NBA Draft: Management

As the only nutjob/diehard NBA fan left in the world, I decided to do something different with this post. The Spurs and Pistons consistently pick at the bottom of the first round, but seem to remain in contention every year, whereas teams like the Clippers and Hawks (until now) remain at the bottom of the league and in the lottery. So here is a list of teams listed backwards according to NBA.com's current Power Rankings. You will notice a pattern at talent recognition in this article and how some teams just can't scout or have an eye for talent.

I will go back as far as 2002.

30. Miami Heat- 2002- Caron Butler, Rasual Butler 2003- Dwayne Wade, Jerome Beasley 2004- Dorell Wright, Matt Freije, Pape Sow 2005- Wayne Simien 2007- Jason Smith (traded for Daequan Cook)

29. Minnesota Timberwolves- 2002- Marcus Taylor 2003- Ndubi Ebi, Rick Rickert 2004- Blake Stepp 2005- Rashad McCants 2006- Brandon Roy (traded for Randy Foye), Craig Smith, Bobby Jones, Loukas Mavrokefalidis 2007- Corey Brewer, Chris Richard

28. Seattle Sonics- 2002- Peter Fehse 2003- Nick Collison, Luke Ridnour, Willie Greene 2004-Robert Swift, Andre Emmett, David Young 2005- Johan Petro, Mickael Gelebale, Lawrence Roberts 2006- Saer Sene, Denham Brown, Yotam Halperin 2007- Kevin Durant, Carl Landry, Glen Davis (traded to Celtics) (Sonics Recieve Jeff Green from Boston for Ray Allen)

27. LA Clippers- 2002- Chris Wilcox, Melvin Ely, Mario Kasuan 2003- Chris Kaman, Sofoklis Schortsantis 2004- Shaun Livingston, Lionel Chalmers 2005- Yarolslav Korolev, Daniel Ewing 2006- Paul Davis, Guillermo Diaz 2007- Al Thornton, Jared Jordan

26. Memphis Grizzlies- 2002- Drew Gooden, Robert Archibald, Matt Barnes 2003- Marcus Banks, Kendrick Perkins 2004- Sergei Lishouk 2005- Hakim Warrick 2006- Kyle Lowry 2007- Mike Conley

25. New York Knicks- 2002- Nene (traded for Antono McDyess), Milos Vujanic 2003- Mike Sweetney, Maciej Lampe, Slavko Vranes 2004- Trevor Ariza 2005- Channing Frye, David Lee, Dijon Thompson (pick traded for Nate Robinson) 2006- Renaldo Balkman, Mardy Collins 2007- Wilson Chandler

24. Philadelphia 76ers- 2002- Jiri Welsch, Sam Clancy 2003- Paccelis Morlende 2004- Andre Iguodala 2005- Louis Williams 2006- Thabo Sefolosha (traded to Chicago) 2007- Thaddeus Young, Daequan Cook (traded for Jason Smith), Petteri Koponen (Traded to Portland), Kyrylo Fesenko

23. Milwauke Bucks- 2002- Marcus Haislip, Dan Gadzuric, Flip Murray, Chris Owens 2003- TJ Ford, Szymon Szewyck, Keith Bogans 2005- Andrew Bogut, Ersan Ilyasova 2006- David Noel 2007- Yi Jianlian, Ramon Sessions

22. Chicago Bulls- 2002- Jay Williams, Lonny Baxter, Roger Mason 2003- Kirk Hinrich, Mario Austin, Matt Bonner, Tommy Smith 2004- Ben Gordon, Jackson Vroman, Chris Duhon 2006- LaMarcus Aldridge (traded for Tyrus Thomas), Rodney Carney (traded for Thabo Sefolosha 2007- Joakim Noah, Aaron Gray, JamesOn Curry

21. Sacrament Kings- 2002- Dan Dickau, Corsley Edwards 2004- Kevin Martin, Rucky Minard 2005- Francisco Garcia 2006- Quincy Douby 2007- Spencer Hawes

20. Indiana Pacers- 2002- Fred Jones 2003- James Jones 2004- David Harrison, Rashad Wright 2005- Danny Granger, Erazem Lorbek 2006- Alex Johnson 2007- Shawne Williams

19. Charlotte Bobcats- 2004- Emeka Okafor, Bernard Robinson 2005- Raymond Felton, Sean May 2006- Adam Morrison 2007- Brandan Wright (traded for Jason Richardson), Jared Dudley

18. Atlanta Hawks- 2002- David Andersen 2003- Boris Diaw, Travis Hansen 2004- Josh Childress, Josh Smith, Donta Smith, Royal Ivey, Viktor Sanikidze 2005- Marvin Williams, Salim Stoudamire, Cenk Akyol 2006- Shelden Williams, Solomon Jones 2007- Al Horford, Acie Law IV

17. New Jersey Nets- 2002- Nenad Krstic, Tamar Slay 2003- Zoran Planinic, Kyle Korver (traded to Philadelphia) 2004- Viktor Khryapa, Christian Drejer 2005- Antoine Wright, Mile Ilic 2006- Marcus Williams, Josh Boone, Hassan Adams 2007- Sean Williams

16. Cleveland Cavaliers- 2002- DaJuan Wagner, Carlos Boozer 2003- LeBron James, Jason Kapono 2004- Luke Jackson 2006- Shannon Brown, Daniel Gibson, Ejike Ugboaja

15. Houston Rockets- 2002- Yao Ming, Bostjan Nachbar, Tito Maddox 2003- Malick Badiane 2004- Luis Flores 2005- Luther Head 2006- Rudy Gay (traded for Shane Battier), Steve Novak 2007- Aaron Brooks, Brad Newley

