When discussing who should be the No. 1 pick of the 2008 NBA Draft, there was a Derrick Rose camp and a (way smaller) Michael Beasley camp. That became especially true after the NCAA Tournament, where Rose shone spectacularly, taking his Memphis squad to the title game while Beasley’s Kansas State team lost in the Round of 32.
As it turns out, though, both sides of that debate were wrong… although not to the same extent.
Rose went on to become an NBA MVP and three-time All-Star before injuries derailed his prime. Beasley, meanwhile, turned out to be a pretty big bust, averaging more than 14.8 points in a season just once and failing to win anything of note besides a spot in the 2009 All-Rookie 1st Team.
That draft actually turned out to be rather loaded, with Russell Westbrook leading the way, and top-notch bigs Kevin Love, De’Andre Jordan and Brook Lopez turning out to be studs.
Below, we re-draft the 2008 class the way it should have gone.
