Some Questions Answer Themselves

While reading Christopher Gaspar's blog a few minutes ago, one of his links got me looking at the March 6, 2006 cover of Sports Illustrated. While Gaspar was sending us to look at an image of Coco Crisp, the main attraction of the cover is what caught my eye.

You see the picture above (if not, it's time to see an eye doctor) and it's funny now to think there was even a debate about who was a better player between Duke's J.J. Redick and Gonzaga's Adam Morrison.

However, back in 2006, Redick and Morrison were the stars of college basketball and at the time, it looked like the 6-8 Morrison was on the verge of NBA stardom as the heir apparent to Larry Bird as the league's top white star while Redick seemed destined for the career path of another celebrated Blue Devil shooting guard who flamed out in the pro's, Trajan Langdon.

As a proud critic of everything Duke, I was one of the many who lined up for a spot on the Morrison bandwagon while also predicting failure for Redick.

Morrison ended up as the third overall pick in the 2006 Draft, the preferred choice of Michael Jordan and the Charlotte Bobcats. I am sure both Jordan and Morrison had the best intentions for his career in Charlotte but the team did pass on a handful of players who have proven themselves to be far superior NBA players.

To name a few, the Bobcats would have been better off with fellow first round picks Rajon Rondo, Brandon Roy, or Rudy Gay. Even second rounder Paul Milisap has made a bigger impact than Morrison.

However, skipping over local product J.J. Redick may have been the biggest mistake. Redick went to the Orlando Magic with the 11th pick in the first round and has done nothing but improve his game every season. He will never be a star but Redick is an accomplished shooter and underrated defender who has played a key role in the Magic winning the Eastern Conference championship in 2009 and returning to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2010.

Meanwhile, Morrison was traded to the Lakers in February 2009 in a minor move that sent Vladimir Radmanovic to Charlotte. Morrison has had a nice seat on the bench, watching Kobe Bryant lead L.A. to consecutive NBA championships while making no meaningful contributions.

Both Redick and Morrison became free agents this summer. In the ultimate change of heart - we're talking Rocky IV stuff here, change is possible -I desperately wanted Danny Ainge to find a way to bring Redick to the Celtics while dreading the possibility the team would take a chance on Morrison to fill their void behind Paul Pierce at small forward.

The truth is, Redick has made himself into a successful NBA player while Morrison - who was slowed by a knee injury in 2007 - has drifted into obscurity and onto lists of the biggest draft busts in NBA history.