2006 Draft Look: Part 1

As we near the end of the regular season, let's take a look at our 2006 draft again and identify some great picks, some steals, some bad picks, and some terrible picks. In order of the draft #1-12...

Jon took Carmelo with his third pick and it can be argued that Melo is now a solid second round selection. Of course, would you rather have some of the picks post-Melo -- Josh Smith, Jason Kidd, Jermaine O'Neal, Joe Johnson, Andre Igoudala, Rashard Lewis or Lamar Odom? The pick of Jameer Nelson in the fourth hurt pretty bad as Jameer is returning none of the value expected of him. The Funk had no picks that can now be considered steals.

Eric-A exhibited savvy draft day foresight, stealing a resurrected Amare Stoudemire in Rd2 and getting value on the dollar for Zach Randolph in Rd6. Raja Bell (7), Jarrett Jack (10) and Andrea Bargnani (11) will all turn out to be good picks, but hardly true steals. A diminished Ben Wallace in Rd4 now looks a bit early.

The other Eric, Eric-L, made a fantastic grab of up-and-comer Andre Igoudala in Rd4 and that turned out to be an amazing pick -- along with Josh Howard in Rd7. He also nabbed Leandro Barbosa in Rd9 and Al Jefferson in Rd12. The mistakes? Maggette in Rd 6 or maybe Darko in Rd8. Lots of hits for a very few misses however.

Jose took the risk on Pau Gasol in Rd6 and got back second round value pretty quickly. Which is good because their actual second round pick, Andrei Kirilenko has been the biggest bust so far this season. Acquiring the streak shooting Ben Gordon in Rd7 seems to be quite a coup too.

Oliver unearthed two of the biggest late round gems -- Kevin Martin (Rd10) and Monta Ellis (Rd14). In addition, they got Caron Butler's career year at Rd5. The only semi-miss? Rasheed Wallace in Rd4, which isn't even too bad considering what Rasheed had -- and might be still be -- capable of.

Evan got a block and rebounding machine in Rd7, Emeka Okafor, for cheap; which came right after his now ugly looking selection of Charlie Villanueva in Rd6. The best pick might have been committing to Josh Smith in Rd3 however, as Josh is now putting up outstanding, ridiculous, numbers. Then again, maybe it's mighty Mo Williams in the 9th that deserves best pick honors.