NBA Draft: Power Ranking the Best NBA Draft Classes of Past Decade
NBA Draft: Every year there are just 60 players selected in the NBA draft, making it hard to be chosen (if you're a college player) and much easier to dissect (if you're someone like me).
Unlike Major League Baseball, which has like 1,359 rounds, or the NFL draft, which has seven rounds, the NBA Draft is short and sweet.
But short and sweet doesn't necessarily mean better and brighter.
It's no secret that the NBA has had its down years and its times where multiple teams find a superstar.
Especially over the last 10 years.
It's time to stir up the debate, y'all, with my power rankings of the best draft classes from the past decade (2001-10).
Be sure to leave your take on the rankings—as well as your own rankings—in the comment section below.
10. 2010
1 of 10
The jury is still out on this year's rookie class, whose best player (Blake Griffin) was actually drafted in 2009.
There have been some pleasant surprises, like San Antonio's Gary Neal, but arguably the top rookie from 2010 has been New York's Landry Fields, who wasn't chosen until the 39th overall pick.
Though DeMarcus Cousins has shown flashes of potential, the No. 2 overall pick, Evan Turner, has struggled mightily and John Wall appears to be the only bonafide star of the class.
Some other first-round selections, like Luke Babbitt, Patrick Peterson, Cole Aldrich and Daniel Orton, have spent time in the D-League, while other lottery picks—Ekpe Udoh, Al-Farouq Aminu and Gordon Hayward to name a few—hardly even see the court.
It's too early to dismiss this class as one full of busts, but it does appear to be headed in that direction early on.
9. 2002
2 of 10
This was the year when Yao Ming went No. 1 overall to the Houston Rockets, but it was a pretty thin draft class from top to bottom, with a decent amount of good players but a lot of duds, too.
In addition to Yao, the first round included one superstar (Amar'e Stoudemire) and only a few other notable players, including Nene, Caron Butler, Tayshaun Prince and John Salmons.
There was a rare All-Star taken in the second-round in Carlos Boozer, but Roger Mason Jr., Matt Barnes and Luis Scola were the only other recognizable names.
It was a decent second round in 2002, but I think this class takes a hit because of Yao's inability to stay healthy—he's only played more than 57 games once since the 2005-06 season.
8. 2006
3 of 10
The first round of the 2006 draft class was filled with the good (LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, Rudy Gay and Rajon Rondo), the bad (Tyrus Thomas, Randy Foye and Quincy Douby) and the ugly (Adam Morrison, Shelden Williams, Patrick O'Bryant and Hilton Armstrong).
But it also had some solid pieces—Thabo Sefolosha, Andrea Bargnani, Shannon Brown and Kyle Lowry.
Outside of Daniel Gibson and Leon Powe, the second round was a snooze-fest, except for one glaring exception, Paul Millsap, who was one of the biggest second-round steals in recent memory.
But here's why I have this class so low: Though Rondo's a superstar, Roy is one when he's healthy and Gay is pretty damn good, there were way too many really, really bad picks in this draft, especially the "ugly" ones who all went in the lottery.
7. 2009
4 of 10
Blake Griffin almost boosts the 2009 NBA Draft class up a notch by himself, but this group is pretty damn good even without him.
There were several studs chosen in the lottery, like Griffin, Tyreke Evans, Stephen Curry, DeMar DeRozan and Brandon Jennings, as well as some solid players like Jonny Flynn and James Harden.
Hasheem Thabeet at No. 2 overall was one of the bigger reaches in recent NBA history, but James Johnson (16th), Ty Lawson (18th), Darren Collison (21st), Omri Casspi (23rd) and Taj Gibson (26th) all returned great value for where they were drafted.
The second round also produced two huge steals—DeJuan Blair (37th) and Marcus Thornton (43rd)—and some key contributors, such as Chase Budinger, Sam Young and Jonas Jerebko.
Depending upon what Ricky Rubio brings to the table, this draft class could produce six to eight very good, or even great, players.
