@@Doknot-tb9ey shows how much Bill dislikes Ron Mercer more than anything. Also, Danny Fortson strikes me as a player who should leave his childhood circle of friends behind.
@@stevesteve0521 Kobe didn't have much intent to play for Charlotte, the team that drafted him. Credit to West for recognizing game, but Charlotte was just screwed in that situation.
Charlotte drafted him to make the trade for divac. They had no intention of drafting or keeping kobe it was jerry west who got in contact with Charlotte because he knew kobe would end of 8th in the draft because they were looking for a shooting guard (that’s why they ended up drafting Kerry kittles) later in the draft because most teams weren’t looking for a shooting guard especially when straight out of high school. It was jerry west who was the mastermind to it all
@@stevesteve0521 I remember having some disdain for the rookie Kobe because it was well publicized in 1996 that his camp was telling teams he wouldn't play for them. A lot of these original articles are archived and behind pay walls, but you can read some content here and there from 1996. “We got an ultimatum from Kobe, too,” Sacramento Kings player personnel director Jerry Reynolds said. “Not just Charlotte. We were at No. 14, and we were strongly considering taking Kobe, but he was gone.” Reynolds also says Kobe refused to work out for them before the draft and told them not to draft him. Bryant’s agent Arn Tellem somewhat says concedes that they manipulated the situation. “I think what people should understand and respect is that this is a business,” he said. “Most players, when they’re drafted, rarely have the opportunity to have their dreams fulfilled. But we were in a position to do it, so we went for it, and we achieved it. You can’t begrudge anyone for trying to get their career objectives accomplished. Everyone else in this country does that every day of the week.” Kobe's team had a huge hand in this. West and Kobe made it happen.
@@Jay_Berries13 right.... dude barely mentioned tmac and spent hours on the Celtics fucking up. to be fair tho, this was the celtics draft they tanked hard for
@@Chronz lol he's talked about this many times on other podcasts. I think this 1997 redraft gave him an excuse to talk about it again. He's always an unabashed Celtics homer but he's has only talked a lot about the Celtics on these pods when it's a consequential year for them. He's been pretty neutral so far.
There was a time in my life when Stephen Jackson was my favorite basketball player and Steven Jackson was my favorite football player at the same time (most underrated RB of all time)
It's crazy to think that Billups was shafted as hard as any player in NBA history with the situations that he was put in and still developed into the player he did.
Your comment sent me down a rabbit hole. Some interesting stories of "community college to the league." But they're never as fascinating or novel as them seem on the surface, and the spectacle tapers off with the proper context. Shawn Kemp for example was drafted out of a CC but was actually a blue-chip prospect out of high school with a commitment to Kentucky but just couldn't pass his SAT. Ben Wallace and Devean George played in Division II and III schools but blew people away with their athleticism. Traditional, solid dudes don't get picked out of anywhere but the premier schools. It takes intangibles to get the attention of a front office.
I watched Anthony Parker play A LOT and I feel he deserves a little more respect. He played himself out of the league, went overseas and became an MVP. Raptors signed him after destroying the Euro League and became a crucial part of the Raptors when they were trying to build an identity. He played lock down D, could shoot the three and was a decent scorer. Show a little love for a guy who really worked on his game for years and had a second NBA life. At pick 15, I'd love to have a guy like that. Interesting Note: The year he came to Toronto they won the division, the starting 5 was Parker, Bosh, Nesterovic, Garbajosa and TJ Ford. To win a division with that lineup deserves a little love
It's kind of a myth that Van Horn was a bust. He just wasn't Duncan. I mean, yeah, you'd pick TMac and Chauncey ahead of him, but Van Horn had some pretty decent seasons and was a productive player his whole career and sort of was a progenitor of the stretch 4 developing a decent 3pt shot as they transitioned him to a 3. It's just that he was bad at defense and wasn't efficient enough in the paint for a 4. He was the typical 6'7" player who grew 3 inches too big.
