NBA DREAM Draft: New League Look

NBA DREAM Draft: New League Look

By Ari Wagner

This is a dream look into the NBA, or the evidence that will make you sick to your stomach that your team could have looked like this.

Or maybe you’re going to be happy with the outlook of your team, and that because the teams didn’t draft your player and your GM got the steal, your team is looking better now than it would have been by this format.

Either you’re thanking your lucky stars or wishing that you had a mulligan, however, there are no do-overs in real life.

Therefore, I realize that if a player is drafted in the top 10, the team probably took that into consideration for their later picks, but let us just pretend that they could keep their teams now and have a redo on all their top 10 picks in the last 10 drafts.

So the players drafted would switch teams, but the rest of the starting 5 would remain the same. How different would the league look if the General Managers were perfect in picking the right players?

I will give you the actual top 10 from 2000-2009 and then my rendition of what the draft should have looked like with what we know today.

Real

Redo

L.A. Clippers          Desmond Mason

Real

Washington             Kwame Brown

LA Clippers            Tyson Chandler

Memphis                 Pau Gasol

Chicago                   Eddie Curry

Golden State           Jason Richardson

Memphis                 Shane Battier

New Jersey             Eddie Griffin

Cleveland                Sagana Diop

Detroit        Rodney White

Boston                    Joe Johnson                                                                      

Redo

Washington             Pau Gasol

LA Clippers            Gilbert Arenas

Memphis                 Joe Johnson

Chicago                   Gerald Wallace

Golden State           Tony Parker

Memphis                 Jason Richardson

New Jersey             Richard Jefferson

Cleveland                Troy Murphy

Detroit        Zach Randolph

Boston                    Mehmet Okur

Real

Houstin Yao Ming

Chicago            Jay Williams

Golden State    Mike Dunleavy

Memphis          Drew Gooden

Denver             Nickoloz Tskitishvili

Cleveland         Dajuan Wagner

New York        Nene

LA Clippers     Chris Wilcox

Phoenix            Amare Stoudemire

Miami               Caron Buttler

Redo

Houstin Amare Stoudemire

Chicago            Yao Ming

Golden State    Caron Butler

Memphis          Carlos Boozer

Denver             Nene

Cleveland         John Salmons

New York        Tayshaun Prince

LA Clippers     Luis Scola

Phoenix            Mike Dunleavy

Miami               Drew Gooden

Real

Cleveland         LeBron James

Detroit              Darko

Denver             Carmelo Anthony

Toronto            Chris Bosh

Miami               Dwane Wade

LA Clippers     Chris Kaman

Chicago            Kirk Hinrich

Milwaukee       TJ Ford

New York        Mike Sweetney

Washington      Jarvis Hayes

Redo

Cleveland         LeBron James

Detroit              Dwane Wade

Denver             Carmelo Anthony

Toronto            Chris Bosh

Miami               David West

LA Clippers     Josh Howard

Chicago            Leandrinho Barbosa

Milwaukee       Chris Kaman

New York        Boris Diaw

Washington      Mo Willams

Real

Orlando            Dwight Howard

Charlotte          Emeka Okafor

Chicago            Ben Gordon

LA Clippers     Shaun Livingston

Dallas               Devin Harris

Atlanta             Josh Childress

Chicago            Luol Deng

Toronto            Rafael Araujo

Philidelphia       Andre Iguodala

Cleveland         Luke Jackson

Redo

Orlando            Dwight Howard

Charlotte          Andre Iguodala

Chicago            Al Jefferson

LA Clippers     Ben Gordon

Dallas               Kevin Martin

Atlanta             Devin Harris

Chicago            Josh Smith

Toronto            Emeka Okafor

Philidelphia       Trevor Ariza

Cleveland         Jameer Nelson

