Top 10 NBA Busts of the Past 25 Years

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Would you rather have this guy (pictured) or Carmelo Anthony?

Thought so.

For this particular list of past busts in the NBA Draft, I've decided to restrict it to the past 25 years, just so you're not bored with names like Kent Benson, the player the Milwaukee Bucks apparently deemed worthy of being taken first overall in 1977.

Who is Kent Benson?

Nobody knows.

Anyway, here are my top 10 NBA Draft busts since 1984.

10. Shelden Williams—Duke (Taken No. 5 overall by the Atlanta Hawks in 2006).

Shelden Williams didn't have too much going for him when he left the Blue Devils in terms of favorable NBA player traits.

He's 6'9", traditionally too short for a center.

He came from Duke, a school with a history of producing NBA busts.

He didn't have much of an offensive repertoire.

His wife, Candace Parker, would beat him in one-on-one 100 times out of 100.

The Hawks still hadn't drafted a point guard in the lottery since 1866.

Lo and behold, Williams has yet to pan out as a stud NBA center, and likely never will.

"The Landlord" developed a reputation in college as a fantastic interior defender, earning consecutive ACC Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2005 and 2006.

As a pro, Williams has failed to assert himself on either end of the floor, with career averages of 4.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, and just .4 blocks per game in four NBA seasons with Atlanta, Sacramento, and Minnesota.

Currently, Williams is a member of the Boston Celtics...somehow.

9. Nikoloz Tskitishvili—Georgia (Europe) (Taken No. 5 overall by the Denver Nuggets in 2002)

Before appearing in an NBA uniform, Nikoloz Tskitishvili was often heralded as the "next Dirk Nowitzki".

This seven-footer was said to be able to score from anywhere on the floor, including from three-point range, effectively.

Instead of being the second-coming of the greatest European NBA player ever, Tskitishvili was a bust of epic proportions.

Over the course of an extremely weak four-year career, Tskitishvili racked up career averages of three points and two rebounds per game while playing for Denver, Golden State, Phoenix, and Portland.

Tskitishvili may actually deserve to be higher on this list, considering how awful he was as an NBA player.

Currently, Tskitishvili plays for the premier basketball league in Spain.

8. Luke Jackson—Oregon (Taken No. 10 overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2004).

Luke Jackson doesn't make this list because he was supposed to be a future NBA Hall-of-Famer.

Luke Jackson makes this list because of the sheer brainlessness of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Holding the 10th overall pick, just one year after drafting franchise-savior LeBron James (a small forward, mind you), Cleveland drafted Jackson, a small forward.

Now, don't get me wrong, Jackson was a bust.

As a rookie, Jackson appeared in just 10 games, averaging a whopping three points per game.

Why did he only play in 10 games?

Well, they had LeBron James playing the same position.

Why did they take Jackson?

I have no idea.

For his career, with Cleveland, the Clippers, Toronto, and Miami, Jackson has averaged 3.5 points and just over one rebound per game.

Luke Jackson was a bust of epic proportions, for many reasons.

7. Shawn Bradley—BYU (Taken No. 2 overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1993).

Shawn Bradley likely owns the dubious honor of being the player that has appeared on the most posters advertising the skills of other players.

That's likely the only honor Bradley ever achieved over the course of his failed NBA career.

Philadelphia drafted the goofy, 7'6" Bradley with hopes that he would turn out to be a dominating NBA center on both ends of the floor.

Bradley is 11th on the NBA all-time list for blocks, but that can't save him here.

He was also a part of numerous on-court fights, once even being picked up and embarrassingly flipped over onto his back.

Also, for some reason, he appeared in Space Jam.

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