The 2009 draft, redrafted
Fifty-one men in the file have a 2009 pick. The two best careers in the class went 7th and 3rd. The highest number on the board on draft night belongs to the first pick, and the second pick is the lowest peak of anyone taken in the top ten.
The board below is the real order: where each man was taken and by whom, his rating in 2009-10, his best season and the number of seasons he is rated. Ratings are scaled inside each season, so 50 is that year's average player and 70 is a star. Eight of them have no 2009-10 rating, shown as a dash.
Play from 2009-10 Take over any club in 2009-10. The 2009 class is the first draft of your run.
The top of the board, as the file has it
- Blake Griffin, pick 1, stored against LAC, the file's label for one of the two Los Angeles clubs, forward. No 2009 rating. His first number is 74 in 2010, so he sits on the 2009 board at that 74, the highest number on it, and then he is away until 2010-11. Peak 78 in 2013. By 2019 he is down to 45. Thirteen rated seasons, and the good ones are the first nine.
- Hasheem Thabeet, pick 2, Memphis, centre. Rookie rating 48, and 48 is the best season the file has for him. After that it is 35, 36, 46 and 34. Five rated seasons. The board shows you the 48 before you pick. Nothing later turns it into anything else.
- James Harden, pick 3, Oklahoma City, guard. Rookie rating 60. Then 62, then 72 in 2011. The big years come later: 86 in 2014, 89 in 2016 and 2017, and the peak, 92, in 2018. On draft night he is a 60, and nine other men on this board show a 60 or better.
- Tyreke Evans, pick 4, Sacramento, guard. Rookie rating 69, close to the top of the board. His peak is 70, in 2017. For six seasons he stays between 65 and 69. What you see is what the file has.
- Ricky Rubio, pick 5, Minnesota. No rating until 2011, when he is a 60. He is on the 2009 board at that 60 and then away for two seasons. Peak 68 in 2019.
- Jonny Flynn, pick 6, also Minnesota. Rookie rating 62, which is his peak. Then 46 and 34, and the file is done with him.
- Stephen Curry, pick 7, Golden State, guard. Rookie rating 70, the highest rookie number of anyone who played in 2009-10. Peak 94 in 2015, the best season by anyone in the class. He dips to 58 in 2011 and to 43 in 2019, and both times the next season is back above 75. Seventeen rated seasons, all the way to the end of the file.
How long the run is decides what you get
A run from 2009 can be one, five, ten or fifteen seasons, or the whole file, which is seventeen seasons to 2025-26. Twenty would end in 2028-29, past the end of the file, so the menu does not offer it.
A five-season run is 2009-10 through 2013-14. Curry inside that window is 70, 75, 58, 76 and 81. Very good, and not the 94. Harden inside it is 60, 62, 72, 78 and 77. Griffin misses the first season, then is 74, 74, 72 and 78. Over five years the three are much closer than the redraft order makes them look, and Griffin's best years land inside the window while the other two are still climbing.
A ten-season run ends in 2018-19. That takes in Curry's 89 and 94 and Harden's whole run up to the 92, which is the tenth season. Griffin's 2018 is a 74, but his 2015 and 2017 are 65 and 64. Ten seasons is where the redraft order starts to read true.
Fifteen seasons ends in 2023-24. Curry is still an 84 in 2022 and a 78 in 2023. Harden is a 74 and then a 69. Griffin's last season in the file is 2022, at 44. Play the whole file and Curry is still an 80 in 2024 and a 73 in 2025, the last season there is. On the long runs the first pick is gone and the seventh is still a star.
The guards after the top ten
The redraft's top ten has nine guards, and four of them went outside the real top ten. Jrue Holiday, pick 17 to Philadelphia, enters at 57 and peaks at 73 in 2015, then is a 72 or 73 four more times. Ty Lawson, pick 18, is stored against Minnesota, which gives that club three of the first eighteen picks. He enters at 55 and peaks at 71 in 2011. Jeff Teague, pick 19 to Atlanta, enters at 45, below an average player, and peaks at 74 in 2014. Darren Collison, pick 21 to New Orleans, is a 66 as a rookie and never rates higher.
DeMar DeRozan, pick 9 to Toronto, is the slow one. He is a 53 in 2009, a 61 two years later, and his peak, 78, is in 2021, his thirteenth season. He is third in the redraft because he kept being good for a long time, not because of one big year. Brandon Jennings, pick 10 to Milwaukee, is the reverse: a 65 as a rookie, a 72 in 2011, and under 50 by 2015.
