NBA Power Rankings: Landry Fields and the 25 Greatest Overachieving Rookies
At the beginning of the season, not too many people were expecting Landry Fields to be in the Knicks starting lineup. Picked 39th in the draft, it's safe to say he's overachieved.
But where does he fit among the biggest overachievers of all time? I took to basketball-reference to find the best rookie seasons by players drafted in the 20th round or later.
Because a lot of these players are ones I never saw player I had to lean a little more on stats. Keeping in mind that players drafted later were probably not given as much playing time, I wanted to balance per minute production with total production. I also wanted to give more weight to players who were drafted later.
So what I came up with this metric:
Points per game + rebounds per game + assists per game + player efficiency rating + (selection number/2).
The effect is to give about 40 percent of the emphasis on total production, 30 percent on per minute production and 30 percent on selection.
The players following are the best I could find that and ranked according to their score in my somewhat arbitrary (but hopefully reasonable) metric.
25. Kevin Edwards, 45.6
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Kevin Edwards was the 23rd pick of the draft, and the second pick in the history of the Miami Heat. He started 62 games and average 13.8 points and 4.4 assists. Edwards went on to have a 11-year career.
24. Vlade Divac, 46.1
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Vlad Divac was the one of first European-born and trained players to really establish himself in the NBA. He was the 26th pick in the 1989 draft. Divac played in all 82 games in his rookie season and had a PER of 17.5.
23. Andre Kirilinko, 47.5
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Kirilenko was drafted in the 1999 draft but didn't actually play until the 2001-02 season. At the time he was the youngest European ever drafted. He played in all 82 games, started 40 and averaged 10.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and had a PER of 18.8.
22: Michael Finley, 47.6
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Michael Finley finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1997 in spite of having only been drafted 21st. Finley averaged 15.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists for the Phoenix Suns. A year later he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks and then two years later he was joined by his former Suns teammate Steve Nash. Finley, Nash and Dirk Nowitzki formed the nucleus of the high-octane team of the early 2000s.
21. Latrell Sprewell, 48.2
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Latrell Sprewell scored 15.4 points and averaged 3.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists in his rookie year in spite of only being selected 24th in1992. He ended up retiring abruptly in 2006 since he couldn't "feed his children" off of a measly 21 million dollars.
20: Norm Nixon, 48.6
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Norm Nixon was drafted with the 22nd pick of th 1977 draft. He averaged 13.7 points, 6.8 assists and 3.0 rebounds. Nixon was a member of the All-Rookie first team for the Lakers. He went on to help them to win two championships, in 1980 and 1982.
19: John Long, 48.9
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First, people with the last name "Long" should not be able to name their children "John." It's just wrong. Long overcame his cognomen challenges though and averaged 16.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in his rookie year for the Pistons. He was taken with the 29th pick in the 1978 draft by the Detroit Pistons.
He was traded to Seattle after several years with the Pistons, who in turn traded him to the Pacers. After a few years with Indiana, he was cut in 1989, and then signed with the Pistons to earn a ring with them.
18. Don Ohl, 49.6
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Don Ohl averaged 13.4 points and added 3.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists. He was taken with the 36th overall pick in the fifth round of the 1958 draft by the Detroit Pistons. From the sound of things, Ohl would have been a great three-point shooter if they had a three-point line in his day.
17. Landry Fields, 51.1
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Landry Fields has been a revelation to the Knicks. He's a the sixth lowest player selected on the list at 39th. He's averaged 9.7 points and 6.4 boards for the Knicks this year and had played an under the radar run in the team's return to relevance. He is without a doubt the steal of this year's draft.
16. DeJuan Blair, 51.2
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Last year's Landry Fields was DeJuan Blair. Taken with the 37th pick he had a PER of 17.7 and averaged 7.8 points and 6.4 boards. He fell in the draft due to his knee surgeries, and now I'm sure there are a number of teams that "kneed" a center who are probably lamenting having passed up on him.
15. Sean Rooks, 51.9
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Taken by the Mavericks with the 30th pick in the 1992 draft, Perkins averaged 13.5 points, and 7.4 rebounds starting as a rookie. It was the best year of his career, as he spent most of the remainder of his time as a backup.
14. Dean Garrett, 52.6
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Dean Garrett was drafted with the 38th pick by the Phoenix Suns but decided to play eight years in Europe. Eventually he signed with the Timberwolves where he scored 8.0 points and averaged 7.3 rebounds per game in limited minutes. His PER was 17.7 during his rookie season.
13. Zydrunas Illgauskas, 53.3
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Ilgauskas was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the 20th pick of the 1996 draft. He averaged 13.9 points and 8.8 rebounds in his rookie year. He also had a PER of 19.7. Big Z was hampered by injuries for the next several season, and played only 29 games over the three combined seasons.
