The 10 Best Late Picks in NBA Draft History

(Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)

With the NBA Draft, the headlines are about the first rounders. Blake Griffin. Ricky Rubio. Hasheem Thabeet. These are the stars of the show.

But the draft doesn’t end after the lottery—and it doesn’t end after the first round. There’s a whole second round after that, and it would be a mistake to dismiss those guys out of hand just due to their draft position. As you’ll see on the list below, there have been more than a few guys drafted after the first round who went on to have extremely successful NBA careers.

To clarify the headline, this isn’t really the best non-first-rounders of all time. The problem with just keeping it to rounds is the number of picks per round has obviously gone way up as the league has expanded. The lottery now is 14 teams. In 1950, pick 14 was the third pick in the second round.

So though I’d really like to pull in guys like Bill Sharman (Capitols, 1950) and Cliff Hagan (Celtics, 1953), I have to draw the line at the modern-day pick 30 and later to qualify.

Of course, you have to have some criteria for a list like this. I’m putting heavy emphasis on players who made their impact with the team that drafted them. I’m not giving teams credit for great drafting if the guy never suited up for them.

As an example, the Suns drafted future Hall of Famer George Gervin with pick 40 of the 1974 draft, but Gervin decided to play for Virginia of the ABA instead. The Suns don’t get credit for that.

Another example is Bill Laimbeer, who was drafted with the 65th overall pick out of Notre Dame by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1979. But Laimbeer only played a year and a half with Cleveland before they traded him to Detroit, where he made his name as an all-time bastard. Because the majority of his success was with another franchise, Cavs select Laimbeer isn’t on the list.

Also, I’m excluding Europeans who were selected but didn’t come over to the NBA for three or four years, like Manu Ginobili or Dino Radja. That kind of situation puts the draftee on a different level than a college kid coming in as a second-rounder.

First, some honorable mentions (in chronological order):

Happy Hairston

With the 33rd pick in the 1964 draft, the Cincinnati Royals selected Hairston, a forward out of New York University. Hairston finished with a career double-double with averages of 14.8 points and 10.3 rebounds per game with the Royals, Pistons, and Lakers.

He was a member of the 1971-72 NBA championship Lakers team that won a record 33 games in a row. During that season, both Hairston and teammate Wilt Chamberlain pulled down more than 1,000 rebounds, the only time any two NBA teammates have grabbed more than 1,000 rebounds each in the same season.

Michael Cooper

The 60th pick of the 1978 NBA draft out of New Mexico played his entire 12-year career with the Lakers, winning five NBA Championships as a defensive force on the court. Cooper was named to eight NBA All-Defensive Teams, including five First Teams, and won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1987. When Larry Bird says you’re the best defender he ever played against, you’re the man.

Nick Van Exel

The 37th pick of the 1993 NBA draft out of the University of Cincinnati didn’t get along with a whole lot of people, but he did average 14.9 points per game and 7.3 assists per game in his five-year tenure in L.A. Nick played 14 years all told with the Lakers, Nuggets, Mavs, Warriors, Trail Blazers, and Spurs. He finished fifth all time in three-point attempts, eighth in three-pointers made, and had a career 6.6 assists per game average (35th best all time).

Cuttino Mobley

The 41st pick in 1998 out of the University of Rhode Island by the Houston Rockets played 11 seasons with the Rockets, Magic, Kings, and Clippers before retiring this past season due to a medical issue with his heart. He topped double digits in points in each of the past 10 years, with a high of 21.7 for the 2001-02 Rockets.

Monta Ellis

The 40th pick in 2005 out of Lanier High School is averaging 16 points per game through the first four seasons with the Golden State Warriors.

Now for the top 10:

10. Eddie Johnson, Atlanta Hawks—49th pick out of Auburn in 1977

Fast Eddie played 10 years in the league, the first seven and part of the eighth with Atlanta before finishing up his career with Cleveland and Seattle. A two-time All Star, Johnson finished with averages of 15.1 points and 5.1 assists per game, peaking at 19.1 points per game in 1980-81 and 7.8 assists per game in 1984-85.

