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The 2004 NBA Draft marked the biggest influx of high school entries in league history, which resulted in a series of busts, unexpected gems and troublesome stories. Five years ago, the Orlando Magic agonized over the No. 1 pick with high school product Dwight Howard competing with UConn's Emeka Okafor. Howard was a rather unknown entity with an amazing body while Okafor just led the Huskies to the NCAA title and had established himself as the most dominant force in college basketball.
So many teams made mistakes in this draft while others landed standout players. What the 2004 NBA Draft taught general managers is that they needed to improve in their scouting of high school players because they would become a major factor in the next few years.
The Magic obviously made the right choice in Dwight Howard, he's made the All-Star team 3 times and led the Magic to the NBA Finals.
The way it was:
1) Dwight Howard – Orlando
2) Emeka Okafor – Charlotte
3) Ben Gordon – Chicago
4) Shaun Livingston – Los Angeles Clippers
5) Devin Harris – Washington
6) Josh Childress– Atlanta
7) Luol Deng – Phoenix
8) Rafael Araujo – Toronto
9) Andre Iguodala – Philadelphia
10) Luke Jackson – Cleveland
11) Andris Biedrins – Golden State
12) Robert Swift – Seattle
13) Sebastian Telfair – Portland
14) Kris Humphries – Utah
The way it should have been:
1) Dwight Howard – Orlando
2) Emeka Okafor – Charlotte
3) Al Jefferson – Chicago
4) Andre Iguodala – Los Angeles Clippers
5) Kevin Martin – Washington
6) Ben Gordon – Atlanta
7) Luol Deng – Phoenix
8) Devin Harris – Toronto
9) Josh Smith – Philadelphia
10) Jameer Nelson – Cleveland
11) Andris Biedrins – Golden State
12) Josh Childress – Seattle
13) Trevor Ariza – Portland
14) Delonte West – Utah
So many teams made mistakes in this draft while others landed standout players. What the 2004 NBA Draft taught general managers is that they needed to improve in their scouting of high school players because they would become a major factor in the next few years.
The Magic obviously made the right choice in Dwight Howard, he's made the All-Star team 3 times and led the Magic to the NBA Finals.
The way it was:
1) Dwight Howard – Orlando
2) Emeka Okafor – Charlotte
3) Ben Gordon – Chicago
4) Shaun Livingston – Los Angeles Clippers
5) Devin Harris – Washington
6) Josh Childress– Atlanta
7) Luol Deng – Phoenix
8) Rafael Araujo – Toronto
9) Andre Iguodala – Philadelphia
10) Luke Jackson – Cleveland
11) Andris Biedrins – Golden State
12) Robert Swift – Seattle
13) Sebastian Telfair – Portland
14) Kris Humphries – Utah
The way it should have been:
1) Dwight Howard – Orlando
2) Emeka Okafor – Charlotte
3) Al Jefferson – Chicago
4) Andre Iguodala – Los Angeles Clippers
5) Kevin Martin – Washington
6) Ben Gordon – Atlanta
7) Luol Deng – Phoenix
8) Devin Harris – Toronto
9) Josh Smith – Philadelphia
10) Jameer Nelson – Cleveland
11) Andris Biedrins – Golden State
12) Josh Childress – Seattle
13) Trevor Ariza – Portland
14) Delonte West – Utah
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