The 2005 NBA Draft lottery was the type of lottery that lottery lovers love, and lottery haters hate. Spots 13 through 7 went chalk, but none — not one — of the top six teams picked where they were scheduled to.
No team benefited more from the madness than the Bucks, who were in sixth position but won the rights to the top pick and a shot at Andrew Bogut. The team slated for the first pick, the Hawks, were bumped back to 2 and grabbed Marvin Williams, which isn’t as bad a pick as it sounds.
Of course, in the real-life iteration, only one pick really mattered. That was the fourth pick, where the Hornets, holders of the second slot in the lottery, grabbed Chris Paul. He’s not the only All-Star in this draft, but he’s probably the only Hall of Famer, and he will become easily the biggest difference-maker.
That means he won’t last until the fourth pick; he’s going first. So who had the sixth-worst record (and won rights to the top pick)? The Blazers! It’s going to be exciting for the city of Portland to see Chris Paul play, maybe even turning around the entire franc — wait, sorry? They traded away this pick already? They got something good, right? Three first round picks, eh? That’s not bad, who did they pick? Joel Freeland, Jarrett Jack and Martell Webster, you say? Hm, well, maybe they can do better this time around? They’re losing CP3, so I hope to God they do.
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Back on track!
The trades mean the Jazz will pick first. The second pick belongs to the team with the worst record. That’ll be the Bobcats, who might have chance to form a dynamic 1-2 with someone next to Dwight Howard. After that, it’s the Bucks, Trail Blazers (acquired in that pick swap with the Jazz), Hawks and Raptors.
It’s a high bar to clear for the defending champs to lose someone better than Chris Paul. And the Nuggets can’t offer anyone that good; in fact, even protected Amar’e Stoudemire wouldn’t pay as a replacement pick for CP3. The Nuggets actually left unprotected Shaq, who’s got some wins left in him, but Paul has lots and lots more.
As always, remember which picks are going to be traded!
- The Suns packaged their original first rounder (Nate Robinson) with Quentin Richardson and sent them to the Knicks for a second-rounder and Kurt Thomas.
- The Blazers sent their second first-rounder (Linas Kleiza) and a second-rounder (Ricky Sanchez) to the Nuggets for their first-rounder (Jarrett Jack).
- Notable only because of who the original pick was, the Magic took Marcin Gortat at No. 57 and sent him to the Suns in exchange for cash. That’s back-to-back very good centers drafted by Orlando and traded (add Gortat to Anderson Varejao last year).
Re-Draft Results:
TEAM: New Pick (Original Pick)
Round 1
- Utah Jazz: PG Chris Paul, Wake Forest (PG Deron Williams, Illinois)
- Charlotte Bobcats: Deron Williams (PG Raymond Felton, North Carolina)
- Milwaukee Bucks: PF David Lee, Florida (C Andrew Bogut, Utah)
- Portland Trail Blazers: C Marcin Gortat, Poland (SF Martell Webster, high school)
- Atlanta Hawks: PF Marvin Williams, North Carolina (Marvin Williams!)
- Toronto Raptors: PF Amir Johnson, high school (PF Charlie Villanueva, UConn)
- New York Knicks: Andrew Bogut (PF Channing Frye, Arizona)
- Orlando Magic: SF Danny Granger, New Mexico (PF Fran Vazquez, Spain)
- New Orleans Hornets: PG Lou Williams, high school (Chris Paul)
- Charlotte Bobcats: PF Brandon Bass, LSU (PF Sean May, North Carolina)
- San Antonio Spurs: SG Monta Ellis, high school (C Ian Mahinmi, France)
- Memphis Grizzlies: PF Ersan Ilyasova, Turkey (PF Hakim Warrick, Syracuse)
- Minnesota Timberwolves: C Andrew Bynum, high school (SG Rashad McCants, North Carolina)
- Sacramento Kings: Raymond Felton (SG Francisco Garcia, Louisville)
- Toronto Raptors: Channing Frye (SF Joey Graham, Oklahoma State)
- Boston Celtics: SG Jarrett Jack, Georgia Tech (SG Gerald Green, high school)
- Denver Nuggets: PF Chuck Hayes, Purdue (SF Julius Hodge, North Carolina State)
- Los Angeles Clippers: PG Nate Robinson, Washington (PF Yaroslav Korolev, Russia)
- New York Knicks: SF C.J. Miles, high school (David Lee)
- Indiana Pacers: Martell Webster (Danny Granger)
- New Jersey Nets: Charlie Villanueva (SG Antoine Wright, Texas A&M)
- Phoenix Suns: Ian Mahinmi (Nate Robinson)
- Portland Trail Blazers: Hakim Warrick (SF Linas Kleiza, Missouri)
- Los Angeles Lakers: PF Jason Maxiell, Cincinnati (Andrew Bynum)
