“That Guy We Drafted,” 1997

November 30th, 2009

Continuing the whereabouts round-ups of all recent NBA drafts, this is the fourth instalment of the series. The first three: 1994 1995 1996 As always, if the player in question is still in the NBA, I’ll probably write some rant that in some way relates to them in some way. Don’t think too much of that. They’re not what this post is about. This post is about Chris Crawford’s stables business and the like. Let’s get to it.   First round – 1st pick: Tim Duncan (San Antonio) – Tim Duncan is still with the same team that drafted him. Only two players have been with their current teams longer than Duncan has been with the Spurs; Kobe Bryant and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. If e’er there was such a thing as a lifer in the NBA these days, then Tim Duncan is that man. He’s slowing down these days, and the question of how many years he has left is a valid one. But the question of whether he was a power forward or a centre? That was not a valid question. It wasn’t interesting or productive. Let’s pretend it never happened.   – 2nd pick: Keith Van Horn (Philadelphia) – Van Horn has not appeared in an NBA game since game five of the 2006 finals. He’s been in the league since then, what with that whole Jason Kidd sign-and-trade thing, but he didn’t play a game amid that semi-comeback and he never really intended to ever embark on. (It was briefly reported that he would work out with the Nets, but that was probably a lie. Remember, this is a man who retired because he wanted to be with his family, not because no one wanted him.) It’s hard to trace what Van Horn is doing now; he was […]