There are few things NBA fans love more than a good re-draft and The 2019 draft class has one of the best discussions ever between the first two elections.
In the first year of the new NBA lottery, the odds evened out the odds that the team with the worst record in the league would land the No. 1 overall pick in an attempt to avoid tank – the New Orleans Pelicans, who had a measly 6% (!) chance of getting the first pick, won what was then thought to be their pick sion Williamson.
The surprising result sent the Pelicans staff into a frenzy, knowing the kind of attention a special talent like Williamson would bring to the franchise. It felt like good karma for an organization that was ready to trade its disgruntled former No. 1, Anthony Davisgiving New Orleans the franchise building foundation for a fresh start.
There was never a debate about who would be No. 1 in 2019. It was always going to be Williamson.
The Duke phenom was a five-star recruit and the No. 2 player in his class coming out of high school. It was an online sensation who grew up at the height of the social media era, where highlights were instantly available as soon as the future NBA star did something extremely noteworthy during a game. It was the most talked about player since LeBron James and, by that time, had lived up to that tag to earn the #1 ranking.
But four years later, one could argue it wouldn’t be #1 if we went back in time and we would do the Draft again.
The number 2 pick in the 2019 NBA draft was Ja Morant, a relatively unknown prospect who, even on draft night, had several critics questioning how his game would translate to the NBA. He was the complete opposite of Williamson in many ways.
Morad was a zero-star recruit in high school he only had one upper division that I offer. His recruiting profile didn’t even have a photo. Because he played at Murray State, there were a lot of fans who hadn’t even seen this No. 2 on the list play. He had a triple-double in the 2019 NCAA Tournament as a party of sorts, but the electrifying guard was still under the radar for most.
And even more it only took one season of the NBA for the world to realize Morant could be just as, if not more, special than Williamson.
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Williamson suffered a meniscal tear during his rookie year, missing just 24 games. That opened the door for Morant to claim his award rookie of the yearaveraged 17.8 points and 7.3 assists per game while leading the Grizzlies to the Play-In bubble, just a year after Memphis finished tied for the second-worst record from the West.
The following season, we finally got to see what a healthy Williamson could do, averaging 27 points per game on 61.1 percent shooting from the field. Williamson joined two Hall of Famers – Charles Barkley and Kevin McHale – as the only players in NBA history to average over 25 points per game at 60 percent. of field goals.
As a result, Williamson made his first All-Star team, beating out Morant for that honor.
In his infancy, Williamson missed the entire season with a foot injury, and Morant made a breakthrough, becoming a walk-on leadoff hitter while establishing himself as one of the league’s must-have players.
Averaging 27.4 points, 6.7 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game while leading the Grizzlies to the No. 2 seed in the West, Morant was more than a first-time All-Star—he was a MVP candidate. And he earned a spot on the All-NBA Second Team, beating out Williamson for that honor.
Now in his fourth year, Williamson is back, re-establishing himself as one of the best young players in the NBA, and Morant continues to improve, becoming one of the faces of the league.
Four years after the 2019 NBA draft, it can be safely said that Morant was the best player because the most important thing is to be available to play. But in the event of a 2019 redraft, would he be the No. 1 pick ahead of Williamson?
The Williamson-Morant debate is a rare case where even if Morant is considered the better player, it’s reasonable to think Williamson would be the No. 1 pick if we did it over.
Both players ended up in the ideal scenario where if New Orleans had a second chance, even knowing the fate of Williamson’s injury, I still think they’d take Zion back. He’s been embraced by the city and the team has formed perfectly around him as the Pelicans look like the NBA’s most promising young core.
In the meantime, in a scenario where the Grizzlies had the No. 1 pick, I think they’d take Morant over Williamson. Morant has fully embodied the mantra “Grit n’ Grind” of Memphis, taking cues from some of the franchise’s all-time greats like Zach Randolph, Tony Allen, Marc Gasol and Mike Conley. His attitude matches that of the city, making him a perfect fit for the team he ended up with.
This of the first two picks of the 2019 NBA draft was a situation in which what happened was what had to happen.
The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of the NBA or its organizations.
