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Scouting players and predicting how their skills will translate to the NBA is one of the more difficult tasks front offices have on their plates. Looking back over past drafts and how many lottery picks never evolved into stars, or even made a significant impact in the league, illustrates just how often stats, combine numbers and pure gut instinct often come up short.

Of course, we get the opportunity to critique these moves with the benefit of hindsight — a luxury that GMs don’t have on draft night. Having said that, it’s still fun to go back in time and take a theoretical look at how these drafts should have/could have gone.

We’ve been revisiting the 2008 draft, which had a number of players who have gone on to post big numbers in the league. This was the year of Derrick Rose (No. 1 overall), Russell Westbrook (No. 4), Kevin Love (No. 5), Brook Lopez (No. 10) and Nicolas Batum (No. 25). We’ve now arrived at the No. 30 overall pick, the final one in our re-draft. That pick was held by the Celtics, who in the “real world” draft, select J.R. Giddens. So cast your vote for who Boston nabs to close out the first round.

Also, don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the pick and why you voted the way that you did. If we fail to list a player who you think should be selected, feel free to post that in the comments section and we’ll be certain to tally those votes as well.

1. Bulls — Russell Westbrook [Actual Pick — Derrick Rose]
2. Heat — Kevin Love [Actual Pick — Michael Beasley]
3. Wolves — Derrick Rose [Actual Pick — O.J. Mayo]
4. Sonics/Thunder — DeAndre Jordan [Actual Pick — Russell Westbrook]
5. Grizzlies — Brook Lopez [Actual Pick — Kevin Love]
6. Knicks — Serge Ibaka  [Actual Pick — Danilo Gallinari]
7. Clippers — Nicolas Batum [Actual Pick — Eric Gordon]
8. Bucks — Goran Dragic [Actual Pick — Joe Alexander]
9. Bobcats/Hornets — Danilo Gallinari [Actual Pick — D.J. Augustin]
10. Nets — Ryan Anderson [Actual Pick — Brook Lopez]
11. Blazers (from Pacers) — Eric Gordon [Actual Pick — Jerryd Bayless]
12. Kings — George Hill  [Actual Pick — Jason Thompson]
13. Pacers (from Blazers) — Robin Lopez [Actual Pick — Brandon Rush]
14. Warriors — Courtney Lee [Actual Pick — Anthony Randolph]
15. Suns — Roy Hibbert [Actual Pick — Robin Lopez]
16. Sixers— Nikola Pekovic [Actual Pick  — Marreese Speights]
17. Raptors — O.J. Mayo [Actual Pick — Roy Hibbert]
18. Wizards — Mario Chalmers [Actual Pick — JaVale McGee]
19. Cavaliers — Timofey Mozgov [Actual Pick  — J.J. Hickson]
20. Bobcats/Hornets (from Nuggets) — Michael Beasley [Actual Pick — Alexis Ajinca]
21. Nets (from Mavs) — Omer Asik [Actual Pick — Ryan Anderson]
22. Magic  — D.J. Augustin [Actual Pick — Courtney Lee]
23. Jazz — Marreese Speights [Actual Pick — Kosta Koufos]
24. Sonics/Thunder (from Suns) — Jerryd Bayless [Actual Pick — Serge Ibaka]
25. Rockets — Kosta Koufos [Actual Pick — Nicolas Batum]
26. Spurs — JaVale McGee [Actual Pick — George Hill]
27. Hornets — J.J. Hickson [Actual Pick — Darrell Arthur]
28. Grizzlies — Luc Mbah a Moute [Actual Pick — Donte Greene]
29. Sonics/Thunder —Anthony Morrow [Actual pick — D.J. White]
30. Celtics — ?? [Actual Pick — J.R. Giddens]

If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here to vote.

Scouting players and predicting how their skills will translate to the NBA is one of the more difficult tasks front offices have on their plates. Looking back over past drafts and how many lottery picks never evolved into stars, or even made a significant impact in the league, illustrates just how often stats, combine numbers and pure gut instinct often come up short.

Of course, we get the opportunity to critique these moves with the benefit of hindsight — a luxury that GMs don’t have on draft night. Having said that, it’s still fun to go back in time and take a theoretical look at how these drafts should have/could have gone.

We’ve been revisiting the 2008 draft, which had a number of players who have gone on to post big numbers in the league. This was the year of Derrick Rose (No. 1 overall), Russell Westbrook (No. 4), Kevin Love (No. 5), Brook Lopez (No. 10) and Nicolas Batum (No. 25). Over the next few weeks, we’ll be posting a series of polls asking readers to vote on whom teams should have selected in each spot.

