NBA

Re-Drafting the 2009 NBA Draft Using Advanced Analytics

In a draft which featured Blake Griffin, James Harden and Steph Curry, how would things change if the general managers had to do it all over again?

In the NBA community, we often return to drafts and trades in order to see where a particular team flubbed up. But seldom do we go back and reflect on the draft in its entirety.

We tend to overlook the overall landscape of the draft class and the point in which it's at after a certain number of years. Who's been valuable? Who hasn't? And who has fallen off the face of the NBA earth?

That's more of what this is all about. Pinpointing the busts and risers while also revisiting the top of the draft to see what would be different for the lottery teams.

With the aid of advanced analytics -- including an emphasis on value over replacement player (VORP), a box score estimate of the points per 100 possessions a player contributed above a replacement-level player translated to a league-average team -- here's what would change if teams got a redo.