Streeter Lecka/Getty ImagesBack in the summer of 2007, the first year I started writing for Bleacher Report, I decided to do a series of draft recaps examining each draft class after three years in the NBA. I thought three years gave players enough time to develop and gave coaches enough time to best use the players properly. The first draft class was the Dwight Howard class of 2004. I wrote the piece, submitted it to Ryan Alberti (articles weren published automatically until later that year), and afterwards thought, what about foreign players who wouldn play Reebok Green Bay Packers 21 Charles Woodson Realtree camo Jersey
in the United States for a few years? What about players who needed more time to develop? What about players who burst on the scene but turned out to be mere flashes in the pan? It was only fair for me to update the reviews. I decided that three, five, and ten year intervals would be the best chance to accurately judge a draft class. This put me on schedule to update the 2004 class this summer. Except that it inexplicably escaped my mind. Until today. While a draft review is a little bit out of place in the middle of January, it best not to hold this off for too long. It already six months late as is. I will keep the language, lists, and rankings for the three-year review as is, adding current player and pick criticisms below the 2007 ones. The 2007 review will be in italics, while the current review will have a regular font. As always, debate is encouraged. Enjoy! Most analysts agree that a draft can only be accurately judged three years down the road. That gives enough time for the players to develop their game and adjust to the league, while giving managers, coaches, and fans the chance to see what a player can do, what he can do, and what role he can serve on his team. With that as an introduction, I present my analysis of the 2004 Draft. Overall the 2004 draft was nowhere near as superstar-laden as the LeBron, Carmelo, D-Wade draft of '03. Sure, the '04 draft had a number of talented players at the top, but it had little depth, only a few All-Stars, and unless you count Dwight Howard, no real franchise players. Instead, the draft featured a substantial amount of bizarre, irrelevant trades. For example, the 42nd pick was traded three times through four different teams over a four year period for such legendary icons as Anthony Johnson, Yuri Welsch, and Monty Williams. The player selected with the pick was the immortal Viktor Sanikidze, who may or may never play a minute in the NBA. Perplexed? Welcome to the 2004 draft. To give context of how each player turned out in relation to what number he was drafted, Ive created a list of the top five players at each position and the top ten players overall based on impact on their team(s) to date, talent, and player potential, based in that order. And because of the inordinate number of trades, teams will be graded not only on their draft selections but the trades made that season involving the picks. Top Five Centers (2007) 1) Dwight Howard 2) Emeka Okafor 3) Andres Biedrins 4) Robert Swift 5) Rafael Araujo Top Five Centers (2010) 1) Dwight Howard 2) Al Jefferson 3) Emeka Okafor 4) Andris Biedrins 5) Robert Swift Top Three Power Forwards (2007) * (Only three power forwards from the draft have significant NBA experience) 1) Al Jefferson 2) Anderson Varejao 3) Kris Humphries Top Three Power Forwards (2010) * (Only three power forwards from the draft have significant NBA experience) 1) Josh Smith 2) Anderson Varejao 3) Kris Humphries Top Five Small Forwards (2007) 1) Luol Deng 2) Andre Iguodala 3) Josh Smith 4) Reebok Minnesota Vikings #84 Randy Moss Realtree camo Jersey
Trevor Ariza 5) Dorell Wright Top Five Small Forwards (2010) 1) Andre Iguodala 2) Luol Deng 3) Trevor Ariza 4) Dorell Wright 5) Josh Childress Top Five Shooting Guards (2007) 1) Ben Gordon 2) Kevin Martin 3) Tony Allen 4) Josh Childress 5) Kirk Snyder Top Five Shooting Guards (2010) 1) J.R. Smith 2) Ben Gordon 3) Delonte West 4) Kevin Martin 5) Tony Allen Top Five Point Guards (2007) 1) Devin Harris 2) Jameer Nelson 3) Shaun Livingston 4) Delonte West 5) Chris Duhon Top Five Point Guards (2010) 1) Devin Harris 2) Jameer Nelson 3) Chris Duhon 4) Beno Udrih 5) Royal Ivey Top 10 Overall Players (2007) 1) Dwight Howard 2) Emeka Okafor 3) Luol Deng 4) Ben Gordon 5) Andre Iguodala 6) Josh Smith 7) Devin Harris 8) Al Jefferson 9) Kevin Martin 10) Jameer Nelson Top 10 Overall Players (2010) 1) Dwight Howard 2) Al Jefferson 3) Andre Iguodala 4) Josh Smith 5) Anderson Varejao 6) J.R. Smith 7) Devin Harris 8) Ben Gordon 9) Delonte West 10) Emeka Okafor 2004 NBA Draft table courtesy of Wikipedia * Order of team grades will be determined by which teams had the earliest remaining pick. Grades will take into account players drafted and picks traded. A number in parenthesis indicates the number of the pick. A player in parenthesis indicates what player a traded pick turned into.