We’ve arrived at the No. 29 overall pick, which was acquired by the Sonics/Thunder from Detroit in a draft day trade. The details of the swap were: The Pistons received the No. 32 (Walter Sharpe) and No. 46 (Trent Plaisted) from Seattle in exchange for the N0. 29 overall pick. In the “real world” draft the Sonics/Thunder nabbed D.J. White with that pick. So cast your vote for who Seattle/OKC selects and check back on Tuesday to see the results, as well as to vote on the final pick in our first round re-draft.

Also, don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the pick and why you voted the way that you did. If we fail to list a player who you think should be selected, feel free to post that in the comments section and we’ll be certain to tally those votes as well.

1. Bulls — Russell Westbrook [Actual Pick — Derrick Rose]
2. Heat — Kevin Love [Actual Pick — Michael Beasley]
3. Wolves — Derrick Rose [Actual Pick — O.J. Mayo]
4. Sonics/Thunder — DeAndre Jordan [Actual Pick — Russell Westbrook]
5. Grizzlies — Brook Lopez [Actual Pick — Kevin Love]
6. Knicks — Serge Ibaka  [Actual Pick — Danilo Gallinari]
7. Clippers — Nicolas Batum [Actual Pick — Eric Gordon]
8. Bucks — Goran Dragic [Actual Pick — Joe Alexander]
9. Bobcats/Hornets — Danilo Gallinari [Actual Pick — D.J. Augustin]
10. Nets — Ryan Anderson [Actual Pick — Brook Lopez]
11. Blazers (from Pacers) — Eric Gordon [Actual Pick — Jerryd Bayless]
12. Kings — George Hill  [Actual Pick — Jason Thompson]
13. Pacers (from Blazers) — Robin Lopez [Actual Pick — Brandon Rush]
14. Warriors — Courtney Lee [Actual Pick — Anthony Randolph]
15. Suns — Roy Hibbert [Actual Pick — Robin Lopez]
16. Sixers— Nikola Pekovic [Actual Pick  — Marreese Speights]
17. Raptors — O.J. Mayo [Actual Pick — Roy Hibbert]
18. Wizards — Mario Chalmers [Actual Pick — JaVale McGee]
19. Cavaliers — Timofey Mozgov [Actual Pick  — J.J. Hickson]
20. Bobcats/Hornets (from Nuggets) — Michael Beasley [Actual Pick — Alexis Ajinca]
21. Nets (from Mavs) — Omer Asik [Actual Pick — Ryan Anderson]
22. Magic  — D.J. Augustin [Actual Pick — Courtney Lee]
23. Jazz — Marreese Speights [Actual Pick — Kosta Koufos]
24. Sonics/Thunder (from Suns) — Jerryd Bayless [Actual Pick — Serge Ibaka]
25. Rockets — Kosta Koufos [Actual Pick — Nicolas Batum]
26. Spurs — JaVale McGee [Actual Pick — George Hill]
27. Hornets — J.J. Hickson [Actual Pick — Darrell Arthur]
28. Grizzlies — Luc Mbah a Moute [Actual Pick — Donte Greene]
29. Sonics/Thunder — ?? [Actual pick — D.J. White]

If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here to vote.

Scouting players and predicting how their skills will translate to the NBA is one of the more difficult tasks front offices have on their plates. Looking back over past drafts and how many lottery picks never evolved into stars, or even made a significant impact in the league, illustrates just how often stats, combine numbers and pure gut instinct often come up short.

Of course, we get the opportunity to critique these moves with the benefit of hindsight — a luxury that GMs don’t have on draft night. Having said that, it’s still fun to go back in time and take a theoretical look at how these drafts should have/could have gone.

We’ve been revisiting the 2008 draft, which had a number of players who have gone on to post big numbers in the league. This was the year of Derrick Rose (No. 1 overall), Russell Westbrook (No. 4), Kevin Love (No. 5), Brook Lopez (No. 10) and Nicolas Batum (No. 25). Over the next few weeks, we’ll be posting a series of polls asking readers to vote on whom teams should have selected in each spot.

We’ve arrived at the No. 28 overall pick, which was held by Memphis. In the “real world” draft, the Grizzlies selected Donte Greene and shipped him to Houston in a three-team deal on draft night. Greene is still around in our re-draft, but so are some other players who have had NBA success. So cast your vote for who Memphis selects and check back on Monday to see the results, as well as to vote on whom the Pistons take with the No. 29 pick.

Also, don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the pick and why you voted the way that you did. If we fail to list a player who you think should be selected, feel free to post that in the comments section and we’ll be certain to tally those votes as well.

