I was looking back at some of the drafts.....we chose John Salmons and traded him to Philly in 2002....about 10 picks later, the Bulls drafted Roger Mason. I liked the Scola pick. I wish we would have signed Haslem after his Summer League stint in 2002.
Yeah, I am still bitter that we helped both PHX and Dallas in the 2003 draft, all over Jason Kidd....and we didnt even get him. I am happy we didnt get him, but I wish we would have gotten Howard.
In 2004, we could have had Chris Duhon, but got Beno instead. We wasted both 2nd rounders.....while Nocioni and Wilkins went undrafted.
In 2005, Ian was the best choice. I have no complaints about this pick.
In 2006, our pick went to the Knicks, I guess for Nazr. Well if we had Haslem and Scola, we wouldn't have needed trade our first rounder. There was nobody at the end of the 1st worth a darn. however, in the middle of the 2nd round, Leon Powe and Paul Millsap were drafted. Either would have been a solid choice for our front court.
In 2007, I liked the Splitter pick....in the 2nd, I would have rather gone after Marc Gasol, instead of Marcus Williams. Gasol would have been a nice insurance policy in case Splitter balked, which he did.
In 2008, I am glad we got Hill. I am also glad about Hairston and Gist.
So since 2002, we could have drafted Mason, Scola, Haslem, Howard, Duhon, Nocioni, Wilkins, Ian, Millsap/Powe, Splitter, Gasol, Hill, Hairston, and Gist.
Duncan, Manu, Parker, and Bowen are the core of the team. I am assuming Jackson would have still walked after 2003, thus we drafted Howard. Because of these draft picks...we never did the Nazr, Rasho, or Thomas trades. We never signed Barry, Finley, or Oberto. The Red Rocket would never have been a Spur, nor would have Vaughn.
C - Gasol, Ian, Millsap/Powe
PF - Duncan, Scola, Haslem
SF - Bowen, Howard, Nocioni
SG - Manu, Mason, Wilkins
PG - Parker, Duhon, Hill