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NBA Redraft: Top 10 Picks; LeBron James Not First

By Andrew Ross

Mar 31, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) is defended by Sacramento Kings forward Reggie Evans (30) as he drives toward the basket in the second half at the Smoothie King Center. Sacramento defeated New Orleans 102-97. Mandatory Credit: Crystal LoGiudice-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 31, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) is defended by Sacramento Kings forward Reggie Evans (30) as he drives toward the basket in the second half at the Smoothie King Center. Sacramento defeated New Orleans 102-97. Mandatory Credit: Crystal LoGiudice-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 17, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) dunks in the third quarter against the Dallas Mavericks at Quicken Loans Arena. After a video review by officials, the basket was taken away due to a foul before the score. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 17, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) dunks in the third quarter against the Dallas Mavericks at Quicken Loans Arena. After a video review by officials, the basket was taken away due to a foul before the score. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /

A NBA redraft is fun to fantasize about, and I think Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis would both go ahead of LeBron James if it ever happened.

Some of the most fun things to think about are those that will never happen.

One of my favorite sports fantasies (I have a lot) is imagining a league-wide redraft. Thanks to video games, gamers all over the world can live out this fantasy by moving all the best players around the league.

For the sake of this redraft, pretend that the Miami Heat never lost a game after LeBron James joined the team in 2010. That’s right, 82-0 every year with four rings in the process. Due to Miami’s boring and predictable dominance, the league’s ratings saw and all-time low and things started to get bad.

Adam Silver thought that before his first full season as commissioner, it would be a good idea to do a redraft of the entire league. By doing this, Silver hoped to bring back all the electricity the NBA once had.

Here are the first 10 players I believe would get drafted in this scenario. Please keep in mind that these franchises are starting over and need to focus on the future. I love Kobe Bryant as much as anyone, but a player of his age simply cannot be drafted before the young studs.

Those who almost made it:

Paul George

I know most people will call me crazy for not having George in the top 10. After all, he is only 24 years old and seemingly hasn’t hit his prime yet. After a slow start to his career, George started to hit his stride in his third season and finished last year in the MVP discussion by filling up the stat sheet with 21.7 points (42 percent shooting), 6.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.9 steals.

The biggest thing against George right now is the gruesome leg injury he suffered that will presumably keep him out for the entire 2014-15 campaign. If George was fully healthy, there is no doubt that he would be one of my top players drafted. However, I don’t think this is a huge knock on him. The NBA has a plethora of great players, and I believe there are at least 10 guys that should go ahead of George if we were drafting today.

Andre Drummond

Drummond is one of my favorite young players in the league, and it was very hard to keep him out of the top 10.

Coming out of college, Drummond was what we consider a project. In fact, there were team’s that worked him out prior to the draft that said he lacked basic basketball knowledge. Whatever team’s thought Drummond was lacking, talent wasn’t one of them.

After showing promise in his rookie season, the 6’11” beast averaged 13.5 points (62 percent shooting), 13.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in just his second season.

Drummond is now being coached by Stan Van Gundy – the man who was there for the best of Dwight Howard. This coaching change should be great for Drummond as he tries to become the next great center.

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