When Bill used to write about House in his Page 2 columns, I used to think, "No way is this dude a 'yes' man to this magnitude." Video versions of House have since proved me wrong.
I would have taken Stephen Jackson at 4, i understand that he has issues with his background and what he lived as a young adult but he was a better contributor where he played than ketih van horn. You can see that he did not played in the NBA until 2001 because of his issues, but if he had the same opportunity that Keith had when he got to the league he would have been a better player and would have better numbers overall He made really good contributions with the Spurs, Pacers, Warriors and even got the Bobcats to the playoffs one year
James Miller why it would be a wasted pick? Give me another name that had a better career than him from that draft except from Tim Duncan, tracy mcgrady or Chauncey billups? He was the 42 pick and was waived by the team.
@@haroldrodriguez9961 I'm saying that because he was chosen 42nd that you could have chosen somebody at number 4 and still chosen Stephen Jackson when you hit the clock again before he was actually selected. I suppose if we're doing a full re draft he would probably be chosen earlier. So if we are playing by those rules I suppose you are right because he's definitely not going to stay on the board until the second round again knowing what we know now. Not arguing against Jack 5. I ride with him all day. If not for the brawl , my Pacers would have won a title with him, Ron Artest, and J O in 2005.
James Miller yeah the pacers could have won a championship back when the brawl happened but we will never know. This is a re draft of 1997 so i think those are the rules
@@finlayson6868 You not wrong at all. Things could have played out alot different for sure under the right circumstances. Vince had a couple good chances in NJ, those were some good years considering I was a Pistons fan born & living in Jersey so I could enjoy that rivalry to the fullest. Vince has always been great, shoot I was 7 his rookie year. He been in the league my whole life lol damn
Top 7 picks I agree completely 100%...and than there's some differences but generally it's not that much of a difference...Mercer I think deserved some spots higher...despite very few playoff appearances... 01) Tim Duncan 02) Tracy McGrady 03) Chauncey Billups 04) Keith Van Horn 05) Stephen Jackson 06) Tim Thomas 07) Bobby Jackson 08) Derek Anderson 09) Ron Mercer 10) Brevin Knight 11) Austin Croshere 12) Antonio Daniels 13) Danny Fortson 14) Anthony Parker 15) Tony Battie Honorable Mentions: - Alvin Williams - Adonal Foyle - Maurice Taylor - Troy Hudson
I feel you. For the most part, great list. Gotta say, Bynum was a substantial contributor to 2 championships with the Lakers. Only champ on the list I think
@@valthomas9786 I agree. But he flamed the fuck out as fast as he came on and he literally had ZERO other centers to worry about during what wouls have been his prime other than Howard. Im not saying he was a bust just that he fruatrated the fuck outta me.
not sure about that but he reminded me of a combination of youngish sheed young rockets horry prime david west prime paul milsap and prime rashard lewis ...he just has all the skills and tools to be a 21 8 3 1.5 and 1.4 stretch 4 small ball 5 type player for a dozen years as a starter
Love this concept. I question the approach. Seems like they're evaluating these 1997 rookies with what's valuable in the game right now. Why not pick based on who had the best career in their era?
wasnt it a thing that orlando wouldnt let tim duncan bring his wife on the plane with them for the free agency visit and that's one of the reasons he didnt sign with them?
Not to mention the whiteness of luke vlad and collison and the all time got paid for a few playoff games then sucked got fat stole money from knicks owner guy in jerome james....
this draft was garbage after pick 6.....like they said that was the end of clear starters on playoff teams...really after 3 this draft was bad..lol...like captain jack was a late bloomer but deserves to be 4th on this list and that when the draft really got bad and horn when healthy should be 5th and both were great starters but not great talents cause one could only shoot and the other was a headcase knucklehead...t mac and billups were late bloomers too..duncan was a finished product..without him and billups 2nd run on his 5th team due to t macs injuries and bad luck in playoff series this could of gotten really dark..but we got a mvp 2 all nba first team talents for multiple seasons and 2 finals mvps and a two time scoring champ out of this so It saved itself from 1991 and 2000...
it would of bene fun to see the 7 best players in this draft on one team..considering only jackson really steps on anyone's position and he can do it all and play at 4 spots on the floor so it would work...
