Every year at the NBA Draft, teams hope to receive the highest possible pick, so they can draft the best possible player to help contribute to their team.
Ideally, the highest draft pick will end up being a star, collecting championship trophies and racking up the All-Star Game appearances.
Well, there have been many high draft picks that have not lived up to their draft day expectations and have been deemed "busts.” Here are the top five draft "busts" in the NBA in the last 10 years.
5. Nikoloz Tskitishvili
The fifth overall pick in the 2000 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets, Tskitishvili is not on this list because he was a player with potential who never developed, he’s here because he did not have any talent.
He spent four years in the NBA, never averaging more than four points a game.
4. Kwame Brown
He was the first overall pick by the Washington Wizards in the 2001 NBA Draft. Some say his lack of development was because of the pressure put on him as the first No. 1 pick from high school.
Kwame has shown that he does have some talent, going for 30 points and 19 rebounds in a game against the Sacramento Kings, but his inconsistency, bad hands, and poor offensive skills have overshadowed him during his NBA career.
3. Jonathan Bender
The fifth overall pick by the Toronto Raptors in the 1999 NBA Draft suffered through chronic knee problems throughout his career, leading to his retirement at the young age of 25. He lasted seven years in the league, amassing only 237 games, with a mediocre average of 5.6 points per game.
Some say that when healthy, Bender was a very exciting player who had all-star caliber skills.
2. Michael Olowokandi
He was the first overall pick by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 1998 NBA Draft, after a great career at the University of Pacific.
Olowokandi is known throughout the league as a lazy, underachieving player, who had a terrible field goal percentage, despite being a center. Has career averages were 8 points and 7 rebounds.
Olowokandi is currently not with a team after warming the bench for the Boston Celtics last year.
1. Darko Milicic
Darko was the second overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons. He was a little-known forward out of Europe who sat on the bench his first two and a half years with the Pistons.
Remember, he is still young, but with five years under his belt, and career averages of five points and four rebounds per game, he has not developed into the type of player the men that were picked immediately after him (Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and Carmelo Anthony) have.
Honorable Mentions: Robert Traylor, Rafael Araujo, DaJuan Wagner, Jay Williams, Eddie Griffin
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7 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Anonymous about 1 year ago
Now I'm not one to hype up Darko because I think so far he has been an average player in the league but this is absolutely retarded.
Did you ever consider that the reason his career averages are five points and four rebounds is because he didn't play for the first three years of his career? He would enter games with 20 seconds left under a coach that didn't even give time to Lebron at the Olympics.
Since Gasol's trade Darko has been averaging 10 points, 10 boards and 2 blocks which is more than the likes of Kwame Brown, Olowokandi, and Bender can say. Not to mention that Darko was a beast in the World Championships for Serbia posting about 15 points, 10 boards and 3 blocks in the tournament.
Give players a chance before labelling them busts. Go watch a game that Darko plays (i.e. more than 10 minutes) and compare it to Robert Traylor, Kwame Brown, and Raja Araujo and you will see how stupid this article is.
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Ling Ge about 1 year ago
While I do believe Darko should probably be in the Top 10, and maybe even crack the Top 5 SO FAR, I don't think he should be Number 1. Darko's stats have been respectable when actually given the chance to play. You have to blame the Detroit Pistons for not picking anyone else, while already having Ben Wallace, and then getting Rasheed Wallace.
I agree with the comment above in that Darko has shown a lot in the FIBA championships and plays relatively well when he gets the chance to play.
If anyone else deserves to be in that top spot, it should be Robert Traylor, who was traded for some young German kid named Dirk Nowitzki.
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Stephen Dyell about 1 year ago
If Darko would have been drafted 17th or 18th, he would be considered a great pick-up but because of the names that came out of the draft, I must agree with you on your numero uno.
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Alex Kennedy about 1 year ago
I liked Darko last year when he was in Orlando. He showed potential but most of the time he was making dumb mistakes. He will be a role player throughout his career and is definitely a huge bust. Great article.
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David Jensen about 1 year ago
Great article, but I think your missing a few names. Chris Washburn at #3 in 1986, probably a bigger bust then any of them... Sam Bowie (2nd overall and ahead of Michael Jordan...ouch), Pervis Ellison, Dennis Hopson, Stromile Swift, Darius Miles.... all top 3 picks.
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David Jensen about 1 year ago
Oops..my bad... I forgot the "decade part".... well at least Swift(2nd) and Miles(3rd) should be there, Fizer(4th), perhaps even Adam Morrison(3rd) before long.... Just adding a few names
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adam bradley about 1 year ago
I'm not sure if I agree with Darko being number 1, my vote would have been Kwame, but on the other hand, I think that the fact that Darko was drafted #2 in one of the greatest drafts in NBA history and some even considered him a better prospect than LeBron at the time, that makes it a HUGE mistake. But who knows, if the Pistons had drafted Carmelo with that #2 pick, which theoretically they should have, then they would have had to get him into the lineup, get him shots, and possibly screwed up the entire chemistry and makeup of the franchise and never won that championship. So maybe it wasnt such a bad pick. Wow, I've managed to confuse myself
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