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LeBron the king of a royal draft class - but is 2003 the best ever?

Authored by Keith Berzanske - March 9, 2006 - 2:15 pm

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There certainly have been years where the number one choice in the draft was obvious, but the most obvious of all may have been LeBron James in 2003. Not only was LeBron the most hyped high school player ever, but his hometown team had the chance to select him. Had the Cavaliers selected anyone else, it's conceivable that the team right now would be playing in another city. That's not to say there wasn't other talent available in the 2003 draft. But at the time, the talk was mainly centered around LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony. And then there was a darkhorse, the aptly named Darko Milicic, a raw unproven talent whose tools caused scouts to drool. So far, Darko has not lived up to expectations the way LeBron and Carmelo have, although (to be fair) he hasn't gotten much of an opportunity until the past couple of weeks. But even if Darko never becomes a superstar, the 2003 draft will still be remembered as one of the best of all time. Could it be the best ever? Possibly, but there's some stiff competiton. Some drafts are known for their star power, and others for their depth. Here I will break down what I consider to be the top 10 NBA drafts of all time. (1) 1984 (2) 1996 (3) 2003 (4) 1970 (5) 1985 (6) 1962 (7) 1987 (8) 1960 (9) 1998 (10) 1999 1984 # Team Name College/HS/Country 1 HOU Akeem Olajuwon Houston 2 POR Sam Bowie Kentucky 3 CHI Michael Jordan North Carolina 4 DAL Sam Perkins North Carolina 5 PHI Charles Barkley Auburn 6 WA1 Mel Turpin Kentucky 7 SAS Alvin Robertson Arkansas 8 LAC Lancaster Gordon Louisville 9 KCK Otis Thorpe Providence 10 PHI Leon Wood Cal State-Fullerton 11 ATL Kevin Willis Michigan State 12 CLE Tim McCormick Michigan 13 PHO Jay Humphries Colorado 14 LAC Michael Cage San Diego State 15 DAL Terence Stansbury Temple 16 UTA John Stockton Gonzaga 17 NJN Jeff Turner Vanderbilt 18 IND Vern Fleming Georgia 19 POR Bernard Thompson Fresno State 20 DET Tony Campbell Ohio State 21 MIL Kenny Fields UCLA 22 PHI Tom Sewell Lamar 23 LAL Earl Jones District of Columbia 24 BOS Michael Young Houston Hall of Fame: Olajuwon, Jordan, Barkley, Stockton All-Star: Robertson Above Average: Perkins, Thorpe, Willis Solid Career: Bowie, Fleming, Humphries, Cage, Campbell 2nd-round finds: Jerome Kersey This draft is a bit top heavy, but that top 4 sure looks good. You have the all-time leaders in assists, steals, blocks, and points per game, to go with 8 championship rings and 7 MVP's. Robertson was one of the great ball thieves of all time, and Willis and Thorpe were exceptional rebounders. When you consider that Jordan is arguably the greatest player of all-time, and that Olajuwon was the greatest player while Jordan was retired and swinging a bit, that's a lot of dominance emanating from one draft. And I barely mentioned Barkley, who was exceptional. 