Jan 12, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose (1) warms up prior to a game against the Phoenix Suns at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

It’s been four and a half seasons since the 2008 NBA Draft was conducted, and it seems like a good time to re-visit the selections and determine how the Draft would go if it were re-conducted today.

There’s no change in the number one selection, regardless of major injury, but the rest of the top-10 shake out intriguingly, as a number of players leaped a third of a round in value, including two big men who are being paid handsomely by their respective clubs.

1) Derrick Rose (1)

Derrick Rose is the only one in this class to win an MVP award, though at least two others in this class have the talent to do so.  Rose led the Bulls to the best record in the Eastern Conference in consecutive seasons, and they had the best record in the entire NBA in 2010-11.

He’s a franchise talent, and though he is coming off of ACL surgery, many expect Rose to return to be as brilliant as he was pre-injury, if not more so.  Rose is a hard worker and has recently been dunking in practice, which is a good sign we’ll see the real Rose after the All-Star break.

2) Kevin Love (5)

Kevin Love has become the league’s best power forward.  He posts 20/20 games with regularity, and up until this season had been an accurate three-point marksman (even winning the three point contest over the All-Star weekend festivities).

Love is going to go down in the conversation with Karl Malone, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Moses Malone and the likes, for the best power forward of All-Time, when it is said and done.

Jan 11, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) reacts after a 3-point basket against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center. The Thunder defeated the Lakers 116-101. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

3) Russell Westbrook (4)

Russell Westbrook is the third franchise talent of this draft class.  Though he plays with the league’s best scorer Kevin Durant, Westbrook is not shy about making himself the primary option when games call for it.  He still averages 8.5 assists per game, proving that the selfish player labels are not so accurate, after all.

Westbrook is essentially a really good shooting guard in a point guard’s body, but at 6’3″ with a strong broad frame, Westbrook is able to post up of a lot of opposing point guard and take advantage of his physicality.  He should prove to be one of the best point guards in the league for the next decade.

4) Brook Lopez (10)

Brook Lopez is a dynamic scorer, but not much of a true center.  He doesn’t rebound the ball well enough, deferring to Kris Humphries to do most of the dirty work inside.

He’s returned more to the form he showed in his first seasons in the league now, though, and the Brooklyn Nets feature Lopez prominently in their well-rounded starting five.  Lopez was taken No. 10 overall, but after receiving a max contract, he’s shown he is nearly a franchise talent.  Just not quite.

5) Nicolas Batum (25)

Nicolas Batum is quickly becoming one of the league’s best swingmen.  Batum is a premier defender and is scoring well this season, too (a career high 16.6 points per game).  Batum is a career 37 percent three point shooter and helped France in the 2012 Olympics.

Will Batum enter the elite class of small forwards?  It’s possible.  He’s improved every season in his five-year NBA career and is seeing 38.7 minutes a night this year.  The Portland Trail Blazers have been a surprisingly good 20-16 behind the strong play of rookie Damian Lillard and All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge.  The future is bright in Portland and Batum is a big part of what they are building around.

6) Danilo Gallinari (6)

“The Rooster” has to be one of the more ridiculous nicknames in professional sports, but there is nothing ridiculous about Danilo Gallinari’s sweet jumper.  He hasn’t been hitting it at a high clip this year (just 40 percent from the floor and 35 percent from three), but over his career he has proven to be an effective scorer (just not the most efficient).

Gallo (much better nickname) has the potential to be a big scorer on a high scoring team, but would need to hit a much better percentage from the floor to move up much higher than the No. 6 overall selection in this draft, which incoincidentally was where he was selected in 2008.

January 6, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Denver Nuggets center JaVale McGee (34) dunks in the first half against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

7) JaVale McGee (18)

JaVale McGee lost his starting spot in Denver, but it stems primarily from the fact his asthmatic condition limits the amount of minutes he can play.  But when he does play, he’s been very good, and a number of Nuggets fans are calling for McGee to start once again.

McGee is extremely coordinated and put time in with the “Hoops Whisperer” Hakeem Olajuwon this summer.  It’s seemingly paid dividends, as his post repertoire looks much improved.  He already had the coordination and athleticism, but with some more big man coaching he could be an elite center.