AI and TMac on the same team would not have worked, AI said several times he never wanted another scorer on his team because he wanted to be the only guy and win his way.
Ai never said that dummy stop lying.. Watch any All Star game especially the Rookie Rising stars game Iverson is a willing passer if he had teammates who can actually score
My sixers are looking lovely! Always so sad Timmy D decided to stay that last yr, felt back then (although I love AI) just the type of big man TD was he would of won a chip here
@@ProfessaJ Duncan is top 8 all time. McGrady was good, but I can't call a player a legend without a playoff series win. Billups was good after a rough career start. Then the rest of the class was a bunch of who the heck cares. Bench players and less.
Derek Anderson had ankle injuries in Portland and never seemed to get healthy. I was super hyped when pdx signed him. Watching him, you could see that he had lost mobility in comparison to his spurs Era. Portland never seemed to play him to his strengths. Blazers would try to use him as a spot up shooter during games, but at the end of close games, often times they would give him the ball at the top of the key and iso. Watching it, it was confusing. Here you have a guy that you believe can get you (and showed he could) get you buckets at crunch time, yet, during the other 46 minutes, your not giving him touches or putting him in positions that suit his strengths.
Can you imagine being the JUCO player who had to guard Stephen Jackson? "So, Pete... You're guarding their best guy. He's 6'8" and running point. I know you're our 13th man, but there's a decent chance he's going to put whoever's on him in the hospital, and we really need Will for next week against Cloud County."
Few people remember that Starbury ruined Van Horn's career. Minnesota saw what he was doing to the big Ticket and shipped him, same thing happened to Van Horn. Honestly if Van Horn had played for the right coach and system he would have averaged 25 and 10 for his career and a borderline hall of famer. Just goes to show how important coaching and teammates are to a career.
Tim Duncan + ( both healthy ) T-Mac + Grant Hill ? Are you kidding me...these three would win like 5 rings. Just add two 3 and D guys in the starting lineup to play with them and you will be around 60 wins every season and a favourite in every single playoff series. What a shame. Also... Anthony Parker was a moster. Absolute monster in europe. So I have no doubt he would be at least a very quality starter in the NBA if he got a chance. Dude was like a europan Jordan while playing for Macabi Tel Aviv. Him,Jasikevicius,Vujcic,Sharp,Burstein,Baston etc. Those guys were a dynasty. That entire team could play in the NBA as they were.
Anytime you can get a 13%, three point shooter in the top ten of the NBA draft you gotta do it, right, House? " You mook. I'm joshing, Joe. You and Klosterman are by far my favorite 2 guests. House becomes the best strictly by volume. "
IMO: 1. Duncan (1) 2. Tmac (2) 3. Chauncey (3) 4. Tim Thomas (6) 5. Stephen Jackson (5) 6. Keith Van Horn (4) 7. Bobby Jackson (7) 8. Austin Croshere (8) 9. Tony Battie (12) 10. Antonio Daniels (11) 11. Ron Mercer (14) 12. Anthony Parker (15) 13. Scot Pollard 14. God Shammgod 15. Derek Anderson (9)