Unfortunately, Johnson was plagued with legal troubles during his playing days, with the problems only getting worse since his forced retirement in 1987 due to his continuing cocaine addiction. Last October, Johnson was found guilty of sexual battery and sexual molestation on an eight-year-old girl and faces life without parole in a Florida prison.

9. Rashard Lewis, Seattle Supersonics—32nd pick out of Alief Elsik High School in 1998

The sight of Lewis in the green room in 1998 was the ultimate example of high school kids getting terrible advice from people who just don’t know. But despite the tears of that night, Lewis has had himself quite the career.

By year three in Seattle, Lewis was starting and averaging double figures, going from 14.8 points in 2000-01 to a high of 22.4 in his last season with the Sonics in 2006-07. A two-time All-Star, he’s a career 39 percent shooter from long range and 81 percent from the free throw line.

Though his scoring was down slightly the past year in Orlando, it looked as though he was finally reaching his full potential, averaging 19 points per game in the Magic’s 24-game playoff ride to the finals against the Lakers. Still two months shy of 30 years old, there’s a good chance Lewis might move up this list a decade or so from now.

8. Danny Ainge, Boston Celtics—31st pick out of BYU in 1981

Ainge may have annoyed the hell out of opposing players, coaches, and fans during his 14-year career, but he was an integral member of the '80s Celtics teams that won titles in 1984 and 1986 (and made the finals in 1985 and 1987). He was also on the 1992 Blazers team that lost to the Bulls.

Ainge made just one All-Star Game (1988), but his contributions went beyond just his 11.5 points and 4.0 assists per game averages. He was one of the first guys to make extensive use of the three-point line, shooting over 40 percent from three four times in his career, including 44 percent for the '86-87 Celtics.

In 1994, Ainge became the second man ever to hit 900 three-pointers in NBA history, finishing up with 1,002 for his career. To give you an indication of how the game has evolved, there are now 75 players on the 900 or more list. Ainge’s 1,002 is now just 52nd best.

7. Doc Rivers, Atlanta Hawks—31st pick out of Marquette in 1983

Like a lot of second-round picks who went on to great careers, their roles weren’t as primary scorers, but as key complementary guys to Hall of Fame-caliber stars. With Rivers, that star was Dominique Wilkins with the Hawks.

In 1985-86, Rivers averaged 8.4 assists per game while ‘Nique averaged 30.3 points per game. The next year, it was Rivers with 10 assists per game and Wilkins with 29 points per game. The next year, Rivers averaged 9.3 assists per game (plus a career-high 14.3 points per game) while Wilkins averaged 30.7 points per game.

Atlanta went to the playoffs all three of those years, plus the next, though Rivers’ assist total had dropped to 6.9 per game and would never again pass six. The period between 1985-86 and 1988-89 was the best four-year stretch in franchise history, and it was Rivers bringing the ball up the court for nearly every game.

In total, Rivers played 13 seasons for the Hawks, Clippers, Knicks, and Spurs. He made one All-Star Game (1988) and finished with averages of 10.9 points, 5.7 assists, and 1.8 steals per game.

6. Jeff Hornacek, Phoenix Suns—46th pick out of Iowa State in 1986

Hornacek is likely more known to younger fans for his exploits with the Utah Jazz, but he had quite the career going in Phoenix before being included in the Charles Barkley trade that sent him to Philadelphia (where he played a year and a half before moving to the Jazz).

Hornacek came into his own during his third year in the league, scoring in double figures for the first time at 13.5 in '88-89. The Suns made their first of 13 consecutive playoffs appearances that year, with Hornacek a primary cog in the first four (and the rest considering he helped bring in Barkley). He topped out at 20.1 points per game in 1991-92 (his only All-Star year) as the Suns went 53-29 and made the second round of the Western Conference playoffs before losing to Portland.

Hornacek finished his career with 12 consecutive seasons averaging double digits in points for a career average of 14.5 points per game. He finished as a 40 percent shooter from long range and 87.7 percent from the free throw line, 12th best of all time.

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