ego probably got the best of him as he seemed to only be in the news for clashing with coaches. He also had a habit of wearing an LA Laker jersey in the Boston locker room so maybe he wasn't the brightest guy either.

22. Orlando - Jeryl Sasser - I think this guy was a 6'7" point guard which is why he was drafted so high. Needless to say, I don't think he was a good point guard as he's not in the league anymore.

23. Houston - Brandon Armstrong - If this guy would have panned out for New Jersey, it would have rivaled the Manhattan purchase as one of the most lopsided trades ever. Maybe New Jersey and Armstrong agreed that he wouldn't become a good player so that Houston wouldn't be that embarrassed.

24. Utah - Raul Lopez - I would think that this probably the only foreign player in the first round that didn't work out. And I think he had some knee issues too so maybe it wasn't really his fault.

25. Sacramento - Gerald Wallace - Now playing with the Bobcats, he's turned into a pretty good player. He was stuck behind some veteran players in Sacramento for awhile but now I bet they wish they had him back.

26. Philadelphia - Samuel Dalembert - Signed a big contract with the Sixers last year, but that really doesn't mean anything as the Sixers sign everybody to big contracts. He's a pretty decent center, but probably not really any better than Haywood is. Just a lot more expensive.

27. Atlanta - Jamaal Tinsley - Atlanta immediately traded him to Indiana where he's been the starting point guard ever since. He's solid, but maybe not really starting material. Still, considering Atlanta's chronic need for a point guard, I bet they wished they held onto him.

28. San Antonio - Tony Parker - This pretty much sums up why San Antonio is an elite club and why Boston and Houston are still struggling. To get an All-Star player with the last pick in the first round is outstanding. If you redid this draft, Parker would probably be a top five pick. Maybe even number one.

Notable second round picks:

30. Chicago - Trenton Hassell - Plays for Minnesota now. Averaged almost 10 points last year, but I think he's more known for being a defensive stopper. If you get any production out of a pick from the second round, it's a good pick. So Hassell qualifies.

31. Golden State - Gilbert Arenas - Wow. Not only did every other team in the league screw up by passing on 30 point per game scorer Arenas, Golden State messed up by not picking him in the first round because second round picks weren't locked in guaranteed contracts like first round picks were. So when Arenas' initial contract was up after two years, he had vastly outperformed expectations and the market for him was so big that Golden State couldn't afford to resign him. Another reason why Golden State sucks. But give them credit for making possibly the best 2nd round pick ever.

35. New Jersey - Brian Scalabrine - Not much more than a bench guy, he signed a fat contract with Boston last year. He did have an awesome performance in a 2 OT loss to the Pistons in the playoffs a couple of years ago so my theory is that Danny Ainge had only seen him play in that game when he signed him last year.

38. Detroit - Mehmet Okur - As bad as their first pick was, they really got a steal here by drafting Okur. Okur helped the Pistons win the championship two years ago and then signed a fat contract with Utah. He had a pretty good year last year by averaging 18 points per game so this is another excellent second round pick.

40. Seattle - Earl Watson - He's bounced around a lot in his short career, but now he's back with Seattle. He's turned himself into probably the best backup and defensive point guard in the league. In fact, he probably should be starting over no-chair-guarding Ridnour.

42. Seattle - Bobby Simmons - Took awhile for this guy to develop, but played so well for the Clippers last year, he earned a big fat contract from Milwaukee. I thought the Bucks overpaid (almost $10 million a year), but Simmons had a pretty decent year this year too so maybe he'll prove me wrong.

53. Utah - Jarron Collins - Not as good as his brother, but still in the league with the same team. Pretty decent backup center.

I love this draft because it seems to be feast or famine. You could strike out with the top pick and then land a perennial All-Star in the second round. I'd still consider this a fairly strong draft even with all the busts and it's miles better than the previous year's draft. Too bad the league can't draft high schoolers anymore because I think that's a big reason why this draft is so erratic and interesting.