Real

Milwaukee       Andrew Bogut

Atlanta             Marvin Williams

Utah                 Deron Williams

New Orleans    Chris Paul

Charlotte          Raymond Felton

Portland           Martel Webster

Toronto            Charlie Villanueva

New York        Channing Frye

Golden St.        Ike Diogu

LA Lakers        Andrew Bynum

Redo

Milwaukee       Chris Paul

Atlanta             Danny Granger

Utah                 Deron Willams

New Orleans    Andrew Bynum

Charlotte          David Lee

Portland           Monte Ellis

Toronto            Nate Robinson

New York        Charlie Villanueva

Golden St.        Andrew Bogut

LA Lakers        Marvin Williams

Real

Toronto            Andrea Bargnani

Portland           LaMarcus Aldridge

Charlotte          Adam Morrison

Chicago            Tyrus Thomas

Atlanta             Sheldon Williams

Portland           Brandon Roy

Minnesota        Randy Foye

Memphis          Rudy Gay

Golden St.        Patrick O’Bryant

Seattle              Saer Sene

Redo

Toronto            Brandon Roy

Portland           LaMarcus Aldridge

Charlotte          Rudy Gay

Chicago            Paul Milsap

Atlanta             Rajon Rondo

Portland           Andrea Bargnani

Minnesota        Ronnie Brewer

Memphis          Randy Foye

Golden St.        Tyrus Thomas

Seattle              Thabo Sefalosha

Real

Portland           Greg Oden

Seattle              Kevin Durant

Atlanta             Al Horfod

Memphis          Mike Conley

Boston             Jeff Green

Milwaukee       Yi Jianlian

Minnesota        Corey Brewer

Charlotte          Brandon Wright

Chicago            Joakim Noah

Sacramento      Spencer Hawes

Redo

Portland           Kevin Durant

Seattle              Al Horford

Atlanta             Jeff Green

Memphis          Thaddeus Young

Boston             Al Thorton

Milwaukee       Marc Gasol

Minnesota        Rodney Stuckey

Charlotte          Greg Oden

Chicago            Wilson Chandler

Sacramento      Spencer Hawes

Real

Chicago            Derrick Rose

Miami               Michael Beasley

Memphis          OJ Mayo

Seattle              Russell Westbrook

Memphis          Kevin Love

New York        Danilo Gallinari

LA Clippers     Eric Gordon

Milwaukee       Joe Alexander

Charlotte          DJ Augustin

New Jersey      Brook Lopez

Redo

Chicago            Derrick Rose

Miami               Brook Lopez

Memphis          OJ Mayo

Seattle              Kevin Love

Memphis          Russell Westbrook

New York        Eric Gordon

LA Clippers     Courtney Lee

Milwaukee       Jason Thompson

Charlotte          Marreese Speights

New Jersey      Danilo Gallinari

Real

LA Clippers     Blake Griffin

Memphis          Hasheem Thabeet

OKC               James Harden

Sacremento      Tyreke Evans

Minnesota        Ricky Rubio

Minnesota        Jonny Flynn

Golden St         Stephan Curry

New York        Jordan Hill

Toronto            DeMar DeRozan

Milwaukee       Brandon Jennings

Redo

LA Clippers     Blake Griffin

Memphis          Brandon Jennings

OKC               Johnny Flynn

Sacremento      Tyreke Evans

Minnesota        Stephan Curry

Minnesota        James Harden

Golden St         Ty Lawson

New York        DeJuan Blair

Toronto            Taj Gibson

Milwaukee       Jordan Hill

Now here are the starters from around the league with these picks in consideration, a very different look to the league. Keep in mind that I understand free agency and other things like that.

This is just a “woulda-coulda-shoulda” type situation, a lot of picks in the last 10 years were absolutely ridicules, and I wrote this article and did all this research to unearth that information.

Any player with a * next to their name means that team drafted that player in the “redo” draft.

 If the player does not have an * next to their name, and they have another players name in brackets. This means that the player in brackets would have gone elsewhere and that player is filling in.

