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2nd best draft after Jordan/Barkley/Stockton/Hakeem
Ray Allen, Peja... so much greatness in one year. And yes Samaki Walker got drafted before Kobe and Nash

None of these guys brought a title to the team they were drafted to.

Nash / Marbury / AI
Kobe / AI / Allen / Kittles
Allen / Walker/ Kobe / Kittles
Rahim / O'Neal / Walker
Camby / O'neal

How well does that team do today? You've got floor spacers, athletic bigs, the ability to play small and go big. Generally good decision makers, and while nobody really to dump it down low for a guaranteed bucket, you've got 1-on-1 wing players who can get you a bucket.

How do Rahim or Walker work out as small-ball fours?

There's Ben Wallace too.

'96 was deeper than '84.

I had to look at the '96 draft again. It amazes me that Todd Fuller (Warriors) and Vitaly Potapenko (Cavs) were taken before Kobe and Nash.

1984 NBA Draft Class:
The Big 4:
Player Draft # Team
Hakeem Olajuwon #1 Houston Rockets
Michael Jordan #3 Chicago Bulls
Charles Barkley #5 Philadelphia 76ers
John Stockton #16 Utah Jazz
Starters/Role Players:
Player Draft # Team
Sam Perkins #4 Dallas Mavericks
Alvin Robertson #7 San Antonio Spurs
Otis Thorpe #9 Kansas City Kings
Kevin Willis #11 Atlanta Hawks
Jerome Kersay #46 Portland Trailblazers
Busts:
Player Draft # Team
Sam Bowie #2 Portland Trailblazers
Obviously the one that includes the GOAT is up here. A starting lineup of those first 4 guys and you can throw whoever you want at SF and you'd be golden. In terms of the role players department, it isn't incredibly thick. I don't feel like I missed out on anybody who panned out a really solid 10-year career and there's not anyone who slipped insanely hard that every NBA GM regrets passing up on.
NBA Championships: 8 (Michael Jordan x6, Hakeem Olajuwon x2)
NBA Finals Appearances: 12 (Michael Jordan x6, Hakeem Olajuwon x3, John Stockton x2, Charles Barkley x1)
NBA MVPs: 7 (Michael Jordan x5, Hakeem Olajuwon x1, Charles Barkley x1)
All-Star Appearances: 47 (Michael Jordan x14, Hakeem Olajuwon x12, Charles Barkley x11, John Stockton x10)
It's funny, since MJ was so dominant he didn't allow any of the other guys from this draft to win any rings. Still, you can see the utter dominance of the class from 3/4 of them winning MVPs (even if it wasn't totally justified). I also know that MVPs and All-Star Appearances on their own aren't the best way to judge other classes since it under-rates what a guy like Stockton contributed, but you get the general gist of it I imagine.
1996 NBA Draft Class:
The Big 4:
Player Draft # Team
Allen Iverson #1 Philadelphia 76ers
Ray Allen #5 Milwaukee Bucks
Kobe Bryant #13 Los Angeles Lakers
Steve Nash #15 Phoenix Suns
Stars/Role Players:
Player Draft # Team
Marcus Camby #2 Toronto Raptors
Shareef Abdur-Rahim #3 Vancouver Grizzlies
Stephon Marbury #4 Minnesota Timberwolves
Antoine Walker #6 Boston Celtics
Peja Stojaković #14 Sacramento Kings
Jermaine O'Neal #17 Portland Trailblazers
Zydrunas Ilgauskas #20 Cleveland Cavaliers
Derek Fisher #24 Los Angeles Lakers
Busts: 0
Player Draft # Team
N/A N/A N/A
I may get some **** for not including Peja instead of Ray Ray in the Big 4 section but it's subjective as I said. This draft class is far deeper than either of the other two classes, and would easily fill out the best team if you had to make one. It would have even been sent REALLY over the top if I was including Ben Wallace who wounded up with Washington. Overall though, probably gets less mentioned than 1984 or 2003 surprisingly despite the clear evidence that were a crap-ton of beastly players.
NBA Championships: 7 (Kobe Bryant x5, Ray Allen x2)
NBA Finals Appearances: 12 (Kobe Bryant x7, Ray Allen x4, Allen Iverson x1)
NBA MVPs: 4 (Steve Nash x2, Kobe Bryant x1, Allen Iverson x1)
All-Star Appearances: 46 (Kobe Bryant x17, Allen Iverson x11, Ray Allen x10 Steve Nash x8)
Damn... this class actually has more NBA Finals appearances than 1984. Similar to 1984, it also has only 2 guys of the Big 4 who won Championships (and sadly Nash who never even got to an NBA Finals). At the very least, he does lead the class in MVPs surely pissing off Kobe fans with his sole MVP. Still, with Kobe likely making the All-Star game this year it will officially tie the 1984 and 1996 class in appearances and it will likely remain that way since Kobe is retiring at the end of the year.
2003 NBA Draft Class:
The Big 4:
Player Draft # Team
LeBron James #1 Cleveland Cavaliers
Carmelo Anthony #3 Denver Nuggets
Chris Bosh #4 Toronto Raptors
Dwyane Wade #5 Miami Heat
Starters/Role Players:
Player Draft # Team
Chris Kaman #6 Los Angeles Clippers
Kirk Hinrich #7 Chicago Bulls
David West #18 New Orleans Hornets
Boris Diaw #21 Atlanta Hawks
Kendrick Perkins #27 Boston Celtics
Zaza Pachulia #42 Orlando Magic
Mo Williams #47 Utah Jazz
Kyle Korver #51 Philadelphia 76ers
Busts:
Player Draft # Team
Darko Miličić #2 Detroit Pistons
This has a bit of recency bias to it since it's far easier to know a lot of these guys considering a number of them are still playing, whereas I can't remember if the #37 pick in the 1984 Draft was able to pan out a solid 10-year career. Regardless, this is the draft class where nobody really slipped and that top 5 is about as great as you're gonna get across the board. There are a couple of guys like Josh Howard and Leandro Barbosa who had the random 18PPG season but I didn't feel like they were worthy of being up here.
NBA Championships: 7 (Dwyane Wade x3, LeBron James x2, Chris Bosh x2)
NBA Finals Appearances: 15 (LeBron James x6, Dwyane Wade x5, Chris Bosh x4)
NBA MVPs: 4 (LeBron James x4)
All-Star Appearances: 40 (LeBron James x11, Dwyane Wade x11, Chris Bosh x10, Carmelo Anthony x8)


