NBA Draft: Redrafting the Draft Class of 2003
The 2003 NBA draft is regarded as one of the deepest, best draft classes of all time alongside the 1984 class and the 1996 class. It consists of four first-ballot Hall of Famers, nine players who made it to at least one All-Star team.
Among our honourable mentions here are the likes of Leandro Barbosa, a Brazilian guard who was crucial to Golden State's championship run in 2015 and their 73-9 record for the 2015-16 regular season. Jason Kapono won back-to-back three-point shootout challenges in 2007 and 2008.
Several of these players went on to become long-term role players for their franchises - Nick Collison spent his entire career with the Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder and was readily available whenever required.
Without further ado, let's get into out redraft of the top 10 picks in the draft.
#10 With the 10th pick in the draft, the Washington Wizards select Boris Diaw
Boris Diaw began his professional career with French ball club Pau-Orthez. After playing two years with them, Diaw declared for the NBA draft and was selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the 21st pick at the age of 21.
He languished on the bench for a couple of seasons, before getting traded to the Phoenix Suns in 2005. He broke out in his third season with averages of 13.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists, and was awarded the Most Improved Player award for the 2005-06 season.
Diaw's role was reduced the following season with the return of Stoudemire, and he got traded to the Bobcats in the 2008-09 season.
His time at Charlotte was uneventful, but he got a new lease of life after signing with the Spurs as a free agent late in the 2011-12 season.
Diaw's best campaigns were as a Spurs player, as he made it to two straight NBA Finals as a playmaking big who could guard LeBron James in the post with his size.
Diaw played a crucial role in the Spurs' record Finals victory in 2014 and remained with the Spurs for two more seasons before getting traded to the Utah Jazz in 2016. He left the league in 2017 to play for the Levallois Metropolitans this year.