The 1999 NBA Draft

by Steve Perrin on Jul 2, 2008 1:04 PM PDT Comment 7 comments

Here are a few first round picks from the 1999 NBA draft.

1 - Elton Brand - Drafting by Chicago, he was traded to the Clippers two years later to become the most popular and effective player in franchise history.

2 - Steve Francis - Drafting by the Grizzlies, he immediately forced a trade to the Rockets. He shared ROY honors with Brand that season, but has been on the downward end of his career since he left the Rockets. The Clippers tried hard to sign him in July 2007 after he was bought out by the Blazers.

3 - Baron Davis - Drafted by the Hornets, an all star for them and for the Warriors, he agreed to sign with the Clippers yesterday.

4 - Lamar Odom - Drafted by the Clippers, he spent four seasons in LA before leaving for Miami and then the Lakers.

8 - Andre Miller - Drafted by the Cavs, he was traded to the Clippers in exchange for Darius Miles. He lasted one disastrous season in LA.

9 - Shawn Marion - Drafted by the Suns, he was supposedly offered in trade (along with the second pick in the draft) for Elton Brand this summer.

10 - Jason Terry - Drafted by the Hawks, and trade was supposedly in place last summer that would have brought Terry to the Clippers in exchange for Corey Maggette. (BTW, on the karma front, that's another move that would have scuttled the signing of Baron Davis.)

11 - Trajan Langdan - Drafted by the Cavs. He was the college teammate of Clippers Brand and Maggette. He never had success in the NBA, but has turned into a star in Europe. The Clippers lost to his CSKA Moscow team in the 2006 pre-season.

13 - Corey Maggette - Drafted by Orlando, he spent one season for the Magic before being traded to the Clippers. He just concluded his team high 8th season with the club (one shy of Eric Piatkowski's all time record of 9 seasons) and will be moving on now, perhaps back to Orlando.

16 - Ron Artest - Drafted by Chicago, he's had a colorful career so far. In 2006 a deal was in place that would have brought him to the Clippers in exchange for Maggette. However the Pacers backed out over concerns about Maggette's health.

Ten of the top 16 players from that draft have interesting ties to the Clippers. Some of the ties are tenuous to be sure, but still, I find it kind of interesting. Maybe you can build a similar list for other drafts as well (I haven't tried). But of the first 13 picks, five have played for the Clippers or are about to. Two more were agreed to trades that fell through. Weird.

MDsr must really like that draft. Let's get Wally Szczerbiak.

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I would say that 1999 was one of the more solid drafts

Many of those guys are still in the league and productiive.

Posey, Jeff Foster, Kenny thomas, Devean George, Kirilenko…all from that first round.

by mikey p on Jul 2, 2008 1:23 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

It was a very solid draft

Second only to the might 2003 draft in recent memory. You may have to go back to 1984 to find a draft was good before that. A little light on the super-mega stars perhaps, but an inordinate number of solid nba players.

The Clippers! The (second) Best NBA Team in LA!

by Steve Perrin on Jul 2, 2008 1:27 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

This does not have much to do with anything

I was at the ‘99 draft and it was a blast. It was in DC and everyone wanted local boy Steve Francis to be the top pick. When the Bulls selected Brand first overall the entire arena erupted in boos.

It was also the draft where the Knicks selected Fredric Weis over Ron Artest. I was sitting next to a couple of Knicks fans and it looked like they about to enter into a suicide pact with each other.

Good times. I wish the NBA would hold the draft in different places around the country like the All-Star game. Of course, the atmosphere in New York is great and I doubt there would be many players sitting in the stands waiting to charge the podium if the draft was in Minneapolis.

by Jeremy on Jul 2, 2008 3:00 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Frederic Weis

Still most famous as the guy Vince Carter posterized in the Olympics. Best in game dunk ever. And one of the worst picks ever. I lived in Paris from 96 thru 98 and Weis played for Paris Racing. They could have called me and asked – I’d have told them the guy was a stiff.

The Clippers! The (second) Best NBA Team in LA!

by Steve Perrin on Jul 2, 2008 3:02 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not true CS

You’re forgetting about the 96 draft,

The first 6 picks were all allstars at some point in their careers (except Camby – just defensive player of the year) – AI, camby, abdur rahim, marbury, jesus shuttlesworth, and antoine walker.

And then we drafted Lorenzen Wright :-( It’s okay though, there weren’t that many good players left on the board, only kobe, nash, joneal, peja, ilgauskus, Bwallace and a handful of other solid roll players.

by BtheKUTA on Jul 2, 2008 3:13 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs