Lafrentzwas a six foot 11 inch forward who had legitimate NBA range but hasn’t stayed healthy or consistent enough to live up to his selection.
He’s missed 55 and and 43 games respectively during the last two seasons – both spent with the Trail Blazers - and it was recently reported that shoulder surgery will keep him out of the line-up indefinitely to start this year as well.
Even when healthy, the results for Lafrentz have been lukewarm (10 points and six rebounds for career averages), and who likes cheering for big awkward white guys anyway?
Who it Should have been: Mike Bibby (second overall to Vancouver)
Bibby drops one spot from his original selection and lands in the three hole.
Bibby’s golden years in the league have been sandwiched by two stints with miserable teams. He played his first three seasons in Vancouver for an atrocious Grizzlies squad before being traded to Sacramento prior to the 2001 season. The Kings could never seem to get over the hump in the Western Conference, but that was no fault of Bibby’s.
When Chris Webber began his patented “Shrink in Big Games” routine, Bibby was the one guy on the Kings who was constantly stepping up and making big plays.
As the team disbanded and began to rebuild, Bibby toiled in California before eventually being traded to Atlanta this past season.
He averaged 14.1 ppg and 6.5 apgin 33 starts with the Hawks last year, numbers that should go up as he has a full year to adjust and a plethora of athletic finishers surrounding him.
4. Golden State Warriors
Actual Pick: Antawn Jamison, F. North Carolina
The first of back-to-back UNC picks in 1998, Jamison was actually drafted by the Raptors with the fourth pick and then sent to Golden State for Vince Carter and cash.
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