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
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Actual position: No. 4
Career earnings: $291,756,333
Career stats: 22.8 ppg, 8.4 apg, 7.4 rpg, 1.7 spg, 43.8 FG%, 30.5 3P%
No. 2 pick: Kevin Love
Actual position: No. 5
Career earnings: $237,969,812
Career stats: 17.6 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 2.4 apg, 44.1 FG%, 37.3 3P%
No. 3 pick: Derrick Rose
Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
Actual position: No. 1
Career earnings: $150,016,396
Career stats: 18.2 ppg, 5.4 apg, 3.3 rpg, 45.7 FG%, 31.6 3P%
No. 4 pick: DeAndre Jordan
Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Actual position: No. 35
Career earnings: $162,940,691
Career stats: 9.1 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 1.5 bpg, 67.3 FG%
No. 5 pick: Serge Ibaka
Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Actual position: No. 24
Career earnings: $138,844,561
Career stats: 12.1 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 1.9 bpg, 51.3 FG%, 36.0 3P%
No. 6 pick: Goran Dragic
Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Actual position: No. 45
Career earnings: $152,467,157
Career stats: 13.7 ppg, 4.8 apg, 3.1 rpg, 46.0 FG%, 36.2 3P%
No. 7 pick: Brook Lopez
Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Actual position: No. 10
Career earnings: $158,867,792
Career stats: 16.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.8 bpg, 49.4 FG%, 34.1 3P%
No. 8 pick: Eric Gordon
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Actual position: No. 11
Career earnings: $158,631,382
Career stats: 16.4 ppg, 2.8 apg, 2.4 rpg, 42.8 FG%, 37.1 3P%
No. 9 pick: Danilo Gallinari
Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Actual position: No. 6
Career earnings: $177,685,814
Career stats: 15.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.9 apg, 42.8 FG%, 38.2 3P%
No. 10 pick: Nicolas Batum
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Actual position: No. 25
Career earnings: $168,137,820
Career stats: 11.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 3.5 apg, 43.7 FG%, 36.3 3P%
No. 11 pick: George Hill
Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Actual position: No. 26
Career earnings: $109,331,400
Career stats: 10.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.1 apg, 45.6 FG%, 38.0 3P%
No. 12 pick: Robin Lopez
Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
Actual position: No. 15
Career earnings: $$94,540,945
Career stats: 8.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.1 bpg, 53.6 FG%, 29.4 3P%
No. 13 pick: Ryan Anderson
Actual position: No. 21
Career earnings: $109,360,492
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: JaVale McGee
Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports
Actual position: No. 18
Career earnings: $70,692,164
Career stats: 8.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.5 bpg, 57.6 FG%
No. 16 pick: DJ Augustin
Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
Actual position: No. 9
Career earnings: $63,752,723
Career stats: 9.5 ppg, 3.9 apg, 1.8 rpg, 41.2 FG%, 38.1 3P%
No. 17 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. 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: $31,024,380
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%
