It’s always fun to take a look back at the past and wonder what could have been in a few different scenarios. With everybody stuck in quarantine, there have been plenty of NBA re-drafts that have popped up recently to pass the time.
This re-draft takes us back to 2009, courtesy of Bleacher Report, and the Philadelphia 76ers held the 17th pick after making the postseason as a 7 seed in 2009. The Sixers faced some free agency questions heading into the summer as point guard Andre Miller was set to enter free agency so the Sixers grabbed UCLA freshman Jrue Holiday as insurance.
Holiday has had a terrific career making an All-Star appearance in 2013 for the Sixers and during his time with the New Orleans Pelicans, he has morphed into one of the better two-way point guards in the game. So, all of that has him being selected 4th by the Sacramento Kings in the re-draft. That leaves the Sixers taking DeMarre Carroll out of Missouri.
B/R on Carroll to Philadelphia at 17:
Carroll didn’t find an NBA home until 2013-14 with the Hawks, bouncing between Memphis, Houston, Denver and Utah before establishing himself in his late 20s. From that year through 2018-19, he was a valuable three-and-D wing, joining Harden, Curry and Green as the only players drafted in 2009 to accumulate 600 threes and 400 steals during that span.
He’s ninth in defensive box plus-minus among 2009 picks who played at least 400 games and might be the class’ style leader.
Carroll has carved out a nice 3-and-D career for himself, but at the time, the Sixers probably would have gone with a point guard still. In the re-draft, Brandon Jennings was still on the board and he probably would have been the safer pick due to Miller, in fact, leaving in free agency. [lawrence-related id=29886,29864,29858]