1. Bulls — Russell Westbrook [Actual Pick — Derrick Rose]
2. Heat — Kevin Love [Actual Pick — Michael Beasley]
3. Wolves — Derrick Rose [Actual Pick — O.J. Mayo]
4. Sonics/Thunder — DeAndre Jordan [Actual Pick — Russell Westbrook]
5. Grizzlies — Brook Lopez [Actual Pick — Kevin Love]
6. Knicks — Serge Ibaka  [Actual Pick — Danilo Gallinari]
7. Clippers — Nicolas Batum [Actual Pick — Eric Gordon]
8. Bucks — Goran Dragic [Actual Pick — Joe Alexander]
9. Bobcats/Hornets — Danilo Gallinari [Actual Pick — D.J. Augustin]
10. Nets — Ryan Anderson [Actual Pick — Brook Lopez]
11. Blazers (from Pacers) — Eric Gordon [Actual Pick — Jerryd Bayless]
12. Kings — George Hill  [Actual Pick — Jason Thompson]
13. Pacers (from Blazers) — Robin Lopez [Actual Pick — Brandon Rush]
14. Warriors — Courtney Lee [Actual Pick — Anthony Randolph]
15. Suns — Roy Hibbert [Actual Pick — Robin Lopez]
16. Sixers— Nikola Pekovic [Actual Pick  — Marreese Speights]
17. Raptors — O.J. Mayo [Actual Pick — Roy Hibbert]
18. Wizards — Mario Chalmers [Actual Pick — JaVale McGee]
19. Cavaliers — Timofey Mozgov [Actual Pick  — J.J. Hickson]
20. Bobcats/Hornets (from Nuggets) — Michael Beasley [Actual Pick — Alexis Ajinca]
21. Nets (from Mavs) — Omer Asik [Actual Pick — Ryan Anderson]
22. Magic  — D.J. Augustin [Actual Pick — Courtney Lee]
23. Jazz — Marreese Speights [Actual Pick — Kosta Koufos]
24. Sonics/Thunder (from Suns) — Jerryd Bayless [Actual Pick — Serge Ibaka]
25. Rockets — Kosta Koufos [Actual Pick — Nicolas Batum]
26. Spurs — JaVale McGee [Actual Pick — George Hill]
27. Hornets — J.J. Hickson [Actual Pick — Darrell Arthur]
28. Grizzlies — ?? [Actual Pick — Donte Greene]

If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here to vote.

Scouting players and predicting how their skills will translate to the NBA is one of the more difficult tasks front offices have on their plates. Looking back over past drafts and how many lottery picks never evolved into stars, or even made a significant impact in the league, illustrates just how often stats, combine numbers and pure gut instinct often come up short.

Of course, we get the opportunity to critique these moves with the benefit of hindsight — a luxury that GMs don’t have on draft night. Having said that, it’s still fun to go back in time and take a theoretical look at how these drafts should have/could have gone.

We’ve been revisiting the 2008 draft, which had a number of players who have gone on to post big numbers in the league. This was the year of Derrick Rose (No. 1 overall),Russell Westbrook (No. 4), Kevin Love (No. 5), Brook Lopez (No. 10) and Nicolas Batum (No. 25). Over the next few weeks, we’ll be posting a series of polls asking readers to vote on whom teams should have selected in each spot.

We’ve arrived at the No. 27 overall pick, which was held by the New Orleans Hornets. In the “real world” draft, the Hornets chose Darrell Arthur, but he wound up with the Trail Blazers and Grizzlies before draft night was over. Arthur is still on the board in our draft, but so are some other intriguing possibilities. So cast your vote for who the Hornets select and check back on Sunday to see the results, as well as to vote on whom the Grizzlies take with the No. 28 pick.

Also, don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the pick and why you voted the way that you did. If we fail to list a player who you think should be selected, feel free to post that in the comments section and we’ll be certain to tally those votes as well.

