Alex, you're on the clock.
Pick #1:9 - Seadood228
KEVIN GARNETT
I was half hoping Hakeem and DR would be taken, because I wanted to take this guy but couldn't justify it with those two on the board. Like the last three picks, I'm sticking with a defensive anchor as my main focus. It took KG a little while to mature on the defensive end of the ball, but it's hard to argue with 9 straight defensive All NBA teams (7 1st team if you include this year) and one defensive player of the year. While not a prototypical shot blocker, he's one of the best on-ball defenders for a big man and a great help defender as well. More importantly, he's proven this year that he has the ability to lead a very stellar defense. Rebounding-wise, he's consistently lead or been at the top of the league in defensive rebounding % throughout his career.
Offensively, he's been at a level just below his defense. He's a capable scorer, but more importantly he's one of the best passers at his position, averaging 4.4 assists throughout his career, more than 5 for half his career. He has a great back to the basket finesse game, and can hit the wide open jumper when called upon.
The only two negatives I have are a) his relative lack of wins, particularly in big games and b) his relative "softness" on the inside. I'm willing to dismiss the first as bad luck and bad coaching (hopefully when this is all over this argument will be moot :
). As far as his offensive playing style, he makes up for this with his high FT% and passing ability, which imo will be more important given the teams we are building.
Awards -
2003-4 MVP
2007-8 Defensive Player of the Year
2002-3 All Star Game MVP (whoopty-do)
7 All Defensive 1st teams
2 All Defensive 2nd teams