Revisiting the 2004 NBA Draft

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

The 2004 NBA Draft marked the biggest influx of high school entries in league history, which resulted in a series of busts, unexpected gems and troublesome stories. Five years ago, the Orlando Magic agonized over the No. 1 pick with high school product Dwight Howard competing with UConn's Emeka Okafor over Orlando's affections. Howard was a rather unknown entity with an amazing body while Okafor just led the Huskies to the NCAA title and had established himself as the most dominant force in college basketball.

Whomever the Magic passed up would land in the lap of a new NBA team, the Charlotte Bobcats. Those two players appeared to be the only sure things in this draft. It was littered with early entries, unproven players and talented youngsters who might have bolted college a year too early. And making decisions more difficult was a slew of high school players who were years away from making an impact.

So many teams made mistakes while others landed standout players. What the 2004 NBA Draft taught general managers is that they needed to improve in their scouting of high school players because they would become a major factor in the next few years.

The Magic obviously made the right choice in Dwight Howard, a three-time All-Star who led the Magic to the NBA Finals in his fifth year. So Orlando would take Howard again first, leaving Charlotte with Okafor. It's not that Okafor has been a questionable choice, but he hasn't made the expected impact. The Bobcats have yet to make the postseason and Okafor is still waiting for his first All-Star appearance.

Okafor entered the league with limited offensive skills that still haven't completely developed. But he is a standout defensive center, which is why Charlotte would draft him again over "Big" Al Jefferson, who catapults from 15th to third with Chicago. Jefferson was one of those prep to pros kids, passing on Mississippi State to enter the draft and became a tireless worker and imposing post presence. If the Bulls had to do it over again, they'd take Jefferson because of his consistency and youth. Ben Gordon is a solid player but can be one dimensional at times. He has served as more of a complement than superstar.

The Clippers at No. 4 took prep guard Shaun Livingston, who was supposed to be the millennium point because he was 6-foot-7 with instinctive skills. All he needed was more physical development. But that never happened. Livingston was injury prone throughout his first three seasons before a devastating knee injury derailed his career, and now he's been relegated to a backup. The Clippers did not renew his contract and now he's trying to resuscitate his career with Oklahoma City.

So the Clippers take Andre Iguodala from Arizona, a freakish athlete and skilled scorer. He has missed just six games in his career. Washington is next, and the Wizards took Devin Harris before trading him to Dallas for Antawn Jamison. Instead, the Wiz will select Western Carolina guard Kevin Martin, an unorthodox player who has developed into a high scorer for Sacramento.

Atlanta took Josh Childress, who turned into a standout defensive player but not worthy of the sixth pick. Now he's in Greece, so the Hawks really never got their money's worth out of the pick. So the Hawks opt for Gordon, who becomes a star in Atlanta without the major pressure of playing in Chicago. The Suns followed by taking Luol Deng and traded the pick to the Bulls. Phoenix stays pat and takes the former Duke standout seventh.

Toronto might as well have slept in on draft night because Rafael Araujo was one of the worst picks in lottery history. He was a big man with limited skills but apparently an NBA body. He averaged 2.8 points in 139 games. So the Raptors snatch Harris and have their point guard of the future.

The Sixers don't have a chance for Iguodala so they take the next best athlete in Josh Smith, another high school standout who didn't make great impressions during his interviews, but has turned out to be a staunch defender and shot blocker. For some reason, Cleveland followed the LeBron James pick with Luke Jackson but his game never translated to the NBA. So Cleveland sticks with the more proven Jameer Nelson, who fell to 20th to Denver.

Golden State selected Andris Biedrins 11th; his contributions to the Warriors have been overshadowed because they are on the West Coast, but it was a darn good pick. At age 22, he averaged a double-double last season and he is steadily improving offensively.

The Seattle SuperSonics opted for Robert Swift with the 12th pick, yet another high school product who was hidden by agent Arn Tellem. Swift didn't work out for any teams and apparently had a promise at 15 from Danny Ainge in Boston. So the Sonics passed on Jefferson, Josh and J.R. Smith and Kevin Martin. In hindsight, they take defensive-minded Childress to make up for the gaffe.

The Trail Blazers took overhyped Sebastian Telfair, and it was a failure from the start. He wasn't ready for the NBA and they got little for their investment. So Portland takes UCLA freshman Trevor Ariza and allows him to improve along with its other young players. Can you imagine Ariza teaming with the current Blazers core?

And finally Utah makes up for taking Kris Humphries by nabbing Delonte West, whose defensive skills blend in better with Jerry Sloan's system. The Jazz could have taken J.R. Smith but his off-court troubles keep him out of the lottery.

2004

The way it was:

1) Dwight Howard – Orlando
2) Emeka Okafor – Charlotte
3) Ben Gordon – Chicago
4) Shaun Livingston – Los Angeles Clippers
5) Devin Harris – Washington
6) Josh Childress– Atlanta
7) Luol Deng – Phoenix
8) Rafael Araujo – Toronto
9) Andre Iguodala – Philadelphia
10) Luke Jackson – Cleveland
11) Andris Biedrins – Golden State
12) Robert Swift – Seattle
13) Sebastian Telfair – Portland
14) Kris Humphries – Utah

The way it should have been:

1) Dwight Howard – Orlando
2) Emeka Okafor – Charlotte
3) Al Jefferson – Chicago
4) Andre Iguodala – Los Angeles Clippers
5) Kevin Martin – Washington
6) Ben Gordon – Atlanta
7) Luol Deng – Phoenix
8) Devin Harris – Toronto
9) Josh Smith – Philadelphia
10) Jameer Nelson – Cleveland
11) Andris Biedrins – Golden State
12) Josh Childress – Seattle
13) Trevor Ariza – Portland
14) Delonte West – Utah