All Time Worst NBA Draft Moves
With the 2009 NBA Draft just weeks away, there will be All-Stars selected, as well as those who just don’t make it. That's the reality of the NBA, and the uncertainty around how the player you select will perform is part of the inexact science.
LayupDrill.com is taking a moment this weekend to reflect on some of those who didn’t quite live up to the hype, as we count down the Top 10 biggest NBA Draft Busts Ever.
10. Danny Ferry—Second Pick 1989 (Cleveland Cavaliers)
Ferry has wound up being a much better GM than he was player, and although he became somewhat respectable as a bench player toward the end of his 13 year career, he certainly did not live up to the second pick status he attained.
9. Shawn Bradley—Second Pick 1993 (Philadelphia 76ers)
What were the Sixers thinking back then? Teams fall in love with size, and believe they are drafting the next Bill Russell because the guy is over seven feet and can dribble the ball. My one memory of Shawn Bradley was when Tracy McGrady posterized him back in the 2005 Playoffs:
8. Stromile Swift—Second Pick 2000 (Vancouver Grizzlies)
The second pick in the 2000 NBA Draft was a career eight point, four rebound guy. The Grizzlies took the gamble on his size and potential, and stuck with Swift for seven seasons before finally parting ways and shipping him to the Nets.
7. Luke Jackson—10th Pick 2004 (Cleveland Cavaliers)
Jackson is an example of a good college player who worked out well in the draft camps, and had a very good agent. Jackson played just two seasons in Cleveland before being moved to the Clippers, and eventually in and out of the league.
His career stats (five points, one assist) are as bad as it gets for a lottery pick. It doesn’t help that some players that were selected after him in 2004 include Andris Biendrins, Al Jefferson, Josh Smith, J.R Smith, Jameer Nelson, Delonte West, Tony Allen, Kevin Martin, and Anderson Varejao, to name a few.
6. Ed O’Bannon—Ninth Pick 1995 (New Jersey Nets)
Fresh off winning the college basketball national title, UCLA’s Ed O’Bannon was on top of the world. He entered the NBA Draft projected to be among the top five players selected, however, his stock slipped somewhat due to worries of him being a tweener in the league.
The Nets must not have received those memos because they took him with the ninth selection, and it just didn’t work out for him in the NBA. In just three seasons in the NBA, he averaged just under six points and four rebounds a game.
5. Robert Traylor—Sixth Pick 1998 (Dallas Mavericks)
Dallas made the fifth biggest mistake, but corrected it just hours after they made it, so they land only fifth on our list. Traylor was traded to the Bucks on Draft Day for the rights to Dirk Nowitzki and Pat Garrity in what may be one of the most lopsided deals in NBA Draft history.
Dirk has been the the franchise for the Mavericks for over a decade, while Traylor's five points and five rebound career average lasted only six seasons in the NBA.
4. Nikoloz Tskitishvili—Fifth Pick 2002 (Denver Nuggets)
The Nuggets haven’t always made the best decisions in evaluating future talent, as shown with the pick of the Euro big man in 2002. His career three points and two rebound average certainly didn’t pay for that initial signing bonus he received.
It also doesn’t help that Denver could have taken a better known prospect by the name of Amare Stoudemire that year instead.
3. Michael Olowakandi—First Pick 1998 (Los Angeles Clippers)
The Clippers have been in the position they are in this summer before. Let’s hope for their sake, Blake Griffin’s career ends up better than the Kandi-man.
In his time in the league, Olowakandi put up solid numbers, for a second round pick. The nine points and seven rebounds a game are unfortunately not worthy of someone taken at the top pick and expected to be the next great center in the league.
It also doesn’t help that the Clippers bypassed future Hall of Famers, All-Stars, NBA Champions, MVPs, and Olympians who were all taken after Olowakandi.
2. Kwame Brown—First Pick 2001 (Washington Wizards)
Michael Jordan is the greatest player in NBA history, however, his role as GM has been spotty at best. The selection of Kwame Brown as the top pick in the 2001 draft was, like many we have already written about, a team falling in love with size and potential.
People thought Brown could be the next Patrick Ewing, but he ended up a poor man’s Stacey King. Though recently it seems he has found a home in Detroit, his seven points and five rebound averages for his career would be great for a undrafted no-name, not the top pick who, at one point, rejected a five year, $30 million dollar contract extension with the Wizards to test the market.
1. Sam Bowie—Second Pick 1984 (Portland Trailblazers)
Blazer fans will forever be cursed by Sam Bowie until they win an NBA title. The 1984 Draft, which is regarded as one of the best in NBA History, started out fine.
Hakeem Olajuwon, one of the best to ever play in the NBA, was taken by the Rockets. Portland, the originators of falling in love with size and potential, started the trend that has taken over inept NBA GMs ever since.
Bowie was taken ahead of Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Alvin Robertson, John Stockton, and even Sam Perkins. I don’t even have to state where those players' careers ended up, but for Bowie, the 11 points and seven rebounds he averaged over his 11 years in the league didn’t measure up.
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