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Part 1 of our re-examination of the 2000 draft's second round saw Michael Redd, Eddie House, and uh...Jake Voskuhl all get drafted, and today we'll finish up the round. I wish I had more to say at this point, but this is the fifth draft I've looked at and undoubtedly the thinnest. Abandon all hope, ye who check out the picks after the jump.
45. Sacramento Kings (original pick - Jabari Smith)
This was when Scot Pollard was still a decent backup, so the Kings didn't really need another center. They could've used another backup power forward, I suppose, to push Lawrence Funderburke. It's doubtful Hanno Mottola would've been better for the Kings than he was for the Hawks, but as you'll see, part 2 has some slim pickings.
46. Toronto Raptors (original pick - DeeAndre Hulett)
Ah yes, noted basketball factory College of the Sequoias. This Raptors team only had five players who played at least 55 games for them, but still managed the fifth-best record in the conference. They'll draft Pepe Sanchez and like it.
47. Seattle SuperSonics (original pick - Josip Sesar)
Again, we're trying to draft just to create depth with Seattle, so to accompany their new shooting guard (and swingman Desmond Mason, who they drafted in the first round), we'll draft point guard Khalid El-Amin. El-Amin had a bit too much...girth to really make it in the NBA, but maybe getting worked over by Gary Payton in practice would've inspired him to drop a few pounds and stick in the league.
48. Philadelphia 76ers (original pick - Mark Karcher)
There were a fair amount of point guards in this draft. Karcher went to training camp with the Sixers, but they dropped him in favor of Temple teammate Pepe Sanchez. Ouch. If they were really looking for a point guard, I don't know that I'd recommend A.J. Guyton, but he's available, and they didn't want Karcher the first time.
49. Milwaukee Bucks (original pick - Jason Hart)
The Bucks obviously wanted more guards, so we'll oblige them and draft Jacquay Walls. Walls didn't stick in the NBA and went to play in Turkey rather than join the D-League, but he was all-Big 12 as a senior and is an okay scorer.
50. Utah Jazz (original pick - Kaniel Dickens)
Dickens was a D-League all-star in 2008 after averaging 20 points a game, which you think would've gotten him drafted earlier than this, but I haven't found a great fit for him without making it a reach. So congratulations, Kaniel Dickens, it's finally your turn.
51. Minnesota Timberwolves (original pick - Igor Rakocevic)
A shooting guard couldn't hurt here, so why not go with Chris Carrawell, who collected a triple-double over in the Netherlands a few years ago and was the ACC Player of the Year as a senior, probably because he went to Duke. I hope you're happy, Iceman.
52. Miami Heat (original pick - Ernest Brown)
We're already drafted a forward/center in Dan Langhi, so we'll look at the backcourt and go with Lavor Postell. Postell was part of those overrated St. John's teams, but he turned into a decent three-point shooter in Italy, and maybe he could've gotten some pointers from Dan Majerle while he was in the NBA.
53. Denver Nuggets (original pick - Dan McClintock)
Dan McClintock just doesn't sound like a basketball player. Maybe a small town sheriff or something. Thing is, this team needs guards too, having relied too much on Robert Pack and Voshon Leonard that year. Josip Sesar has developed into a 20 point scorer in Europe, and would be a decent pick here.
54. San Antonio Spurs (original pick - Cory Hightower)
We already gave the Spurs a project guard with their last pick, but Scoonie Penn possibly could've contributed sooner after receiving guidance from the Spurs coaching staff and players like Terry Porter and Steve Kerr.
55. Golden State Warriors (original pick - Chris Porter)
Chris Porter had some off-court problems (mostly related to not showing up on time for things, training camp, team flights, etc.), and while he played for the Dakota Wizards in the CBA, out of deference to whatever discomfort Scott might feel I'll avoid him here. This Warrior team was 3rd in the league in pace, but in the bottom two in both offense in defense and had the second-worst record in the league. Most of their players just weren't very good (I'm looking at you, Adam Keefe). Ernest Brown had a few decent years in the D-League, including averaging 14 and 9 with Fayetteville a few years after this draft.
56. Indiana Pacers (original pick - Jacquay Walls)
This team had a lot of forwards, but only Jalen Rose, Travis Best and Tyus Edney at the guard positions. Oof. Good luck finding any more decent guards here, though. I've tried, and the best I can come up with is Cory Hightower, who was a 15-20 point scorer in various minor leagues and who's now apparently coaching elementary school ball. I'm still unclear as to whether that's the same as Biddy Ball, so we'll just say it is. Cory Hightower now coaches Biddy Ball.
57. Atlanta Hawks (original pick - Scoonie Penn)
Man, I still have two more of these? Whose idea was this anyway? Malik Allen's able to handle defense, but the Hawks needed more scoring from their forwards. So, with any required preemptive apologies to Scott, I'll take Chris Porter, who won several minor league championships and became an all-star in Portugal and China.
58. Dallas Mavericks (original pick - Pete Mickeal)
Mickeal's been blogging for HoopsHype lately, and likes Ricky Rubio. Mickeal's a top scorer over in Europe, and because of that and in the absence of anything else, he's a solid pick here.
Well that's it. I've looked at the five drafts, and I think we've found that in most cases, a "weak" draft will still yield solid bench players or even the occasional starter in the second round. 2000 and 2002 were both a bit rougher than the others, but even then guys like Michael Redd and Luis Scola could be had midway through the round or later. So as we look at the prospects for this year's NBA draft, remember that it's sometimes hard to tell how players will turn out, and realize that dropping out of the first round doesn't guarantee failure.
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