Just because I was bored and curious:

2006 - Cedric Simmons 6-9 223 PF NCSt. So. - NO/OK City
2005 - Antoine Wright 6-6 203 SG Tex. A&M Jr. - New Jersey
2004 - Al Jefferson 6-9 263 PF MS HSSr. - Boston
2003 - Reece Gaines 6-6 185 PG/SG Louisville Sr. - Orlando
2002 - Bostjan Nachbar 6-9 220 SF (Slovenia) 1980- Houston (Tor)
2001 - Steven Hunter 6-11 224 C DePaul So. - Orlando
2000 - Jason Collier Georgia Tech Sr. C 7-0 230 - Milwaukee*(To Houston)
1999 - Frederick Weis 7-1 240 C France - New York
1998 - Matt Harpring Georgia Tech - Orlando (from N.J.)
1997 - Kelvin Cato Iowa State - Dallas (from Minnesota)
1996 - Steve Nash Santa Clara - Phoenix
1995 - Brent Barry Oregon State - Denver
1994 - Eric Piatkowski Nebraska - Indiana
1993 - Doug Edwards Florida State - Atlanta
1992 - Anthony Peeler Missouri - LA Lakers

A pretty uninspiring list, unfortunately. Obviously, the two gems here are Steve Nash (1996) and Al Jefferson (2004).

Anyone remember 1999's #15 pick?

http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/2130/carterdunkfrancekl6.jpg

Wow that was deflating. Thanks. Maybe if we offer #15 and #27 we can leapfrog to 10 or 12. That pick has to have a much better history.

Maybe this is more optimistic.......the #15-20 picks from the past 8 years. This might give some more hope. Standouts like Steve Nash (1996, listed above), Zach Randolph (2001), David West (2003), Al Jefferson (2004) and Ron Artest (1999).

Some decent role players like Danny Granger (2005), JR & Josh Smith (2004), Jameer Nelson (2004), Hidayet Türkoglu (2000), Speedy Claxton (2000), Quentin Richardson (2000), Desmond Mason (2000), James Posey (1999) and Juan Dixon (2002).


2006
15 Cedric Simmons 6-9 223 PF NCSt. So. - NO/OK City
16 Rodney Carney 6-6 204 SF Memphis Sr. - Philadelphia
17 Shawne Williams 6-8 227 SF Memphis Fr. - Indiana
18 Oleksiy Pecherov 6-10 232 PF Ukr. 1985 - Washington
19 Quincy Douby 6-3 175 PG/SG Rutgers Jr. - Sacramento
20 Renaldo Balkman 6-6 206 SF So.Car. Jr. - New York


2005
15 Antoine Wright 6-6 203 SG Tex. A&M Jr. - New Jersey
16 Joey Graham 6-6 217 SF Oklahoma St.Sr. - *Toronto
17 Danny Granger 6-9 225 SF New Mex. Sr. - Indiana
18 Gerald Green 6-7 192 SF TX HSSr. - Boston
19 Hakim Warrick 6-8 215 SF/PF Syracuse Sr. - Memphis
20 Julius Hodge 6-7 202 SG/SF NC State Sr. - Denver


2004
15 Al Jefferson 6-9 263 PF MS HSSr. - Boston
16 Kirk Snyder 6-7 228 SG Nevada Jr. - *Utah
17 Josh Smith 6-8 221 SF Smyrna, GA HSSr. - *Atlanta
18 JR Smith 6-7 227 SG Newark NJ HSSr. - New Orleans
19 Dorell Wright 6-7 190 SG/SF CA HSSr. - Miami
20 Jameer Nelson 6-0 199 PG St. Joe's Sr. - Denver

2003
15 Reece Gaines 6-6 185 PG/SG Louisville Sr. - Orlando
16 Troy Bell 6-1 183 PG Boston College Sr. - Boston
17 Zarko Cabarkapa 6-11 230 SF/PF (Serbia-Montenegro) 1981 - Phoenix
18 David West 6-9 232 PF Xavier Sr. - New Orleans
19 Aleksandar Pavlovic 6-7 207 SG/SF - Utah
20 Dahntay Jones 6-6 210 SG Duke Sr. - Boston


2002
15 Bostjan Nachbar 6-9 220 SF (Slovenia) 1980 - *Houston (Tor)
16 Jiri Welsch 6-7 205 PG/SG (Czech Republic) 1980 - Philadelphia *pick traded to Golden State
17 Juan Dixon 6-3 165 SG Maryland Sr. - Washington (NO)
18 Curtis Borchardt 7-0 238 C Stanford Jr. *pick traded to Utah - Orlando
19 Ryan Humphrey 6-7 223 SF/PF Notre Dame Sr - Utah
20 Kareem Rush 6-6 214 SG Missouri Jr. - Toronto


2001
15 Steven Hunter 6-11 224 C DePaul So. - Orlando
16 Kirk Haston 6-9 242 PF Indiana Jr. - Charlotte
17 Michael Bradley 6-11 230 PF Villanova Jr. - Toronto
18 Jason Collins 6-11 255 C Stanford So. - Houston
19 Zach Randolph 6-9 270 PF Michigan St. Fr. - Portland
20 Brendan Haywood 7-0 270 C North Carolina Sr. - Cleveland

2000
15 Jason Collier Georgia Tech Sr. C 7-0 230 - Milwaukee
16 Hidayet Türkoglu Efes Pilsen (Turkey) SF 6-8 1979 - Sacramento
17 Desmond Mason Oklahoma St. Sr. SG 6-6 207 - Seattle
18 Quentin Richardson Depaul So. SG 6-6 225 - LA Clippers
19 Jamaal Magloire Kentucky Sr. PF 6-9 230 - Charlotte
20 Craig Claxton Hofstra Sr. PG 5-11 180 - Philadelphia


1999
15 Frederick Weis 7-1 240 C France - New York
16 Ron Artest 6-7 233 SF St. Johns So. - Chicago
17 Cal Bowdler 6-10 253 PF Old Dominion Sr. - Atlanta
18 James Posey 6-8 210 SF Xavier Sr. - Denver
19 Quincy Lewis 6-7 215 SF Minnesota Sr. - Utah
20 Dion Glover 6-5 235 SG Georgia Tech Fr. - Atlanta

I try to think about Okur or Tay. Hoping JoeD and the gang can come up with a gem. It is a lil bit of luck, but so is picking number 1.

No worries gents, this is the BEST DRAFT EVAH!!

Remember those drafts didn't have the benifit of holding players back a year from the age requirement. There should be quite a few players available that normally wouldn't have been there.

That said, there are still going to be busts. We just have a better pool to pick from this year.

I think Joe took that into consideration when he traded Darko for this pick. Even though it's a #15 pick, it's probably a late lotto pick in terms of talant any other year.