Redrafting the 2014 NBA Draft
The 2014 NBA Draft is a memorable one because it featured two superstar centers, one of which (Nikola Jokic) wasn’t drafted until the middle of the second round. The rest of the first round consisted of a number of high-level role players along with some players with loads of potential, but inconsistent production. There were also a couple of huge busts like Dante Exum and Nik Stauskas, so this draft a had a bit of everything.
Let’s see how things would shake out if we redrafted things today.
Andrew Wiggins
This may come off as a surprise given Joel Embiid’s otherworldly talent, but Nikola Jokic is simply a better, more reliable NBA player. Yes, Embiid is, by far, a more impactful defender. He can also dominate opponents in the post in ways only the likes of Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon and other Hall of Fame big men could. However, Jokic can dominate basketball games too – look no further than his career playoff averages (24.7 ppg., 11.7 rpg., 6.8 apg. with 51-42-84 shooting splits in 33 career playoff games) – it just involves less brute force, and more skill. In fact, the Joker is arguably the best passing big man ever (7.1 apg. over the past two season). And the final separator for the no. 1 redraft choice: reliability is the best ability. Jokic, unlike Embiid, never misses games. He’s played an average of 76.2 games per season during his five year career (he spent 2014-15 overseas) whereas Embiid has only played 52.3 games per season during his four year career (and that doesn’t even take into account the two FULL seasons Embiid missed with injuries to start his career).
Jabari Parker
With the Joker off the board, Joel Embiid is the obvious choice here at no. 2 for the Bucks, who passed on him for Jabari Parker back in 2014. When he’s on the court, Embiid is a Hall of Fame level player. His career averages are 23.9 ppg., 11.5 rpg., 3.1 apg. and 1.8 bpg. with a 24.8 PER. His On/Off numbers (how his team performs when he’s on the court vs. off the court) have been greater than plus-10 in three of his four seasons. In fact, in the 2018-19 playoffs, the 76ers were plus-20.5 with Embiid on the court and minus-21.1 with him off the court – a preposterous 41.6 points per 100 possessions difference!! If you’re the Bucks, you take Embiid without any reservation and you reap the rewards when he and Giannis (drafted in 2013) start to hit their respective primes around the same time.
Draymond Green. While he doesn’t have the playmaking chops Green possesses, he can pass well enough to be a great roll man off of pick-and-rolls, and his crazy athleticism will be enough to overcome any shortcomings he might have on either end of the court.
Dwight Howard left. So we know that they’d most likely choose a big man, which means they’d be choosing between Jusuf Nurkic and Clint Capela – both good big men, but each has a vastly different skill set. Nurkic is the choice here because he offers more offensive versatility than Capela. Despite having a terrible leg injury late last season, Nurkic has returned to his pre-injury form and averaged 17.6 ppg., 10.3 rpg., and 4.0 apg. in eight regular season games and similar numbers in the playoffs.
Clint Capela. Capela became a full-time starter in his third season and has averaged 14.3 ppg., 11.1 rpg., and 1.6 bpg. and shot 64.5 percent from the field. He’s an above-average rim-runner and rim-protector, and would be a great centerpiece for the Jazz to build their defense around for the rest of the decade.
Marcus Smart
Certain players and teams – like Marcus Smart and the Boston Celtics – just seemed destined to be together. Smart is the heart and sole of the Celtics, and he’s coming off the best season of his career where he averaged 12.9 ppg. and 4.9 apg. and made First Team All-Defense. His impact on the game goes beyond the stat sheet, however. His ability to guard (and agitate the hell out of) any position from point guard to power forward makes him as valuable as an All-Star level player to a team like the Celtics.
Kobe Bryant was only able to play six games in the 2013-14 season. His rapid decline in production had begun as had his urge to be great at other endeavors in life, so he spent little time with the team the next two seasons. But what if the Lakers had had the opportunity to draft Andrew Wiggins? It’s not impossible to think that Kobe would have taken an interest in mentoring the Canadian basketball prodigy. Imagine the player he could have developed into had he been supplemented with some Mamba Mentality. There aren’t many people blessed with the kind of God-given ability Wiggins possesses, but Kobe Bryant was surely one of them. Maybe he could have helped Wiggins get a little more out of himself.
Nik Stauskas
Having signed Zach LaVine to a big contract as a restricted free agent (which the Bulls surprisingly matched), it’s clear that the Kings organization covets Zach LaVine. Fortunately for them, they’ll get a reprieve after drafting a bust in Nik Stauskas back in 2014 and select the high-flying guard out of UCLA instead. LaVine, much like Andrew Wiggins, is blessed with the kind of vertical athleticism you only see in a handful of NBA players and utilizes it well on offense (averaged 25.5 ppg. last season). Unfortunately, that athleticism hasn’t translated much to the defensive end of the court, so the Kings will need to play him alongside some strong defenders, or else they’ll never go far.
