Re-Drafting the 2002 NBA Draft Class | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors
21. Portland Trail Blazers: Ronald Murray
"Flip" Murray had one of the strongest scoring stretches of anyone in this draft. The only problem was that it didn't even last a month. But when the Seattle Sonics needed someone to cover Ray Allen's starting spot to open the 2003-04 season, Murray sprinted through an 11-game stretch in which he averaged 23.9 points and 4.4 assists while shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 39.2 percent from distance.
Of course, in the 11 games that immediately followed, those averages plummeted to 13.0 and 2.2 with shooting rates of 35.9 and 31.9, respectively, which effectively defined his career. He could heat up unlike few others in this draft (tied for 11th-most games with 20-plus points), but he was a streaky scorer who didn't offer much else.
22. Phoenix Suns: Darius Songaila
The Suns were starting to assemble the offensive nucleus of their run-and-gun teams, and Songaila's pick-and-pop game would've added another wrinkle. Again, this was 2002, so he's only popping out to the elbow extended, but even that could've cleared attack lanes for Stephon Marbury, Shawn Marion and Joe Johnson.
Songaila didn't have great size, athleticism or mobility, so he could get exposed on defense. But his shooting touch, post-up arsenal and passing all made him interesting enough as a 6'9", 248-pounder.
23. Detroit Pistons: Juan Dixon
This was an abysmal draft for backcourt players, but the 6'3" Dixon carved out a seven-year stay in the Association with toughness, tenacity and just enough shooting to compensate for his lack of size. Of the 16 players selected ahead of him, eight played fewer NBA games than his 436.
24. New Jersey Nets: Bostjan Nachbar
A big shooter, Nachbar found his NBA niche a little too late. After four forgettable seasons to his start career, he found new life with the Nets and averaged 9.5 points on 42.7/39.1/79.4 shooting over his two full seasons in New Jersey. But he bolted back to Europe in 2008, during a time in which that was considered a "worrisome trend" among some NBA executives.
25. Denver Nuggets: Smush Parker
Parker is most famous for his public feud with the late Kobe Bryant, as the 6'4" point guard didn't make many waves outside of his two seasons with the Lakers. But in that run, Parker was interesting: 11.3 points, 3.2 assists and 1.6 steals; 44.1 percent shooting and 36.6 percent from three. That's enough to make him the third and final undrafted player to crack the opening round.
26. San Antonio Spurs: Kareem Rush
Rush looked the part as a 6'6" scoring guard with a smooth lefty stroke, and if you were seeking backcourt scoring here—as the Spurs were with their actual selection of John Salmons—Rush could've appeared the best player available. He averaged over eight points in three different seasons, shot 35.8 percent from deep for his career and was the re-draft's final 2,000-point scorer on the board.
27. Los Angeles Lakers: Juan Carlos Navarro
If you couldn't tell by our spotlighting of Rush's 2,000 points, we've reached the scrap-digging portion of the process. So, while we could've gone with a forgettable player who played a handful of NBA seasons (like Dan Dickau or Casey Jacobsen), we'll instead grant the Lakers one year of fun with "La Bomba."
Navarro was a Euroleague legend who only played one season in the NBA—alongside his Spanish national team running mate Pau Gasol. In that year, Navarro averaged 10.9 points and 2.2 assists, and his 156 threes were the third-highest single-season total this draft ever produced.
28. Sacramento Kings: Jay Williams
Since we've already broken the one-season barrier, let's finish with Williams. The original No. 2 pick, he seemed on course for a long, productive career after debuting as an All-Rookie second-teamer. But he wouldn't have a sophomore season, as a June 2003 motorcycle accident ended his career.
Still, he authored one of only four campaigns featuring at least nine points and four assists per game that this entire draft class ever produced. The Kings, who were fresh off a Game 7 loss in the Western Conference Finals, could've reasonably concluded he might be their missing piece and been willing to pass up players with longer careers to see what kind of difference Williams would make in his one season.
Zach Buckley covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @ZachBuckleyNBA.
