1998 NBA Draft Revisited
A LayupDrill.com Exclusive
It was the first draft after the Bulls Dynasty wrapped up their second three-peat. It was the draft that preceded the start of the Kobe/Shaq era. Yet this draft did produce some very interesting picks. LayupDrill.com takes a look back at what the players drafted have done, and re-organize the draft based on their success to date.
First, here is the original 1998 NBA Draft, Round 1:
1. Michael Olowokandi – Clippers
2. Mike Bibby – Grizzlies
3. Raef LaFrentz – Nuggets
4. Antawn Jamison – Raptors
5. Vince Carter – Warriors
6. Robert Traylor – Mavs
7. Jason Williams – Kings
8. Larry Hughes – 76ers
9. Dirk Nowitzki – Bucks
10. Paul Pierce – Celtics
Our Take: Pierce, Dirk, and Vince are the only superstars out of this group. Both Mike Bibby and Larry Hughes have had solid careers, and White Chocolate has been entertaining. Raef was severely overrated, and what were the Mavs thinking taking the Tractor Traylor? We certainly found out later that night.
11. Bonzi Wells – Pistons
12. Michael Doleac – Magic
13. Keon Clark – Magic
14. Michael Dickerson – Rockets
15. Matt Harpring – Magic
16. Bryce Drew – Rockets
17. Radoslav Nesterovic – Wolves
18. Mirsad Turckan – Rockets
19. Pat Garrity – Bucks
20. Roshown McLeod – Hawks
Loading ...Our Take: Hmm, alot of sixth men, bench players, and extras in this bunch. Bonzi and Harpring were serviceable, and Pat Garrity had a nice 15 foot jump shot. Roshown McLeod was another Duke Blue Devil who failed in the league.
21. Ricky Davis – Hornets
22. Brian Skinner – Clippers
23. Tyronn Lue – Nuggets
24. Felipe Lopez – Spurs
25. Al Harrington – Pacers
26. Sam Jacobson – Lakers
27. Vladimir Stepania – Sonics
28. Corey Benjamin – Bulls
29. Nazr Mohammed – Jazz
Our Take: Al Harrington and Ricky Davis were steals this late in the draft, even though neither flourished with the teams that drafted them.
There were plenty of trades draft night, the biggest being Vince Carter being moved for Antawn Jamison, as well as Dallas pulling the steals of the night, trading for two future hall of famers. In the infamous Dirk deal, Dallas traded the rights to Robert Traylor to the Bucks for Dirk. This was one of the last drafts where you could visibly see the difference between teams that didn’t rely on scouting strictly big conference teams. Dirk was a unknown to many, and Traylor was the star of the Michigan Wolverines. If that wasn’t lopsided enough, Dallas then traded the rights to Martin Muursepp, Bubba Wells and Pat Garrity and the 99 first round pick to Phoenix for Steve Nash. I wonder if Phoenix would take the equivalent of that for Nash today?
In other deals, Denver traded Tony Battie and Tyronn Lue out to LA for Nick Van Exel. Of course, Lue would end up being on the Shaq and Kobe express winning titles, while Nick Van Exel’s career never got back on track after he left the Lakers.
Other notable 2nd round draft picks were:
32. Rashard Lewis – Sonics
39. Rafer Alson – Bucks
41. Cuttino Mobely – Rockets
If this draft were to be redone now, based on career achievements, the top 10:
1. Paul Pierce
2. Dirk Nowitzki
3. Vince Carter
4. Antawn Jamison
5. Mike Bibby
6. Rashard Lewis
7. Al Harrington
8. Jason Williams
9. Larry Hughes
10. Rafer Alston
Overall, a decent draft class, not the best, certainly not the worst, but it did produce two potential hall of famers, one of the best slam dunk champs ever, and a man named Cuttino. You don’t get that every year.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
nice draft write up. I would be interested to know more about the 2nd round steals in past drafts. That would be very interesting
Thats on the way…stay tuned…= )
this sites pretty chill. found y’all through DIME–only big disagreement is that Nick the Quick was sick in Dallas, dropping huge shot after huge shot in the playoffs, when no one wanted to shoot. I always like that he took his free throws from 18 feet, cause, really, Nick never shot closer than 18 for the majority of his career.
Nick was the man in Dallas I agree.
I’d have the top 10 like this,
1. Vince Carter
2. Dirk Nowitzki
3. Paul Pierce
4. Antawn Jamison
5. Rashard Lewis
6. Jason Williams
7. Larry Hughes
8. Mike Bibby
9. Al Harrington
10. Rafer ” SKip To mY LoU” Alston
I’d put VC no. 1 strictly on talent. If he was in the Big 3 instead of Pierce or even had the pieces around him that Dirk has had in the past few years then he would have a championship. The main factor that determined his career (so far) compared to the others is his only decent big men were Antonio Davis (during the year VC was injured), Hakeem (the year he retired), and Bosh (his rookie year). If he had came into the league with a Shaq type player, his career may have churned out a few rings.
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