Noah Vonleh
Had we done this exercise a year or two ago, TJ Warren probably goes outside the lottery. Hell, even before the Bubble, Warren probably doesn’t go this high. However, in his first six bubble games, Warren averaged 31.0 ppg. and 6.3 rpg. on 58-52-89 shooting. This incandescent stretch seemed to justify, or at least make us think twice about glossing the fact that he’s averaged 19.3 ppg. the past three seasons. Blessed with this knowledge, the Hornets take Warren and try to develop him into a big-time scorer earlier in his career.
Spencer Dinwiddie fell a bit on draft night, landing at no. 38. It took him a few seasons to develop, but last season he averaged 20.6 ppg. and dished out 6.8 apg. for the Nets. Although they traded the no. 11 pick back in 2014, the Nuggets will keep the pick here and grab the overlooked Dinwiddie and hope to make him their point guard of the future.
Dario Saric
Although he won’t make it over to the NBA until the 2017-18 season, Bogdan Bogdanovic would be well worth the wait for the Magic here at no. 12. The Serbian playmaker can light it up from deep (career 37.2 percent three-point shooter) and make plays in the pick-and-roll. He’d be a less expensive, better version of what the Magic currently have in Evan Fournier.
Luka Doncic. The Hawks select Powell at no. 15 and fortify their front line alongside Al Horford and Paul Millsap.
Jusuf Nurkic
Ironically, the Bulls actually selected Gary Harris with the 19th pick in 2014, but then traded Harris along with the Nurkic to the Nuggets for Doug McDermott (whoops!). They’ll keep Harris this time around and hope that he develops into the player that averaged 17.5 ppg. in 2017-18 and defended at an above-average rate.
James Young
Elfrid Payton never developed into the Rajon Rondo-type point guard that his ceiling suggested he might be when he was drafted in 2014. However, he’s still a solid guard in the NBA and can make set up teammates fairly well (7.2 apg. last season) and make some plays on defense. The Celtics take him at no. 17 and turn he and Marcus Smart loose on defense.
Tyler Ennis
Though his development was tripped up a bit when he was traded twice in the past two seasons, Dario Saric seems to have regained his footing in Phoenix, so we’ll expedite the situation a bit here and have the Suns select him in 2014. With Saric, they’re getting a nice stretch four who has averaged 12.2 ppg. and 6.2 rpg. over four seasons in the NBA.
Bruno Caboclo
In a different world where he didn’t get so unlucky with injuries, Exum could have been a two-way force in the NBA as he’s blessed with great size and athleticism at the guard position. Unfortunately, due to those injuries and a lack of playing time, Exum had his growth as a player permanently stunted. In this redraft reality, perhaps the Raptors give him more minutes a little sooner than the Jazz did and Exum turns into the player everyone thought he would be.
Mitch McGary
As has been well-documented over the years, the Thunder lacked three-point shooting and floor spacing during the Kevin Durant-Russell Westbrook era. I’m thinking Dougie McBuckets could have helped on that front as he’s a career 41.2 percent three-point shooter. He doesn’t have the athleticism to score like he did in college, but he would have been an important contributor for OKC – much more important than Mitch McGary ever was.
Jordan Adams
Kyle “Slo Mo” Anderson seems to have carved out a decent niche with the Grizzlies as a playmaking forward, so let’s get him to Memphis a little earlier in his career. A jack-of-all-trades, but a master of none (especially shooting), Anderson is a poor man’s Boris Diaw and makes for a nice second unit player who can help run an offense with his advanced ball-handling and passing skills.
Shabazz Napier
Ah, the infamous Shabazz Napier pick…recall, that the Heat actually dealt for Napier in an attempt to appease LeBron James a few weeks before he went home to Cleveland. This time around, the Hornets keep the pick and take this draft’s Jeff Green in Rodney Hood – a player who flashes spurts of immense talent, but is maddeningly inconsistent and, ultimately, nothing more than a high ceiling role player. Hood has averaged 12.5 ppg. for his career.
Josh Huestis
Khem Birch becomes the first and only undrafted player to hear his name called on the redraft. He’s a backup center who has played well enough on defense to steal minutes from Mo Bamba in Orlando the past two seasons, so he should be able to give Steven Adams a blow here and there for the Thunder.
Kyle Anderson
Originally selected by the Kings (“Stauskas? Stauskas.”), Nik Stauskas was a complete bust for Sacramento and probably doesn’t deserve to get redrafted. Then again, what if a player blessed with his shooting touch was drafted by the Spurs? Think they’d figure out a way to turn him into a solid NBA rotation player? My guess is yes.