- Detroit Pistons: SF Ryan Gomes, Providence (Jason Maxiell)
- Seattle SuperSonics: C Ronny Turiaf, Gonzaga (C Johan Petro, France)
- Golden State Warriors: PF Andray Blatche, high school (PF Ike Diogu, Arizona State)
- Houston Rockets: Francisco Garcia (SG Luther Head, Illinois)
- Miami Heat: Luther Head (PF Wayne Simien, Kansas)
- Denver Nuggets: Gerald Green (Jarrett Jack)
Round 2
- LAC: Linas Kleiza (PG Daniel Ewing, Duke)
- UTA: SF Kelenna Azubuike, Kentucky (C.J. Miles)
- ATL: Joey Graham (PG Salim Stoudamire, Arizona)
- MIL: SG Alan Anderson, Michigan State (Ersan Ilyasova)
- ORL: SG Will Bynum, Georgia Tech (PG Travis Diener, Marquette)
- POR: Ike Diogu (PF Ricky Sanchez, Spain)
- LAL: Travis Diener (Ronny Turiaf)
- TOR: Johan Petro (SG Roko Ukic, Croatia)
- NOH: Rashad McCants (Brandon Bass)
- ORL: PG John Lucas III, Oklahoma State (C Marynas Andriuskevicius, Lithuania)
- ATL: SG Von Wafer, Florida State (G Cenk Aykol, Turkey)
- SEA: Antoine Wright (SF Mickael Gelabale, France)
- MIN: Mickael Gelabale (SG Bracey Wright, Indiana)
- BOS: Sean May (Ryan Gomes)
- PHI: C Lawrence Roberts, Mississippi State (Lou Williams)
- BOS: Salim Stoudamire (SG Orien Greene, Louisiana Lafayette)
- WAS: PF Shavlik Randolph, Duke (Andray Blatche)
- GSW: SF Stephen Graham, Oklahoma State (Monta Ellis)
- DET: Wayne Simien (Amir Johnson)
- IND: Daniel Ewing (F Erazem Lorbek, Slovenia)
- NJN: PF Chris Taft, Pittsburgh (C Mile Ilic, Serbia)
- UTA: Bracey Wright (C Robert Whaley, Walsh)
- PHX: SG Dijon Thompson, UCLA (Marcin Gortat)
- LAL: PG Andre Owens, Houston (Von Wafer)
- DET: C Uros Slokar, Slovenia (G Alex Acker, Pepperdine)
- SEA: Julius Hodge (Lawrence Roberts)
- GSW: Marynas Andriuskevicius (Chris Taft)
- NYK: Robert Whaley (Dijon Thompson)
- TOR: Yaroslav Korolev (Uros Slokar)
- DEN: PF Randolph Morris, Kentucky (F Axel Hervelle, Belgium)
Biggest winner: Toronto Raptors
There were lots of bad picks to correct in 2005.
I do think the Jazz are a big winner here, but going from the second-best player to the best, even if it’s from Deron Williams to Chris Paul, isn’t all that big of a jump. The real gap between Paul and Williams won’t happen for close to a decade, and by that time Williams’s rights will be long gone from Utah.
That said, I love what Toronto has turned this draft into. They originally went out and got Villanueva and Joey Graham, players 21 and 33, with picks 7 and 16. That’s not awful value, but it’s not good. By instead grabbing Amir Johnson and Channing Frye, the Raps get much better. And turning Roko Ukic and Uros Slokar into Johan Petro and Yaroslav Korolev is a pretty good second-round outcome, as well.
Speaking of Korolev, honorable mention has to point out the Clippers, who took Korolev at 12 and pulled off one of the worst first-round picks. Anyone is an upgrade there, including Nate Robinson.
The Magic also merit consideration, having swapped Fran Vazquez for Danny Granger and later getting Will Bynum instead of Travis Diener, but they will lose out on Marcin Gortat, the 57th pick they acquired from Phoenix. I’m also a fan of Wolves getting Andrew Bynum instead of Rashad McCants, and of the Bobcats turning Ray Felton and Sean May into Deron Williams and Brandon Bass.
Biggest loser: Los Angeles Lakers
As I just mentioned, the Suns only avoid this dishonor because they traded Gortat to Orlando. The Magic drafted Fran Vazquez in the real-life draft and instead get Danny Granger, a different top-10 guy in this class, so they’re not complete losers.
The Lakers, though, improved so much last year that they picked 14 slots later, and unfortunately for them, they made a good pick the first time around. Swapping Andrew Bynum for Jason Maxiell isn’t catastrophic, but it will harm a couple of LA teams down the road.
I think you’ve also got to look at the Warriors in this category, who lose Monta Ellis in the second round and end up with Stephen Graham. Luckily they made a semi-positive move in round one, losing Ike Diogu and picking up Andray Blatche.
Three other round-two steals that are no more: the Pistons took Amir Johnson at 56, a pick that’s now Wayne Simien. And the Sixers grabbed Lou Williams at 45 and will now get Lawrence Roberts instead. Something tells me he won’t blossom into a Sixth Man of the Year type. The Bucks also grabbed Ersan Ilyasova at 36, a pick that instead is Alan Anderson, a journeyman who originally went undrafted.