8) Roy Hibbert (17)

Roy Hibbert is another player in this draft who received a max-contract due to position scarcity.  With all due respect to Hibbert (and to a lesser extent Lopez), I don’t feel he could have started back in the center rich talent pool of the 90s.  Hibbert is immobile, soft and doesn’t have particularly great timing, which results in a lot of reach-in fouls.

He’s still the third best center in this draft class, and he’s better than the No. 17 overall at which he was picked, but the Pacers are going to live to regret that max-contract, and likely already are with Ian Mahinmi playing so well off the bench.

9) Eric Gordon (7)

If I were re-ordering this draft two seasons ago, Eric Gordon would have been No. 4.  He’s more talented than everyone in this draft outside of Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook (Yes, more talented than Love, but Love’s work ethic puts him over the top), and if not for the knee injuries he would unequivocally be a perennial All-Star.

Instead, he’s seldom been on the court.  Gordon drew vast interest at the end of last season, but the Hornets retained his services as a restricted free agent.

May 15, 2011; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard OJ Mayo (32) shoots a layup against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Thabo Sefolosha (left) and forward Serge Ibaka (second from right) during the first half of game seven of the second round of the 2011 NBA playoffs at the Oklahoma City Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

10) O.J. Mayo (3)

O.J. Mayo looked as though he might contend for Rookie of the Year early in the 2008-09 season.  For a season and a half in Memphis, Mayo looked as though he could be a 20-plus point per game scorer.  In his rookie season, he averaged 18.5 points per game.

In time, the Grizzlies seemingly outgrew their need for Mayo, as other scorers stepped up and Tony Allen’s defensive skills were far more need-appropriate than Mayo’s shooting.  Moreover, his shooting had become less accurate as time wore on.

It turned out, all Mayo needed was a change in scenery.  This season in Dallas, Mayo has returned to the brilliance he displayed as a rookie—plus some.  He’s averaging over 18 points per game again, but shooting a career high 46 percent from the floor, including a blistering 42.6 percent from three-point range.

Kevin Love is the best power forward since Moses Malone.

People always shy away from injured players, but when an injury is a minor and non-recurring one, as in the case of Kevin Love, I don’t think that should be the case.  Love injured his hand doing knuckle pushups.  The hope here is that he learned his lesson and either makes that workout safer or cuts it out altogether.  I’m hoping for the latter because I think Love can be a beast without pressing 255 pounds of muscle onto his poor knuckles.

It’s worth noting that this league has far different settings than a Yahoo! league.  Points are awarded for double doubles, and that dramatically increases the value of a guy who gets one pretty much every night.  He also puts up insane numbers.

Is he a better option than who went No. 3 overall?  LeBron James?

Slightly, basing it on a few key factors:

1. age (24, Love vs. 27, James),

2. team situation (Love is the best player, LBJ shares the ball with two other stars)

3. position scarcity (C-eligible Love, tons of SFs with value)

Love has center eligibility in the league I am playing in, and I am now filling one of my center spots with a franchise player for a team.  The three years of improvement he has to make before even reaching the age LeBron is at now make this almost a no brainer.

It has nothing to do with being a “LeBron Hater” and everything to do with the fact that Love’s game is taylor made for putting up great stat lines and fantasy production.  How can you turn down a guy who puts up 20 points and 15 rebounds, becoming the first since Moses Malone in 1982-83?  Make no mistake, he is as good as the Hall of Fame talent that is Moses.

I give up a lot of trade equity, but I can sacrifice that.  People would have paid more for LeBron in a trade than for Love, in other words.  But I can live with that.  And when you have the second overall pick, it means you have the second to last pick in the second round.  There’s absolutely no way he would have lasted until that pick, injured or not, so the only way to obtain him was to take him since we weren’t allowed to trade up/down in drafts.

I’ll reach for a Hall of Famer.  Everytime (notwithstanding the fact that LBJ is the better player in “real life).  It’s fantasy basketball, and fantasy is far different than real life.

Ridiculous. Ludicrous. Blasphemous. Just flat out crazy. Call it what you may. Kevin Love is an All-Star. He played at an MVP caliber this past season, and is currently a member of the Olympic squad being compared to the 1992 Dream Team. So how dare such a bold statement be made about a player yet to log a single NBA minute?