1996 # Team Name College/HS/Country 1 PHI Allen Iverson Georgetown 2 TOR Marcus Camby Massachusetts 3 VAN Shareef AbdurRahim California 4 MIL Stephon Marbury Georgia Tech 5 MIN Ray Allen Connecticut 6 BOS Antoine Walker Kentucky 7 LAC Lorenzen Wright Memphis (TN) 8 NJN Kerry Kittles Villanova 9 DAL Samaki Walker Louisville 10 IND Erick Dampier Mississippi State 11 GSW Todd Fuller North Carolina State 12 CLE Vitaly Potapenko Wright State 13 CHA Kobe Bryant Lower Merion (PA) HS 14 SAC Predrag Stojakovic PAOK Greece 15 PHO Steve Nash Santa Clara 16 CHA Tony Delk Kentucky 17 POR Jermaine ONeal Eau Claire (SC) HS 18 NYK John Wallace Syracuse 19 NYK Walter McCarty Kentucky 20 CLE Zydrunas Ilgauskas Lithuania 21 NYK Dontae' Jones Mississippi State 22 VAN Roy Rogers Alabama 23 DEN Efthimis Rentzias PAOK Greece 24 LAL Derek Fisher Arkansas-Little Rock 25 UTA Martin Muursepp Kalev Tallin (Estonia) 26 DET Jerome Williams Georgetown 27 ORL Brian Evans Indiana 28 ATL Priest Lauderdale Central St/Greece 29 CHI Travis Knight Connecticut Hall of Fame: Iverson, Bryant, Nash, Allen All-Star: O'Neal, AWalker, Ilgauskas, Stojakovic, Marbury Above Average: Abdur-Rahim, Camby, Kittles Solid Career: Fisher, Dampier, Wright, Delk, McCarty 2nd-round finds: Moochie Norris, Jeff McInnis, Malik Rose, Shandon Anderson This class is phenomenal, but as good as guys like AI and Kobe are, they are not at the level of the four from 84. This group is just now starting to fade as a whole, except for Nash, Bryant, and Iverson, and maybe Ilgauskas who missed 3-4 season with bad feet. Injuries have been killing this class lately. 2003 # Team Name College/HS/Country 1 CLE LeBron James St. Mary / St. Vincent (ohio) HS 2 DET Darko Milicic Serbia 3 DEN Carmelo Anthony Syracuse 4 TOR Chris Bosh Georgia Tech 5 MIA Dwyane Wade Marquette 6 LAC Chris Kaman Central Mich 7 CHI Kirk Hinrich Kansas 8 MIL TJ Ford Texas 9 NYK Michael Sweetney Georgetown 10 WAS Jarvis Hayes Georgia 11 GSW Mickael Pietrus France 12 SEA Nick Collison Kansas 13 MEM Marcus Banks UNLV 14 SEA Luke Ridnour Oregon 15 ORL Reece Gaines Louisville 16 BOS Troy Bell Boston College 17 PHO Zarko Cabarkapa Serbia 18 NOR David West Xavier 19 UTA Aleksandar Pavlovic Serbia 20 BOS Dahntay Jones Duke 21 ATL Boris Diaw France 22 NJN Zoran Planinic Croatia 23 POR Travis Outlaw Starkville HS (ms) 24 LAL Brian Cook Illinois 25 DET Carlos Delfino Argentina 26 MIN Ndudi Ebi Westbury Christian HS (tx) 27 MEM Kendrick Perkins Ozen HS (tx) 28 SAS Leandrinho Barbosa Brazil 29 DAL Josh Howard Wake Forest What's amazing about this class is how fast they've gotten so good. Of course, I have to project their eventual status, but I'd say: Hall of Fame: James, Wade, Anthony All-Star: Bosh Above Average: Howard, Hinrich, Barbosa, West, Diaw, Ridnour, Ford, Kaman Solid Career: Perkins, Pavlovic, Collison, Seetney, Milicic 2nd-round finds: Luke Walton, Kyle Korver, Maurice Williams Of course, they are young, and there is a tendency to overrate a young class. Let's see how they turn out. The potential of the class on a whole rests with the middle group of 'fair to good' players, and how much they improve and how long they last. 1970 # Team Name College/HS/Country 1 DET Bob Lanier St. Bonaventure 2 SDR Rudy Tomjanovich Michigan 3 ATL Pete Maravich Louisiana State 4 BOS Dave Cowens Florida State 5 CIN Sam Lacey New Mexico State 6 SEA Jim Ard Cincinnati 7 CLE John Johnson Iowa 8 POR Geoff Petrie Princeton 9 BAL George Johnson Stephen F. Austin 10 PHO Greg Howard New Mexico 11 CHI Jimmy Collins New Mexico State 12 PHI Al Henry Wisconsin 13 LAL Jim McMillian Columbia 14 ATL John Vallely UCLA 15 BUF John Hummer Princeton 16 MIL Gary