NBA Draft 2011: The 10 Best Second-Round NBA Draft Picks of the Past Decade
There are always those one or two gems in the NBA Draft's second round.
These players either fly under the NBA radar or are written off by scouts beforehand because of injury or lack of potential.
Most of time those prospects do as expected and fail to achieve success during their short NBA careers, but some, like the 10 on this list, prove us wrong and become superstars in their own right.
Join Bleacher Report as we count down the 10 best second-round steals of the past 10 years.
10. DeJuan Blair (Pittsburgh): San Antonio Spurs (2009, 37th Overall)
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There were serious questions surrounding Pittsburgh's DeJuan Blair heading into the 2009 NBA Draft.
Blair had suffered knee injuries with the Panthers and was considered by many scouts to be a liability.
The San Antonio Spurs took a chance on the undersized power forward early in the second-round, and Blair has been proving experts wrong ever since.
The 6-foot-7 Blair already has 88 career starts in just two NBA seasons, and is averaging eight points and nearly seven rebounds in fewer than 20 minutes per game for his career.
Throw in the fact that Blair has played in a total of 163 out of a possible 164 games in his first two seasons, and I think it's safe to say this draft pick was a success.
9. Trevor Ariza (UCLA): New York Knicks (2004, 44th Overall)
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Trevor Ariza has played for five teams in his seven-year NBA career.
Ariza was drafted in the second-round by the Knicks in 2004, where he played 116 games for New York before being traded to Orlando during the 2005-2006 season.
Ariza came to life in his second season in Orlando during the 2006-2007 season, averaging nearly nine points in just over 22 minutes per game for the Magic.
The former UCLA Bruin was then traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2007, where he would play a vital role for the 2009 NBA Champions.
Ariza became a free agent following the Lakers' title run and signed with the Houston Rockets during the summer of 2009.
Ariza averaged a career-high 14.9 points and 5.3 rebounds per game with the Rockets, while averaging a career-high 36.5 minutes per game.
Ariza helped lead the New Orleans Hornets back to the playoffs this past season, though they were ousted in the first round by his former team, the Los Angeles Lakers.
Ariza is a 44 percent 3-point shooter in his postseason career, which includes 29 starts.
8. Carl Landry (Purdue): Houston Rockets (2007, 31st Overall)
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Carl Landry is arguably one of the league's most underrated talents.
Landry has done nothing but score efficiently for every team he's played on, including the Houston Rockets, the franchise that drafted him in the second-round of the 2007 NBA Draft.
Landry shot a career-best 61.6 percent from the field in his rookie season with the Rockets.
The former Boilermaker would help Houston push the Lakers to seven games in the 2009 Western Conference Semi-Finals, before being traded to Sacramento the next season.
Landry averaged a career-high 18 points per game for the Kings in 2010, but was traded to the New Orleans Hornets in 2011 where he helped Chris Paul and company to the postseason for the first time since 2008.
7. Marc Gasol (Spain): Los Angeles Lakers (2007, 48th Overall)
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Marc Gasol's career began as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers.
However Gasol never played a minute for Los Angeles; he was instead traded in February of 2008 to the Memphis Grizzlies in a deal that brought his brother Pau to Hollywood.
The trade seemed like outright theft at the time, but these days it seems Memphis got the better player.
In three seasons with the Grizzlies, Gasol has played in a total of 232 games out of a possible 246, and has over 220 starts for Memphis.
The 26-year-old was taken 48th overall in 2007, but today he is one of the NBA's premier centers at 7-foot-1 with a quickly-developing offensive game.
6. Paul Millsap (Louisana Tech): Utah Jazz (2006, 47th Overall)
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The 6-foot-8 Paul Millsap has been a rock at power forward for the Utah Jazz for the past five seasons.
Millsap has only missed 12 games total in this span and averaged a career-high 17.3 points per game in 2010-2011.
Millsap also shot a career-best 75.7 percent from the foul line last season while averaging more than 34 minutes per contest, the most of his career.
Millsap has quickly gone from second-round addition to one of the league's most underrated forwards in just a few NBA seasons.
5. Mo Williams (Alabama): Utah Jazz (2003, 47th Overall)
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Three seasons before the Utah Jazz drafted Paul Millsap (2006) 47th overall, they drafted Mo Williams 47th overall (2003).
The Jackson, Miss. native has solidified himself as stable hand for several NBA back courts in his eight-year career.
