Best player taken at each draft position since 2000

[Rose'sACL]

Stolen from Reddit.
1. LeBron James, St. Vincent-St. Mary HS (2003)
2. Kevin Durant, Texas (2007)
3. Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse (2003)
4. Chris Paul, Wake Forest (2004)
5. Dwyane Wade, Marquette (2003)
6. Brandon Roy, Washington (2006)
7. Stephen Curry, Davidson (2009)
8. Rudy Gay, Connecticut (2006)
9. Amar'e Stoudemire, Cypress Creek HS (2002)
10. Joe Johnson, Arkansas (2002)
11. Klay Thompson, Washington State (2011)
12. Thaddeus Young, Georgia Tech (2007)
13. Richard Jefferson, Arizona (2001)
14. Troy Murphy, Notre Dame (2001)
15. Kawhi Leonard, San Diego State (2011)
16. Hedo Turkoglu, Turkey (2000)
17. Josh Smith, Oak Hill Academy (2004)
18. David West, Xavier (2003)
19. Zach Randolph, Michigan State (2001)
20. Jameer Nelson, Saint Joseph's (2004)
21. Rajon Rondo, Kentucky (2006)
22. Kenneth Faried, Morehead State (2011)
23. Tayshaun Prince, Kentucky (2002)
24. Kyle Lowry, Villanova (2006)
25. Gerald Wallace, Alabama (2001)
26. Kevin Martin, Western Carolina (2004)
27. Rudy Gobert, France (2013)
28. Tony Parker, France (2001)
29. Josh Howard, Wake Forest (2003)
30. Gilbert Arenas, Arizona (2001)
31. Nikola Pekovic, Serbia (2008)
32. Steve Novak, Marquette (2006)
33. Hassan Whiteside, Marshall (2010)
34. Carlos Boozer, Duke (2002)
35. DeAndre Jordan, Texas A&M (2008)
36. Ersan Ilyasova, Turkey (2005)
37. Mehmet Okur, Turkey (2001)
38. Chandler Parsons, Florida (2011)
39. Khris Middleton, Texas A&M (2012)
40. Monta Ellis, Lanier HS (2005)
41. Jodie Meeks, Kentucky (2009)
42. Zaza Pachulia, Republic of Georgia (2003)
43. Michael Redd, Ohio State (2000)
44. Chase Budinger, Arizona (2009)
45. Goran Dragic, Slovenia (2008)
46. Danny Green, North Carolina (2009)
47. Paul Millsap, Louisiana Tech (2006)
48. Marc Gasol, Spain (2007)
49. James Jones, Miami (2003)
50. Ryan Gomes, Providence (2005)
51. Kyle Korver, Creighton (2003)
52. Rasual Butler, La Salle (2002)
53. Nando De Colo, France (2009)
54. Hassan Adams, Arizona (2006)
55. Luis Scola, Argentina (2002)
56. Amir Johnson, Westchester HS (2005)
57. Marcin Gortat, Poland (2005)
58. Lester Hudson, Tennessee-Martin (2009)
59. D.J. Strawberry, Maryland (2007)
60. Isaiah Thomas, Washington (2011)

[fpliii]

James Harden > Carmelo Anthony

[Cocaine80s]

Russell>Durant

[WayOfWade]

Wow, it looks like you put a lot of work into this. All eligible players are like 900

[Heavincent]

Draymond Green > DeAndre Jordan

[Sarcastic]

James Harden > Carmelo Anthony


Career or current? Because Melo has the better career so far. Harden spent have his career on the bench so far.

[fpliii]

Career or current? Because Melo has the better career so far. Harden spent have his career on the bench so far.
In the coming years. Harden has been a 25-5-5 machine since coming to Houston and if he's to keep that streak going for another 2-3 seasons then he could surpass Carmelo.

As much of an elite player Carmelo is, he's been a disappointment compared to the great players of the 2003 Draft, you could argue that he's the 4th most accomplished player from that Draft behind Lebron, Wade, and Bosh.

Carmelo also never had a season where he was in the argument of being the best player in the league. I'd take Harden's 2015 season over any of Carmelo's best seasons.

Melo is great, but Harden is on the verge of becoming one of the game's greatest Shooting Guards statistically (http://bkref.com/tiny/KnMKI). In terms of winning, it's hard to predict.

As of careers right now, I'd go with Carmelo.

[warriorfan]

look at the players above and below Leonard, what a steal

[kennethgriffin]

wiggins will someday replace lebron at the #1 spot


and magic johnson is the GOAT #1 till wiggins takes his spot too

[Smoke117]

wiggins will someday replace lebron at the #1 spot


and magic johnson is the GOAT #1 till wiggins takes his spot too


https://godofall.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/wade-laugh.gif

[Leroy Jetson]

Just missed out on Manu in 99, probably the greatest draft steal of all time.

[Sakkreth]

D-Mo > Nelson.
But damn 20th pick is historically shit.

[MP.Trey]

wiggins will someday replace lebron at the #1 spot


and magic johnson is the GOAT #1 till wiggins takes his spot too
I'd like to hear your argument for Magic > Kareem. I don't hear that one often.

[Run&Gun=Fun]

I'd probably have jamal Crawford over rudy at 8, Andre miller even

[Run&Gun=Fun]

Actually this list is horrible, it has Jefferson over Karl Malone at #13

Pick 12 is cursed, thad young is actually the best.

[Run&Gun=Fun]

Just saw its since 2000. Disregard.

I'll leave now.

[Clifton]

Wow, it really drops off after 7, doesn't it? I expected it to look more balanced.

I like seeing all those 2nd round picks represented, though. Big props to all them.

For the most part though it seems like franchise-changing guys are only going to be found in the top 5. After that, what you have is a greater likelihood of landing a starter or a rotation player. But IMO the guys in the 2nd round aren't much of a drop off from 16-28... Just gotta do your homework and pick the right guy.

Edit: I think there were more stars drafted after the top 5 in the late 90s. But that isn't the draft landscape any more, with high-risk guys out of high school getting drafted in the mid-lottery and Euro unknowns getting drafted any which place. It's different now... I think this is a helpful post.

[Run&Gun=Fun]

Some horrible choices at #2 over the years, including and especially Darko.