Ever wish you could go back in time and change the past? Ever think about how things would have turned out if your team didn’t make that terrible pick with their first rounder? Well, here at Hoops Addict, that is exactly what we’ve done.

We’re going back in time and going through the first round of each NBA Draft starting with 1998. Contributing writer Michael Tiedemann has gone through the picks and taken the following into consideration:

* Who the team already has on their roster. If they needed a center, Tiedemann gave them a center.
* What the player did in their rookie year weighed more heavily than what they did over the span of their career.
* If a player didn’t even play the year he was drafted then they slid down the board.
* The current draft being done will not take into consideration the previous Hoops Addict re-draft. They will be done on the basis that the previous NBA Draft actually took place.
* Some picks will not feature a comment. Something about the 27th pick doesn’t bring a lot to mind in certain cases.

You may not agree with the picks, but that is why we have the comment section. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts and maybe even your version of the draft below.

Today, we tackle the, surprisingly, solid 2001 NBA Draft.

1st - Washington Wizards

Original Pick: Kwame Brown, F, High School
New Pick: Pau Gasol, C, Spain

Pau came in and contributed right away and I’m pretty sure that’s what a 38-year-old Michael Jordan would need. He averaged 17 and 9 in his rookie year. You think Jordan would have liked to have that over Brown?

2nd - Los Angeles Clippers

Original Pick: Tyson Chandler, C, High School
New Pick: Tony Parker, G, France

Hmm…Jeff McInnis or Tony Parker. Jeff McInnis or Tony Parker…

3rd - Atlanta Hawks

Original Pick: Pau Gasol, C, Spain
New Pick: Joe Johnson, G, Arkansas

Johnson is probably the most underrated player in the league. He didn’t blossom until his third year in the league, but why not put him in Atlanta a few years earlier? They had Jason Terry in the backcourt, but I think they could have found some room.

4th - Chicago Bulls

Original Pick: Eddy Curry, C, High School
New Pick: Gilbert Arenas, G, Arizona

The Bulls had nothing resembling a point guard unless you considered Travis Best to be your answer. They had Brad Miler, so I’m not sure the whole Curry/Chandler thing was in their best interest. They would have Ron Artest to guard the perimeter and guys like Jalen Rose, Jamal Crawford and Ron Mercer to score. Arenas might not make the most sense, but there aren’t enough big men that you’d want in this spot. Maybe they could package one of their wings for a power forward not named Marcus Fizer?

5th - Golden State Warriors

Original Pick: Jason Richardson, G, Michigan St.
New Pick: Shane Battier, F, Duke

Are there flashier players in this draft? Absolutely. The Warriors were an absolute mess this year and really only had Antawn Jamison, Larry Hughes and Danny Fortson’s dreadlocks. Richardson is a pure scorer, but why not add a perimeter defender into the mix?

6th - Memphis Grizzlies

Original Pick: Shane Battier, F, Duke
New Pick: Richard Jefferson, F, Arizona

They wanted a wing and they get one. They completely lose out considering they wound up trading for Pau Gasol and took Battier here, but this is the best they could do in this draft. Sorry Memphis.

7th - New Jersey

Original Pick: Eddie Griffin, F, Seton Hall
New Pick: Tyson Chandler, C, High School

Jason Kidd to Tyson Chandler. Kidd would have made Chandler before Chris Paul got a chance to. This team went to the NBA Finals and got swept. A major reason for that is the fact they made a draft day trade to get Jason Collins and Richard Jefferson. Would they have gotten there without those two? I have no idea, but it’s hard to argue against a frontcourt of Kenyon Martin and Tyson Chandler.

8th - Cleveland Cavaliers

Original Pick: DeSagana Diop, C, High School
New Pick: Zach Randolph, F, Michigan St.

Before you send me hate mail, this team desperately needed frontcourt help. They already had Lamond Murray, Andre Miller, Wesley Person, Ricky Davis and Jumaine Jones on the wings. Not a lot of the other players make sense. Is this extremely high for a guy like Randolph? Probably. He has character issues, but it’s hard to argue against a guy with career averages of 16 and 8 on 46 percent shooting.

9th - Detroit Pistons

Original Pick: Rodney White, F, UNC Charlotte
New Pick: Jason Richardson, G, Michigan St.

This team won 50 games in 2001-2002. Rodney White gave them absolutely zero production. Richardson wouldn’t start [the Pistons had Jerry Stackhouse in his prime], but giving the team 25 minutes off the bench would prove to be valuable considering they had Michael Curry playing over 20 minutes a game for them. Throw in the hometown appeal and this is the perfect pick. And at least Richardson didn’t puke on an NBA court in his career.

10th - Boston Celtics

Original Pick: Joe Johnson, G, Arkansas
New Pick: Samuel Dalembert, C, Seton Hall

The Celtics took Johnson and never played him, yet they still made the Eastern Conference Finals because they had Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker. They held three first round picks this year and none of them contributed. Dalembert didn’t give much his rookie season, but it didn’t matter. None of the Celtics rookies did…Think about what they could have been if they could do this re-draft. Does this make you upset, Bill Simmons?