The EAST will take the majority of the talent away from the West and the Central Division will be the powerhouse division. Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavileers will battle it out for the EAST and the Bulls will go on to the finals.

The WEST is a conference of role players and miss-matched teams, however, among the miss-matched teams the Mavericks, Trail Blazers and Grizzlies fit nicely for a title. The Mavericks really only trade Josh Howard for Kevin Martin, and that is the perfect fit for the title.

The finals would be a match up(BULLS/MAVERICKS) of ROSE/KIDD, CRAWFORD/KEVIN MARTIN, GERALD WALLACE/SHAWN MARION, AL JEFFERSON/DIRK, YAO/DAMPIER.

With these match-ups in mind, there is no way the Bulls could lose in the finals. Look out Windy City because if everything went as planned you would have a title contending team for years to come, and possibly an even more exciting team to watch then the Jordan era.

EAST

ATLANTIC

The Atlantic would feature the Celtics as a powerhouse with new additions Memo Okur but and Al Thorton off the bench, however they would lose Rondo. The Knicks small-ball lineup would light-up Madison Square Garden night in and night out, it would be the perfect offense for Coach D’Antonio. The Raptors would be a young team, fun to watch with Chris Bosh and Brandon Roy alongside Nate Robinson and Emeka Okafor.

BOSTON CELTICS

PG       EDDIE HOUSE (NO RONDO)

SG       RAY ALLEN

SF        PAUL PIERCE/AL THORTON*

PF        KEVIN GARNET

C         MEHMET OKUR*

NEW JERSEY NETS

PG       RAFER ALSTON (NO HARRIS)

SG       RICHARD JEFFERSON*

SF        HIDAYET TURKOGLU*

PF        DANILO GALLINARI*

C         JOSH BOONE (NO LOPEZ)

NEW YORK KNICKS

PG       CHRIS DUHON

SG       ERIC GORDON*

SF        TAYSHAWN PRINCE*

PF        BORIS DIAW*/ DEJUAN BLAIR*

C         CHARLIE VILLANUEVA*

PHILLIDELPHIA 76ERS

PG       LOUIS WILLIAMS

SG       WILLIE GREEN (NO A.I.)

SF        TREVOR ARIZA* (NO YOUNG)

PF        ELTON BRAND (NO SPEIGHTS)

C         SAMUEL DALEMBERT

TORONTO RAPTORS

PG       NATE ROBINSON*

SG       BRANDON ROYE*

SF        ANTONIE WRIGHT (NO TURKOGLU)

PF        EMEKA OKAFOR*/TAJ GIBSON*

C         CHRIS BOSH* (GOT EVEN AFTER REDO)

CENTRAL

The Central division would feature some of the leagues top stars, but in small markets. LeBron James and Shaq would still be in Cleveland, Detroit would host Dwane Wade, Milwaukee would be home to Chris Paul and the windy city would have Yao Ming, Derrick Rose and Al Jefferson. Aside from the Pacers, the Central would be the most star studded division in basketball.

CHICAGO BULLS

PG       DERRICK ROSE* (GOT EVEN AFTER REDO)

SG       JAMAL CRAWFORD*/LEANDRO BARBOSA*

SF        GERALD WALALCE*/JOSH SMITH*/WILSON CHANDLER*

PF        AL JEFFERSON*/PAUL MILSAP*

C         YAO MING*

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS

PG       JAMEER NELSON*

SG       JOHN SALMONS*/MIKE MILLER*

SF        LEBRON JAMES* (GOT EVEN AFTER REDO)

PF        TROY MURPHY*

C         SHAQ

DETROIT PISTONS

PG       WILL BYNUM (NO STUCKEY)

SG       DEWANE WADE*

SF        RICHARD HAMILTON (NO PRINCE)

PF        ZACH RANDOLPH*

C         BEN WALLACE

INDIANA PACERS (no top 10 picks in last 10 years)

PG       EARL WATSON(NO FORD)

