Revisiting the 2002 NBA Draft

FanHouse fixes a decade of draft-day blunders in Revisiting the NBA Draft.

The 2002 NBA Draft is filled with what ifs. What if Jason Williams had decided not to jump on that motorcycle? What if DaJuan Wagner had been physically able to withstand the rigors of the NBA? What if NBA scouts weren't so enamored with European prospects?

This is a draft of major successes -- Amare Stoudemire, Yao Ming, Carlos Boozer -- and abject failures -- Marcus Haislip, Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Frank Williams. And the 2002 class will be best known for not being the 2003 class, perhaps the best in league history. Yao was perhaps the most mysterious No. 1 pick of all time. Few knew more than he was 7-foot-6 and from China.

And what followed Yao was a bunch of question marks, kids who left school too early and unknown international players. The result was an uneven draft that will go down more for its misses than hits.

Yao has turned into a perennial All-Star and a frontline center, but injuries have prevented him from helping Houston become an elite Western Conference team. And for that reason, the Rockets change their mind and take Stoudemire with the top pick. He is younger than Yao, made it through microfracture surgery and has a mean streak that Yao doesn't possess. It's close, but Stoudemire jumps from ninth to first.

The Chicago Bulls were frequent visitors to the lottery and were stocking young, talented players to brighten the future. Williams was supposed to be their scoring guard for the next 12 years, an All-America at Duke who graduated in three years. He was a model citizen, stellar player and mature enough to lead the rest of the baby Bulls. After a difficult rookie season, Williams appeared ready to rebound in year two, but a near-fatal motorcycle accident derailed his career and he was limited to just 75 NBA games.

Given those circumstances, the Bulls take Yao second and sticks him in the middle for the next 10 years. The Warriors, also annual lottery participants, took Mike Dunleavy Jr. with the third pick and that was a major mistake. He never fit into the Warriors' system and was eventually traded to Indiana, so Golden State makes up for this gaffe by taking Carlos Boozer, Dunleavy's Duke teammate. Questions surrounded Boozer when he left the Blue Devils as a junior regarding his toughness and size. He erased those doubts and became an Olympian.

At No. 4, the Memphis Grizzlies took Kansas forward Drew Gooden, but there was one problem with Gooden -- he never brought his offensive game to the NBA. He soon became a lunch-pail forward with limited skills. Instead, the Grizzlies take Caron Butler, who has turned into a solid all-around swingman and All-Star.

Now the lottery gets ugly. Denver owned two of the next three picks and for some reason took Tskitishvili, whose best attributes were being 6-10 and .... well, being 6-10. He couldn't shoot. He couldn't shoot the 3-pointer and he couldn't rebound.

With their second chance to make a first impression, the Nuggets take Tayshaun Prince, who slid all the way to 23 to Detroit in real life. Wagner, meanwhile, never really got a chance to show what he could do and he soon got swept under by the LeBron tidal wave. He was a forgotten man and often injured. The Cavaliers opt for Nene Hilario, who has turned into a dependable forward for Denver, despite a slew of injuries.

Denver, at No. 7, drafts Luis Scola, who had a mammoth buyout clause of his European contract and took several years to come to the NBA. But he was a value pick for San Antonio, who originally drafted him 55th overall.

The next six picks will be a source for debate because there are no dominant players left. The Clippers took Chris Wilcox, who increased his stock with a standout 2002 NCAA Tournament but never could live up to his imposing physical skills. So the Clips opt for the more productive Gooden at eighth. Since Phoenix lost Stoudemire to the top overall pick, the Suns take Dunleavy, who has turned into a solid NBA player, though not a star.

At 10, Miami then would take Nenad Krstic, one of those mystery international players who has emerged as a serviceable NBA center. He amassed good years in New Jersey. Wilcox showed flashes of being a fearsome power forward while in Seattle and he goes to Washington at 11 instead of Jared Jeffries, who never has really found a niche in the NBA.

It seemed like the Clippers had little idea who to draft at 12 so they took Melvin Ely. Yeah, he was a lottery pick. Seven years later, they reach for John Salmons who will demand a nice free-agent salary this summer.

Finally we end with the Milwaukee Bucks. They took Haislip, and if you don't know much about Marcus Haislip, don't be down on yourself. After two sub-par years at Tennessee, he broke out in his junior season with 16.7 points and 6.7 rebounds and decided he was ready for the NBA. And the Bucks agreed.

Three years later, Haislip was in Europe and those skills that attracted the Bucks never developed, making him one of the worst lottery picks of all-time. Not much talent is left here, so Milwaukee takes Florida forward Udonis Haslem.

2002

The way it was:

1) Yao Ming – Houston
2) Jason Williams – Chicago
3) Mike Dunleavy– Golden State
4) Drew Gooden – Memphis
5) Nikoloz Tskitishvili – Denver
6) DeJuan Wagner– Cleveland
7) Nene Hilario – Denver
8) Chris Wilcox – Los Angeles Clippers
9) Amare Stoudemire – Phoenix
10) Caron Butler – Miami
11) Jared Jeffries – Washington
12) Melvin Ely – Los Angeles Clippers
13) Marcus Haislip – Milwaukee

The way it should have been:

1) Amare Stoudemire – Houston
2) Yao Ming – Chicago
3) Carlos Boozer– Golden State
4) Caron Butler – Memphis
5) Tayshaun Prince – Denver
6) Nene Hilario – Cleveland
7) Luis Scola – Denver
8) Drew Gooden– Los Angeles Clippers
9) Mike Dunleavy – Phoenix
10) Nenad Krstic – Miami
11) Chris Wilcox– Washington
12) John Salmons – Los Angeles Clippers
13) Udonis Haslem – Milwaukee