LA Clippers: Paul George taken first overall in podcast’s 2010 redraft
LA Clippers star Paul George was recently taken first in a 2010 redraft by a popular NBA podcast.
The LA Clippers could have drafted Paul George when he was coming out of Fresno State a decade ago. While they may have missed out on the future star at that time, they were not alone. Eight other teams passed on George before he went tenth overall to the Indiana Pacers. Many of those teams most likely would love the chance at a redo.
That’s exactly the premise of The Redraftables, a podcast from media mogul Bill Simmons and The Ringer. Simmons and a panel of guests take a look back at NBA Drafts from the past to re-select players in the order they should have been taken, based on their career performance.
The podcast recently conducted a redraft of the 2010 NBA Draft, where Simmons’ frequent guest Ryen Russillo selected George first overall among the class.
The original draft order.
In reality, the Washington Wizards selected John Wall first overall in 2010. The point guard out of Kentucky has gone on to have a fine NBA career, being named to five All-Star teams, and the All-Defensive team in 2014-15 season. Injuries have derailed his career a bit as of late, but at his peak Wall was one of the most electrifying point guards in the league.
The Philadelphia 76ers selected Evan Turner out of Ohio State with the second pick, Derek Favors was selected by the (then New Jersey, now Brooklyn) Nets third, the Minnesota Timberwolves selected Wesley Johnson with the fourth pick, and DeMarcus Cousins was taken by the Sacramento Kings to round out the top five.
The Clippers held the eighth pick in the draft that year and used it to select Al-Farouq Aminu out of Wake Forest. The next two players off the board were future stars Gordon Hayward and Paul George.
George was a bit of an unknown commodity at the time. Many scouts did not know how to evaluate the six-foot-eight swingman from Fresno State. His career started a bit slow, as a backup on the Pacers, but he quickly showed flashes of the future star he would become.
“At some point in the first two years it became clear everybody made a massive mistake,” Simmons said on the podcast.
George has gone on to become a six-time All-Star, five-time All-NBA team member, a four-time member of the All-Defensive team, and won the Most Improved Player Award in his breakout 2012-13 season.
The rest of the redraft.
Simmons and Russillo go on to re-do the rest of the lottery picks for the 2010 Draft following Paul George with the players they think have had the best careers from the class. John Wall falls to number two in their redraft, followed by Gordon Hayward, DeMarcus Cousins, and Eric Bledsoe rounding out the top five.
The rest of their lottery redraft went as such: Derrick Favors, Avery Bradley, Greg Monroe, Ed Davis, Jeremy Lin, Evan Turner, Patrick Patterson, Al-Farouq Aminu, and Hassan Whiteside.
Next. NBA Draft: 13 times the LA Clippers left stars on the board. dark
Notable players from the 2010 class who didn’t make the cut include: Larry Sanders, Quincy Pondexter, Jordan Crawford, Lance Stephenson, and Boban Marjanovic.