What you should do with it
If you hold a high pick, the board will show you Griffin at 74, Curry at 70, Evans at 69 and Harden at 60. The other clubs see the same numbers and nothing past them. Picking Curry over Griffin on those numbers is close, and in a five-year run it is close in the results too. Picking Harden over either of them is a ten-year decision. In a one-season run a 60 is a 60, and Griffin's 74 never plays a game, because his first season is the one after.
Minnesota is the odd seat. The file gives it picks 5, 6 and 18, and Curry went 7th. If you take Minnesota in 2009, Curry is there at 5 if no one ahead of you takes him, and so is Harden if he slips. That is not how it went, and the grade is still measured against Minnesota's real seasons. The method is on the ratings page.
Thabeet is the easy call. A rival club can see the 48. So can you, and you do not need to know the future to leave him on the board. 2003 has the same problem at pick 2, and 1984 has the opposite one, a late pick with a modest first number that the long run rewards.
The redraft
The class again, in the order the game's numbers would take it: by career value, which adds up how far each of his seasons sits above an average player. A long good career beats one great season.
- Stephen Curry, guard, taken 7th by Golden State. Peak 94 in 2015-16, 17 rated seasons.
- James Harden, guard, taken 3rd by Oklahoma City. Peak 92 in 2018-19, 17 rated seasons.
- DeMar DeRozan, guard, taken 9th by Toronto. Peak 78 in 2021-22, 17 rated seasons.
- Jrue Holiday, guard, taken 17th by Philadelphia. Peak 73 in 2015-16, 17 rated seasons.
- Blake Griffin, forward, taken 1st by LAC. Peak 78 in 2013-14, 13 rated seasons.
- Jeff Teague, guard, taken 19th by Atlanta. Peak 74 in 2014-15, 12 rated seasons.
- Tyreke Evans, guard, taken 4th by Sacramento. Peak 70 in 2017-18, 10 rated seasons.
- Ricky Rubio, guard, taken 5th by Minnesota. Peak 68 in 2019-20, 12 rated seasons.
- Darren Collison, guard, taken 21st by New Orleans. Peak 66 in 2009-10, 11 rated seasons.
- Ty Lawson, guard, taken 18th by Minnesota. Peak 71 in 2011-12, 8 rated seasons.
Steals and misses
Taken well after his career said he should have gone:
- Jrue Holiday: 17th in the real draft, 4th in the redraft. Peak 73.
- Jeff Teague: 19th in the real draft, 6th in the redraft. Peak 74.
- Darren Collison: 21st in the real draft, 9th in the redraft. Peak 66.
Top-ten picks the redraft moves furthest down:
- Hasheem Thabeet: 2nd in the real draft, 43rd in the redraft. Peak 48.
- Jonny Flynn: 6th in the real draft, 28th in the redraft. Peak 62.
- Jordan Hill: 8th in the real draft, 20th in the redraft. Peak 65.
The real board
| Pick | Player | Pos | Club | Rookie | Peak | Seasons | Redraft |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blake GriffinOklahoma | F | LAC | – | 78 2013 | 13 | 5 |
| 2 | Hasheem ThabeetConnecticut | C | Memphis | 48 | 48 2009 | 5 | 43 |
| 3 | James HardenArizona State | G | Oklahoma City | 60 | 92 2018 | 17 | 2 |
| 4 | Tyreke EvansMemphis | G | Sacramento | 69 | 70 2017 | 10 | 7 |
| 5 | Ricky RubioDKV Joventut | G | Minnesota | – | 68 2019 | 12 | 8 |
| 6 | Jonny FlynnSyracuse | G | Minnesota | 62 | 62 2009 | 3 | 28 |
| 7 | Stephen CurryDavidson | G | Golden State | 70 | 94 2015 | 17 | 1 |
