2008 NBA re-draft: The way it should have been

When discussing who should be the No. 1 pick of the 2008 NBA Draft, there was a Derrick Rose camp and a (way smaller) Michael Beasley camp. That became especially true after the NCAA Tournament, where Rose shone spectacularly, taking his Memphis squad to the title game while Beasley’s Kansas State team lost in the Round of 32.

As it turns out, though, both sides of that debate were wrong… although not to the same extent.

Rose went on to become an NBA MVP and three-time All-Star before injuries derailed his prime. Beasley, meanwhile, turned out to be a pretty big bust, averaging more than 14.8 points in a season just once and failing to win anything of note besides a spot in the 2009 All-Rookie 1st Team.

That draft actually turned out to be rather loaded, with Russell Westbrook leading the way, and top-notch bigs Kevin Love, De’Andre Jordan and Brook Lopez turning out to be studs.

Below, we re-draft the 2008 class the way it should have gone.

No. 1 pick: Russell Westbrook

Actual position: No. 4 Career earnings: $247,545,187 Career stats: 23.2 ppg, 8.5 apg, 7.4 rpg, 1.7 spg, 43.7 FG%, 30.5 3P%

No. 2 pick: Kevin Love

Actual position: No. 5 Career earnings: $206,711,556 Career stats: 18.0 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 2.4 apg, 44.2 FG%, 37.0 3P%

No. 3 pick: Derrick Rose

Actual position: No. 1 Career earnings: $136,571,276 Career stats: 18.5 ppg, 5.5 apg, 3.3 rpg, 45.7 FG%, 31.1 3P%

No. 4 pick: DeAndre Jordan

Actual position: No. 35 Career earnings: $151,831,364 Career stats: 9.4 ppg, 10.6 rpg, 1.6 bpg, 67.4 FG%

No. 5 pick: Serge Ibaka

Actual position: No. 24 Career earnings: $129,123,661 Career stats: 12.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 2.0 bpg, 51.4 FG%, 35.9 3P%

No. 6 pick: Goran Dragic

Actual position: No. 45 Career earnings: $133,118,250 Career stats: 13.9 ppg, 4.8 apg, 3.1 rpg, 46.2 FG%, 36.4 3P%

No. 7 pick: Brook Lopez

Actual position: No. 10 Career earnings: $145,565,467 Career stats: 16.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.8 bpg, 49.4 FG%, 34.0 3P%

No. 8 pick: Danilo Gallinari

Actual position: No. 6 Career earnings: $157,210,814 Career stats: 15.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.0 apg, 42.7 FG%, 38.2 3P%

No. 9 pick: George Hill

Actual position: No. 26 Career earnings: $104,055,909 Career stats: 11.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.2 apg, 45.8 FG%, 38.4 3P%

No. 10 pick: Nicolas Batum

Actual position: No. 25 Career earnings: $156,110,822 Career stats: 11.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 3.6 apg, 43.6 FG%, 36.0 3P%

No. 11 pick: Eric Gordon

Actual position: No. 11 Career earnings: $140,412,564 Career stats: 16.6 ppg, 2.8 apg, 2.5 rpg, 42.5 FG%, 36.8 3P%

No. 12 pick: Robin Lopez

Actual position: No. 15 Career earnings: $89,540,945 Career stats: 8.8 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 0.8 apg, 53.6 FG%, 29.3 3P%

No. 13 pick: Ryan Anderson

Actual position: No. 21 Career earnings: $104,145,909 Career stats: 12.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 0.9 apg, 42.2 FG%, 38.0 3P%

No. 14 pick: Roy Hibbert

Actual position: No. 17 Career earnings: $70,680,193 Career stats: 10.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.3 apg, 46.5 FG%

No. 15 pick: DJ Augustin

Actual position: No. 9 Career earnings: $56,130,256 Career stats: 9.7 ppg, 4.0 apg, 1.9 rpg, 41.1 FG%, 37.9 3P%

No. 16 pick: Courtney Lee

Actual position: No. 22 Career earnings: $75,428,153 Career stats: 9.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.7 apg, 45.1 FG%, 38.8 3P%

No. 17 pick: JaVale McGee

Actual position: No. 18 Career earnings: $66,337,737 Career stats: 7.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.5 bpg, 57.1 FG%

No. 18 pick: Michael Beasley

Actual position: No. 2 Career earnings: $40,612,888 Career stats: 12.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.3 apg, 46.5 FG%, 34.9 3P%

No. 19 pick: Mario Chalmers

Actual position: No. 34 Career earnings: $24,734,296 Career stats: 8.9 ppg, 3.7 apg, 2.5 rpg, 41.7 FG%, 35.1 3P%

No. 20 pick: Luc Mbah a Moute

Actual position: No. 37 Career earnings: $31,314,183 Career stats: 6.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 0.9 apg, 45.4 FG%, 33.5 3P%

No. 21 pick: OJ Mayo

Actual position: No. 3 Career earnings: $46,149,437 Career stats: 13.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.9 apg, 42.9 FG%, 37.3 3P%

No. 22 pick: Marreese Speights

Actual position: No. 16 Career earnings: $26,389,661 Career stats: 7.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 0.7 apg, 45.9 FG%

No. 23 pick: Jerryd Bayless

Actual position: No. 11 Career earnings: $48,706,520 Career stats: 8.4 ppg, 2.9 apg, 2.1 rpg, 41.1 FG%, 36.1 3P%

No. 24 pick: Omer Asik

Actual position: No. 36 Career earnings: $69,702,436 Career stats: 5.3 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 0.6 apg, 52.8 FG%

No. 25 pick: Kosta Koufos

Actual position: No. 23 Career earnings: $47,778,792 Career stats: 5.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 0.7 bpg, 53.4 FG%

No. 26 pick: Anthony Morrow

Actual position: Undrafted Career earnings: $24,237,958 Career stats: 9.4 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 0.9 apg, 44.7 FG%, 41.7 3P%

No. 27 pick: Timofey Mozgov

Actual position: Undrafted Career earnings: $76,558,946 Career stats: 6.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 0.8 bpg, 53.5 FG%

No. 28 pick: Darrell Arthur

Actual position: No. 27 Career earnings: $40,687,487 Career stats: 6.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 0.8 apg, 44.4 FG%

No. 29 pick: Anthony Randolph

Actual position: No. 14 Career earnings: $13,673,791 Career stats: 7.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 0.9 bpg, 45.3 FG%

No. 30 pick: Jason Thompson

Actual position: No. 12 Career earnings: $35,473,022 Career stats: 8.9 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.1 apg, 49.6 FG%

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