12. Carlos Boozer, 53.7
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Carlos Boozer was drafted 34th in the 2002 draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He averaged 10.0 points and 7.5 rebounds along with a PER of 17.9. It's possible that of all the players on this list Boozer's ensuing career was the best. He's been a consistent "20-10" player over the course of his career.
11. Paul Millsap, 53.9
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Millsap was drafted 47th by the Utah Jazz. He averaged 6.8 points and 5.2 boards for the Jazz and had a PER of 17.6. Millsap has continued to overachieve year after year and was finally recognized for his ability last offseason when he was given a 32 million, four-year contract.
And yes, I noticed the weird Ilgauskas to Boozer to Millsap connection in three consecutive slides, but that has nothing to do with the order.
10: Nick Van Exel, 54.4
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Nick Van Exel was taken by the Lakers in 1993 with the 37th pick of the NBA draft. Nick the Quick averaged 13.6 points, 2.9 boards and 5.8 assists with the Lakers. He made the All-NBA Rookie second team. Over the course of his career he developed a reputation for being a player that could hit the clutch shots.
9. Sherman Douglas, 55.4
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Sherman Douglas was drafted 28th by the Miami Heat. He averaged 14.3 points and 7.6 assists. He was named the team's most valuable player in his rookie year. Douglas had a nice 12 year career and is 67th all time in assists.
8. Jeff Ruland, 56.6
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Ruland was selected by the Golden State Warriors in the 1980 NBA Draft with the 25th overall pick. He decided to play in Spain instead. After his draft rights were traded to the Washington Bullets he came back. In 1981-82 he posted 14.4 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 1.6 assists. He had a PER of 18.8 as well.
What makes his numbers all the more impressive is that his stat line came off the bench as he didn't start a single game his rookie year. Ruland began to have problems with broken bones in his foot starting in 1984-85. He ended up having his career shortened. After four promising seasons he only played 49 more games.
7: Marcus Thornton, 57.8
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Last year Marcus Thronton was drafted 43rd overall by the Miami Heat and traded to the New Orleans Hornets where he averaged 14.5 points, 2.9 boards, and 1.5 assists. New Orleans for some reason reduced his role this year and eventually traded him to the Sacramento Kings where he's been averaging better than 20 points per game since the trade.
6. Arvydas Sabonis, 61.1
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Arvydas Sabonis was drafted 24th by the Portland Trail Blazers in 1986 but was not allowed by the Soviet Union to play until a decade later in the 1995-96 season. When he was finally permitted to play, the best part of his career was over, but he still averaged 14.5 and 8.1 rebounds per game. He had a PER of 24.7, the highest on this list. Many argue that if Sabonis had spent his prime in the NBA, he would have been one of the greatest players in NBA history.
5. Jay Vincent, 61.3
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Taken with the 24th pick in the 1981 draft, the same draft that gave the team Mark Aguire who was the number one overall pick in the draft. It was Vincent though who led the team in scoring with 21.4 points. He also grabbed 7.0 rebounds per game.
4. Dino Radja, 61.9
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In 1993, a celebrated Croatian came to the NBA and had a stellar season, and his name wasn't Toni Kukoc. Dino Rajda outplayed his countryman in his rookie year. Taken with the 40th pick Rajda averaged 15.1 points, and added 7.2 rebounds for the Boston Celtics.
3. John "Hot Rod" Williams, 63.1
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John "Hot Rod" Williams was taken by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the 45th pick in 1985. However, he was unable to play do to a trial involving a point shaving scandal from his time as a college player. When he did debut though, it was a stellar rookie year, as he averaged 14.6 points, 7.9 boards and had a PER of 16.2. He also blocked 2.1 shots per game. He's still among the all-time leaders for Cleveland in all kinds of categories.
2. John Drew, 64.9
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John Drew was taken with the 25th pick by the Atlanta Hawks in the 1974 draft. He averaged 18.5 points, 10.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists. He also led the NBA in offensive boards. His PER for the season was 21.4 Sadly, Drew had a battle with drug addictions over the course of his career and ended up becoming the first player to receive a lifetime ban for drug use.
1. Reggie Williams, 69.1
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Reggie Williams has an odd place on this list. He was never drafted at all. I treated him as though he were taken with the 61st pick. That had the effect of putting him in the top overall spot for most overachieving rookie ever.
After going undrafted he played a year in France before playing in the Developmental League. He got a 10-day contract with the Warriors and played well enough to get another, which turned into a contract for the remainder of the season. He ended up scoring 15.2 points and grabbing 4.6 rebounds per game. Not bad for a guy who started the season in the DL. It looks like he's in the long term plans of the Warriors as well.