| 8 | Jordan HillArizona | F | New York | 45 | 65 2014 | 8 | 20 |
| 9 | DeMar DeRozanUSC | G | Toronto | 53 | 78 2021 | 17 | 3 |
| 10 | Brandon JenningsLottomatica Roma | G | Milwaukee | 65 | 72 2011 | 9 | 11 |
| 11 | Terrence WilliamsLouisville | G | New Jersey | 57 | 57 2009 | 4 | 33 |
| 12 | Gerald Henderson Jr.Duke | G | Charlotte | 36 | 64 2012 | 8 | 17 |
| 13 | Tyler HansbroughNorth Carolina | F | Indiana | 42 | 57 2010 | 7 | 30 |
| 14 | Earl ClarkLouisville | F | Phoenix | 39 | 52 2012 | 6 | 37 |
| 15 | Austin DayeGonzaga | F | Detroit | 49 | 54 2010 | 6 | 35 |
| 16 | James JohnsonWake Forest | F | Chicago | 47 | 66 2016 | 16 | 16 |
| 17 | Jrue HolidayUCLA | G | Philadelphia | 57 | 73 2015 | 17 | 4 |
| 18 | Ty LawsonNorth Carolina | G | Minnesota | 55 | 71 2011 | 8 | 10 |
| 19 | Jeff TeagueWake Forest | G | Atlanta | 45 | 74 2014 | 12 | 6 |
| 20 | Eric MaynorVCU | G | Utah | 51 | 51 2009 | 5 | 38 |
| 21 | Darren CollisonUCLA | G | New Orleans | 66 | 66 2009 | 11 | 9 |
| 22 | Víctor ClaverPamesa Valencia | F | Portland | – | 40 2012 | 3 | 49 |
| 23 | Omri CasspiMaccabi Tel Aviv | F | Sacramento | 57 | 59 2015 | 10 | 22 |
| 24 | Byron MullensOhio State | C | Dallas | 28 | 58 2011 | 5 | 29 |
| 25 | Rodrigue BeauboisCholet | G | Oklahoma City | 53 | 58 2011 | 4 | 31 |
| 26 | Taj GibsonUSC | F | Chicago | 58 | 62 2013 | 17 | 12 |
| 27 | DeMarre CarrollMissouri | F | Memphis | 39 | 61 2017 | 11 | 21 |
| 28 | Wayne EllingtonNorth Carolina | G | Minnesota | 49 | 56 2017 | 13 | 26 |
| 29 | Toney DouglasFlorida State | G | LAL | 53 | 62 2010 | 8 | 23 |
| 30 | Christian EyengaCB Prat | F | Cleveland | – | 45 2010 | 2 | 45 |
| 31 | Jeff AyresArizona State | F | Sacramento | 40 | 47 2013 | 6 | 44 |
| 32 | Jermaine TaylorCentral Florida | G | Washington | 37 | 44 2010 | 2 | 46 |
| 33 | Dante CunninghamVillanova | F | Portland | 44 | 55 2012 | 10 | 32 |
| 35 | DaJuan SummersGeorgetown | F | Detroit | 37 | 37 2009 | 4 | 50 |
| 36 | Sam YoungPittsburgh | F | Memphis | 52 | 54 2010 | 4 | 34 |
| 37 | DeJuan BlairPittsburgh | F | San Antonio | 61 | 62 2010 | 7 | 19 |
| 38 | Jon BrockmanWashington | F | Portland | 41 | 41 2009 | 3 | 48 |
| 39 | Jonas JerebkoAngelico Biella | F | Detroit | 55 | 56 2011 | 9 | 27 |
| 40 | Derrick BrownXavier | F | Charlotte | 41 | 54 2011 | 3 | 36 |
| 41 | Jodie MeeksKentucky | G | Milwaukee | 43 | 61 2013 | 10 | 24 |
| 42 | Patrick BeverleyDnipro | G | LAL | – | 60 2021 | 12 | 18 |
| 43 | Marcus ThorntonLSU | G | Miami | 65 | 66 2011 | 8 | 14 |
| 44 | Chase BudingerArizona | F | Detroit | 55 | 59 2010 | 7 | 25 |
| 45 | Nick CalathesFlorida | G | Minnesota | – | 51 2013 | 2 | 39 |
| 46 | Danny GreenNorth Carolina | F | Cleveland | 33 | 64 2014 | 15 | 13 |
| 48 | Taylor GriffinOklahoma | F | Phoenix | 28 | 28 2009 | 1 | 51 |
| 52 | A. J. PriceConnecticut | G | Indiana | 50 | 51 2012 | 6 | 40 |
| 53 | Nando de ColoCholet | G | San Antonio | – | 49 2012 | 2 | 42 |
| 54 | Robert Vaden | G | – | 50 2010 | 1 | 41 | |
| 55 | Patty MillsSaint Mary's | G | Portland | 30 | 64 2013 | 16 | 15 |
| 58 | Lester HudsonTennessee-Martin | G | Boston | 36 | 44 2011 | 4 | 47 |
More drafts
The 2008 draft · The 2010 draft · Every draft, 1976 to 2025
How the numbers are made is on the ratings page. How a run plays is in How to play.