Was 1996's NBA Draft the Best Ever?

[District303aPastPlayer]

Round 1
Pick Team Player College
1. Philadelphia 76ers-- Allen Iverson --Georgetown University
2. Toronto Raptors -- Marcus Camby --University of Massachusetts
3. Vancouver Grizzlies --Shareef Abdur-Rahim -- University of California
4. Milwaukee Bucks --Stephon Marbury -- Georgia Institute of Technology
5. Minnesota Timberwolves -- Ray Allen -- University of Connecticut
6. Boston Celtics -- Antoine Walker -- University of Kentucky
7. Los Angeles Clippers-- Lorenzen Wright -- University of Memphis
8. New Jersey Nets -- Kerry Kittles -- Villanova University
9. Dallas Mavericks -- Samaki Walker -- University of Louisville
10. Indiana Pacers -- Erick Dampier -- Mississippi State University
11. Golden State Warriors -- Todd Fuller -- North Carolina State University
12. Cleveland Cavaliers -- Vitaly Potapenko -- Wright State University
13. Charlotte Hornets -- Kobe Bryant
14. Sacramento Kings -- Peja Stojakovic
15. Phoenix Suns -- Steve Nash -- Santa Clara University (WCC School)
16. Charlotte Hornets -- Tony Delk -- University of Kentucky
17. Portland Trail Blazers -- Jermaine ONeal
18. New York Knickerbockers -- John Wallace -- Syracuse University
19. New York Knickerbockers -- Walter McCarty -- University of Kentucky
20. Cleveland Cavaliers--Zydrunas Ilgauskas
21. New York Knickerbockers -- Dontae Jones -- Mississippi State University
22. Vancouver Grizzlies -- Roy Rogers -- University of Alabama
23. Denver Nuggets -- Efthimis Rentzias
24. Los Angeles Lakers -- Derek Fisher -- University of Arkansas at Little Rock
25. Utah Jazz -- Martin Muursepp
26. Detroit Pistons -- Jerome Williams -- Georgetown University
27. Orlando Magic -- Brian Evans -- Indiana University
28. Atlanta Hawks -- Priest Lauderdale -- Central State University
29. Chicago Bulls -- Travis Knight -- University of Connecticut

[District303aPastPlayer]

round 2 had moochie norris, othella harrington, and malik rose among the fold

(draft, rounds 1 and 2 (http://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_1996.html))

[SintonFan]

I'd take the draft class with Duncan 1st.
.
lol 1996 looks like the best "thug" class ever.:devil:

[District303aPastPlayer]

