Williams took a Kings team that featured Chris Webber, Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic and made them relevant in the Western conference for the first time in years. He also became one of the league’s more popular figures, drawing comparisons to the late Pete Maravich with his ball-handling wizardry.
His game matured considerably once hooking up with Hubie Brown in Memphis, and Williams would later help the Miami Heat win a championship– silencing a lot of his longtime critics who swore that he’d never be able to help a team win.
Who it Should have been: Al Harrington (No. 25 overall to Indiana)
One of two high school players chosen in1998, Harrington has enjoyed a solid if not spectacular career after collecting dust on the bench for his first three years in Indiana.
He was featured in a sixth-man role in Indiana before getting the opportunity in Atlanta to play a much bigger role. Harrington's stats rose across the board, but the bad news is that he was playing for the Hawks.
Harrington continues to do his thing in Golden State, and considering that he's two to three years younger than a lot of the players from this draft, his career is far from over just yet.
8. Philadelphia 76ers
Actual Pick: Larry Hughes, G. St. Louis.
Oh Larry, what to make of you.
Hughes started his career in Philly, showing promise when presented the opportunity. Playing behind Allen Iverson in his prime means a couple of things however– not much playing time, even less shots for you, and about a 30 percent chance that you could get stabbed at anytime during practice.
Traded to Golden State halfway through his second year, LH blew up. His scoring average leapt from 10.0 in Philadelphia to 22.7 in the Bay. And it wasn’t even a contract year!
Splitting time with the Warriors and the Wizards over the next 5 years, Hughes’ production would fluctuate considerably. In 2004-05 however, Hughes seemed to put all of his talents together for a full 82 game season, putting up averages of 22 points, five rebounds, five assists and nearly three steals. This was a contract year!
We're going to send you the most entertaining NBA articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
5 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete