NBA Draft History: How Could These Teams Give Up on These Star Draft Picks?
With the draft coming closer many people are revisiting previous editions by pointing out some of the biggest busts in the past. Nevertheless, for many of those you really could not have known. Could you have predicted that Sam Bowie was going to have bones made of marble? Could you have predicted that Jay Williams was going to destroy himself? Could the Hornets have known what would Kobe turn into?
The real busts happen when a team takes a talented player, but does not give him the chance to develop and trades him too soon. I am talking about those rough diamonds that if teams had given the time to polish could have paid off big time. I am talking about the players you remember your team letting go for peanuts that will make you want to throw your PC out of the window.
Boston Celtics
Most Celtics fans remember the 1997 Draft with missing out Tim Duncan although the team had 36% chance (highest ever in the lottery draft era) to win the lottery. Instead they should be thinking of whom they got with the third pick in the draft – Chauncey Billups.
Yep Mr. Big Shot was a Celtic once for exactly 51 games before he got traded to Toronto for Kenny Anderson. Yes Boston Celtics threw out a five-time All-Star, three-time All-NBA team member, two-time All-Defensive team member, NBA champion and a Finals MVP.
Billups turned into one of the most clutch players of the current NBA generation, who has been consistently able to get the most out of his teammates, who is also an excellent defender, and who has a pretty strong case of getting in the Hall of Fame one day. Would have Jason Kidd averaged a triple double in the 2002 Eastern conference finals? I don’t think so. And he is just the fifth guy since the Russell dynasty to play in seven consecutive conference finals, but hell when you give Rick Pitino the power of making all decisions on and off the court you deserve your destiny.
Honourable mention: Joe Johnson
Chicago Bulls
Destroying the Bulls dynasty in 1998 the way it was done was plain out stupid, but it was just the beginning of a plethora of mistakes from the Bulls management. Do you know who they drafted in the next 2 years? Elton Brand, Ron Artest, and Jamal Crawford – a franchise building power forward, one of the best perimeter defenders of the last decade, and an explosive scorer who just won the NBA Sixth man of the year award. Not exactly the building blocks of a new dynasty, but still a squad that could have regularly made the playoffs instead of having a hard time winning 20 games a season.
Cleveland Cavaliers
The reason why ever since drafting LeBron Cleveland has not been able to win the Larry O’Brien trophy is not because LeBron was holding the ball too much or Mo Williams was missing too many shots. Well yes these were also a factor, but the cause for this is that in all those years Cleveland never had the frontcourt that could challenge the physical lineups of the Spurs, Orlando, and Boston (twice) so the rest of the team (especially LeBron) had to work twice as hard. Cleveland needs a frontcourt that could provide the team with strong physical presence in the paint, play strong defense on the opposing bigs, grab rebounds, block shots, make some steals, decrease second chance points for the opposing team and on the offensive end make them pay for double teaming LeBron. And the thing is Cleveland have such a player in their lineup, but are just not giving him the chance to develop. The experiment with bringing Shaq and Jamison did not work and will never work most importantly cause these guys are not gonna get any younger. On the other hand, Hickson is only 22 years and the sky is the limit for him as he showed a lot of promise this season. I am not saying he is gonna be the next Karl Malone, but if Cleveland give him a full time starting job (around 36 minutes) he can become another Charles Oakley – a guy that gives you 10-12 points, 10 rebounds, a block and a steal every night, and most importantly decrease the output of KG, Pau Gasol, Tim Duncan, Rashard Lewis, etc by playing strong defense. They would still need a solid center, but giving Hickson a starting job can get them halfway there. And now as there rumours that he is gonna get traded Cleveland are on the verge of making their biggest mistake after trading Ron Harper for Danny Ferry in 1989. After resigning LeBron, giving Hickson more minutes should be a priority for next season.
Honourable mention: Andre Miller
Detroit Pistons
I know this is a long shot, but hear me out. Ever since Joe Dumars traded Chauncey Billups Detroit has been constantly slipping down the ladder and the reason for this is that he abandoned the style that has become symbolic with the Pistons for the last 30 years. This is no longer a blue collar team that gives its opponent its best on every night by pushing them to the limit, guys who always leave it all out on the court. Joe Dumars went with scorers like Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva instead of keeping the tradition of team made of tough guys that might not be the most talented in the league, but by playing together and using strong defense get wins and championships. In order to have the cap space for Gordon and Villanueva, Dumars traded a player that fits the stereotype perfectly - Arron Afflalo. Probably he won’t turn into a perennial All-Star, but from what I have seen this season he has the potential to become a defensive stopper who can also provide his team with solid point production and clutch shooting when needed in the mold of younger Derek Fisher. He is a willing learner and with Chauncey Billups next to him and George Karl on the bench (I really hope he makes a successful recovery) he can really become a valuable contributor.
Golden State Warriors
Now this one is quite competitive, but I will go with Chris Webber. I mean to trade a franchise building power forward for Tom Gugliotta you really need to be on something. The most ridiculous part of the whole story is that C-Webb got traded due to a conflict with Don Nelson and then Nelson got fired after less than a year! Webber came up short in winning a ring, but until he busted his knee C-Webb was a machine and a top 5 power forward in the league. He is only the 6th player in NBA history with career averages of at least 20 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists. The other 5? Oh just some guys named Elgin Baylor, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Billy Cunningham and Kevin Garnett. Still wonder why Golden State made the playoffs only once in the past 17 years?
Honourable mention: Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison
San Antonio Spurs
In this year’s draft the 20th pick will be the highest San Antonio has had since drafting Tim Duncan in 1997. This really shows what a tremendous job Pop, RC Buford and the whole Spurs management have done since then in finding and drafting talented players. In fact there isn’t a single pick of the Spurs management in this period that could be labeled a bust, but still they left one get away. If Tim Duncan does not win his 5th ring until his contract expires in 2012 and most probably retire the reason for this will be that on July 12, 2007 the Spurs traded the rights of the 55th pick from the 2002 draft to the Houston Rockets. Who was that? Luis Scola. And what did they get for him? Vassilis Spanoulis plus cash considerations. Yes Luis Scola has never played a game for the Spurs, but they knew how good he was – he was a teammate of Manu in the Argentine national team, and they even tried to buy him out in 2005 only to come up short. So why did they trade him in 2007? We may never know for sure. Still not only did they let an incredible talent slip through their fingers, but also last year the Spurs in their search for a forward acquired Richard Jefferson who has been not only a huge disappointment, but also has one more year left on his contract worth 15 million. Plus they broke their own rule of not getting over the luxury tax. And for what? To get swept by the Suns!
Toronto Raptors
In 1998 Toronto traded Marcus Camby for Charles Oakley. Now Oakley was a very good player and a tough defender. However, the key word in this sentence is “was”. By 1998 Oakley had played 13 full seasons in the NBA and was 35 years old with his best days behind him. Yes Oakley gave them veteran leadership, but Camby turned out in one of the best defenders in the NBA and even won the NBA Defensive player of the year award in 2007.
Washington Wizards
Most wizard fans curse the day when MJ selected Kwame Brown, but none of the players they missed out in 2001 could have made the same impact as the guy they traded 2 years before that. Big Ben – after not getting drafted in 1996 (one more example of really how deep that class was) he played a couple of months in Italy before signing as a free agent with the Wizards. And in 1999 they traded the best defensive player of the last decade and the only player since Dennis Rodman able to guard all 5 positions for…………………………….. Ike Austin (Who?????)
Honourable mention: Rasheed Wallace & Richard Hamilton (that Joe again)
