2004 NBA Draft Analysis: Picks 21 and Below

New Jersey Nets

(22) Drafted Viktor Khryapa. Then traded the draft rights to Khryapa to Portland for Eddie Gill and cash. (51) Drafted Christian Drejer.

Players received: Eddie Gill, Christian Drejer
Players lost: Eddie Gill

Review

As a University of Florida fan, I hold a hatred in my heart for Christian Drejer and his decision to quit on the Gators midway through the '03-'04 season to play professional ball in Europe. It's no surprise that such a coward never played a single minute in the NBA. Rue Drejer for scorning the Gators and rue the Nets for drafting him!

Grade: D

Sacramento Kings

(26) Drafted Kevin Martin. (48) Traded the #55 pick (ended up with Houston as Luis Flores), Keon Clark, and a future pick to Utah for their #48 pick (Ricky Minard).

Players received: Kevin Martin, Ricky Minard
Players lost: Keon Clark

Review

Sacramento got one of the steals of the draft in Martin, who has shown the potential to put up 20 points a game for a long time.

Martin still has to bulk up his frame, be more consistent, and play better against better defenses; my guess is that achieving the first will help him achieve the next two. Still, he's the best player from the middle of the first round on down. Great pick.

Grade: A

Los Angeles Lakers

(27) Drafted Sasha Vujacic. (56) Drafted Marcus Douthit.

Review: Sasha Vujacic can hit standstill threes, and isn't a bad third-string point guard. Chris Duhon would have been a better pick, as he could take more pressure off of Kobe.

Grade: C-

San Antonio Spurs

(28) Drafted Beno Udrih. (52) Drafted Romain Sato. (57) Drafted Sergei Karaulov.

Review

Duhon's penchant for partying too hard and missing team functions wouldn't fly in San Antonio. Beno Udrih is as steady as can be. Even with a late pick and an awful crop of players to choose from, the Spurs selected a player who helped their team. That's why they're the best-run organization in the league.

Grade: B

  

Indiana Pacers

(29) Drafted David Harrison. (59) Drafted Rashad Wright.

Review

David Harrison is a stiff. Anderson Varejao would have been the right pick. Rashad Wright was the last pick of the draft, so it's hard to expect anything out of him.

Grade: D

  

New York Knicks

(16) New York traded their #16 pick (ended up in Utah as Kirk Snyder), Antonio McDyess, Howard Eisley, Charlie Ward, Maceij Lampe, Milos Vujanic, and a future pick to Phoenix for Stephon Marbury, Penny Hardaway and Cezary Trybanski. (43) Drafted Trevor Ariza.  

Players received: Stephon Marbury, Penny Hardaway, Cezary Trybanski, Trevor Ariza

Players lost: Antonio McDyess, Howard Eisley, Charlie Ward, Maceij Lampe, Milos Vujanic 

Review

As much as people criticize the Marbury trade, consider the players traded to get him. With the exception of McDyess, all those names dropped off the radar when they left New York.

Also, given the Knicks' pathetic cap situation and abysmal talent base, there's no reason to believe superstars like Gilbert Arenas and Steve Nash would have wanted to play in Madison Square Garden—or that New York could have made the deals happen.  

Trevor Ariza can run all over the court, defend, score in transition, finish above the rim, and provide energy off the bench. Unfortunately, he feuded with then-coach Larry Brown over his limited role in the offense. With Ariza becoming a nuisance, the Knicks' decision to trade him was justified. But why waste Ariza and an expiring contract in Penny Hardaway on Steve Francis? What a horrible decision.  

In 2004, though, that trade was still a long way off. At the time, the Knicks got one of the better point guards in the NBA and the best second-round pick of the draft...for a bunch of geezers and a couple of scrubs. That looks like a pretty good draft to me.  

Grade: A-

Memphis Grizzlies

(23) Traded the #23 pick (Sergei Monia) and Wesley Person to Portland for Bonzi Wells. (35) Seattle traded the #35 pick to Memphis (Andre Emmett) for the #48 pick in 2005 (Mickael Gelabale) and cash. (36) Orlando sold the #36 pick (Antonio Burks) to Memphis for cash.  

