Why was Mike Bibby drafted so high?

Walt

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It's definitely crazy in retrospect that he was drafted several spots ahead of Dirk, Paul Pierce, and Vince Carter. But Bibby wasn't a disappointment at all - when they swapped out Jason Williams for him, the Kings went to another level.

He's not even disappointing in the context of #2 picks:

2nd Overall NBA Draft Picks
 

nieman

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Hindsight is a bytch, but you never know what is going to happen. Bibby was easily the best point guard in the draft, and he turned out the best out of the top three picks by a mile. And the top two guys in that draft were taken #9 and #10, so it ain't like anyone really knew how good they'd be.

He definitely had a top-five career out of that draft class. Only Dirk, PP, and Carter were clearly better. That's a fine hit for the #2 pick. Thank God they didn't pick Raef or the Candy-man.

Jamison, Cat, Shard all had better careers than Bibby. Ricky would have, if he wasn't a knucklehead. Matter of fact, I'm going Al Harrington as well.
 

Joe Sixpack

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I remember asking this question before he even got drafted cause that's all you heard before he came out

I couldn't understand it. Then Chris Webber gets to Sacramento and basically gets Bibby an $80 million contract.

One of life's great mysteries
 

No_bammer_weed

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One detail y'all are overlooking is that Vancouver selected Bibby. The Grizzles were a struggle franchise that few bruhs wanted to sign with, because Vancouver seemed like Siberia to them. More than likely Bibby's agent told them he had no problem playing for the grizzles, while other top picks said "naw", which forced their hand. Stevie Franchise refusing to sign with them the following year killed that organization dead.

Also this was the 90s where the formula for organizations was pairing a young PG with a young center. I guess the grizzles were drafting for need versus the best talent available, and thought they were building a foundation by joining Bibby with bum ass big country.

The bigger question is why Piru Piece went so damn low. I get why dirk did because international scouting was poo in the 90s, but Pierce came from a big school and was a big time talent. He almost wasnt a lottery pick. fukk happened?
 
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thatrapsfan

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One detail y'all are overlooking is that Vancouver selected Bibby. The Grizzles were a struggle franchise that few bruhs wanted to sign with, because Vancouver seemed like Siberia to them. More than likely Bibby's agent may have said told them he had no problem playing for the grizzles, while other top picks said "naw", which forced their hand. Steve Franchise refusing to sign with them the following year killed that organization dead.

Also this was the 90s where the formula for organizations was pairing a young PG with a young center. I guess the grizzles were drafting for need versus the best talent available, and thought they were building a foundation by joining Bibby with bum ass big country.

The bigger question is why Piru Piece went so damn low. I get why dirk did because international scouting was poo in the 90s, but Pierce came from a big school and was a big time talent. He almost wasnt a lottery pick. fukk were these lottery teams thinkin'?

Bibby didn't even play poorly with the Grizzlies though. They were a bad team overall, but he still put up solid numbers alongside Michael dikkerson. They were seen as a solid future back-court for that team. The Grizz received heat over the Big Country pick but few second-guessed the Bibby pick at the time. He even made the all-rookie first team in his rookie season.
 
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