2003 draft the stars, suprises, and busts

Jeff Axel by Contributor Written on August 20, 2009

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ORLANDO, FL - MAY 30:  LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers handles the ball against the Orlando Magic in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Finals during the 2009 Playoffs at Amway Arena on May 30, 2009 in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expr
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Well me and my friend were talking about the 2003 NBA draft which is the best one of this decade and arguablly one of the best of all time. So since this decade is coming to a close and these players are either reaching the prime of their careers or out of the league I figured why not write an article about this draft class.

Star 1: Lebron James pick 1

ORLANDO, FL - MAY 30:  LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers handles the ball against the Orlando Magic in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Finals during the 2009 Playoffs at Amway Arena on May 30, 2009 in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expr

Alright this guy doesn't need an introduction. Back in 2003 this guy was the most hyped up high school athlete that I've ever seen personally. People were wondering if he was going to live up to the hype. Well 7 years later he has a career average of 28 ppg, 7apg,7rpg, and 2spg. The sky is the limit for him as he's only 24 years old and hasn't reached his prime yet. With a steadily improving jumper Lebron will break all types of records and have a few championships by the end of his career.

Star 2: Dwyane Wade pick 5

ATLANTA - MAY 03:  Dwyane Wade #3 of the Miami Heat reacts late in the fourth quarter while taking on the Atlanta Hawks during Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals at Philips Arena on May 3, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Hawks defeated the H

Coming out of Marquette Wade was known as an undersized guard with no jumper. Many considered him to be a bust. He used that as motivation and is one of the best players in the league 7 years later. Boasting career averages of 25 ppg, 7 apg, and 5 rpg Wade proved his doubters wrong. He also has a championship and finals MVP a series where he averaged a ridiculous 35 ppg. In my opinion he has one of the strongest wills to win in the NBA. And this past year I think was him entering his prime

Star 3: Carmelo Anthony pick 3

DENVER - MAY 29:  Carmelo Anthony #15 of the Denver Nuggets moves the ball in Game Six of the Western Conference Finals during the 2009 NBA Playoffs against the Los Angeles Lakers at Pepsi Center on May 29, 2009 in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User exp

Coming off of a national championship in Syracuse it was no doubt that Anthony would be a star in the NBA. Having career averages of 24 ppg and 6 rpg Anthony is underrated in a sense. The reason why he doesn't get that much love in my opinion is because he really doesn't make his teammates better like wade or james and he hasn't had playoff sucess until billups came and he's always been on quality teams. I'll put it like this if you switch places with Lebron and Melo LBJ would have had a couple of championships by now.

Star 4: Chris Bosh pick 4

CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 16:  Chris Bosh #4 of the Toronto Raptors looks on against the Charlotte Bobcats during their game at Time Warner Cable Arena on March 16, 2009 in Charlotte, North Carolina.  NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that,

A versatile 6-11 player who is peremiter oriented bosh is a solid player and one of the best power forwards in the league. He has some negatives like not being defensive oriented, and not having that much strength but Bosh who is only 24 will get better as he gets older. He really hasn't been deep into the playoffs but with the help of hedo turkoglu that might change. He has career averages of 20ppg, and 9rpg.

Suprise 1:David West pick 18

DENVER - APRIL 19:  David West #30 of the New Orleans Hornets takes a free throw against the Denver Nuggets in Game One of the Western Conference Quarterfinals during the 2009 NBA Playoffs at Pepsi Center on April 19, 2009 in Denver, Colorado. The Nuggets

Sliding down to the 18th pick West was considered too small to be a NBA power forward. But he's increased his production every year and is now a 20ppg 9rpg player and the second option on the Hornets. It shows that hard work pays off from averaging 4 ppg to 20 in his 7th year.

Suprise 2: Josh Howard pick 29

DENVER - MAY 13:  Josh Howard #5 of the Dallas Mavericks takes a shot against the Denver Nuggets in Game Five of the Western Conference Semifinals during the 2009 NBA Playoffs at Pepsi Center on May 13, 2009 in Denver, Colorado.  The Nuggets defeated the

The last pick in the 1st round not much was expected out of Howard due to his injury problems. But he's been a solid small forward in the NBA averaging 16 ppg and 6rpg it seems like he can play better than what he produces.