i think the 96 draft class is the best of all time, followed by 84 and then 03.
15 and 17 will go down as great classes too.

VYoungJrIII wrote:None of these guys brought a title to the team they were drafted to.

you forgot derek fisher

GOTEMCOACH wrote:1984 NBA Draft Class:
The Big 4:
Player Draft # Team
Hakeem Olajuwon #1 Houston Rockets
Michael Jordan #3 Chicago Bulls
Charles Barkley #5 Philadelphia 76ers
John Stockton #16 Utah Jazz
Starters/Role Players:
Player Draft # Team
Sam Perkins #4 Dallas Mavericks
Alvin Robertson #7 San Antonio Spurs
Otis Thorpe #9 Kansas City Kings
Kevin Willis #11 Atlanta Hawks
Jerome Kersay #46 Portland Trailblazers
Busts:
Player Draft # Team
Sam Bowie #2 Portland Trailblazers
Obviously the one that includes the GOAT is up here. A starting lineup of those first 4 guys and you can throw whoever you want at SF and you'd be golden. In terms of the role players department, it isn't incredibly thick. I don't feel like I missed out on anybody who panned out a really solid 10-year career and there's not anyone who slipped insanely hard that every NBA GM regrets passing up on.
NBA Championships: 8 (Michael Jordan x6, Hakeem Olajuwon x2)
NBA Finals Appearances: 12 (Michael Jordan x6, Hakeem Olajuwon x3, John Stockton x2, Charles Barkley x1)
NBA MVPs: 7 (Michael Jordan x5, Hakeem Olajuwon x1, Charles Barkley x1)
All-Star Appearances: 47 (Michael Jordan x14, Hakeem Olajuwon x12, Charles Barkley x11, John Stockton x10)
It's funny, since MJ was so dominant he didn't allow any of the other guys from this draft to win any rings. Still, you can see the utter dominance of the class from 3/4 of them winning MVPs (even if it wasn't totally justified). I also know that MVPs and All-Star Appearances on their own aren't the best way to judge other classes since it under-rates what a guy like Stockton contributed, but you get the general gist of it I imagine.
1996 NBA Draft Class:
The Big 4:
Player Draft # Team
Allen Iverson #1 Philadelphia 76ers
Ray Allen #5 Milwaukee Bucks
Kobe Bryant #13 Los Angeles Lakers
Steve Nash #15 Phoenix Suns
Stars/Role Players:
Player Draft # Team
Marcus Camby #2 Toronto Raptors
Shareef Abdur-Rahim #3 Vancouver Grizzlies
Stephon Marbury #4 Minnesota Timberwolves
Antoine Walker #6 Boston Celtics
Peja Stojaković #14 Sacramento Kings
Jermaine O'Neal #17 Portland Trailblazers
Zydrunas Ilgauskas #20 Cleveland Cavaliers
Derek Fisher #24 Los Angeles Lakers
Busts: 0
Player Draft # Team
N/A N/A N/A
I may get some **** for not including Peja instead of Ray Ray in the Big 4 section but it's subjective as I said. This draft class is far deeper than either of the other two classes, and would easily fill out the best team if you had to make one. It would have even been sent REALLY over the top if I was including Ben Wallace who wounded up with Washington. Overall though, probably gets less mentioned than 1984 or 2003 surprisingly despite the clear evidence that were a crap-ton of beastly players.
NBA Championships: 7 (Kobe Bryant x5, Ray Allen x2)
NBA Finals Appearances: 12 (Kobe Bryant x7, Ray Allen x4, Allen Iverson x1)
NBA MVPs: 4 (Steve Nash x2, Kobe Bryant x1, Allen Iverson x1)
All-Star Appearances: 46 (Kobe Bryant x17, Allen Iverson x11, Ray Allen x10 Steve Nash x8)