Williams played one season with the Jazz before heading to Milwaukee in 2004.
Williams received much more playing time with the Bucks and averaged more than 17 points per game with Milwaukee from 2006-2008.
Williams joined LeBron James in Cleveland following the 2007-2008 season, but failed to reach the NBA Finals as Cleveland would lose in the conference finals and semi-finals in consecutive seasons.
Williams was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in 2011 in exchange for Baron Davis and the Clippers first-round draft pick.
4. Luis Scola (Argentina): San Antonio Spurs (2002, 56th Overall)
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Luis Scola was originally drafted 56th overall by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2002 NBA Draft.
However a financially-twisted situation ensued between the Spurs and Scola's other professional team in 2005, which kept San Antonio from buying Scola out of his contract.
Two years later, the Spurs traded the rights to Scola to Houston in exchange for a future second-round draft pick and cash considerations.
In the four seasons since, the Argentine power forward has led the Rockets' front court with reliable scoring and relentless rebounding effort.
Scola played all 82 regular season games for Houston in his first three seasons and started all 82 games from 2008-2010.
Scola averaged a career-high 18.3 points and 2.5 assists per game this past season with the Rockets, while playing less than 33 minutes per night.
Scola has been a durable piece for the Houston Rockets while at the same time representing his country on the international stage, helping Argentina to the bronze medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics.
3. Monta Ellis (Lanier HS): Golden State Warriors (2005, 40th Overall)
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Monta Ellis was drafted by the Warriors in the second-round back in 2005, and he has evolved into an elite scorer with the franchise.
Ellis started just three games during his rookie season, but came back strong in 2006, starting 53 games for Golden State while improving his scoring production by nearly 10 points per contest.
Since 2007-2008 Ellis has never averaged less than 19 points per game and averaged a career-high 25.5 points per game for the Warriors in 2009-2010.
The 6-foot-3 shooting guard scores most of his points in transition in Golden State's open-court offensive style.
Ellis is shooting 46.7 percent from the field for his career and looks to have a bright future as he is only 25-years-old with six NBA seasons under his belt.
2. Gilbert Arenas (Arizona): Golden State Warriors (2001, 30th Overall)
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Gilbert Arenas went from second-round draft pick to "Agent Zero" in just a few NBA seasons.
The former Arizona Wildcat quickly developed a late-game calm and one of the league's best scoring noses.
Arenas peaked with the Washington Wizards from 2003-2007, averaging more than 25 points per game in three out of four seasons.
Arenas was at his best during the 2005-2006 season when he averaged nearly 30 points per game for the Wizards, while averaging 34 points per game in six playoff games that year.
It was the second consecutive year that Arenas led Washington to the postseason, though he would never get the Wizards past the second round.
Unfortunately, Arenas was faced with several crushing knee injuries following the 2006-2007 season and drew public criticism for a gun-scandal in 2010 that resulted in a multi-game suspension from NBA commissioner David Stern.
Arenas struggled with the Orlando Magic after being traded during the 2010-2011 season and underperformed in the team's first-round loss to the Atlanta Hawks, making just 25 percent of his 3-pointers in five appearances.
1. Carlos Boozer (Duke): Cleveland Cavaliers (2002, 35th Overall)
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Carlos Boozer was picked behind such power forwards as Chris Wilcox, Ryan Humphrey, Marcus Haislip and Robert Archibald in the 2002 NBA Draft.
Who?
Sure, no one can predict exactly how a player will turn out, but how can you be that wrong.
If the 2002 NBA Draft was to be redone, without a doubt Carlos Boozer would go no. 1 or 2 overall, depending on how you feel about Amar'e Stoudemire.
Boozer is averaging over 17 points and 10 rebounds per game for his career, 9 NBA seasons with three teams.
The Chicago Bulls' forward has only shot under 50 percent from the field in one season (49 percent in 2008-2009), and was a staple of the Jazz's pick and roll offense for six seasons in Utah.
Oh yeah, and when the playoffs come around, Boozer only gets better.
The former Blue Devil averages over 18 points and nearly 12 rebounds per night in the postseason and has helped two teams reach the conference finals (Jazz & Bulls).
If Boozer can stay healthy (he's only 29), he will have a shot to compete for the title of greatest second-round draft pick in NBA history.
Patrick Clarke is a Featured Columnist for the Phoenix Suns and a student at Towson University.
