NBA All-Time Mock Draft: Which NBA legends would get picked by teams right now?

What if, instead of top NCAA prospects, the 2017 NBA Draft allowed teams to pick from the creme de la creme of legendary NBA players from years past?

The Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers are too damn good. The Dubs and the Cavs both have yet to lose a playoff game, with both teams generally steamrolling any and all resistance thus far.

That might make for a captivating 2017 NBA Finals, but it’s made the rest of the 2017 NBA Playoffs rather boring. What if there were a way to spice things up a bit for the competition?

Since neither the Warriors nor the Cavaliers have a pick in the upcoming 2017 NBA Draft, let’s inject some more quality into the draft pool for the other teams to choose from. Instead of Markelle Fultz, Lonzo Ball and Josh Jackson, what if Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson were on the board?

After all, these other 28 teams need some help. Fultz and Ball might be great prospects, but they’re not going to get good in time to stop Golden State or Cleveland. Prime MJ might have something to say about those teams, though.

Unfortunately, the Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Clippers are also without picks in this NBA All-Time Draft. Sorry Clippers and Grizzlies. It’s probably time to start tanking, and quickly.

For the 26 teams that do have picks, there are some ground rules to follow. Nobody currently active in the NBA can be picked. We don’t need two LeBron Jameses running around, and stealing all of the Cavs and Warriors players would be no fun.

Also, there’s certainly a recency bias at play here. In addition to the author (that’s me!) not having a chance to watch Bill Russell and Bob Cousy live, it seems likely that teams would be more willing to trust players they have more film and data on with their uber valuable picks in this draft. There are still some players from decades ago picked, they’re just at a slight disadvantage to more recently-retired players.

Okay, enough rules. Let’s get into it. The Boston Celtics are on the clock, and they can pick from anybody in NBA history to bolster their chances against LeBron James and the Cavs.