Players received: Bonzi Wells, Andre Emmett, Antonio Burks
Players lost: Sergei Monia, Wesley Person, Mickael Gelabale

Review

Bonzi Wells has been a knucklehead everywhere he's played—his penchant for wearing out his welcome isn't worth the scoring he provides. Mickael Gelabale looks to have a more promising career than Andre Emmett, and Antonio Burks was a waste of a roster spot.

The only upside to this draft was that Wells helped the Grizzlies capture a #8 seed. Big deal.  

Grade: D  

Dallas Mavericks

(5) Traded Antawn Jamison to Washington for the #5 pick (Devin Harris), Jerry Stackhouse, and Christian Laettner. (21) Traded a 2005 first-round pick (ended up in Denver as Linas Kleiza) to Utah for the draft rights to Pavel Podkolzin. (24) Traded the #24 pick (Delonte West), Raef LaFrentz, Jiri Welsch, and Chris Mills to Boston for Antoine Walker and Tony Delk. (50) Drafted Vasileios Spanoulis.  

Players received: Devin Harris, Jerry Stackhouse, Christian Laettner, Pavel Podkolzin, Antoine Walker, Tony Delk, Vasileios Spanoulis

Players lost: Antawn Jamison, Delonte West, Raef LaFrentz, Jiri Welsch, Chris Mills  

Review

With Dirk Nowitzki on the team, Dallas could afford to move Jamison. In return, the Mavericks got a lightning-quick distributor who can defend all but the strongest point guards in the league. They also got Jerry Stackhouse—a streaky scorer and a powerful wing player.

The other deals Dallas made were awful. Anybody would be a better Dallas Maverick than Pavel Podkolzin, and Antoine Walker never had the athleticism or the unselfishness to play Nellie Ball. Instead, he was happiest launching threes to his heart's content.  

The first trade gets an A, the other two trades each get F's. Add it all together, and the Mavs' final grade comes out to a C.

Grade: C

  

Detroit Pistons

(17) Traded the #25 pick (Tony Allen), Chucky Atkins, and Lindsey Hunter to Boston; traded the #17 pick (Josh Smith), Bobby Sura, and Zeljko Rebraca to Atlanta. Received Mike James from Boston and Rasheed Wallace from Atlanta. (54) Drafted Ricky Paulding.

Players received: Mike James, Rasheed Wallace, Ricky Paulding
Players lost: Tony Allen, Chucky Atkins, Lindsey Hunter, Josh Smith, Bobby Sura, Zeljko Rebraca

Review

Essentially, the draft comes down to Rasheed Wallace vs. Tony Allen and Josh Smith. As Rasheed was the difference in Detroit's winning an NBA Championship, the deal looks great at first. But when you consider the fact that Rasheed has poisoned the next few Pistons teams with his temperamental, me-first attitude, the trade gets notched down to a C.

Tony Allen would be hard-pressed to find playing time in Detroit, and the Pistons have a better version of Josh Smith named Tayshaun Prince. Not getting either of those two doesn't affect the trade one way or another...so the grade remains a C.

Grade: C

Houston Rockets

(55) Drafted Luis Flores.

 

Review

The Rockets' only draft pick came extremely late in the draft. Given the lack of available talent, they can't be blamed for landing a scrub.

Grade: C

  

Minnesota Timberwolves

(58) Drafted Blake Stepp. Minnesota also forfeited a first-round pick due to salary cap violations involved in the signing of Joe Smith.

Review

The only thing worse than a cheater is a cheater who gets caught. And if you're going to break the rules for somebody, why Joe Smith?

Grade: F

Milwaukee Bucks

(45) Traded the #45 pick (Bernard Robinson) to Charlotte for Zaza Pachulia.

Players received: Zaza Pachulia
Players lost: Bernard Robinson

Review

Bernard Robinson has yet to find a role on an NBA team. Pachulia has bounced around a little bit, but is at worst a respectable backup big man. The Bucks got the better player.

Grade: B

 

Don't miss any of Erick's 2004 NBA Draft Analysis. Visit his profile to see the rest of the breakdown.