The fact that a retroactive drafting of a class where each and every player is retired, and the top 10 features 6-foot-1 guard Bobby Jackson shows how shallow it was. There are some accolades for Jackson that shows that he deserves a top 10 spot in the re-draft to a certain degree, but the longevity of his career just isn’t there.
Jackson was originally the 23rd overall pick of the SuperSonics in the 1997 draft, as a North Carolina native and a product of the Minnesota Golden Gophers basketball program. He was a 1997-98 All-Rookie Team honoree and 2002-03 Sixth Man of the Year award winner.
Jackson played in more than 750 career regular season games, mostly with the Kings. He raked in a 10.0 value over replacement player rating, 0.4 box plus/minus rating, and 31.4 win shares.
The defensive ability of the 5-foot-10 Stanford Cardinal product Brevin Knight was really stellar at times during his more than one decade long career. Knight was the 16th overall pick of the Cavaliers in the 1997 NBA Draft. He gave the Cavaliers just shy of four good seasons, and spent multiple years with the Charlotte Bobcats and Memphis Grizzlies.
Knight was a member of the 1997-98 All-Rookie Team. He also registered 32.6 career win shares, 0.3 box plus/minus rating, 10.5 value over replacement player rating, and a 47.6 true shooting percentage. There were clear flaws in Knight’s stat line, but he was a consistent point guard that would offer the Raptors value here off the bench as a contributor that lasted more than one decade in the NBA.