6. 2007
5 of 10
If Greg Oden ever is fully healthy, the 2007 class would probably be a lot closer to the top of this list.
But even without him, the first round in 2007 produced one superstar (Kevin Durant) to go along with a few other very good (and often underrated) players, like Al Horford and Joakim Noah.
Also selected in the top 30 picks were Thaddeus Young, Al Thornton, Nick Young, Wilson Chandler, Rudy Fernandez, Aaron Brooks, Aaron Afflalo and Tiago Splitter.
Not superstars obviously, but key pieces to their teams.
The second round in 2007 was better than average, with Carl Landry, Glen Davis, Marc Gasol and Ramon Sessions as the bright spots of picks 31-60.
Admittedly, I think this draft class would suffer a lot without Durant, though that's pretty obvious.
5. 2001
6 of 10
We all remember 2001 because it was when Kwame Brown went first overall and cemented his status as one of the biggest busts in sports history.
But that year's NBA draft class was pretty loaded in the first round.
Tyson Chandler, Pau Gasol, Jason Richardson, Shane Battier, Joe Johnson and Richard Jefferson made this a very good lottery.
And the remainder of the top 30 picks also saw Zach Randolph, Brendan Haywood, Gerald Wallace and Tony Parker enter the NBA.
The second round featured Gilbert Arenas, Mehmet Okur and Earl Watson.
4. 2004
7 of 10
The only absolute superstar of this draft class was Dwight Howard, but the rest of the first round was filled with some very good (but not great) players.
Here's a look at who went in the top 30 picks: Emeka Okafor (No. 2), Ben Gordon (No. 3), Devin Harris (No. 5), Luol Deng (No. 7), Andre Iguodala (No. 9), Al Jefferson (No. 15), Josh Smith (No. 17), J.R. Smith (No. 18), Jameer Nelson (No. 20) and Kevin Martin (No. 26).
The second round's only notable players were Anderson Varejao, Chris Duhon and Trevor Ariza.
Note: Here's where I admit that this list is a lot harder to put together than I thought it would be!
3. 2008
8 of 10
Looking at the 2008 class, there were three potentially great players chosen in the top five: Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love.
And aside from Joe Alexander, every other player selected in the top 10 is better than average, including Michael Beasley (No. 2), O.J. Mayo (No. 3), Danilo Gallinari (No. 6), Eric Gordon (No. 7) and Brook Lopez (No. 10).
There were also a ton of other first-round selections who've showed they can be very good players in this league down the road, from Roy Hibbert to JaVale McGee to J.J. Hickson to Nicolas Batum to George Hill.
The second round does bring this class down a bit because most of the players drafted there have turned out to be nothing more than role players or just another guy in their teams' rotations.
2. 2005
9 of 10
There are plenty of 2005 first-rounders who haven't nearly lived up to their expectations, but there are also a ton of really good players who were drafted that year.
The stars of the top 10: Andrew Bogut, Marvin Williams (not a bust, though not great), Deron Williams, Chris Paul and Andrew Bynum.
The best of the rest in the first round: Danny Granger (17th), Nate Robinson (21st) and David Lee (30th).
The second-round steals: Brandon Bass (33rd), C.J. Miles (34th), Monta Ellis (40th), Lou Williams (45th), Amir Johnson (56th) and Marcin Gortat (57th).
From my perspective, the best player on the Bucks, Jazz, Hornets, Pacers and Warriors were all drafted in 2005, which is pretty incredible.
Add to that some solid third or fourth options, and this draft class has been pretty successful.
1. 2003
10 of 10
Was there ever any doubt who would be at the top of this list?
LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh should already do the convincing.
But in 2003, also drafted were: Chris Kaman, Kirk Hinrich, David West, Boris Diaw, Kendrick Perkins, Josh Howard, Steve Blake, Keith Bogans, Mo Williams and Kyle Korver.
I mean, this draft wasn't as deep as some of the other ones, but it is the only one that had three superstars and one borderline superstar.