1 San Antonio Tim Duncan, Wake Forest C
2 a-Philadelphia Keith Van Horn, Utah F
3 Boston CHAUNCEY BILLUPS, Colorado G
4 Vancouver Antonio Daniels, Bowling Green G
5 Denver TONY BATTIE, Texas Tech C
6 b-Boston RON MERCER, Kentucky G/F
7 a-New Jersey TIM THOMAS, Villanova F
8 Golden St. ADONAL FOYLE, Colgate C
9 Toronto TRACY McGRADY, Mt. Zion Acad. (HS) F
10 c-Milwaukee DANNY FORTSON, Cincinnati F
11 Sacramento OLIVIER SAINT-JEAN, San Jose St. F
12 Indiana Austin Croshere, Providence F
13 Cleveland Derek Anderson, Kentucky G
14 LA Clippers MAURICE TAYLOR, Michigan F
15 d-Dallas Kelvin Cato, Iowa St. C
16 e-Cleveland Brevin Knight, Stanford G
17 Orlando Johnny Taylor, Tenn-Chattanooga F
18 Portland Chris Anstey, SE Melbourne Magic C
19 Detroit Scot Pollard, Kansas C
20 f-Minnesota Paul Grant, Wisconsin C
21 a-New Jersey Anthony Parker, Bradley G
22 Atlanta Ed Gray, California G
23 g-Seattle Bobby Jackson, Minnesota G
24 Houston Rodrick Rhodes, USC G/F
25 New York John Thomas, Minnesota F
26 Miami Charles Smith, New Mexico G
27 Utah Jacque Vaughn, Kansas G
28 Chicago Keith Booth, Maryland F
30 h-Houston Serge Zwikker, North Carolina C
31 i-Miami MARK SANFORD, Washington F
32 j-Detroit Charles O'Bannon, UCLA F
33 Denver JAMES COTTON, Long Beach St. G
34 Philadelphia Marko Milic, Smelt Olimpija F
35 Dallas Bubba Wells, Austin Peay F
36 k-Philadelphia Kebu Stewart, CS-Bakersfield F
37 l-Philadelphia James Collins, Florida St. G
38 Golden St. MARC JACKSON, Temple C
39 Milwaukee Jerald Honeycutt, Tulane F
40 Sacramento Anthony Johnson, Coll. of Charleston G
41 m-Seattle Ed Elisma, Georgia Tech F
42 n-Denver Jason Lawson, Villanova C
43 Phoenix STEPHEN JACKSON, Butler County CC F
44 Minnesota GORDON MALONE, West Virginia C
45 Cleveland Cedric Henderson, Memphis F
46 Washington GOD SHAMMGOD, Providence G
47 n-Orlando Eric Washington, Alabama G
48 Portland Alvin Williams, Villanova G
49 o-Washington Predrag Drobnjak, Partizan C
50 p-Atlanta Alain Digbeu, Villeurbanne (France) G
51 Atlanta Chris Crawford, Marquette F
52 LA Lakers DeJuan Wheat, Louisville G
53 q-Vancouver CJ BRUTON, Indian Hills JC G
54 r-LA Lakers PAUL ROGERS, Gonzaga C
55 Seattle MARK BLOUNT, Pittsburgh C
56 s-Boston Ben Pepper, Newcastle Falcons (NBL) C
57 Utah Nate Erdmann, Oklahoma G
58 Chicago Roberto Duenas, FC Barcelona (Spain) C

Acquired Picks
FIRST ROUND: a-Philadelphia traded the rights to F Keith Van Horn and F Don MacLean, F/C Michael Cage and G Lucious Harris to New Jersey for the rights to F Tim Thomas, G Anthony Parker (pick from LA Lakers), G Jim Jackson and C Eric Montross; b-from Dallas; c-Milwaukee traded F Johnny Newman, F/C Joe Wolf and the rights to F Danny Fortson to Denver for C Ervin Johnson; d-Dallas traded the rights to C Kelvin Cato (pick from Minnesota) to Portland for the rights to C Chris Anstey and an undisclosed amount of cash; e-from Phoenix; f- from Portland via Charlotte; g-Seattle traded the rights to G Bobby Jackson to Denver for the rights to G James Cotton and a 1998 second-round draft pick.
SECOND ROUND: h-from Vancouver; i-from Boston; j-from San Antonio; k-from New Jersey; l-Philadelphia traded Collins (pick from Toronto) to LA Clippers for 1998 second-round pick; m-from LA Clippers; n-Denver traded Lawson (pick from Indiana) to Orlando for rights to G Eric Washington a 1999 second-round pick; o-from Charlotte; p-from Detroit; q-from Houston; r-from New York; s-from Miami.

[eagles_victory]

the 84 draft might have them all beat.

[District303aPastPlayer]

Originally posted by eagles_victory
the 84 draft might have them all beat.

First Round
1 Hous Akeem Olajuwon Houston
2 Port Sam Bowie Kentucky
3 Chi Michael Jordan North Carolina
4 Dall Sam Perkins North Carolina
5 Phil Charles Barkley Auburn
6 Wash Mel Turpin Kentucky
7 SA Alvin Robertson Arkansas
8 LAC Lancaster Gordon Louisville
9 KC Otis Thorpe Providence
10 Phil Leon Wood Cal State-Fullerton
11 Atl Kevin Willis Michigan State
12*Clev Tim McCormick Michigan
13 Phoe Jay Humphries Colorado
14 LAC Michael Cage San Diego State
15 Dall Terence Stansbury Temple
16 Utah John Stockton Gonzaga
17 NJ Jeff Turner Vanderbilt
18 Ind Vern Fleming Georgia
19 Port Bernard Thompson Fresno State
20 Det Tony Campbell Ohio State
21 Mil Kenny Fields UCLA
22 Phil Tom Sewell Lamar
23 LAL Earl Jones District of Columbia
24 Bos Michael Young Houston

[SintonFan]

Sorry buddy, I'm just a homer here.:D
3 Championships is nothing to sneeze at.:cool:

[District303aPastPlayer]

84 will always be remembered for the #2 pick who became the answer to a trivia question

[SintonFan]

If Alex Trebek didn't give the question...:thinking:
.
.
:D

[eagles_victory]

gimme a starting 5 from the 84 class and ill put them up against anybody from the other classes in a game.