SG       BRANDON RUSH

SF        MIKE DUNLEAVY (NO GRANGER)

PF        JOSH MCROBERTS (NO MURPHY)

C         ROY HIBBERT

MILWAUKEE BUCKS

PG       CHRIS PAUL*

SG       KEYON DOOLING*

SF        JORDAN HILL*

PF        MARC GASOL*/JASON THOMPSON*

C         CHRIS KAMAN*

SOUTH EAST

South East is not the most talented division, but it has a lot of quality role players and stars to make it a force to send some teams to the playoffs. The Hawks are guard heavy with Rondo and Harris which would allow them to run the ball extremely effectively and with Granger on the wing, they would score a lot of points, but are weak down low. Bobcats have Iguodala, Gay and Lee, some young all stars to mix it up. The Heat would lose Wade but draft David West and Brook Lopez to try and establish a large front court. Magic will keep their core of Howard, Carter and Lewis but will lose their all star point guard in Jameer Nelson. Finally, the Wizards will have a strong front court with Jameson and Gasol but with Mo Williams trying to lead that team, they would lose a lot of games.

ATLANTA HAWKS

PG       RAJON RONDO*

SG       DEVIN HARRIS*

SF        DANNY GRANGER*/JEFF GREEN*

PF        ZAZA PACHULIA(NO HORFORD)

C         PRIMOZ BREZEC*

CHARLOTTE BOBCATS

PG       DJ AUGUSTIN(NO FELTON-USED PICK ON LEE)

SG       RUDY GAY*

SF        ANDRE IGUODALA*

PF        DAVID LEE*

C         GREG ODEN*/ MARREESE SPEIGHTS*

MIAMI HEAT

PG       MARIO CHALMERS

SG       DAEQUAN COOK (NO WADE)

SF        MICHAEL BEASLEY

PF        DAVID WEST*

C         BROOK LOPEZ*

ORLANDO MAGIC

PG       JASON WILLIAMS (NO NELSON)

SG       VINCE CARTER

SF        RASHARD LEWIS

PF        DWIGHT HOWARD (GOT EVEN AFTER REDO)

C         JOEL PRZYBILLA*

WASHINGTON WIZARDS

PG       MO WILLIAMS*

SG       DESHAWN STEVENSON(NO ARENAS)

SF        DOMINIC MCGUIRE(NO BUTTLER)

PF        ANTWAN JAMISON

C         PAU GASOL*

WEST

PACIFIC

Golden State has a completely different look besides Jackson, and with the addition of Buttler they can stay big but keep a quality little point guard on the floor at all times with Parker and Lawson. Clippers are guard heavy and if Griffin pans out they would be a great all around basketball team, probably could trade Josh Howard for a 3, but who wants him anyhow. Lakers are hit hard by this, no Bynum or Gasol, takes away their entire front court with no one to replace it. Suns lose a lot too, no Amare and no J-Rich however Nash could still run that team to a few wins, but not to the playoffs. Kings look very similar, but lose their best player, so they are worse than they are now.

GOLDEN STATE

PG       TONY PARKER*/TY LAWSON*

SG       CARON BUTTLER*

SF        STEPHEN JACKSON

PF        TY THOMAS*

C         ANDREW BOGUT*

LA CLIPPERS

PG       GILBERT ARENAS*

SG       BEN GORDON*/JOSH HOWARD*

SF        RASUAL BUTTLER

PF        BLAKE GRIFFIN/LUIS SCOLA*

C         MARCUS CAMBY/KENYON MARTIN*

LA LAKERS

PG       DEREK FISHER

SG       KOBE BRYANT

SF        RON ARTEST/MARVIN WILLAIMS*

PF        LAMAR ODOM(NO GASOL)

C         DJ MBENGA(NO BYNUM)

PHOENIX SUNS

PG       STEVE NASH

SG       MIKE DUNLEAVY* (NO RICHARDSON/BARBOSA)

SF        GRANT HILL

PF    &n