Re-draft 2003 NBA Draft
PG. Oregon. Luke Ridnour. 29. player. 79.
The Dallas Mavericks held the final pick of the first round of the 2003 NBA Draft, after they won 60 games in the season prior.
What they didn’t know, was that the 2003-2004 season would end up being the final year of the trio of Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Finley. The Mavericks were ready to move on from Nash and weren’t sure that he would have anything left in the tank for his career.
Nash would then win two MVP’s with the Phoenix Suns and it was clear that they made the wrong judgment on their point guard. Knowing what we do now about how things went down, the best pick here of the players left in this re-draft for the Mavericks, would have been Oregon point guard Luke Ridnour.
In his career that also lasted over a decade, Ridnour was an okay point guard that could lead an offense for a little bit and provide minutes on the court. He wasn’t anything too special and was probably drafted way too high considering the players that were taken after him.
Still, he would have been a fine insurance policy for the Mavericks to have after Nash left. Fortunately, they would draft Devin Harris in a major deal at the 2004 NBA Draft.
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