It’s been awhile since we did an NBA reDRAFT.

The 2018 NBA Draft takes place this week, so it’s a good time to look back at a past NBA Draft.

The 2009 NBA draft class is top-heavy with two Hall of Fame talents and one that could be right-at-the-border by the time he retires.

Yes, Steph Curry, James Harden and Blake Griffin get all the attention in this draft, but the draft class as a whole is underrated. There are a handful of All-Stars as well as guys like Ricky Rubio, who is coming off what may have been his best season of his career. There are a few other late-bloomers that make up the top thirty picks of the 2009 NBA reDRAFT.

1. Stephen Curry – G – Davidson (Curry was drafted #7) – The hang-up on Curry going into the 2009 NBA draft was his size. There were also detractors about the level of play he faced at Davidson. In 2018, it’s insane that people thought that just nine short years ago. Curry has since won two MVP awards and three NBA titles, so he was an easy choice for the first overall pick in my reDRAFT. The Clippers held the first pick this year and chose Blake Griffin. He was a solid choice for them at the time, but they may have had a championship had they picked Curry.

2. James Harden – G – Arizona State (Harden was drafted #3) – Memphis held this pick and selected one of the biggest busts in recent NBA history, UConn center Hasheem Thabeet, so they would have loved to have a mulligan here. Harden was one of the cornerstones of turning the Oklahoma City Thunder franchise around. He then went to have even more individual success when he was traded to the Rockets. He is a perennial MVP candidate and is one of the highest-paid players in the NBA. Some could even make an argument to put him higher on this list than Curry, but I think Harden was the second-best player in this draft.

3. Blake Griffin – F – Oklahoma  (Griffin was drafted #1) – It would have been hard for the Thunder to mess up this pick. They picked Harden here, but if Griffin fell to them, they would have been just fine. Griffin had to sit out his first year due to an injury, but he had success the minute he was allowed to don an NBA jerseys. He was arguably the most marketable player in this draft early in his career (up until Curry developed into an MVP-level player…and Harden grew a beard). Griffin is no longer on the Clippers and is now a cornerstone of the rebuilding Pistons franchise. His career may have already hit its peak, but his early production put him at #3.

4. DeMar DeRozan – G – USC (DeRozan was drafted #9) – The Kings selected Tyreke Evans here and it looked like they got the steal of the draft. Evans won the Rookie of the Year in 2010, but hasn’t matched that production and has been trending down since. DeRozan has been getting better and better as he came out of USC a year (ot two) too early. The Raptors let him develop and he turned into one of the best scorers in the league. Sadly, this isn’t the last time the Kings made a draft error.

5. Jrue Holiday – G – UCLA (Holiday was drafted #17) – Nine years ago, the Timberwolves drafted back-to-back point guards at #5 and #6…and neither of them were Jrue Holiday. It’s crazy to think that they passed on so many future point guard studs. Minnesota selected Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn. Rubio had moderate success in Minnesota and Flynn was a bust. Holiday is a former All-Star and is still playing at a high level. He was just named to the 2018 NBA All-Defensive – First Team with the Pelicans. 

6. Jeff Teague – G – Wake Forest (Teague was drafted #19) – It worked out perfectly that the fifth and sixth-best players in this draft were point guards. Teague is another former All-Star that is still one of the best point guards in the league. He has played for Atlanta, Indiana and now with, wait for it, the Minnesota Timberwolves! They could have had him nine years ago, but they are glad to have him now. Their team has playoff-level talent and should lead Minnesota to postseason success in the coming years.

7. Taj Gibson – F – USC (Gibson was drafted #27) – This is where Golden State selected Steph Curry, so whoever fell here would be a huge drop-off. Gibson went later than he should due to his age. He was a freshman at USC when he was 21 due to being homeschooled and transferring to prep school. Gibson has been a sixth-man for most of his career, but he has made the most of it. He has a high-motor and can fill a box score in a hurry. It was a tough call to place him here, but I gave him a slight edge. 

8. Tyreke Evans – G – Memphis (Evans was drafted #4) – Evans got off the best start of anyone on this list as he won the 2010 Rookie of the Year award. He fell out of favor with coaches and hasn’t matched the numbers he had in his first season. He’s still a good player, but he’s a shoot-first player with little defense. The perfect role for him would have been as a sixth-man or a starting combo guard on an offensive-strapped team. Evans is still in the league and helped the rebuilding Grizzlies get through the year.

