Brent Soderberg
I came across a very interesting article where the author “re-picked” the 2005 NBA Draft with how the players are playing now. If you don’t remember who exactly was drafted where ten years ago this month, here is the top 10 picks:
#1 Milwaukee Bucks – Andrew Bogut – University of Utah
#2 Atlanta Hawks – Marvin Williams – University of North Carolina
#3 Utah Jazz – Deron Williams – University of Illinois
#4 New Orleans Hornets – Chris Paul – Wake Forest
#5 Charlotte Bobcats – Raymond Felton – University of North Carolina
#6 Portland Trail Blazers – Martell Webster – Seattle Prep
#7 Toronto Raptors – Charlie Villanueva – UConn
#8 New York Knicks – Channing Frye – Arizona
#9 Golden State Warriors – Ike Diogu – Arizona State
#10 Los Angeles Lakers – Andrew Bynum – St. Joseph HS
Out of those ten players, only 3 players became All-Stars – Deron Williams three times (2010-2012), Andrew Bynum once (2012) and Chris Paul eight times (2008-2015).
Only two players have won NBA Titles – Andrew Bogut once (2015) and Andrew Bynum twice (2009 & 2010).
If every team in the NBA in 2005 had a mulligan, how would the NBA look? Here is the top 10:
#1 Chris Paul
#2 Deron Williams
#3 David Lee (was the 30th pick)
#4 Danny Granger (was the 17th pick)
#5 Andrew Bogut
#6 Marcin Gortat (was the 57th pick)
#7 Marvin Williams
#8 Amir Johnson (was the 56th pick)
#9 Andrew Bynum
#10 Brandon Bass (was the 33rd pick)
Out of these ten players, 5 of them made at least one All-Star team – Deron Williams, Andrew Bynum, Chris Paul (see above), David Lee twice (2010 and 2013) and Danny Granger once (2009).
Three of these players won at least one NBA Title – Bynum twice (2009 and 2010), Andrew Bogut and David Lee once with the 2015 Champion Golden State Warriors.
All but 1 of those players were 30th pick or above. It is a very interesting article, check out the full piece HERE.