* Orlando Magic Picks involved in: (1) Drafted Dwight Howard. (20) Traded their No. 20 pick in 2005 (Julius Hodge) to Denver for the rights to Jameer Nelson. (30) Drafted Anderson Varejao, then traded the rights to Varejao, Drew Gooden, and Steven Hunter to Cleveland for Tony Battie, the No. 44 pick in 2005 (Martynas Andriuskevicius), and the No. 54 pick in 2007 (Wound up in Houston as Brad Newley). (36) Phoenix traded this pick to Orlando for Donnell Harvey. Orlando then drafted Antonio Burks and sold his rights to Memphis for cash.Players received: Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, Tony Battie, Martynas Andriuskevicius Players lost: Julius Hodge, Anderson Varejao, Drew Gooden, Steven Hunter, Donell Harvey, Antonio Burks 2007 Review: Despite being very ragged defensively and raw offensively, Howard is a rebounding monster with explosive offensive skills and shot swatting capabilities. With a competent head coach in Stan Van Gundy replacing the inept Brian Hill, Howard offensive arsenal and basketball IQ should blossom. Howard is the best player in the draft and the pick would get an A if not for the fact that it was such an obvious decision to draft Howard. Jameer Nelson is a tweener. Not quite a point guard, not quite a two guard, he best suited to being a third guard in a rotation. Still, he a decent point maker, especially against opponents backups, and he much better than what would have become Julius Hodge, who has been riddled by injuries and awful luck in his brief NBA career. The Varejao trade was an awful one. Tony Battie is a respectable backup, but Andriuskevicius is no longer on the team and No. 54 picks don generally Reebok Pittsburg Steelers #83 Heath Miller Realtree camo Jersey
last in the NBA. Drew Gooden has developed into a poor defender and decision maker, but is a decent scorer from the high post and will battle on the boards. When the refs are letting Varejao flop and hack, he one of the better defenders in the league (when the refs aren, Varejao ends up plagued with fouls), and his energy and rebounding are exceptional. Steven Hunter is a blocks-per-minute machine. With Howard operating in the low post, wouldn Gooden be a nice fixture at the high post? Is Varejao worse than Tony Battie? Wouldn Steven Hunter be a better roster spot than a 54th pick or some European project who was abandoned within the month? The Antonio Burks trade opened up a roster spot and some cap room for the team. Orlando was one of the most active teams in the draft. Dwight Howard is the best player in the draft and I have Jameer Nelson pegged as the second best point guard in the draft. Those were excellent picks. Clearing up roster space and cap room instead of being tied up to a scrub was also a nice play. The Varejao trade is every bit as bad as the Nelson trade was good. 2007 Grade: B 2010 Review: Dwight Howard evolved into the best center in the game, yet alone the best player from the 2004 draft. There were some questions after the draft as to whether Emeka Okafor wouldve been the better pick, but Howard has taken those questions and dunked all over them. Essentially trading Julius Hodge for Jameer Nelson was an outstanding decision. After struggling with his role for the better part of four seasons, Nelson is now the unquestioned point guard for the Magic, who provides toughness and clutch shooting to one of the best teams in the East. Hodge struggled with injuries, a lack of talent, bad fortune, and is now out of the league. The Anderson Varejao trade looks just as awful now as it did in 2007. Martynas Andriuskevicius isn an NBA player, Tony Battie was an inconsequential backup, and the Magic draft pick wasn used on a player worthy of an NBA roster. In effect, the Magic gave up Drew Gooden, a useful NBA journeyman whose shooting wouldve fit well in Orlando spread offense, Varejao, who has evolved into one of the NBA elite role players, and Steven Hunter, a player better than Andriuskevicius. In fairness though, Varejao may not have fit into Orlando offense because he isn a terrific shooter, Gooden has always been inconsistent, and Hunter is a career backup. Drafting and trading Burks opened up some cap space and a roster spot. The Magic deserve credit for Dwight Howard, but he was the first overall pick and a fairly obvious selection. The Varejao trade was a horrible decision, but acquiring Nelson for nothing limits that blow. Due to Howard turning into a superstar, Nelson elevated play, and the questions as to whether Varejao could succeed on a team like Orlando, the pluses far outweigh the minuses. 2010 Grade: A- Charlotte Bobcats (2) Traded their No. 4 pick (Shaun Livingston) and No. 33 pick (Lionel Chalmers) to the L.A. Clippers for the No. Arizona Cardinals jersey