1. Bulls — Russell Westbrook [Actual Pick — Derrick Rose]
2. Heat — Kevin Love [Actual Pick — Michael Beasley]
3. Wolves — Derrick Rose [Actual Pick — O.J. Mayo]
4. Sonics/Thunder — DeAndre Jordan [Actual Pick — Russell Westbrook]
5. Grizzlies — Brook Lopez [Actual Pick — Kevin Love]
6. Knicks — Serge Ibaka  [Actual Pick — Danilo Gallinari]
7. Clippers — Nicolas Batum [Actual Pick — Eric Gordon]
8. Bucks — Goran Dragic [Actual Pick — Joe Alexander]
9. Bobcats/Hornets — Danilo Gallinari [Actual Pick — D.J. Augustin]
10. Nets — Ryan Anderson [Actual Pick — Brook Lopez]
11. Blazers (from Pacers) — Eric Gordon [Actual Pick — Jerryd Bayless]
12. Kings — George Hill  [Actual Pick — Jason Thompson]
13. Pacers (from Blazers) — Robin Lopez [Actual Pick — Brandon Rush]
14. Warriors — Courtney Lee [Actual Pick — Anthony Randolph]
15. Suns — Roy Hibbert [Actual Pick — Robin Lopez]
16. Sixers— Nikola Pekovic [Actual Pick  — Marreese Speights]
17. Raptors — O.J. Mayo [Actual Pick — Roy Hibbert]
18. Wizards — Mario Chalmers [Actual Pick — JaVale McGee]
19. Cavaliers — Timofey Mozgov [Actual Pick  — J.J. Hickson]
20. Bobcats/Hornets (from Nuggets) — Michael Beasley [Actual Pick — Alexis Ajinca]
21. Nets (from Mavs) — Omer Asik [Actual Pick — Ryan Anderson]
22. Magic  — D.J. Augustin [Actual Pick — Courtney Lee]
23. Jazz — Marreese Speights [Actual Pick — Kosta Koufos]
24. Sonics/Thunder (from Suns) — Jerryd Bayless [Actual Pick — Serge Ibaka]
25. Rockets — Kosta Koufos [Actual Pick — Nicolas Batum]
26. Spurs — JaVale McGee [Actual Pick — George Hill]
27. Hornets — ?? [Actual Pick — Darrell Arthur]

If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here to vote.

Scouting players and predicting how their skills will translate to the NBA is one of the more difficult tasks front offices have on their plates. Looking back over past drafts and how many lottery picks never evolved into stars, or even made a significant impact in the league, illustrates just how often stats, combine numbers and pure gut instinct often come up short.

Of course, we get the opportunity to critique these moves with the benefit of hindsight — a luxury that GMs don’t have on draft night. Having said that, it’s still fun to go back in time and take a theoretical look at how these drafts should have/could have gone.

We’ve been revisiting 2008 draft, which had a number of players who have gone on to post big numbers in the league. This was the year of Derrick Rose (No. 1 overall), Russell Westbrook (No. 4), Kevin Love (No. 5), Brook Lopez (No. 10) and Nicolas Batum (No. 25). Over the next few weeks, we’ll be posting a series of polls asking readers to vote on whom teams should have selected in each spot.

We’ve arrived at the No. 26 overall pick, which was held by San Antonio. In the “real world” draft, the Spurs nabbed George Hill, who was selected with pick No. 12 by the Kings in our re-draft.  So cast your vote for who the Spurs select and check back on Saturday to see the results, as well as to vote on whom the Hornets/Pelicans take with the No. 27 pick.

Also, don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the pick and why you voted the way that you did. If we fail to list a player who you think should be selected, feel free to post that in the comments section and we’ll be certain to tally those votes as well.

1. Bulls — Russell Westbrook [Actual Pick — Derrick Rose]
2. Heat — Kevin Love [Actual Pick — Michael Beasley]
3. Wolves — Derrick Rose [Actual Pick — O.J. Mayo]
4. Sonics/Thunder — DeAndre Jordan [Actual Pick — Russell Westbrook]
5. Grizzlies — Brook Lopez [Actual Pick — Kevin Love]
6. Knicks — Serge Ibaka  [Actual Pick — Danilo Gallinari]
7. Clippers — Nicolas Batum [Actual Pick — Eric Gordon]
8. Bucks — Goran Dragic [Actual Pick — Joe Alexander]
9. Bobcats/Hornets — Danilo Gallinari [Actual Pick — D.J. Augustin]
10. Nets — Ryan Anderson [Actual Pick — Brook Lopez]
11. Blazers (from Pacers) — Eric Gordon [Actual Pick — Jerryd Bayless]
12. Kings — George Hill  [Actual Pick — Jason Thompson]
13. Pacers (from Blazers) — Robin Lopez [Actual Pick — Brandon Rush]
14. Warriors — Courtney Lee [Actual Pick — Anthony Randolph]
15. Suns — Roy Hibbert [Actual Pick — Robin Lopez]
16. Sixers— Nikola Pekovic [Actual Pick  — Marreese Speights]
17. Raptors — O.J. Mayo [Actual Pick — Roy Hibbert]
18. Wizards — Mario Chalmers [Actual Pick — JaVale McGee]
19. Cavaliers — Timofey Mozgov [Actual Pick  — J.J. Hickson]
20. Bobcats/Hornets (from Nuggets) — Michael Beasley [Actual Pick — Alexis Ajinca]
21. Nets (from Mavs) — Omer Asik [Actual Pick — Ryan Anderson]
22. Magic  — D.J. Augustin [Actual Pick — Courtney Lee]
23. Jazz — Marreese Speights [Actual Pick — Kosta Koufos]
24. Sonics/Thunder (from Suns) — Jerryd Bayless [Actual Pick — Serge Ibaka]
25. Rockets — Kosta Koufos [Actual Pick — Nicolas Batum]
26. Spurs — ?? [Actual Pick — George Hill]

If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here to vote.