Suprise 3: Mo Williams pick 47

ORLANDO, FL - MAY 30:  Mo Williams #2 of the Cleveland Cavaliers looks on during pregame against the Orlando Magic in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Finals during the 2009 Playoffs at Amway Arena on May 30, 2009 in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User

Second round picks usually dont pan out in the NBA but Williams was an exception as he has a career average of 14 ppg and 5 apg. His breakout year was last year with cleveland as he averaged a career high 18 ppg and 43% from 3 point range.

Bust 1: Darko Milicic pick 2

MILWAUKEE - NOVEMBER 14: Darko Milicic #31 of the Memphis Grizzlies puts a shot up during the game against the Milwaukee Bucks on November 14, 2007 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  The Bucks won 102-99.  NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowl

Wow what can I say Joe dumars dropped the ball on this one. He could have had Melo D-wade or Chris Bosh but he chose Darko. A career 6 point 4 rebound gut Darko didn't pan out like the pistons planned so they traded him with the quickness to orlando. Then the grizzlies signed him and he gets no burn there he'll be unemployed soon.

Bust 2: Michael Sweetney pick 9

CHICAGO - JANUARY 13:  Michael Sweetney #50 of the Chicago Bulls ilooks to pass against the Memphis Grizzlies January 13, 2007 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The Bulls won 111-66. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by d

He was a good college player but it didnt pan out in the NBA. He was like a poor mans Zach Randolph. He's battled weight problems and was out of the league for 2 years. The last I heard was he was on the 2009 Celtics summerleague team but I'll tell you right now He ain't comin to Boston.

Bust 3: Nick Collison pick 12

DENVER - MARCH 16:  Nick Collision #4 of the Seattle SuperSonics takes a free throw against the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center on March 16, 2008 in Denver, Colorado. The Nuggets defeated the Sonics 168-116. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges an

Coming out of Kansas him and Kirk Hinrich were a dynamic duo. Kirk has had a solid NBA career while Collison has been mediocre at best with the sonics/thunder. Averaging just 8 points and 7 rebounds in his career he's currently a free agent with no interest from any teams I think he should just go overseas.

Other 2003 draft busts

SEATTLE - NOVEMBER 1:  Marcus Banks #2 of the Phoenix Suns moves the ball up court during a game against the Seattle SuperSonics at Key Arena on November 1, 2007 in Seattle, Washington.  The Suns won 106-99.  NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and

Marcus Banks pick 13, Reece Gaines pick 15, Troy Bell pick 16, Zarko Cabarkapa pick 17,Ndudi Ebi pick 26

Solid 2003 players

BOSTON - MAY 02:  Kirk Hinrich #12 of the Chicago Bulls reacts after a foul is called on him in the fourth quarter against the Boston Celtics in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2009 NBA Playoffs at TD Banknorth Garden on May

Kirk Hinrich pick 7, Chris Kaman pick 6, Mickael Pietrus pick 11, Luke Ridnour pick 14, Travis Outlaw pick 23, Kendrick Perkins pick 27, Leandro Barbosa pick 28, Boris Diaw pick 21, Carlos Delfino pick 25, Dahntay Jones pick 20, Sasha Pavlovic pick 19, TJ Ford pick 8, Jarvis Hayes pick 10

Other 2003 suprises

ORLANDO, FL - JUNE 9:  Luke Walton #4 of the Los Angeles Lakers holds the ball against the Orlando Magic in Game Three of the 2009 NBA Finals on June 9, 2009 at Amway Arena in Orlando, Florida.  The Magic won 108-104.  NOTE TO USER:  User expressly acknow

Luke Walton pick 32, Steve Blake pick 38, Willie Green pick 41, Zaza Pachulia pick 42, Keith Bogans pick 43, Matt Bonner pick 45, James Jones pick 49, Kyle Korver pick 51. So to me this is the deepest draft ever and you see the quality amount of players and you've seen the players who didn't do that much in the NBA. So I want to hear your opinion about this draft.

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written on August 20, 2009 History

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