Damn... this class actually has more NBA Finals appearances than 1984. Similar to 1984, it also has only 2 guys of the Big 4 who won Championships (and sadly Nash who never even got to an NBA Finals). At the very least, he does lead the class in MVPs surely pissing off Kobe fans with his sole MVP. Still, with Kobe likely making the All-Star game this year it will officially tie the 1984 and 1996 class in appearances and it will likely remain that way since Kobe is retiring at the end of the year.
2003 NBA Draft Class:
The Big 4:
Player Draft # Team
LeBron James #1 Cleveland Cavaliers
Carmelo Anthony #3 Denver Nuggets
Chris Bosh #4 Toronto Raptors
Dwyane Wade #5 Miami Heat
Starters/Role Players:
Player Draft # Team
Chris Kaman #6 Los Angeles Clippers
Kirk Hinrich #7 Chicago Bulls
David West #18 New Orleans Hornets
Boris Diaw #21 Atlanta Hawks
Kendrick Perkins #27 Boston Celtics
Zaza Pachulia #42 Orlando Magic
Mo Williams #47 Utah Jazz
Kyle Korver #51 Philadelphia 76ers
Busts:
Player Draft # Team
Darko Miličić #2 Detroit Pistons
This has a bit of recency bias to it since it's far easier to know a lot of these guys considering a number of them are still playing, whereas I can't remember if the #37 pick in the 1984 Draft was able to pan out a solid 10-year career. Regardless, this is the draft class where nobody really slipped and that top 5 is about as great as you're gonna get across the board. There are a couple of guys like Josh Howard and Leandro Barbosa who had the random 18PPG season but I didn't feel like they were worthy of being up here.
NBA Championships: 7 (Dwyane Wade x3, LeBron James x2, Chris Bosh x2)
NBA Finals Appearances: 15 (LeBron James x6, Dwyane Wade x5, Chris Bosh x4)
NBA MVPs: 4 (LeBron James x4)
All-Star Appearances: 40 (LeBron James x11, Dwyane Wade x11, Chris Bosh x10, Carmelo Anthony x8)


i think the 96 draft class is the best of all time, followed by 84 and then 03.
15 and 17 will go down as great classes too.

Relatively minor corrections, but Jerome Kersey ('99) and Kevin Willis ('03) both won rings with the Spurs, and Willis was an all-star in '92. Otis Thorpe won rings with Houston and was an all-star as well.

'96 was the best year to have a mid 1st round pick. There was so much talent that year!

84, 96 and 03 where the there best draft classes of all time.
The deepest of them i think is 96.

you really do have to count ben wallace as a part of the draft class

going undrafted in 96 still counts as the class of 96 cos he sure as hell isn't a part of any other draft class

Damn the legendary 96 draft class featured 0 busts! Wow

People forget Peja was drafted that year too before coming over a couple years later.

Dr Aki wrote:you really do have to count ben wallace as a part of the draft class

going undrafted in 96 still counts as the class of 96 cos he sure as hell isn't a part of any other draft class

Spoiler:

True, and you can also count Udonis Haslem as a Starter/Role-player (and 3x champ) in the '03 class as someone who went undrafted as well.

GOTEMCOACH wrote:NBA Championships: 7 (Dwyane Wade x3, LeBron James x2, Chris Bosh x2)
NBA Finals Appearances: 15 (LeBron James x6, Dwyane Wade x5, Chris Bosh x4)
NBA MVPs: 4 (LeBron James x4)
All-Star Appearances: 40 (LeBron James x11, Dwyane Wade x11, Chris Bosh x10, Carmelo Anthony x8)

SMH, Darko won a championship first, he deserves to be recognized.