2018 redraft - who are the top 10

[One_and_Done]

Redraft the 2018 draft in hindsight. Who would the top 10 be? Who would go #1?

Mine would be:
1. Luka [#3]
2. Shai [#11]
3. Trae [#5]
4. J.Jackson [#4]
5. Brunson [#6]
6. Mikal Bridges [#10]
7. A.Simons [#24]
8. M.Porter [#14]
9. Ayton [#1]
10. Miles Bridges [#12]

[Colbinii]

1. Luka

2. Shai
3. JJJ
4. Trae

5. Mikal
6. Brunson
7. Ayton

8. Carter Jr
9. MPJ
10. Simons

[The-Power]

Luka is obviously #1. But this was a really deep draft.

Trae / Brunson / Simons
SGA / Huerter / Sexton / DDV / Trent Jr. / Brown Jr. / Melton / Allen
Luka / Mikal / MPJ
JJJ / Vanderbilt
Ayton / Williams III / M. Robinson / Carter Jr.

Lots of quality NBA players, including high-end ones.

Luka
SGA
JJJ
Mikal
Trae
Brunson
Ayton
MPJ
Williams III

This may be my top 9 with the 10th spot up for grabs and depending on what I look for as a team. The upside play would be Simons but there are more proven and/or easier-to-fit players for a playoff team available that could entice some teams.

edit: And how anyone could list Miles Bridges with the benefit of hindsight is beyond me.

[SpreeS]

SGA
Luka
JJJ

[Doctor MJ]

Redraft the 2018 draft in hindsight. Who would the top 10 be? Who would go #1?

Ooh, now this is going to be fun.

1. Phoenix - Jaren Jackson Jr. (4), Phoenix's concerns about pairing Doncic with Booker were not unreasonable, just picked the wrong big.
2. Sacramento - Luka Doncic (3), Incredible steal and the Kings don't make the same mistake as last time.
3. Atlanta - Trae Young (5), I think they'd go with him again, particularly with Luka off the table.
4. Memphis - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (11), the Grizz still manage to end up with a steal.
5. Dallas - Jalen Brunson (33), the Mavs' find their franchise player in the 2018 draft again.
6. Orlando - Mikal Bridges (10), BPA and versatile which is perfect for a franchise that has no idea where it's going.
7. Chicago - Robert Williams (27), a defensive big makes a lot of sense on a team with Lavine & Markkanen.
8. Cleveland - Deandre Ayton (1), they're starting from scratch and Ayton is arguably the BPA while also being pretty healthy
9. New York - Michael Porter (14), BPA
10. Philadelphia - Bruce Brown (42), a great role player for fitting around stars.

ftr, I'd put both Doncic & Young ahead of JJJ for career to this point, and certainly think Doncic is the most likely of the bunch to win MVP. But while in the past I'd have said Booker didn't matter - Doncic was too good to pass up even if it meant you had to trade Booker - I can't say that any more. Doncic is more likely to win MVP than Booker too, but if the choice is between building around Doncic and ? or Booker and JJJ, I'll go with the latter.

[One_and_Done]

Yeh hard disagree on JJJ going #1. Booker played great with KD & CP3. Sure, KD is maybe the best offball complementary star of all-time, and CP3 can play offball a fair bit, but that's enough for me to be satisfied Booker can fit with either Luka or SGA.

I am similarly baffled by Trae over SGA.

[Doctor MJ]

Yeh hard disagree on JJJ going #1. Booker played great with KD & CP3. Sure, KD is maybe the best offball complementary star of all-time, and CP3 can play offball a fair bit, but that's enough for me to be satisfied Booker can fit with either Luka or SGA.

I am similarly baffled by Trae over SGA.

1. "can fit" is not a binary thing. If you're looking to build around a perimeter scorer, typically the fit will be best by adding someone who isn't a perimeter scorer. JJJ may be the best defensive player of his generation. That's no small thing. Not saying that you simply have to go with the better fit here, but if you pick Doncic, there's going to be a major fit-cost that has to be factored in.

2. Doncic is far more problematic on this front that the other guys. He's way more ball dominant than KD, and while prime Paul has similarly tendencies to Doncic, Booker was never asked to sacrifice with Paul the way he'd need to with Doncic.

3. SGA is also someone who to do his thing really requires a lot of set up in the scheme that effectively demotes everyone else. If your looking to build around Booker, this is far from ideal.

4. Re: Trae. Did you catch the part where I was drafting for the Atlanta Hawks? I don't think it unreasonable to pick SGA over Young - and said so in my post - but Atlanta chose to build their franchise around Young IRL and to this point they've not turned away from that. When I do re-drafts, if a team has the opportunity to draft the guy they actually drafted, I don't turn away from that lightly.

[One_and_Done]

Regardless of what they thought at the time, hindsight has shown Shai to be the better player, so assumedly they'd take him.

[MyUniBroDavis]

Luka is obviously #1. But this was a really deep draft.

Trae / Brunson / Simons
SGA / Huerter / Sexton / DDV / Trent Jr. / Brown Jr. / Melton / Allen
Luka / Mikal / MPJ
JJJ / Vanderbilt
Ayton / Williams III / M. Robinson / Carter Jr.

Lots of quality NBA players, including high-end ones.