Freeman Oregon State 17 NYK Mike Price Illinois At first glance, not that impressive, right? But the first two selections in round 2 were Calvin Murphy and Tiny Archibald - not too bad! Hall of Fame: Murphy, Archibald, Cowens, Maravich All-Star: Lanier Above Average: Petrie, Tomjanovich Solid Career: Lacey, Johnson 2nd-round finds: the aforementioned Gotta love Pistol Pete... 1985 # Team Name College/HS/Country 1 NYK Patrick Ewing Georgetown 2 IND Wayman Tisdale Oklahoma 3 LAC Benoit Benjamin Creighton 4 SEA Xavier McDaniel Wichita State 5 ATL Jon Koncak Southern Methodist 6 SAC Joe Kleine Arkansas 7 GSW Chris Mullin St. John's 8 DAL Detlef Schrempf Washington 9 CLE Charles Oakley Virginia Union 10 PHO Ed Pinckney Villanova 11 CHI Keith Lee Memphis State 12 WA1 Kenny Green Wake Forest 13 UTA Karl Malone Louisiana Tech 14 SAS Alfredrick Hughes Loyola (IL) 15 DEN Blair Rasmussen Oregon 16 DAL Bill Wennington St. John's 17 DAL Uwe Blab Indiana 18 DET Joe Dumars McNeese State 19 HOU Steve Harris Tulsa 20 BOS Sam Vincent Michigan State 21 PHI Terry Catledge South Alabama 22 MIL Jerry Reynolds Louisiana State 23 LAL A.C. Green Oregon State 24 POR Terry Porter Wisconsin-Stevens Point Hall of Fame: Malone, Ewing, Mullin All-Star: Dumars, Porter, Schrempf Above Average: Oakley, Green Solid Career: McDaniel, Tisdale 2nd-round finds: Manute Bol, Hot Rod Williams, Gerald Wilkins solid group of players - nice influx of talent in to the league in 84-85. Some good small school players here, like Dumars and Porter. There's also a high comedy factor here with guys like Uwe Blab and Alfredrick Hughes. 1962 # Team Name College/HS/Country 1 CH2 Bill McGill Utah 2 NYK Paul Hogue Cincinnati 3 STL Zelmo Beaty Prairie View 4T DET Dave DeBusschere Detroit 5 SYR Len Chappell Wake Forest 6T CIN Jerry Lucas Ohio State 7 PH1 Wayne Hightower Kansas 8 LAL Leroy Ellis St. John's 9 BOS John Havlicek Ohio State Hall of Fame: Havlicek, DeBusschere, Lucas 2nd round find : Chet Walker 1987 # Team Name College/HS/Country 1 SAS David Robinson Navy 2 PHO Armon Gilliam Nevada-Las Vegas 3 NJN Dennis Hopson Ohio State 4 LAC Reggie Williams Georgetown 5 SEA Scottie Pippen Central Arkansas 6 SAC Kenny Smith North Carolina 7 CLE Kevin Johnson California 8 CHI Olden Polynice Virginia 9 SEA Derrick McKey Alabama 10 CHI Horace Grant Clemson 11 IND Reggie Miller UCLA 12 WA1 Tyrone Bogues Wake Forest 13 LAC Joe Wolf North Carolina 14 GSW Tellis Frank Western Kentucky 15 UTA Jose Ortiz Oregon State 16 PHI Christian Welp Washington 17 POR Ronnie Murphy Jacksonville 18 NYK Mark Jackson St. John's 19 LAC Ken Norman Illinois 20 DAL Jim Farmer Alabama 21 ATL Dallas Comegys DePaul 22 BOS Reggie Lewis Northeastern 23 SAS Greg Anderson Houston What's always funny about the draft is to see guys like Dennis Hopson and Tellis Frank intermixed with the likes of Scottie Pippen and Reggie Miller... Hall of Fame: Robinson, Pippen, Miller All-Star: KJohnson, MJackson, Lewis Above Average: Smith, McKey, Grant, Bogues Solid Career: Norman, Polynice, Gilliam 1960 # Team Name College/HS/Country 1T CIN Oscar Robertson Cincinnati 2 MIE Jerry West West Virginia 3 NYK Darrall Imhoff California 4 DET Jack Moreland Louisiana Tech 5 SYR Lee Shaffer North Carolina 6 STL Lenny Wilkens Providence 7 PH1 Al Bunge Maryland 8 BOS Tom Sanders New York University I think picks 1,2, and 6 speak for