#3 The Class of 2009
Point Guard: Steph Curry (Picked 7th)
Shooting Guard: James Harden (Picked 3rd)
Centre: Taj Gibson (Picked 26th)
Small Forward: DeMar DeRozan (Picked 9th)
Power Forward: Blake Griffin (Picked 1st)
This draft class will probably go down in history as the year that drafted the most incredible guards. The list of guards who could not make this starting 5 is as long as the path to the moon and despite being restrained to a traditional lineup, we were able to squeeze in three guards and have DeRozan play as a small forward.
The backcourt is as lethal as it gets. In Steph Curry and James Harden, we have two of the most dynamic and prolific scorers the league has seen in a long long time. They are efficient volume shooters who can rotate the ball well, and don’t really need space to shoot; all they probably need is a line of sight to the basket (sometimes, maybe not that as well).
Blake Griffin was probably designed as a humanoid meant to play basketball. Not only is he a tremendous scorer and rebounder, he is one of the best passing big-men in the league. Taj Gibson is a mean and aggressive power forward. He may not have the prettiest or most graceful of ways of getting things one, but he does get the job done. A dearth of talented centres in this draft class has us playing him as at that position in this line-up.
Here’s a short tip on each of the starters:
Steph Curry: 1-time NBA champion, 2-time NBA MVP
James Harden: 4-time All-Star, 2-time All-NBA First Team
Blake Griffin: 5-time All-Star
DeMar DeRozan: 2-time All-Star
Taj Gibson: All-Rookie First Team
