03-15: KENDRICK PERKINS (drafted 27th overall by Memphis, traded to Boston)- A low key 6'10" center, Perkins is known for his defense and for his energy he brings to the Celtics.  Next to players like Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen, he wont get much attention, but he is certainly an essential part of a dynasty caliber team.

Edge: KENDRICK PERKINS.  In the '07-;08 conference finals, K-Perk was performing under critical conditions when teammates were struggling.  He won't bring great numbers to a stats sheet, but what he brings to the team's presence is more valuable than anything Dampier had to offer.

96-16: CHUCKY ATKINS (undrafted, signed by Orlando)- It took him a while, but the South Florida Bulls all-time scorer finally found his nitch in the NBA.  Orlando signed 6'1" Chucky Atkins to play back up point guard for Darrell Armstrong.  Atkins never started a single game that year, but was an outstanding back up.  After an all-rookie second team performance, Atkins was a free agent looking for a starting point guard job.  He was resigned and traded to Detroit in the Grant Hill trade.  Atkins split the starting job with Lindsey Hunter and put up 12 points, 5 assists, and 3 rebounds per game.  Not bad for someone who got very little regard in the '96-'97 draft.

03-16: STEVE BLAKE (drafted 38th overall by Washington)- Blake, a 6'3" point guard that was part of the Juan Dixon Terps team the won the NCAA Championship in 2002, was reunited with teammate Juan Dixon when drafted to the Wizards.  However, this meant that Blake would sit the bench to Dixon.  Blake turned out to be even better than Dixon, backing up Gilbert Arenas andeventually being traded to Portland where he became the starting point guard this past year.  He still has yet to live up to the hype that he was all about in college when he lead UMD to some big wins, but nonetheless, his career is brightening.

Edge: CHUCKY ATKINS.  A very tough call, but considering how far he came, Atkins is the one in this matchup.  Atkins has far exceeded any expectations he had, where as Blake has high expectations of which he is still working on.  Atkins stepped up and played the starter role a little more confortably than Blake did.

96-17: SHANDON ANDERSON (drafted 54th overall by San Antonio, traded to Utah)- This tough, gritty 6'5" swingman joined a Jazz line up, which at the time needed very little help.  They were simply worried about taking down Jordan and the Bulls and not developing their future team.  Anderson left the Stockton-Malone show when he joined the Houston Rockets.  There he earned the starting small forward spot and held his own pretty well.  He managed nine points, four rebounds, and three assists a game in '00-'01.

03-17: LEANDRINHO BARBOSA (drafted 28th overall by San Antonio, traded to Phoenix)- Practically given to Phoenix for nothing but a future first round pick, the 6'3" guard is lightning quick and has developed a nice shooting touch.  Leandro Barbosa sat the bench to Steve Nash, but mostly to shooting guard Raja Bell.  Barbosa turned out to be an outstanding sixth man.  Raja Bell is a sharp shooter, and Leandro is more of a take it to the basket kind of guy, which the Suns' starting lineup was full of already.  Leandro Barbosa brings his high energy uptempo game off the bench to a team that loves to run.  A perfect fit in Phoenix he turned out to be.

Edge: LEANDRHINO BARBOSA.  The young, speedy guard is just capable of much more than Anderson ever was.  His career will go much longer and be much more successful than Shandon Anderson's was.

Well, looks as though the 1996 draft class won that one by a slim margin, 9-8.  It is very close indeed, and you could certainly argue bothsides, but the way I see it, the highlights of both drafts are analagous, with the '96 class having a slight advantage over the '03 class.  I see the 1996 draft class as being the best group of rookies of all time.  '07 came close, but one of these years, maybe we will see a draft class dethrone '96 and its secondary, '03, and who knows, maybe they will match up well to each otherlike these two, but it is going to have to be quite a group of rookies to match the seventeen standout players that came out of both of these classes.  I look forward to draft day '08, and future drafts.  Until June 26th, thats all.  

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