One of the refrains of the Okafor and a first round pick for Gortat trades is that the pick really won’t be worth all that much anyway because it doesn’t convey to the Suns unless it falls outside the top 10. I spent a few minutes tweeting a list of productive players selected outside the top 10 over the past few years.
Out of curiosity, I decided to see what kind of team I could construct using only players currently in the league who were drafted outside the top 10. The biggest problem: too many good players.
Point Guards
- Tony Parker
- Rajon Rondo
- Ty Lawson
- Jameer Nelson
- Mo Williams
- Jarrett Jack
- Kyle Lowry
- George Hill
- Lou Williams
- Nate Robinson
- Isaiah Thomas
Gilbert Arenas got picked in the second round too, but I’m trying to assemble a “current” team. I’ll take three PGs — Parker, Rondo and Lawson.
Shooting Guard
- Manu Ginobili
- Kobe Bryant
- Kevin Martin
- Kyle Korver
- Thabo Sefalosha
- Jimmy Butler
- Gordon Hayward
- Tony Allen
I’ll take two — Ginobili and Kobe. Hmm, might be to old. Could replace either with Butler to have a developmental guy. Still, I’ll stick with the old guys.
Small Forward
- Kawhi Leonard
- Andrei Kirilenko
- Danny Green
- Danny Granger
- Chandler Parsons
- Nicolas Batum
- Jared Dudley
- Trevor Ariza
- Dorell Wright
- DeMarre Carroll
- Matt Barnes
- Metta World Peace
- Tayshaun Prince
These are just the guys I considered in an off-the-top-of-my-head kinda way. Lots of options, but I’ll pick two: Leonard and Green. Yeah, they’re both Spurs, but they both do the kinds of things that help teams win. Hmm, I wonder if there’s some coincidence between them being productive and the Spurs winning.
Power Forward
- Thaddeus Young
- Carl Landry
- Ryan Anderson
- Serge Ibaka
- Kenneth Faried
- David West
- Paul Millsap
- Ersan Ilyasova
- Carlos Boozer
- DeJuan Blair
- Luis Scola
- Nick Collison
Almost an embarrassment of riches. I’ll take three: Anderson, Faried and Ibaka. Yep, good arguments could be made for Young, West, Millsap and Ilysova, but I like the combination of high production and differing styles these three offer.
Center
- Anderson Varejao
- J.J. Hickson
- Nikola Pekovic
- Marc Gasol
- Larry Sanders
- Kosta Koufos
- Al Jefferson
- Robin Lopez
- DeAndre Jordan
- Nikola Vucevic
- Marcin Gortat
- Omer Asik
- Javale McGee
Hmm…Gasol is an obvious pick. There’s room for one more center on the roster. Pekovic? Vucevic? Jordan? Gortat? Sanders? Asik? Geez, any of these guys would be pretty solid in the middle. I’ll take Pekovic as Gasol’s backup.
So, here’s the 12-man roster of players drafted outside the top 10:
Starters
- PG — Tony Parker
- SG — Kobe Bryant
- SF — Kawhi Leonard
- PF — Serge Ibaka
- C — Marc Gasol
Reserves
- PG — Rajon Rondo
- PG — Ty Lawson
- SG — Manu Ginobili
- SF — Danny Green
- PF — Ryan Anderson
- PF — Kenneth Faried
- C — Nikola Vucevic
Kinda interesting to see the number of Spurs on these lists, no?
The First Draft by Kevin Broom 