2 pick (Emeka Okafor). Charlotte also agreed to select Predrag Drobnjak from the Clippers in the Expansion Draft. (45) Milwaukee traded the No. 45 pick (Bernard Robinson) to Charlotte for Zaza Pachulia. Players received: Emeka Okafor, Predrag Drobnjak, Bernard Robinson Players lost: Shaun Livingston, Lionel Chalmers, Zaza Pachulia 2007 Review: Drobnjak and Chalmers have had inconsequential careers. Zaza Pachulia is a decent backup center, while Robinson still hasnt found a niche in the NBA. The big move was essentially deciding on Okafor over Livingston. While both have been stricken with injuries, Okafor are chronic while Livingston are career-threatening. Also, when Livingston was healthy, he never showed the ability to grasp the nuances of being an NBA point guard. In fact, Livingston best attribute was using his insane wingspan to swallow up opposing point guards trying to get around him. Okafor, however, has shown the ability to be one of the best defensive centers in the league. His raw offensive game has also improved as he now shoots over 50 percent from the field. If not for Howard, Okafor would easily be the best player in the draft. That gets the Bobcats an A. 2007 Grade: A 2010 Review: Drobnjak and Chalmers left no mark on the NBA, while the Bobcats lose points for swapping Pachulia, a respectable backup center, for Robinson, who is now out of the league. Trading up from Livingston to Okafor was a wise move in hindsight, as Livingston hasnt been the same since a horrendous knee injury, but did the Bobcats choose the best player available?Okafor hasn improved much since his initial seasons, has serious questions about his love of basketball, is only a marginal offensive player, and isn the defensive standout he was expected to be. While he looked great two years ago, the rest of the draft class has caught up. Instead of Okafor, the Bobcats could have had Ben Gordon, a scorer with range that the Bobcats have desperately lacked, or Al Jefferson, an authentic post scorer. Okafor an example of a player who looks less and less impressive the more he plays. 2010 Grade: B- Chicago Bulls (3) Drafted Ben Gordon. (7) Phoenix traded the No. 7 pick (Luol Deng) to Chicago for the No. 31 pick (Jackson Vroman), cash, and a future pick. (38) Toronto traded the No. 38 pick to Chicago in 2003 for the rights to Matt Bonner. Chicago drafted Chris Duhon with the No. 38 pick. Players received: Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Chris Duhon Players lost: Jackson Vroman, Matt Bonner 2007 Review: Easily the team that did the best during the draft. Chicago drafted Ben Gordon and stole Luol Deng. Those players are the third and fourth best players in the draft, and are two of the best young scorers in the NBA. In tandem, they are up there as one of the most dynamic wing combinations in the entire league. Matt Bonner is a useful shooter and a fan favorite wherever he goes, but Chris Duhon is one of the better backup point guards in the league. Chicago got the better end of that deal and pretty much built the core of their team with the '04 draft. 2007 Grade: A+ 2010 Review: The 2004 draft looked great for the Bulls in 2007 and it looks great today. Deng and Gordon take hits, as the former has never expanded his range to the Atlanta Falcons jersey
three-point line and is only average athletically, while the latter is a mediocre finisher who takes plays off defensively. Either way, only the Bulls wound up with two of the top 11 players in the draft. Add in Chris Duhon, a capable starter/excellent backup currently spearheading the Knicks, and the Bulls get all A for the draft. 2010 Grade: A+ Los Angeles Clippers (4) Traded the No. 2 pick (Emeka Okafor) to Charlotte for the No. 4 pick (Shaun Livingston) and the No. 33 pick (Lionel Chalmers). Stipulated that Charlotte select Predrag Drobnjak in the Expansion Draft. (35) Traded the No. 35 pick (Andre Emmett) to Seattle for Predrag Drobnjak. Players received: Shaun Livingston, Lionel Chalmers Players lost: Emeka Okafor, Andre Emmett, Predrag Drobnjak. 2007 Review: The Okafor trade looks much worse in hindsight than it did at the time. The Clippers figured that with Elton Brand, Chris Kaman, and Chris Wilcox, they wouldn have room for another big man and looked to pick up their point guard of the future. Unfortunately, Kaman is unreliable, Wilcox never developed and was shipped out, and only Brand produces at a consistent clip. Shaun Livingston, meanwhile, never developed his offense and IQ to a point where he could pass Sam Cassell on the depth chart. After his gruesome knee energy, Livingston may never regain the quickness, speed, and agility to be the superstar many predicted he would become. 2007 Grade: C- 2010 Review: Shaun Livingston never developed his basketball IQ to the point where he could run the Clippers show, then blew out his knee. After the injury, Livingston hasn been able to crack a rotation. Okafor looks less and less impressive as time passes, but hed still have been a much better pick than Livingston.The selection is mitigated somewhat by the fact that the Clippers were stocked in their frontcourt at the time and are stocked in the frontcourt today. Plus, they couldn predict Livingston freak injury. Nonetheless, it doubtful Livingston would have had the career of some of Baltimore Ravens jersey
the players picked below him. 2010 Grade: D+ Washington Wizards (5) Drafted Devin Harris. Then traded the rights to Harris, Christian Laettner, and Jerry Stackhouse to Dallas for Antawn Jamison. (32) Drafted Peter John Ramos. Players Received: Antawn Jamison, Peter John Ramos Players Lost: Devin Harris, Christian Laettner, Jerry Stackhouse 2007 Review: The Jamison trade was one of those rare trades that benefited both teams involved.
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