NBA Draft: Re-drafting the 2008 NBA Draft’s first round
By Zach Wilson
#21 Pick – New Jersey Nets: O.J. Mayo (Originally: Ryan Anderson)
In a similar fashion to Michael Beasley, O.J. Mayo was highly sought after in this draft. After being selected with the third pick and later being traded to the Grizzlies, Memphis thought they had got a dynamic scorer.
Mayo stormed into the league and showed exactly that. His first two seasons in the league were tremendous and at the same time his best two seasons in the NBA. Mayo was out of the league by 2016 and has bounced around various leagues overseas since.
Mayo had a standout rookie year, averaging 18.5 points per game, off 43.8/38.4/87.9 shooting splits. Good enough to earn him an All-NBA first team rookie selection and finish comfortably in second for Rookie of the Year voting.
Sadly for Mayo, it was only down from there. By the time he reached his final season in the league, he was down to 7.8 points per game with career lows in field goal percentage, 3-point percentage, and effective field goal percentage.
Mayo still had seven fairly productive and durable years in the league, even though his departure was quick. A good enough tenure to earn him the 21st pick, but not long enough to place him any higher.