If the 2016 NBA Draft happened all over again, Bleacher Report thinks the Atlanta Hawks would land Gary Payton II.
It has been 10 years since the 2016 NBA Draft took place, and its effects are still felt today.
Top overall pick Ben Simmons may be out of the NBA, but other selections like Jaylen Brown, Jamal Murray, Domantas Sabonis and Pascal Siakam have all helped shape the landscape of the league since being drafted.
When it comes to the Atlanta Hawks, they had one first-round pick in the 2016 NBA Draft at No. 21 overall, which they used to take DeAndre' Bembry, a wing from Saint Joseph's University.
But in a hypothetical do-over of the 2016 NBA Draft, Bleacher Report has journeyman guard Gary Payton II landing with Atlanta.
In reality, Payton went undrafted in 2016 before grinding his way to the NBA.
Atlanta's selection of Bembry wasn't a failure or a smashing success. He did play out his entire rookie contract with the Hawks and found himself in the rotation for a good chunk of his tenure, but the results were mixed before the team ultimately let him walk in the 2020 offseason.
He finished his four-season stint with the Hawks with averages of 6.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game on 44.8 percent shooting from the field and 26.9 percent shooting from deep. He was a solid defender.
Bembry was very good in college, leading his conference in points per game as a sophomore and taking home Player of the Year honors in his conference as a junior. Bleacher Report still has him as a first-round pick in its re-draft at No. 24 overall.
As for Payton, he has earned a lengthy career in the NBA as a role player and glue guy. While not flashy, he has been a winning player at the pro level and even helped the Golden State Warriors win the 2022 NBA Finals.
He holds career averages of 5.9 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game on shooting clips of 56.4 percent from the field and 32.8 percent from long range. Last season, he averaged 7.5 points per game at the age of 33.
The truth is that no team can expect to draft a franchise-altering talent at No. 21 overall, but ending up with a solid role player late in the first round is a pretty good outcome. Bembry was that at times for Atlanta. Payton, meanwhile, remains a good rotation piece today.
Although the veteran slipped through the cracks of the draft and wasn't selected, it's a safe bet that a team would snag him in a re-draft scenario.