Well it may not be as far-fetched as it initially appears. There are more than a few similarities between Love and Sullinger, and they date as far back as High School.

Love was an All-American for his Lake Oswego Lakers in Oregon. During a fabulous senior year, he averaged 34 points per game and 17 rebounds per game. That earned the forward a national ranking as the best player at his position, and sixth overall by scouting service Rivals.com. He was deemed the National Gatorade Player of the Year his final season in high school.

That is hard to compete with. So how does Sullinger stack up to such a prolific high school career? The eventual Ohio State Buckeye put up 24.5 ppg and 11.7 rpg his senior year. While more underwhelming than Love’s numbers, the fact Sullinger played against Ohio competition as opposed to Oregon for Love must be taken into account.

Sullinger would also win the McDonald’s All-American Game co-MVP. Similar to Love, all of those achievements led to a Rivals.com ranking as the best player at his position, and fifth overall in the country.

That’s just high school though. Plenty of guys have put up bizarre high school statistics, only to never be heard of several years later (Dajuan Wagner and his 100-point performance as an example).

Love was phenomenal his lone season at UCLA. He finished as the Bruin’s leading scorer and rebounder with 17.5 ppg and 10.7 rpg. Love led UCLA to the Final Four, where they lost to runner-up Memphis. He would be named first team All-American.

In contrast to Love, Sullinger played two collegiate seasons. His freshman year he put up comparable numbers to Love with 17.2 ppg and 10.2 rpg. In his final season at Ohio State, Sullinger would remain fairly consistent with a 17.5 ppg and 9.3 rpg year. He would also go on to be named a first team All-American member like Love. The Buckeyes reached the Final Four, and just as Love’s Bruins did, they lost to eventual runner-up Kansas.

After finishing their collegiate careers, both players entered the NBA draft process with numerous questions concerning their ability to transition into the NBA. Despite their long list of accolades on the court, both players suffered scrutiny for their athleticism and height.

At the NBA draft combine, Sullinger measured 6-foot-9 with shoes, right on par with Love’s 6-foot-9 and a half. Weighing in at 268 pounds, Sullinger did come in 13 pounds heavier than Love , but had a lower body fat percentage. Their body frames allow them to successfully carve out space in the post, particularly for rebounding, but their measurements coupled with a lack of athleticism are not seen as ideal for an NBA power forward

Scouts were worried with Love’s capability to score against quicker and longer athletes in the NBA . These are much of the same doubts Sullinger dealt with prior to the draft. Love’s skill-set was enough to make him a top five draft pick however. Many felt Sullinger would have also been a top five selection had he left after his freshman campaign in Columbus. Back issues would drop the forward to the 21st pick this draft, where commissioner Stern eventually called his name for the Boston Celtics

Now this is where the rest of this comparison remains to be seen. Love has been able to quiet the skeptics with his dominating play on the boards, and took his game to another level this year, averaging 26 ppg and 13.3 rpg. Sullinger is still only playing summer league games, but has been fairly impressive in the six he’s played.

Love was able to immediately step in and grow multiple facets to his game. Sullinger faces a different role his rookie season with the Celtics. He will be part of a team contending for the Larry O’Brien Trophy, something Love has not even come close to, and will be relied on to do the dirty work.

Much like Love, Sullinger will be tutored from one of the best power forwards to play this game. Love was coached by Kevin McHale to begin his career, and it is safe to assume Kevin Garnett will be spending plenty of hours after practice with the new rookie.

If Sullinger can continue to progress his outside shot, he’ll be better equipped to stretch defenses as Love has become accustomed to doing. Sullinger shot 40 percent this past year from behind the arc, five percentage points better than what the current Timberwolves’ star shot in college. Boston’s system lately has allowed shorter power forwards with outside range to flourish, as seen with Brandon Bass and Glen Davis.

The Celtics rookie has a plethora of skills, giving him the potential to reach Love status, but that’s not how things always play out. How off based will this article be in five years? Maybe Sullinger is just another Big Baby Davis, who knows? This could just be a personal love affair for Sullinger (pun intended).

If Sullinger’s rookie season ends like Davis’ did with a championship though, then fans will be in love, even if he doesn’t quite play like the real one.