Scouting players and predicting how their skills will translate to the NBA is one of the more difficult tasks front offices have on their plates. Looking back over past drafts and how many lottery picks never evolved into stars, or even made a significant impact in the league, illustrates just how often stats, combine numbers and pure gut instinct often come up short.

Of course, we get the opportunity to critique these moves with the benefit of hindsight — a luxury that GMs don’t have on draft night. Having said that, it’s still fun to go back in time and take a theoretical look at how these drafts should have/could have gone.

We’ve been revisiting 2008 draft, which had a number of players who have gone on to post big numbers in the league. This was the year of Derrick Rose (No. 1 overall), Russell Westbrook (No. 4), Kevin Love (No. 5), Brook Lopez (No. 10) and Nicolas Batum (No. 25). Over the next few weeks, we’ll be posting a series of polls asking readers to vote on whom teams should have selected in each spot.

We’ve arrived at the No. 25 overall pick, which was held by Houston. In the “real world” draft, the Rockets dealt the pick as part of a three-team trade to the Blazers. The details of the swap were: Portland acquired the draft rights to the No. 25 pick (Batum) from Houston, the Rockets received the No. 33 pick (Joey Dorsey) from the Blazers and the No. 28 pick (Donte Greene) along with a 2009 second-round draft pick from Memphis, and the Grizzlies acquired the No. 27 pick (Darrell Arthur) from Portland. With Batum already off the board in our draft, having been taken at No. 7 overall by the Clippers, we’ll nix this trade and have Houston select for itself here.

So cast your vote for who the Rockets select and check back on Thursday to see the results, as well as to vote on whom the Spurs take with the No. 26 pick. Also, don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the pick and why you voted the way that you did. If we fail to list a player who you think should be selected, feel free to post that in the comments section and we’ll be certain to tally those votes as well.

1. Bulls — Russell Westbrook [Actual Pick — Derrick Rose]
2. Heat — Kevin Love [Actual Pick — Michael Beasley]
3. Wolves — Derrick Rose [Actual Pick — O.J. Mayo]
4. Sonics/Thunder — DeAndre Jordan [Actual Pick — Russell Westbrook]
5. Grizzlies — Brook Lopez [Actual Pick — Kevin Love]
6. Knicks — Serge Ibaka  [Actual Pick — Danilo Gallinari]
7. Clippers — Nicolas Batum [Actual Pick — Eric Gordon]
8. Bucks — Goran Dragic [Actual Pick — Joe Alexander]
9. Bobcats/Hornets — Danilo Gallinari [Actual Pick — D.J. Augustin]
10. Nets — Ryan Anderson [Actual Pick — Brook Lopez]
11. Blazers (from Pacers) — Eric Gordon [Actual Pick — Jerryd Bayless]
12. Kings — George Hill  [Actual Pick — Jason Thompson]
13. Pacers (from Blazers) — Robin Lopez [Actual Pick — Brandon Rush]
14. Warriors — Courtney Lee [Actual Pick — Anthony Randolph]
15. Suns — Roy Hibbert [Actual Pick — Robin Lopez]
16. Sixers— Nikola Pekovic [Actual Pick  — Marreese Speights]
17. Raptors — O.J. Mayo [Actual Pick — Roy Hibbert]
18. Wizards — Mario Chalmers [Actual Pick — JaVale McGee]
19. Cavaliers — Timofey Mozgov [Actual Pick  — J.J. Hickson]
20. Bobcats/Hornets (from Nuggets) — Michael Beasley [Actual Pick — Alexis Ajinca]
21. Nets (from Mavs) — Omer Asik [Actual Pick — Ryan Anderson]
22. Magic  — D.J. Augustin [Actual Pick — Courtney Lee]
23. Jazz — Marreese Speights [Actual Pick — Kosta Koufos]
24. Sonics/Thunder (from Suns) — Jerryd Bayless [Actual Pick — Serge Ibaka]
25. Rockets — ?? [Actual Pick — Nicolas Batum]

If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here to vote.