11th - Boston Celtics

Original Pick: Kedrick Brown, F, Okaloosa-Walton
New Pick: Gerald Wallace, F, Alabama

See above.

12th - Seattle Supersonics

Original Pick: Vladimir Radmanovic, F, Yugoslavia
New Pick: Mehmet Okur, F/C, Turkey

Okur didn’t play until the following season, but he’s developed nicely. There wasn’t much room for him in Seattle this year anyway. Radmanovic played 20 minutes a night, but I’m sure they could have figured things out in order to benefit in the long term with Okur’s arrival.

13th - Houston Rockets

Original Pick: Richard Jefferson, F, Arizona
New Pick: Troy Murphy, F, Notre Dame

Think the Rockets would have liked to keep Jefferson instead of trading for the late Eddie Griffin? Murphy would have added some stability to a frontcourt that consisted of Kenny Thomas and Kelvin Cato.

14th - Golden State Warriors

Original Pick: Troy Murphy, F, Notre Dame
New Pick: Eddy Curry, C, High School

Not too many people like Curry, but he can score down low. He doesn’t do much else, but 54 percent shooting from the floor isn’t something to exactly ignore. Even if he only played 20 minutes a game, Curry — and the earlier selection of Battier — would have given the Warriors a chance to win more than 21 games.

15th - Orlando Magic

Original Pick: Steven Hunter, C, DePaul
New Pick: Vladimir Radmanovic, F, Yugoslavia

Hunter gave them about 10 minutes a game. Radman came into the league and showed he could be a serviceable backup. His minutes and size could still have been useful with Grant Hill being sidelined for all but 14 games.

16th - Charlotte Hornets

Original Pick: Kirk Haston, F, Indiana
New Pick: Jamaal Tinsley, G, Iowa St.

Kirk Haston gave the Hornets exactly 77 total minutes on a playoff team. Tinsley could have given the team quality minutes off the bench and given Baron Davis a breather. Their backup point guard that season was Bryce Drew. Tinsley could have done a much better job.

17th - Toronto Raptors

Original Pick: Michael Bradley, F, Villanova
New Pick: Kwame Brown, C, High School

I think a major reason that Brown never developed was the pressure of being the top pick in a draft. Combine that with what I’m sure was constant ridicule from Jordan and Brown really had no chance. Send him to Canada to learn to get tough from Antonio Davis, an elder Hakeem Olajuwon and a grinder that was Jerome Williams. You never know…

18th - Houston Rockets

Original Pick: Jason Collins, C, Stanford
New Pick: Bobby Simmons, F, DePaul

When Simmons got time on the court, he did well. He only averaged about 10 minutes a night in his first two seasons, but he started to produce when his minutes jumped in his third year.

19th - Portland Trailblazers

Original Pick: Zach Randolph, F, Michigan St.
New Pick: Brendan Haywood, C, North Carolina

You can never have too many big men. Haywood never panned out as some might have thought after a solid career as a Tar Heel, but he would have given the Trailblazers some good depth up front.

20th - Cleveland Cavaliers

Original Pick: Brendan Haywood, C, North Carolina
New Pick: Andres Nocioni, F, Argentina

They would have had to wait, but he would have arrived in LeBron James’ second year. Think he would like to have a guy like Nocioni playing next to him? Think he would have helped him the past few years in the playoffs? I sure do.

21st - Boston Celtics

Original Pick: Joseph Forte, G, North Carolina
New Pick: Jamario Moon, F, Meridion Community College

This is a big what if-type pick. Moon just got to the league in 2007, so to ask to be drafted in 2001 is a bit of a stretch. At the same time, he couldn’t have done much worse than Forte.

22nd - Orlando Magic

Original Pick: Jeryl Sasser, G, SMU
New Pick: DeSagana Diop, C, High School

In the real draft, they took Hunter a few picks earlier. Instead, I’ll give them their center here.

23rd - Houston Rockets

Original Pick: Brandon Armstrong, G, Pepperdine
New Pick: Charlie Bell, G, Michigan St.

Another guy that struggled to break through. Once he did, though, he’s shown the ability to be a serviceable role player for a playoff team.

24th - Utah Jazz

Original Pick: Raul Lopez, G, Spain
New Pick: Maurice Evans, G, Texas-Austin

See above.

25th - Sacramento Kings

Original Pick: Gerald Wallace, F, Alabama
New Pick: Trenton Hassell, G, Austin Peay

Plays decent perimeter defense.

26th - Philadelphia 76ers

Original Pick: Samuel Dalembert, C, Seton Hall
New Pick: Steven Hunter, C, DePaul

Center for a center.

27th - Atlanta Hawks

Original Pick: Jamaal Tinsley, G, Iowa St.
New Pick: Earl Watson, G, UCLA

Guard for a guard.

28th - San Antonio Spurs

Original Pick: Tony Parker, G, Viva La France
New Pick: Brian Scalabrine, F, USC

Just because I want to know that he went in the first round.

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