From Last Word on Pro Basketball, by Austin Cracraft and Thomas Tittley
Editor’s note: LWOPB writers Thomas Tittley and Austin Cracraft decided to team up and re-draft the 2013 NBA Draft lottery on the heels of extension deadline day for the class. Each one of them took half of the teams (Thomas taking the odd-numbered picks, Austin taking the even-numbered) and they went from there.
2013 NBA Re-Draft
Austin: Ready to get started?
Thomas: Yeah, let’s get to it!
A: You can have the first pick.
T: With the first pick of the 2013 draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers select Giannis Antetokounmpo. There are other good scorers in this draft like Victor Oladipo and C.J. McCollum. But just two years before this draft, Cleveland picked Kyrie Irving, who would have demanded all the shots. Antetokounmpo can come in as a great slasher and defender alongside Kyrie and develop his ball-handling.
A: I like that pick. Just imagine him running the break alongside LeBron James…
T: It would be so scary.
A: With the second pick, the Orlando Magic select C.J. McCollum. This guy just gets buckets. This is a team desperately in need of a playmaker, especially at guard. He gives this team a go-to scorer who can adapt to whatever the team needs from him.
T: I love the pick because Orlando has almost zero shooting and at the time, Evan Fournier was not there.
T: With the third pick, the Washington Wizards select Otto Porter again. There are better players in this draft: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Nerlens Noel, etc. But the position that the team was desperate for was small forward. (Their SF the previous year included Martell Webster and Cartier Martin.) Porter has turned into a very nice on-ball defender and his offensive game gets better every year.
A: I think I would’ve gone with Caldwell-Pope, but you could argue that Porter’s upside is actually higher.
A: The Charlotte Hornets (at the time, Bobcats) have a tough decision on their hands but ultimately, they decide on Rudy Gobert. “The Stifle Tower” is an elite rim protector as well as a quality rebounder. Add him to an elite defense that doesn’t have a rim protector, and you could have the best defense in the league.
T: My only worry is that they just drafted Bismack Biyombo seventh overall the year before. I would argue that they should’ve taken Oladipo or KCP, since those two can play the two or the three and have turned into potent second options offensively.
T: As boring as this sounds, the Phoenix Suns still select Alex Len. Their team consisted of a very old Jermaine O’Neal, Hamed Haddadi, and Marcin Gortat at the time. While there are other good center options on the board, like Steven Adams, Len has quietly become a very good player in Phoenix and at a long 7’1″, he changes shots at the rim. Gobert was my first choice if you hadn’t picked him right before this spot.
A: Len over Adams is an interesting choice as Len continues to develop, but I am unsure if he’ll be a quality starting center in this league.
T: It was definitely a tough choice between the two.
A: The Philadelphia 76ers figure out that five big men can’t play together, and they select Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with the sixth pick. He is a glue guy. You know what you are going to get out of him. He defends at a high level, can shoot the three ball, and is in place to become the next Luol Deng, in terms of leading the league in minutes per game for the foreseeable future.
T: This is a fantastic pick. KCP is the perfect fit for Philadelphia and adds shooting and perimeter defense to that roster.
T: The Sacramento Kings select Dennis Schroder. At the time, Ben McLemore seemed to have the whole package, but, for whatever reason, he has not lived up to expectations. Schroder has emerged as one of the best pick-and-roll point guards in the league. Imagine him and DeMarcus Cousins running that play over and over, terrorizing teams.
A: That is an awesome pick. Fits well next to Boogie and gives him a teammate who he can actually rely on.
A: The Detroit Pistons are the first team to not get the guy they would’ve liked, but they may get an upgrade as they select Victor Oladipo. The Pistons need a little more playmaking, and Oladipo can contribute that instead of KCP. Oladipo also doesn’t give up too much defensively, and he still has room to grow. Detroit has to be thrilled that he fell this far.
T: This is perhaps the steal of the draft because of how late he went. Oladipo stalled a bit because of the lack of spacing in Orlando. But in Detroit, he could develop into an elite combo guard.
A: I kind of like the fit of him and Reggie Jackson together.
T: Agreed!
T: The Utah Jazz select Archie Goodwin with the ninth pick (via the Minnesota Timberwolves). This is definitely the surprise pick of the draft, but elite athletes like Goodwin are rare, and he got stuck in a very unfortunate situation in Phoenix, where he was way down in the pecking order. In Utah, he would get meaningful minutes alongside top scorers in Gordon Hayward, Paul Millsap, Al Jefferson, and Enes Kanter. He could focus on lockdown defense and distributing.
A: WOW! I believe that this is a reach but maybe things play out differently if was in a more stable environment. Just another talented wing to add to the collection.
T: I’m making a gamble, but when I watch Goodwin play, I see an NBA player. Maybe he’s not a starter, but a very good player is locked inside of him.
A: Fair enough.
A: Portland selects…thinks…sees that Steven Adams is still available…screams uncontrollably…STEVEN ADAMS. He is the perfect fit for this team. Losing McCollum clearly hurts, but Adams and Damian Lillard fit together wonderfully, and Adams will be the perfect guy to build the defense around. Not to mention his rebounding and talent in the pick-and-roll.
T: I was about to say the one player who is still on the board and probably shouldn’t be is that big fella from New Zealand. He is perfect for that team.
T: Philadelphia selects Allen Crabbe. Yes, they just drafted KCP. But the combination of those two on the wing with all those talented post big men is too incredible to pass up. An extremely underrated passer, Crabbe, again, adds shooting to one of the worst shooting teams in the league.
A: I love the fit with those two together, alongside some future bigs that the Sixers put together. Get a PG in free agency or down the line, and this is an actual NBA team.
A: The Oklahoma City Thunder take a slight downgrade and select Nerlens Noel with the 12th pick. Noel is more athletic than Adams, but other than that, he doesn’t provide quite the same impact. He is still a great selection, relative to typical 12th overall picks. He can be the catalyst of a quality defense.
T: This is a fantastic selection. He is the type of guy who can anchor a defense alongside Serge Ibaka.
T: The Boston Celtics select, once again, the same guy they actually picked: Kelly Olynyk. Olynyk is a very good role player. He shot over 40 percent from three last year, good for top 20 in the league. He is also one of the best passing big men in the league.
A: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
A: With the 14th and final lottery pick, the Minnesota Timberwolves select Andre Roberson. A very underrated player, Roberson is an extremely good defender, rebounder on both ends, and cutter offensively. He just plugs holes, while some future talent fills up the scoring duties. He wasn’t as highly touted as Shabazz Muhammad at the time, but he knows what he is good at and sticks to his role.
T: He is literally a better version of Shabazz. I love this pick. Roberson is the definition of a glue guy on a championship team.
T: This won’t be a draft that will be remembered for superstar talent. But it was one where some very good players were put into situations that probably hindered their careers. There is still a lot of talent there. Anyway, this was a lot of fun!
A: Absolutely!
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