9. Darren Collison – G – UCLA (Collison was drafted #21) – Collison had a decorated career at UCLA and had one of the best back-courts in recent memory with Jrue Holiday. Toronto selected DeRozan here and are pleased with that selection. Collison is still a productive player in the NBA. He had a career comeback as starting point guard for a very good Indiana Pacers team. It was his second stint with the team. He has bounced around with New Orleans, Indiana (twice), Dallas, L.A. Clippers and Sacramento have all employed the former Bruin. In his defense, he has played well at every stop, but has been a popular trade asset.

10. Wesley Matthews – G/F – Marquette (Matthews went undrafted) – Matthews was the best undrafted player in the 2009 NBA Draft. He was a member of a nice trio at Marquette (Dominic James, Jerel McNeal and Matthews), and all three guys split the limelight. It hurt Matthews draft stock as he wasn’t ‘the man’ on the team. All three went undrafted, but Matthews made the most out of a Summer League invite. He found himself starting for the Jazz less than a year later. He has now made millions in the NBA and I’m sure the Bucks would have loved to have had Matthews with the tenth pick in 2009.

11. Ty Lawson – G – North Carolina (Lawson was drafted #18) – It’s hard to arrange the next couple players. You could use ‘win shares’, career longevity and peak years to base an argument for any of the next couple guys. I’m placing Lawson here due to his peak years being greater than those directly below him. He was a stud for Denver and probably should have received an All-Star nod in 2012 or 2013. There are so many solid point guards that Lawson is often overlooked. I think he would have been a nice pick for the New Jersey Nets here (who whiffed at #11 when they selected Terrence Williams).

12. Ricky Rubio – G – Spain (Rubio was drafted #5) – Rubio had a lot of buzz around him. Everyone remembers seeing him play for Spain in International play against the United States. I don’t blame Minnesota for drafting him since he could have been taken much higher (the hype was unreal). He never really learned how to shoot well and a couple injuries shortened a couple seasons early in his career. Minnesota traded Rubio to the Jazz last offseason and he went on to have his best season in the NBA. He fixed his shooting woes and became a legit scoring threat. In ten years, if we were to do another reDRAFT of the 2009 draft class, he could be even higher.

13. Danny Green – G – North Carolina (Green was drafted #46) – Green’s teammate at UNC was actually selected #13. I think the Pacers would have preferred to have had Danny Green’s career over Tyler Hansbrough. Green’s career got off to a rough start. He was waived by the Cavs after his rookie season and bounced between being unemployed, the D-League and the San Antonio Spurs. He finally found a niche on the Spurs as a lockdown defender and as a catch-and-shoot specialist. He won an NBA title and is still on the Spurs.

14. Brandon Jennings – G – High School/Europe (Jennings was drafted #10) – Jennings decided that the one-and-done college rule wasn’t for him. He decided to play in Italy and get paid while he waited a year to enter the NBA Draft. He didn’t play a lot for the Italian team and hurt his draft stock. He was still drafted in the top-ten, so it wasn’t a disastrous decision. Jennings had some very good seasons for the Bucks, but injuries have really taken a toll on his body. He was never the same after rupturing his Achilles’ in 2015.

15. DeMarre Carroll – F – Missouri (Carroll was drafted #27) – The 2009 NBA Draft was short on good front-court players. Carroll was the third-best of the entire draft class. The Pistons thought they selected a franchise front-court cornerstone when they selected Gonzaga’s Austin Daye at #15…but he turned out to be a borderline rotation guy. Carroll is a tweener and if he were a couple inches taller, he may have been an All-Star talent. He is just a little too short to play power forward for most of his career. Now that small-ball and stretch-four’s are all the rage, he has stuck around and is producing well.

16. Jodie Meeks (Meeks was drafted #41)
17. James Johnson (Johnson was drafted #16)
18. Patrick Beverley (Beverley was drafted #42)
19. Patty Mills (Mills was drafted #55)
20. Joe Ingles (Ingles went undrafted)
21. Dante Cunningham (Cunningham was drafted #33)
22. Marcus Thornton (Thornton was drafted #43)
23. Gerald Henderson (Hendersonl was drafted #12)
24. Aron Baynes (baynes went undrafted)
25. Jonas Jerebko (Jerebko was drafted #39)
26. Tyler Hansbrough (Hansbrough was drafted #13)
27. Jordan Hill (Hill was drafted #8)
28. Omri Casspi (Casspi was drafted #23)
29. Wayne Ellington (Ellington was drafted #28)
30. DeJuan Blair (Blairl was drafted #37)

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About the Author…

Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.