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.

Or, simply, the Mavs will look to keep their recent hot streak going tonight as they square off against the Boston Celtics.  After winning four of the season’s first five games, Dallas endured a prolonged three-week stumble, losing eight of their next 11, before righting the ship with another 4-1 stretch.  They’ve come out on top in their last three tries, with road victories over the Suns and Rockets prefacing Monday night’s 119-96 home thrashing of the Sacramento Kings.

The Mavs are doing what they can to stay afloat while franchise cornerstone Dirk Nowitzki continues to recover from knee surgery.  Though he had originally hoped to be back on the floor by mid-December, Dirk’s rehab has gone more slowly than expected, pushing his return date back into 2013.

In the meantime, Dallas middles along.  At present, their 11-10 record stands as seventh-best in the West, though with the Nuggets, Timberwolves, Rockets, and Lakers all two games or fewer back in the win column and only a quarter of the season gone, where they stand today means next to nothing in the grand scheme of things.  Their season numbers are befitting a .500 team angling for a low-level playoff seed: according to Basketball-Reference, their offensive rating (points scored per 100 possessions) of 104.6 stands at fourteenth in the league, while their defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 105.1 stands at seventeenth.

Offensively, the team has relied on emergent scoring sensation O.J. Mayo to carry the day, perhaps to a fault.  Through this morning, Mayo is the league’s eighth most prolific scorer, averaging 20.8 points per game with an astounding, league-leading .530 three-point field goal percentage.

While these numbers are terrific – especially for a career sixth man getting his first taste of life as the number one option – they seem to represent plans A, B, and C for the Mavericks, who have lived and died with Mayo’s production.  Dallas is 8-3 when O.J. scores 20 points or more, compared to 3-7 when he scores less.  They are 10-3 when he hits better than 45 percent of his field goals, and 1-8 when he doesn’t.  Mayo’s scoring numbers in Dallas’ 11 wins: 25.7 points, 54.7 FG%, 61.4 3FG%.  His numbers in their 10 losses: 16.0 points, 40.7 FG%, 40.0 3FG%.

Plans D, E, and F revolve around accidental militia man Chris Kaman (14.3 PPG, .539 FG%), former dunk contest winner Vince Carter (12.7 PPG, .416 FG%, .398 3FG%), and undersized feisty fourth-year point guard Darren Collison (12.5 PPG, .5.7 APG, 448 FG%, .893 FT%).  Does it seem weird to anybody else that the Mavericks third- and fourth-leading scorers come off the bench?

This ragtag posse will face down a Celtics team coming off one resounding victory and three full days of rest.  The C’s last played on Saturday, when they took the second of a back-to-back set from the Philadelphia 76ers, 92-79.  The night before, Boston had suffered a 95-94 overtime loss that felt more like a careless slip than a legitimate beat.  The Celtics outshot their opponent 43 percent to 37, holding them to just 2-11 from beyond the arc, but gave back the advantage by losing the battles for turnovers (18-9) and offensive rebounds (17-7).  The Sixers attempted 99 field goals over the game’s 53 minutes, 18 more than the C’s, using sheer volume to overcome their low-percentage play.

On Saturday, the remedy was clear: gain ground on second chances and the rest will work itself out.  By cutting into the Sixers’ advantages in turnovers (11-8) and offensive rebounds (12-7), the Celtics reduced their field goal attempt edge to a much more manageable 79-75.  The Celtics once again outshot their opponent, this time by a huge margin (53 percent to 39), much more than was needed to secure the victory.

It seemed the one guy who didn’t get in on the fun was Jason Terry, who scored just 13 points off 4-21 from the field (3-12 from three) over the course of the two games.  He was arguably the worst player on the floor Friday night, making only one of his 12 shot attempts en route to a Game Score of -3.2, his lowest this season.  Will an engagement with his former mates from Dallas inspire a return to form?  Not likely, according to the man himself.

Saturday’s victory prompted some heartening comments from Doc Rivers, who essentially said that, though it hasn’t shown up in the record yet, the Celtics’ defense has been making its way back toward the top-flight level that folks have been used to seeing these past few years.  This prompted a thorough review of said improvement from Celtics Hub’s Michael Pina, a must-read for Celtics fans.  A key excerpt:

In the last 10 games (beginning with the blowout loss to Detroit) they’ve allowed the eighth fewest points per possession in the league. In the last eight games (beginning with the victory over Oklahoma City) they’ve lept to fourth, giving up a measly 95.9 points per 100 possessions. In their last five games (of which they played Portland and Milwaukee without Rajon Rondo, Minnesota, and Philadelphia twice) they’ve allowed 92.2 points per 100 possessions, which is best in the league over that span.

Today, Boston’s 103.3 points allowed per 100 possessions ranks ninth-best in the league.

Tonight, the Celtics take on a single-threat offensive attack with their legs rested and their defense in ascendance.  Those sound like Gino circumstances to us.  YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-HAW!!!

Jun 9, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Boston Celtics center Greg Stiemsma (54) blocks the shot by Miami Heat small forward LeBron James (6) during the second quarter in game seven of the 2012 NBA Eastern Conference finals at the American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-US PRESSWIRE

After an solid Playoff performance, Celtics center Greg Stiemsma is drawing attention from a number of teams.  The 6’11″ center posted uninspiring numbers, but his on court production was undeniable.

Per-36, Stiemsma posted 7.6 points per game and 8.3 rebounds per contest, numbers that render him very valuable as a back up center.

Make no mistake, the 26 year old Wisconsin graduate is not going to be a starting NBA center.  But that doesn’t negate his value to a Celtics team desperately in need of size and toughness.

For all that Ryan Hollins has athletically, he lacks the toughness and work ethic of Stiemsma, and while Stiemsma may not have an occasional highlight dunk like Hollins, he makes up for it with his heady defensive play and solid rebounding.  He blocks 1.5 shots per-36 minutes, which puts him on par and ahead of most backup centers.

Though I wrote of the C’s need to acquire Omer Asik of the Bulls, he has signed with the Houston Rockets, and it is Stiemsma that could be the best bargain.

But for all Stiemsma is, the Celtics could still use some perimeter shooting and defensive toughness.  That makes the Minnesota Timberwolves attractive trade partners, a team which has been reported to have interest in Stiemsma.  A $4 Million per year contract is reasonable for Stiemsma, which could in turn land either Wesley Johnson or J.J. Barea.  Johnson may be a stretch, since he was selected 4th overall and still has shown a lot of promise, but Barea may be a reasonable target.

The question becomes, then, is the signing of Jason Terry and likely re-signing of Ray Allen enough to make Barea unnecessary?  Do the Celtics already have enough depth at the guard position?

I think the answer to those questions is ‘Yes.’  Right now, the need for Stiemsma’s toughness is greater than the need for another guard.  But that doesn’t mean the Celtics shouldn’t pursue obtaining a tough perimeter player.  The Grizzlies declined to pick up the option on high scoring off guard O.J. Mayo, making him an unrestricted free agent and possible add for the C’s, according to Matt Fitzgerald of Bleacher Report.  The move would benefit the Celtics immensely, but might over load the backcourt.  It would likely signify more trades for a team that is in the process of a make over, though we’re hesitant to call it rebuilding.

For now, decisions must be reached on Stiemsma.  Is he ultimately worth the $4 to $5 Million price tag that will be attached to him?  7-footers (OK, he’s 6’11″) don’t come cheap and the Celtics have had trouble finding decent ones.  It only makes sense to re-sign one of the few they have had.