NBA: What If We Re-Draft 2009?

1. Clippers: Stephen Curry: The Los Angeles Clippers originally drafted Blake Griffin out of Oklahoma, but if we were to re-draft this, the clear cut best player is Stephen Curry who has gone on to win two NBA MVPs and three championships with the Golden State Warriors. The Clippers' best player at the time was Chris Kaman, who was averaging 18.5 points per game, but they would go on to add guys like Harrison Barnes, Andre Igoudala, and Nikola Jokic, to go along with their core of Curry, Eric Gordon, and DeAndre Jordan. Because Curry is here, there's no reason to trade for Chris Paul in 2011. Los Angeles become a legitimate title contender by the 2015 season, and improve on their 56-26 record, en route to winning their first NBA championship.

2. Grizzlies: James Harden: The Memphis Grizzlies made one of the biggest mistakes in league history during the 2009 NBA Draft when they selected Hasheem Thabeet out of Connecticut, over James Harden, Jrue Holiday, Stephen Curry, DeMar Derozan, and many others. Imagine putting Harden into a lineup that already consisted of Mike Conley Jr., Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph, and Marc Gasol. Memphis was already in the playoffs by 2011 with a 46-36 clip, and The Beard only would have pushed that forward. Randolph was a beast at the time, averaging 20.8 points per outing. I truly believe the Grizzlies should have gotten to the NBA Finals at least once if they drafted Harden. Instead, they ended up with Thabeet and later: Xavier Henry.

3. Thunder: Blake Griffin: The Oklahoma City Thunder can't take James Harden obviously, so they pick up hometown kid Blake Griffin, fresh off of a dominant season for the Sooners. The Thunder already had an up and coming duo of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, who put in 25.3 points per game the season prior. The starting power forward at the time was Nick Collison, so you throw Griffin in the mix and this is a brand new team altogether. All of a sudden, the Thunder are rolling. They surpass their records of 55-27 and 47-19 during 2011 and 2012, and reach the NBA Finals in both years. However, they can't overcome Lebron James and the Miami Heat. Because of that, Durant joins forces with Kawhi Leonard and the San Antonio Spurs.

4. Kings: Jrue Holiday: The Sacramento Kings would have had a tough decision on their hands. Do they go with DeMar DeRozan, who is the best player available or select Jrue Holiday, who fits their needs. Because Kevin Martin just averaged an incredible 24.6 points per game the season before, we'll say the Kings go with Holiday and Martin in their backcourt, and pass on DeRozan. Holiday takes over for Beno Udrih, but guys like Brad Miller and Spencer Hawes still bring the team down a lot. The Kings don't surpass 30+ wins for Holiday's entire tenure. Martin decides to leave in free agency and Holiday follows as soon as possible. They try to recover by picking up Brandon Bass and Al Jefferson, but it's all for naught. The Kings are still really bad.

5. Timberwolves: DeMar DeRozan: The Minnesota Timberwolves made a major splash in this draft by selecting a pair of point guards back to back in Ricky Rubio and Johnny Flynn. In our scenario, they take neither, and instead nab DeRozan, who just averaged 23.0 points and 5.2 assists per game in 2017-18. He replaced Rashad McCants in the starting lineup, and a starting five of Randy Foye, DeRozan, Ryan Gomes, Kevin Love, and Al Jefferson (23.1 points per game) starts to show promise. They improve on their 26-40 wins from 2012, but it isn't enough to make the playoffs. Unfortunately, DeRozan decides to leave and head home to the Los Angeles Lakers. Minnesota soon after goes 16-66, but at least it leads to Karl-Anthony Towns.

Re-Draft Order:

1. Clippers: Stephen Curry

2. Grizzlies: James Harden

3. Thunder: Blake Griffin

4. Kings: Jrue Holiday

5. Wolves: DeMar DeRozan

6. Wolves: Taj Gibson

7. Warriors: Tyreke Evans

8. Knicks: Jeff Teague

9. Raptors: Ricky Rubio

10. Bucks: Danny Green

NBA Champions:

2010: Lakers over Celtics

2011: Heat over Thunder

2012: Heat over Thunder

2013: Heat over Grizzlies

2014: Spurs over Heat

2015: Clippers over Cavs

2016: Cavs over Clippers

2017: Spurs over Cavs

2018: Spurs over Cavs

Photo Credit: Clutch Points.