2019 Lottery Redraft: How high does Darius Garland go?

The book seemed written on the 2019 NBA Draft after just two seasons. Zion Williamson looked like a generational superstar, the kind of player who could be the face of the league and a perennial MVP candidate. Ja Morant was an exciting second fiddle, and the referendum on the rest of the draft began at No. 3.

One year later and things don’t look so clear. Williamson missed the entire season with a mysterious injury recovery, Morant became the MVP candidate, and the field behind those two not only mixed itself up, unexpected players pushed to the top and perhaps beyond. Does Darius Garland push into the top 2? How high does Steph Curry’s new protege Jordan Poole rise?

Darius Garland went fifth to the Cavs in the 2019 NBA Draft. When we redraft the entire 2019 lottery how high does he go?

Let’s turn back the clock and evaluate the 2019 draft class. If it was 2019 again, and the same teams were picking in the same order, how would the order change if they were granted the knowledge of today? If each team had a scout travel back in time from May of 2022, which players would go higher and which would go lower?

In that spirit let’s redraft the 2019 lottery, the top fourteen picks of a draft class that continues to develop and surprise. Names like Terance Mann and Max Strus won’t make the cut here, but the fact that they were in consideration shows how wild a ride it has been. Let’s start at No. 1 and answer the most important questions: who goes first, and where do we slot the oft-injured and uber-talented Zion Williamson?