Okay, so this whole 2003 NBA redraft thing. It wasn’t like some grand project I set out to do, you know? More like, I was sitting around, maybe saw something online, or had a chat with a buddy, and the topic came up. That 2003 class, man, it was something else. So, I figured, why not try to re-do it with what we know now? Just for kicks.
Getting Started with the Redraft
So, first things first, I didn’t just pull names out of a hat. I had to kinda refresh my memory. It’s been, what, over twenty years now? Time flies. I spent a bit of time looking up who was actually in that draft, not just the big names. You remember the headliners, sure, but then there are all those other guys, some good, some not so good. I wasn’t about to dig into super deep analytics or anything crazy. This was more of a gut feel, combined with, you know, remembering their careers. Who made a real impact? Who stuck around? Who just… fizzled?
I just grabbed a notepad, really. Started jotting down the names that immediately came to mind from that year. Then I went online, just to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anyone significant. I wanted to get a good pool of players before I even thought about ordering them.
The Easy Picks at the Top
Alright, let’s be real. The first few picks? Piece of cake. You don’t need to be a genius to figure this part out. LeBron James, obviously, number one. No debate there, not even a whisper. Then you’ve got Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh. Those guys were locks for the top four, in some order. For me, Wade was the clear number two. Melo and Bosh, you could argue, but they were definitely next.
It’s funny looking back, because even at the time, those guys were hyped, but seeing how their careers actually played out just solidifies it. You just slot them in and move on. It took me like, five minutes to sort out the very top. The real work started after that.
Digging into the Rest of the Lottery
Now, after those top four, things got a bit more interesting. This is where you start to think about guys who maybe weren’t superstars but had really solid, long careers. Players like David West, he definitely shot up my board. Kyle Korver, what a shooter, he had to be way higher than he was originally picked. Mo Williams, too, had some really good years.
I had to think about their peak versus how long they were good. It’s a balancing act, right? Do you take the guy with a super high peak for a few years, or the guy who was consistently good for over a decade? I leaned towards sustained production most of the time.
- Thinking about a guy like Kirk Hinrich. Solid career, tough player, always contributed. He moved up into my lottery.
- Chris Kaman, another one. An All-Star at his peak. Definitely a first-rounder in any redraft.
- And then you have players who showed flashes but maybe injuries got in the way, like T.J. Ford. Still had to consider his talent.
My method was pretty simple: I’d make a list, kinda shuffle guys around. Sometimes I’d put a guy higher, then think, “Nah, this other fella had a better overall run, or a more valuable skill.” It was a lot of back-and-forth in my head. I didn’t use spreadsheets or anything fancy, just my notepad and moving names up or down with arrows.
Dealing with the “What Ifs” and Surprises
This is also where you look at the original draft order and see the big misses. You know, the guys picked high who didn’t pan out. Darko Milicic is the prime example everyone brings up. In a redraft, he obviously plummets way, way down. It’s kinda satisfying to correct those historical blunders, in a way, even if it’s just on paper.
And then you have the opposite: the late-round gems. Guys picked in the second round, or even those who went undrafted from that era if we’re being super thorough, who carved out great careers. Finding spots for them in the first round of a redraft is part of the fun. I remember thinking about how Leandro Barbosa, originally picked late in the first, provided so much value. Zaza Pachulia, a second-rounder, had a long, impactful career. Jose Calderon wasn’t even drafted! These guys all deserved a much higher spot.
My Messy, Back-and-Forth Process
My process wasn’t scientific at all. I’d have my list of names, and then I’d start placing them. I’d think about who I’d want on my team, long-term, building around them. Sometimes I’d get stuck between two players for a certain spot. I’d just mull it over for a bit. Maybe I’d think about their biggest contributions. Was it scoring? Defense? Leadership? Being a specialist shooter like Korver?
I didn’t do it all in one sitting. That would’ve been too much. I’d work on it for a while, get a section done, then leave it. I’d come back to it the next day, or later in the week, with fresh eyes. Sometimes you see things differently after stepping away. There were a few guys I moved up and down the list multiple times. Boris Diaw was one of those I kept shifting. It wasn’t a clean operation, more like tinkering in a workshop, moving parts around until it felt about right.
Finalizing and Looking Back
Eventually, I got to a point where I had a first round, maybe pushing into the early second, that felt pretty solid. Or, right enough for me, anyway. It’s never going to be perfect, and everyone’s list will be different. That’s the beauty of these things, right? Endless debate fuel.
Looking at my final redrafted list, it was pretty cool to see how things could have shaken out if teams knew then what we know now. It’s a good reminder of how tough drafting actually is in real time. So many variables, so much uncertainty. But doing this redraft? It was a good way to kill some time and reminisce about a pretty legendary draft class. No regrets, just a fun little exercise. It makes you appreciate the guys who truly panned out and the scouts who occasionally hit a home run on a late pick or an undrafted find.
