Ranking the Top Overall NBA Draft Picks Since 2000
Since the new millennium started, there has been an influx of young talent taken with the overall top pick.
Three of the eleven picks were straight out of high school; three of them were one and done players; and only one four year college player—Kenyon Martin being the last—was drafted with the top overall pick.
This article ranks from worst to best, the top overall picks of the new millennium.
11. Greg Oden
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I had a bit of difficulty deciding between Oden and Kwame Brown, but when you really think about it, Oden is by far the bigger bust.
Oden, from the first day he stepped on Ohio State's campus, was gonna be the number one pick in the following year's draft. Everybody knew he was going to be one and done with the NBA instituting the 19-years-old policy in 2005. He had a good, not stellar freshman season at Ohio State where the Buckeyes would go on to lose to the defending national champion Florida Gators in the championship game.
There was a bit of debate between analysts as to who would go number one in '07 between Oden and Kevin Durant. On draft day, it was decided Oden would be the chosen one for the Portland Trail Blazers.
Throughout four years of an NBA career—if you can call it that—Oden has played in 82 games. He has had knee injuries that have ended three of his four seasons in the NBA, has had microfracture surgeries on both knees. Kevin Durant has become one of the top five players in the NBA, just recently leading the young Oklahoma to the Western Conference Finals.
Greg Oden is the biggest NBA draft bust of the new millennium.
10. Kwame Brown
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The biggest mistake of Jordan's career in basketball—maybe his return to basketball with the Wizards was bigger—has played a lengthy career in the NBA, totaling 10 seasons and continuing to play a role in a team's rotation as a defensive stopgap.
That would be fine if he was the 15th overall pick, but he was picked first in the 2001 Draft.
A physical freak of nature out of high school, Kwame was expected to be the next great center.
Instead, he never developed an offensive post game and continues to find a roster spot on teams that need size and a big who is decent on defense.
9. Andrea Bargnani
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A lot of Raptors fans may give me flack for putting Bargnani this low, but the fact of the matter is Bargnani is not a top player on a winning team; and never will be.
Andrea Bargnani has a nice offensive game, is a good three point shooter for a big and is basically a poor man's Dirk Nowitzki, except no where near as good. Bargnani has no leadership skills and is a terrible defender.
Bargnani is a player who can give you 20 points a game, make his stats look nice on the box score, but still play like a total softy while leading his team to another loss.
8. Andrew Bogut
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Bogut was selected with the top overall pick by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2005 NBA Draft. Nobody expected Bogut to be a superstar player. He was picked because he was expected to be a consistent, dependable big in the paint.
Bogut has been that type of player, and because the 2005 NBA Draft featured point guard playmakers such as Deron Williams and Chris Paul, people may look back and think "what were the Bucks thinking?".
The Bucks at the time already had Mo Williams and TJ Ford running point and had a superstar scorer in Michael Redd at SG who was in the prime of his career. The Bucks needed a dependable big and they got one.
It still doesn't take away from the fact that Bogut is still a top overall pick and is just ok.
7. Kenyon Martin
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The last college graduate to be chosen with the top overall pick—picked first in 2000—has carved out a nice career in the NBA.
He has played 11 years, been selected to the All Star Team, made two Finals appearances early on in his career with the Nets and has become a pretty good defensive hustle player now that much of his athleticism is gone.
K-Mart in any other draft class would probably be considered a bust; but considering he was a part of the worst NBA draft class of the modern era, nobody really considers Martin to be that big of a bust. There is really nobody that has stood out from that draft class.
6. John Wall
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It is way too early to be judging Wall's career. But from the one season that we can judge, it looks like to be the right choice.
After a stellar one and done season at Kentucky, Wall did not dissapoint in his rookie campaign with the Wizards. During the 2011 season, Wall put up stats of 16.4 PPG, 8.3 APG and 1.6 SPG on a terrible Wizards team, consistently making plays for a team that clearly lacks talent.
We have yet to witness the best of John Wall.
5. Blake Griffin
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Like John Wall, it is way too early to be judging Blake Griffin's career. But it sure does look promising.
Drafted with the number one overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft by the LA Clippers, Griffin's rookie season ended before it began when he suffered a stress fracture on his left knee that wiped out what should have been his rookie season.
Looking like a bust before he even stepped foot on an NBA court in an official game, Griffin would bounce back to have what may have been the finest rookie season since MJ's rookie season in 84-85: Griffin would post averages of 22.5 PPG on .505 shooting and record 12.1 RPG.
Once Blake Griffin develops a post game—as did once green number one draft pick Dwight Howard—the sky is the limit.
4. Yao Ming
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People tend to have short memories. Never is this more prevalent than in the sports world. The shelf life for an athlete's prime is very short. Whether that be due to age or injury: a player knows he doesn't have all of the time in the world to be great at what he does.
Never is this more apparent on this list, than in the case of Yao Ming.
Yao Ming is an eight time All-Star, was on the All-NBA team five times and led Houston to their first playoff series victory in 13 years in the '09 Playoffs. Sadly, that was the beginning of the end for the 28 year old Yao. Yao would go on to suffer a career threatening foot injury in the Semis vs. the LA Lakers.
Since that injury two years ago, Yao has played a total of 5 games.
Yao has not officially retired yet, and continues to stress that he will try making it back to play with the Houston Rockets. It may be a little bit too late for that.
Regardless, Yao Ming was the best center in the NBA after Shaq fell off in the mid 00s and before Dwight Howard took the throne.
3. Derrick Rose
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The current reigning MVP has been nothing short of spectacular. After the intense debate by the media as to who should go number one in '08—Michael Beasley or Derrick Rose—Rose killed the critics the moment he stepped onto the court.
Rose became the youngest MVP of all-time at the age of 22 years old in 2011. Has revived a Chicago Bulls franchise that has been dead in the water since the retirement of Michael Jordan in 1998. And recently led the Chicago Bulls to their first East Finals appearance since MJ was winning championships in the 1990s.
We have yet to see the best of Derrick Rose.
2. Dwight Howard
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Speaking of that Dwight Howard fellow, man did he turn out to be a great player.
For a guy who was drafted in 2004 solely because of his age—18—and freakish athleticism, he has turned out be a hell of a player.
He is a three time Defensive Player of the Year and led the Magic to their first NBA Finals appearance in 14 years. He led the league in rebounds per game three times, blocks per game two times, and double-doubles twice. He is also the first player to lead the league in rebounds, blocks, and field goal percentage in the same season.
1. LeBron James
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This space is not long enough to list all of LBJ's accomplishments. LeBron James is the only player that has a chance to match Jordan's legacy. Whether you like him or not, he is the best all-around player in the NBA today.
A two-time MVP, LBJ has led the league in scoring, led one of the worst NBA Finals teams of all-time in the Cavaliers to an appearance in 2007 with Varejao as their second best player and is currently in his second NBA Finals at just the age of 26.
By the time LBJ's career is over, we may be talking about not five, not six, not seven....
