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The question was posed by one broadcaster to the other, on WEEI during the game. Could Rondo have been the top pick in his draft? I don't know, but in my opinion Boston has at least two players who should had been selected first if you look back in hindsight.

Here is where I would select each player who now make up the starting five for the Celtics.


Kevin Garnett - The fifth selection of the 1995 draft.

Top pick: Joe Smith
Rookie Of The Year: Damon Stoudamire
My choice for the top pick: Kevin Garnett

Paul Pierce - The tenth selection of the 1998 draft.

Top pick: Michael Olowokandi
Rookie Of The Year: Vince Carter
My choice of the top pick: Paul Pierce

Without question, Dirk Nowitzki would've gone first, if not Pierce.

Kendrick Perkins - The twenty-seventh selection of the 2003 draft. This was the Memphis pick.

Top pick: Lebron James
Rookie Of The Year: Lebron James
My choice for the top pick: N/A

Four of the five players selected in the top five became All-Stars. Out of the twenty-one players, from six to twenty-three, drafted ahead of Perkins. Only one, David West, became an All-Star. So, one could argue that both West and Perkins should had been selected in the top fifteen.

Rajon Rondo - The twenty-first selection of the 2006 draft. This was the Phoenix pick.

Top pick: Andrea Bargnani
Rookie Of The Year: Brandon Roy
My choice for the top pick: N/A

Most will say their top pick would be Roy but Rondo then could be your second pick.

Ray Allen - The fifth selection of the 1996 draft. This was the Minnesota pick.

Top pick: Allen Iverson
Rookie Of The Year: Allen Iverson
My choice for the top pick: N/A

One of the deepest drafts in recent years, Ray Allen should had been no worst than the second pick.

KG obviously should've gone first based upon his career, but no one would've drafted a high school kid first.

Pierce was one of the top college prospects coming out of Kansas, the fact he dropped so far in that draft was just pure luck.

Perk was a straight steal and he's the best bargain in the NBA.

That draft was garbage outside of the obvious players. Considering Morrison was drafted third, Rondo should've gone in the top ten.

Since that was a great draft, its understandable that Jesus fell so far. I wonder how KG and Ray would've played in Minnesota together...

SonicYouth34 wrote:Since that was a great draft, its understandable that Jesus fell so far. I wonder how KG and Ray would've played in Minnesota together...

You can't blame the Timberwolves, though. They'd veteran Doug West and a young Isaiah Rider then at shooting guard. While both Terry Porter and Spudd Webb at point guard were getting older. I guess they weren't that satisfied with Darrick Martin.

I might have selected Marbury too seeing that Garnett and him were already friends. But, Ray Allen should have been an no-brainier.

bonsaiflipflops wrote:Ray Allen - The fifth selection of the 1996 draft. This was the Minnesota pick.

Top pick: Allen Iverson
Rookie Of The Year: Allen Iverson
My choice for the top pick: N/A

One of the deepest drafts in recent years, Ray Allen should had been no worst than the second pick.

If you are talking in retrospect, Ray probably still doesn't go 2nd. Maybe not 3rd. Just depends on needs. Kobe goes 1st, obviously. But that still leaves AI, Nash & maybe JO that could all realistically go ahead of Allen.

I can tell you this. I was getting mighty chubby when I thought Ray was falling to us at #6. I was sitting in my hotel room in Myrtle Beach watching that draft. I'm a Celtics and Cavs fan. I almost turned off the TV when the Cavs took Potepenko.

vct33 wrote:If you are talking in retrospect, Ray probably still doesn't go 2nd. Maybe not 3rd. Just depends on needs. Kobe goes 1st, obviously. But that still leaves AI, Nash & maybe JO that could all realistically go ahead of Allen.

I can tell you this. I was getting mighty chubby when I thought Ray was falling to us at #6. I was sitting in my hotel room in Myrtle Beach watching that draft. I'm a Celtics and Cavs fan. I almost turned off the TV when the Cavs took Potepenko.

True. Oftentimes, teams draft for need rather than for the best available player. In my opinion, if you're a lottery team selecting among the top five. You always take the best player left unless under tough circumstances where you've no choice but to go big, let's say. In retrospect, yes, Kobe Bryant could've been the top choice. However, as the previous poster pointed out, at that time--the nineties--teams were quite skeptical of drafting a high school player as high as Kevin Garnett went. Which shows the foresight that the Minnesota front office/ownership had to select Garnett. I remember that there were teams drafting among the top ten or so who'd worked out Bryant. The Celtics being one of these teams. Actually, New Jersey I recall who'd selected eighth, showed interest in Bryant but felt Kerry Kittles was the safer pick. They should have had taken the gamble. However, the same can be said of Boston. Although, Antoine Walker wasn't a bad choice, you never really know when you're selecting in the top five to fifteen. It can be a crap shoot if you don't do your research and scouting. Well, what's done is done. I'm not going to nitpick over the Walker pick, for Boston. Because Walker was a promising and productive player with the Celtics early on. And Boston could've had selected Tracy McGrady in following draft (1997) and selected Ron Mercer, another Kentucky player, instead. So, mistakes do happen for every draft when you're given time to look back on them.

Vitaly Potapenko. He was decent as a Celtic but certainly wasn't worth being drafted as high as he was nor should Boston have had given up their first round pick for the 1999 draft for him. Wow. Boston might have selected Andre Miller who did get selected with that pick only it was Cleveland doing the drafting. On the other hand, what was Dallas thinking giving up what amounted to two first round picks (a swap of their sixth pick for Boston's ninth pick in 1996 and giving up their 1997 first round pick to boot) in exchange for Eric Montross and a lower first round pick?

Antoine Walker/Ron Mercer > Eric Montross/Samaki Walker

If Perk had gone to college, he would have been a top 10 pick after two years in college.