FanHouse Fran Vazquez

FanHouse fixes a decade of draft-day blunders in Revisiting the NBA Draft.

The 2005 NBA Draft would change the course of the future of two teams -- the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks. There was no clear-cut No. 1 pick, but Utah's Andrew Bogut was big, skilled and NBA ready. He wasn't the most convincing or dominant No. 1 pick, especially with Dwight Howard averaging a double-double in his rookie season, but he appeared to be the best choice for the Bucks.

Meanwhile, the Hawks decided on a player who was a sixth man of his college team. Marvin Williams had all the physical tools to be a star but played just one season at North Carolina. He fed off the Tar Heels' national title run and opted for the draft. It sounded like a good idea, although he was only 19. It's not that these were poor choices. Neither Bogut nor Williams are busts. They are productive NBA players, but when compared with the next two drafted, they are disappointments.

With only one lottery pick (Washington), there isn't a lot of draft buzz around the Southeast Division. The Orlando Magic, who reached the NBA Finals, don't have any picks, and the Miami Heat, who lost in the first round of the playoffs, have only picks in the second round.

Washington Wizards

Picks: No. 5 (first round), No. 33 (second round).

Needs: After such a disastrous season, they need one of those Obama Stimulus giveaways. They need a quality big man who can rebound, but they also need help on the perimeter so that Gilbert Arenas can limit his minutes and avoid getting hurt again. They need depth, and most importantly, they need some durability because there were too many guys sitting out too many games last season.

There aren't many gigs that pay better than professional basketball, but these days it's hardly a given that the best players will flock to the NBA. For one, most foreign clubs will include things like housing and taxes, which means that the salary being offered really does go straight to a player's pocket. Ball in Europe breaks down the math:

For example, the player drafted at No. 1 this year knows that he will earn 8.339 million USD in his first two seasons combined. Even with an exchange rate of one euro to 1.50 USD, this is still a large amount in Euros. But this salary is gross, so the player has to pay 29% tax on the amount; so he will only earn 5.920 million USD, about 4 million Euros, in two years.

If you go to the middle of the first round, the guaranteed salary for a player drafted 15th in the first two seasons combined will be about 2 million USD net. This is 1.3 million Euros in two years, so about 650.000 Euro per season. Guaranteed. This is a salary that good European players are paid in Europe.

Once you get out of the first round and into the second, the disparity gets even larger. And something Ball in Europe doesn't mention but is just as prohibitive are the expensive buyouts that a lot of players will need to cover out of pocket. An NBA team is only allowed to pitch in $500,000 to buy out a foreign contract, but that's sometimes just a drop in the bucket.

Don't give up hope, Orlando Magic fans! You may someday see Fran Vazquez hooping it up at Amway Arena ... just not next season. For those not familiar, Vazquez was the former NBA lottery pick (11th overall) who spurned the Magic to sign a four-year contract to remain in Spain. He didn't feel he was quite ready for the NBA, but the 6-11, 230 pound big man thinks he's getting close. From the Orlando Sentinel:

"When this one [contract] finishes, I will like to see if I can play there [Orlando],'' Vazquez wrote in an exchange of e-mails with the Sentinel last week. "Sure, I will like to play in the NBA one day. I am a more mature player, and I have improved in some areas of my game. I know I can still improve a lot, but I am working on that every day.'' ...

"When the Philadelphia 76ers were in Barcelona [playing an exhibition last summer], people were asking Fran about the NBA,'' said Oriol Bonsoms, a front-office executive for FC Barcelona. "And he sounded proud that the Magic had drafted him. He intends to go. When he was drafted, he just didn't think he was ready for it. Now he does. I think eventually he will play there.''