Luka
SGA
JJJ
Mikal
Trae
Brunson
Ayton
MPJ
Williams III

This may be my top 9 with the 10th spot up for grabs and depending on what I look for as a team. The upside play would be Simons but there are more proven and/or easier-to-fit players for a playoff team available that could entice some teams.

edit: And how anyone could list Miles Bridges with the benefit of hindsight is beyond me.

I know I didn’t see Vanderbilt on there

[MyUniBroDavis]

Yeh hard disagree on JJJ going #1. Booker played great with KD & CP3. Sure, KD is maybe the best offball complementary star of all-time, and CP3 can play offball a fair bit, but that's enough for me to be satisfied Booker can fit with either Luka or SGA.

I am similarly baffled by Trae over SGA.

JJJ would not go over Luka wdym hard disagree that’s a HELL NO

[The-Power]

Doncic is more likely to win MVP than Booker too, but if the choice is between building around Doncic and ? or Booker and JJJ, I'll go with the latter.

Hmm, but let's be clear that the ‘?’ is likely still going to be a great player even if you decide to trade Booker (which I don't think is a must). I'd agree that Booker and JJJ are a better building block than Luka and a random player, but that's really not a comparison that matters here.

[Doctor MJ]

Regardless of what they thought at the time, hindsight has shown Shai to be the better player, so assumedly they'd take him.

So, I don't want to fight hard on this because I'm also more bullish on SGA's future than on Young's.

A couple things to consider though:

1. I was always under the impression that part of why they wanted Young was because of how exciting he was for fans to watch. That still holds true and SGA really doesn't give the same fan-entertainment value as Young.

2. When you say "hindsight has shown", you literally just mean '22-23. There's no way you'd have said this after years 1, 2, 3 or 4. You're talking about what happened in Year 5, during which SGA's team was a play-in team that got blown out in elimination against a disappointing Minnesota team, and in which SGA didn't put up a performance nearly as good as some Young has had on a bigger stage.

So, are you crazy to think Atlanta would draft SGA first in retrospect? No, this is a reasonable perspective. But I also think there's a reasonable case to be made that the Hawks would still target Young if they had the chance to do it all over again.

[Doctor MJ]

Doncic is more likely to win MVP than Booker too, but if the choice is between building around Doncic and ? or Booker and JJJ, I'll go with the latter.

Hmm, but let's be clear that the ‘?’ is likely still going to be a great player even if you decide to trade Booker (which I don't think is a must). I'd agree that Booker and JJJ are a better building block than Luka and a random player, but that's really not a comparison that matters here.

We're talking about the 2018 draft here. Remember that Booker doesn't become an all-star until 2020, and does so there on the back of being the alpha and big stat guy on the team. So when you talk about trading Booker, when is it you're expecting that to happen?

If you look to trade Booker earlier than that - which is what I'd think we'd be talking about - you're trading a "big stats bad team" guy that you're perceived as needing to get rid of now that you have Doncic. Are you really confident that you're going to get a JJJ level teammate when you do that?

But here's something else that I'll acknowledge is on my mind, even as I'd say that Doncic has had the best career so far in the draft and I wouldn't bet on that changing:

Acquiring the sidekick Doncic needs hasn't gone well for Dallas as you surely know. It's not clearly not as easy as people tend to assume...and that has everything to do with why drafting Doncic effectively cost both the GM & coach of Dallas their jobs, and why the new GM made a Hail Mary move last year that I wouldn't have advised.

With this in mind, were I a GM who already had a guy who would prove to be a franchise player, I too would be cautious about simply drafting BPA, particularly when someone like JJJ is available who seems a perfect complement to my franchise guy.

[spree8]

1: Luka
2: SGA
3: Mikal
4: Brunson
5: JJJ
6: Trae
7: MPJ
8: Ayton

[Colbinii]

SNip

Big fan of listing the teams to actualize context.

1. Phoenix - Luka Doncic

There simply is no other player on his talent level, and unlike Zion, he doesn't have the same durability issues. ATG basketball talent.

2. Sacramento - JJJ

After drafting Fox in 2017, pairing him with an elite DPOY candidate is obvious. Still could make the Sabonis move and have a dynastic trio is Fox/JJJ/Sabonis.

3. Atlanta - SGA

Yeah, I like him a bit more than Trae, but notably doesn't have any questions regarding his off-court behaviour [which I don't have as a major red flag for Trae but rather something that raises eyebrows]. Incredible talent for a SG with his ball skill, scoring arsenal and defensive awareness.

4. Memphis - Trae Young

Ja Morant but a year earlier

5. Dallas - Mikal Bridges

They put their eggs in this basket, hoping he has shown enough on-ball prowess to become a 2nd option offensively.

6. Orlando - Jalen Brunson

They have longed for an elite Point Guard since Penny, and while Jameer was close, he was never there. Brunson has a shot at becoming the face of the franchise.

7. Chicago - DeAndre Ayton

Wow, no need to pursue Vucuvic and trade everything for him. LaVine/Ayton is a good rebuilding cornerstone in 2018.

8. Cleveland - Anfernee Simons

They need someone who can be the face of a rebuilding team and his offensive talents is an easier selling point than 25 MPG/60 GP Rob Williams

9. New York - Michael Porter Jr

They hold out hope he can become a star, though the back issues remain a huge question mark

10. Philadelphia - Kevin Huerter

Really the perfect blend of a player to fit next to Simmons and Embiid. This also prevents him from torching them in the ECSF in 2021