themselves. Satch Sanders was alos a good player. The last two classes are just hitting their primes, and may eventually be rated higher..., 1998 # Team Name College/HS/Country 1 LAC Michael Olowokandi Pacific 2 VAN Mike Bibby Arizona 3 DEN Raef LaFrentz Kansas 4 TOR Antawn Jamison North Carolina 5 GSW Vince Carter North Carolina 6 DAL Robert Traylor Michigan 7 SAC Jason Williams Florida 8 PHI Larry Hughes Saint Louis 9 MIL Dirk Nowitzki Germany 10 BOS Paul Pierce Kansas 11 DET Bonzi Wells Ball State 12 ORL Michael Doleac Utah 13 ORL Keon Clark Nevada-Las Vegas 14 HOU Michael Dickerson Arizona 15 ORL Matt Harpring Georgia Tech 16 HOU Bryce Drew Valparaiso 17 MIN Radoslav Nesterovic Slovenia 18 HOU Mirsad Turkcan Turkey 19 MIL Pat Garrity Notre Dame 20 ATL Roshown McLeod Duke 21 CHA Ricky Davis Iowa 22 LAC Brian Skinner Baylor 23 DEN Tyronn Lue Nebraska 24 SAS Felipe Lopez St. John's 25 IND Al Harrington St. Patrick's HS 26 LAL Sam Jacobson Minnesota 27 SEA Vladimir Stepania Slovenia 28 CHI Corey Benjamin Oregon State 29 UTA Nazr Mohammed Kentucky What's odd about this draft being so good is that (a) the first player taken was pretty much a bust, and (b) Houston had 3 picks and passed on hometown high school prospect each time. And they didnt' even get anyone good. Missed a golden opportunity to add to the Barkley/Olajuwon core. Hall of Fame: Nowitzki, Carter, Pierce All-Star: Rashard Lewis, Jamison, Bibby Above Average: Hughes, Williams, Harrington Solid Career: LaFrentz, Wells, Mohammad, Harpring, Davis other 2nd round finds: Ruben Patterson, Cuttino Mobley 1999 # Team Name College/HS/Country 1 CHI Elton Brand Duke 2 VAN Steve Francis Maryland 3 CHA Baron Davis UCLA 4 LAC Lamar Odom Rhode Island 5 TOR Jonathan Bender Picayune (MS) HS 6 MIN Wally Szczerbiak Miami(OH) 7 WAS Richard Hamilton Connecticut 8 CLE Andre Miller Utah 9 PHO Shawn Marion Nevada-Las Vegas 10 ATL Jason Terry Arizona 11 CLE Trajan Langdon Duke 12 TOR Alek Radojevic Barton County CC 13 SEA Corey Maggette Duke 14 MIN William Avery Duke 15 NYK Frederic Weis France 16 CHI Ron Artest St. John's 17 ATL Cal Bowdler Old Dominion 18 DEN James Posey Xavier 19 UTA Quincy Lewis Minnesota 20 ATL Dion Glover Georgia Tech 21 GSW Jeff Foster Southwest Texas State 22 HOU Kenny Thomas New Mexico 23 LAL Devean George Augsburg (MN) 24 UTA Andrei Kirilenko Russia 25 MIA Tim James Miami (FL) 26 IND Vonteego Cummings Pittsburgh 27 ATL Jumaine Jones Georgia 28 UTA Scott Padgett Kentucky 29 DAL Leon Smith Martin Luther King (IL) HS This class started with a bang, but has hit some rough spots lately. Some of the guys are starting to look too old too fast... Hall of Fame: ? All-Star: Brand, Francis, Szczerbiak, Davis, Hamilton, Kirilenko, Artest, Marion, Odom Above Average: Miller, Terry, Maggette Solid Career: Jones, Thomas, George, Foster, Posey 2nd round finds: Manu Ginobili This last drop doens't seem to have any sure fire Hall-of-Famers, but does have lots of All-Star quality talent. Hopefully they can avoid the injury bug. Marion is really coming on strong. In the end, the class of 2003 will be measured by MVP's and NBA Championships. They have accomplished more three years in, however, than all of these other classes, and there's no reason to think that they won't stay ahead of the curve and one day be considered as possibly the greatest draft class of all time.