14. Orlando Magic- 2002- Curtis Borchardt (traded to Jazz) 2003- Reece Gaines, Zaza Pachulia 2004- Dwight Howard, Anderson Varejao, Antonio Burks 2005- Fran Vazquez, Travis Diener, Marty Andriuskevucius 2006- JJ Redick, James Augustine, Lior Eliyahu, Ryan Hollins 2007- Rayshawn Terry

13. Utah Jazz- 2002- Ryan Humphrey, Jamal Sampson 2003- Aleksander Pavlovic, Mo Williams 2004- Kris Humphries, Kirk Snyder, Pavel Podkolzine 2005- Deron Williams, CJ Miles, Robert Whaley 2006- Ronnie Brewer, Dee Brown, Paul Millsap 2007- Morris Almond

12. Toronto Raptors- 2002- Kareem Rush 2003- Chris Bosh, Remon Van de Hare 2005- Rafael Araujo, Albert Miralles 2005- Charlie Villanueva, Joey Graham, Roko Ukic, Uros Slokar 2006- Andrea Bargnani, PJ Tucker, Edin Bavcic 2007- (acquired Giorgio Prentzies from Spurs)

11. Denver Nuggets- Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Frank Williams, Vincent Yarborough 2003- Carmelo Anthony, Sani Becirovic 2004- Jameer Nelson (traded to Magic) 2005- Julius Hodge, Jarret Jack (traded to Blazers), Axel Harvelle 2006- Leon Powe

10. Golden State Warriors- 2002- Mike Dunleavy, Steve Logan 2003- Mickael Pietrus, Derrick Zimmerman 2004- Andris Biedrins 2005- Ike Diogu, Monta Ellis, Chris Taft 2006- Patrick O-Bryant, Kosta Perovic 2007- Marco Belinelli, Jermareo Davidson, Stephane Lasme

9. Washington Wizards- 2002- Jared Jeffries, Juan Dixon, Rod Grizzard, Juan Carlos Navarro 2003- Jarvis Hayes, Steve Blake 2004- Devin Harris (traded to Dallas), PJ Ramos 2005- Andray Blatche 2006- Oleksiy Pecherov, Vlad Veremeenko 2007- Nick Young, Dominic McGuire

8. New Orleans Hornets- 2003- David West, James Lang 2004- JR Smith, Tim Pickett 2005- Chris Paul, Brandon Bass, 2006 Cedric Simmons, Marcus Vinicus Vieira de Souza 2007- Julian Wright, Adam Haluska

7. Portland Trail Blazers- 2002- Qyntel Woods, Jason Jennings, Federico Kammerichs 2003- Travis Outlaw, Nedzad Sinanovic 2004- Sebastian telfair, Sergei Monya, Ha-Seung Jin 2005- Martell Webster, Linas Kleiza, Ricky Sanchez 2006- Tyrus Thomas (traded for LaMarcus Aldridge), Joel Freeland, James White (they also acquired Brandon Roy for Randy Foye) 2007- Greg Oden, Josh McRoberts, Derrick Byars, Taurean Green, Demetris Nichols

6. San Antonio Spurs- 2002- Luis Scola, Randy Holcombe 2003- Leandro Barbosa 2004- Beno Udrih, Romain Sato, Sergei Karaulov 2005- IanMahinmi 2006- Damir Karkota 2007- Tiago Splitter, Marcus Williams

5. Detroit Pistons- 2002- Tayshaun Prince 2003- Darko Millicic, Carlos Delfino,Andreas Gliniadakis 2004- Rickey Paulding 2005- Jason Maxiell, Amir Johnson, Alex Axker 2006- Will Blalock 2007- Rodney Stuckey, Aaron Afflalo, Sammy Mejia

4. Phoenix Suns- 2002- Amare Stoudemire, Casey Jacobsen 2003- Zarko Carbakapa 2004- Luol Deng (traded to Bulls) 2005- Nate Robinson (traded to Knicks), Marcin Gortat 2006- Rajon Rondo (Celtics), Sergio Rodriguez (Blazers) 2007- Rudy Fernandez (Blazers), Alando Tucker, DJ Strawberry

3. Dallas Mavericks- 2002- Mladen Sekularac 2003- Josh Howard, Xue Yuyang 2004- Vassilis Spanoulis 2006- Maurice Ager, JR Pinnock 2007- Nick Fazekas, Renaldas Seibutis, Miovan Rakovic

2. Boston Celtics- 2002- Darius Songalia 2003- Troy Bell, Dahntay Jones, Brandon Hunter 2004- Al Jefferson, Delonte West, Tony Allen, Justin Reed 2005- Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes, Orien Greene 2006- Randy Foye (traded to Blazers) 2007- Jeff Green, Gabe Pruitt

1. LA Lakers- Chris Jeffries (traded to Raptors for Kareem Rush), 2003- Brian Cook, Luke Walton 2004- Sasha Vujacic, Marcus Douthit 2005- Andrew Bynum, Ronny Turiaf, Von Wafer 2006- Jordan Farmar, Cheick Samb 2007- Javaris Crittenton, Sun Yue, Marc Gasol

IbeargRed-Shirting

688 days ago

Score 0

i think you could actually argue that every team has made good and bad decisions in the drafts, look at the celtics in 02 and 03, or lakers in 02 and 04. The key is finding your one stud (a kobe, a paul pierce a dirk, steve nash etc), striking it lucky in the draft (bynum, al jefferson, amare) and making the right trades/free agent moves to complement them. San Antonio hasn't had one draft pick play a meaningful role for them since 2002 acording to your article, but they already had their stud and had struck it lucky twice so they could add role players via free agency mainly.

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