Actual Top 14 Picks #1 | SAS | Tim Duncan | Wake Forest #2 | PHI | Keith Van Horn | Utah #3 | BOS | Chauncey Billups | Colorado #4 | VAN | Antonio Daniels | Bowling Green #5 | DEN | Tony Battie | Texas Tech #6 | BOS | Ron Mercer | Kentucky #7 | NJN | Tim Thomas | Villanova #8 | GSW | Adonal Foyle | Colgate #9 | TOR | Tracy McGrady | Mount Zion Christian Academy #10 | MIL | Danny Fortson | Cincinnati #11 | SAC | Tariq Abdul-Wahad | San Jose State #12 | IND | Austin Croshere | Providence #13 | CLE | Derek Anderson | Kentucky #14 | LAC | Maurice Taylor | Michigan Simmons & House Top 14 Picks #1 | Tim Duncan #2 | Tracy McGrady #3 | Chauncey Billups #4 | Keith Van Horn #5 | Stephen Jackson | Butler County Community College | 42nd | PHO #6 | Tim Thomas #7 | Bobby Jackson | Minnesota | 23rd | SEA #8 | Austin Croshere #9 | Brevin Knight | Stanford | 16th | CLE #10 | Derek Anderson #11 | Antonio Daniels #12 | Tony Battie #13 | Danny Fortson #14 | Ron Mercer My Top 14 Picks #1 | Tim Duncan #2 | Chauncey Billups #3 | Tracy McGrady #4 | Antonio Daniels #5 | Derek Anderson #6 | Keith Van Horn #7 | Tony Battie #8 | Stephen Jackson #9 | Tim Thomas #10 | Brevin Knight #11 | Bobby Jackson #12 | Kelvin Cato | Iowa State | 15th | DAL #13 | Austin Croshere #14 | Scot Pollard | Kansas | 19th | DET
I’m not scrolling to see if anybody said this already, but the breaking point with Duncan going to Orlando was that they said Orlando wouldn’t let his family go on the my flight.
With 15 you easly go Anthony Parker. He didn't have a good NBA career but in euroleague he was like Michael Jordan for Macabi Tel Aviv. He definetly had talent and no question in my mind he could average 18 points per game at least in the NBA in his prime. Look him up.
@Jackson Gilmore Yes she is. But he was amazing in europe and there is no doubt he would be a good NBA player if he had the chance at the right time. He did return to NBA later in his career when he was over his prime,but around let's say 2005ish he was a monster. I would say the best euroleague player in that decade.
Pitino's temperament with Duncan would never work. Duncan went to the right place thankfully. Most of this draft class were what-if players. I think Mercer, Anderson, and Tim Thomas were all smoking blunts in their off time because they should have been great out there. They didn't have that extra gear unfortunately.
Wow, I forgot Keith Van Horn's Utah team fared better the year after he left. Fun fact: Utah lost to Kentucky three years in a row in the tournament - 1996, 1997, 1998 - and one round later each year.
Twenty three years later. Bill still fantasizes about the Celtics ending up with Tim Duncan. It makes sense why he resents San Antonio. As much as he likes to accuse the Spurs of tanking the '96-97 season like his beloved Celtics. It is never brought up that a bad back and a broken foot limited David Robinson to six games that year. Sean Elliott missed games due injuries and his kidney problems.
This “does Duncan go to the Celtics” hypothetical doesn’t make sense if you still make the Spurs take Duncan in the redraft. Good fucking lord, Bill. Made me hit the skip button.
Sometimes, players just happen to play for a lot of teams. Doesn't mean there is a reason. Andre Miller and Joe Smith are examples. Why penalize a player for that?
This guy mentions how many different teams Stephen played for and then says he wasn’t a trade asset 😂😂😂 there’s no world where I take Keith van Horne over Stephen Jackson
Lmao House is high as fuck, Antonio Daniels was traded away from the Wizards in December of 2008. Wall wasn't drafted until 2010. He was never a "mentor" to John Wall because they weren't even there at the same time. By the way that was the infamous three way trade that netted us Javaris Crittenton of "Gilbert's guns" fame, who's now in jail for the rest of his productive life because he's a real-life version of "when keepin it real goes wrong."
Tuff redraft. post Top 4. A lot of solid pro's like Battie, Foyle, Anderson, Blount, Knight, Scotty P, and the underrated Aussie Crochere etc. 2nd round was ugly