PG Stockton
SG Jordan
SF Barkley
PF Willis
C Olajuawon

[scrappy05]

man your crazy, u must be bored posting that, only 3 of those guys in the top 10 have made a good impact on teams and have had a good career.

[District303aPastPlayer]

im waiting on russ' response

[District303aPastPlayer]

Originally posted by scrappy05
man your crazy, u must be bored posting that, only 3 of those guys in the top 10 have made a good impact on teams and have had a good career.

look at the later picks past 1-10

13-15, 17

[big daddy russ]

Originally posted by eagles_victory
gimme a starting 5 from the 84 class and ill put them up against anybody from the other classes in a game.

PG Stockton
SG Jordan
SF Barkley
PF Willis
C Olajuawon
I know you were getting low on talent, but Barkley was a power forward. I guess you could put someone else there or leave that lineup with three inside guys. I'll give you that draft as a great one.

How 'bout the most underrated draft? ('56)
PG KC Jones
G Sam Jones
F Elgin Baylor
F Tom Heinsohn
C Bill Russell

How 'bout this one? ('60)
PG Oscar Robertson
G Jerry West
F Lenny Wilkins
F Lee Shaffer (injuries shortened his career to 2.5 years, but he was great during that time)
C Darrall Imhoff

Or this one... ('70)
G Nate "Tiny" Archibald
G Pete Maravich
G Calvin Murphy
F Dave Cowens
G Bob Lanier

Or the draft that will go down as the best of all time... ('03)
PG LeBron James
SG Dwayne Wade
SF Carmelo Anthony
PF Chris Bosh
C Darko Milicic (Yes, he will go down as one of the great centers of this era... just look at his numbers since joining the Magic... and he's still only 20)

Backups:
PG TJ Ford (if he stays healthy)
G/F Boris Diaw
C Kendrick Perkins


It's hard to argue with the class of '84, but I'll say that the classes of '56 and '96 has the best chance.

The '56 draft--- those are five Hall of Famers and the real (forgotten) best player of all time. Remember, Jordan's claim to the best was just an opinion that caught on after six titles. Before the 90's rolled around, back when all the sportswriters who covered hoops had actually seen Russell, he was still considered the best.

Here's how I'd match them up on the "greatness" scale.

1. Russell--Jordan-- I still say Russell is the better player.
2. Olajuwon--Baylor-- Tough, but I gotta give this one to (H)Akeem by a hair.
3. Heinsohn--Barkley-- Another tough one. This one goes to Barkley.
4. Sam Jones--Stockton-- The little white boy who could.
5. KC Jones--Willis-- Jones by a landslide.

You add them all up, the '84 draft has three "greater" players to '56's two. BUT all of '84's wins were splitting hairs. The Jones-Willis deal was the only landslide in the matchups.

PS: Nobody will ever convince me that MJ is the best. Not until he gets five more rings... and he'll never have 11 in 13 years.

[big daddy russ]

Originally posted by scrappy05
man your crazy, u must be bored posting that, only 3 of those guys in the top 10 have made a good impact on teams and have had a good career.
???
The top six have all made huge impacts. All have made at least two All-Star games and at least two are on track to make the HOF.

That's not counting Kobe, Peja, or Jermaine O'Neal.

[AggieJohn]

Originally posted by eagles_victory
gimme a starting 5 from the 84 class and ill put them up against anybody from the other classes in a game.

PG Stockton
SG Jordan
SF Barkley
PF Willis
C Olajuawon

that's almost the 92 dream team

[District303aPastPlayer]

Originally posted by AggieJohn
that's almost the 92 dream team

almost... this is discussed more indepth in this months slam magazine with AI on the cover