Worst NBA Draft Picks Ever?

Say Hey Kid

The best all around player ever
Dec 10, 2007
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5,496
Please post your Worst NBA Draft Picks Ever.

Eddy Curry, drafted by the Chicago Bulls with the fourth overall pick in the 2001 NBA draft

Greg Oden, drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers with the first overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft

Darko Milicic, drafted by the Detroit Pistons with the second overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft. Players selected after Milicic: Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade.

Michael Olowokandi, drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers with the first overall pick in the 1998 NBA draft

Kwame Brown, drafted by the Washington Wizards with the first overall pick in the 2001 NBA draft
 

Say Hey Kid

The best all around player ever
Dec 10, 2007
23,621
5,496
Anthony Bennett
Good one. idk how I forgot the Cav's #1 overall pick just 3 years ago. Team Canada is in trouble with him on the team. It will be interesting to see how he does with the Nets.
 
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Eco

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Oct 7, 2013
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Marvin Williams. 2nd overall, but was the 6th man on UNC that year. Averaged 10 pts a game, and behind him were Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Bynum, Granger
 

Eco

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Oct 7, 2013
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Beaupré, Quebec
Thabeet has to be up there also. 2nd overall in '09.

Behind him were:
Harden, Curry, DeRozan, Holiday, Teague.
 

Voight

#winning
Feb 8, 2012
40,373
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Mulberry Street
Anthony-Bennett-1040x572.jpg


Good one. idk how I forgot the Cav's #1 overall pick just 3 years ago. Team Canada is in trouble with him on the team. It will be interesting to see how he does with the Nets. C.J. McCollum lasted until Portland made the 10th pick.

McCollum didn't break out until this year. So its not really a shocker that he went 10th.

Michael Beasley, 2nd overall 2008 - Westbrook 4th, K-Love 5th, Danilo 6th
 

darko

Registered User
Feb 16, 2009
70,265
7,786
Marvin Williams. 2nd overall, but was the 6th man on UNC that year. Averaged 10 pts a game, and behind him were Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Bynum, Granger

That's a bad pick but at leasr Marvin has an MBA career.

I like your Thabeet pick. Now that's a bust.
 
Sep 19, 2008
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23,945
That Anthony kid from UNLV might be the worst pick ever. Never did anything in the league.
 

Brodeur

Registered User
Feb 27, 2002
25,864
15,276
San Diego
Gotta be Olowokandi considering all the other players the Clippers could have drafted.

'98 wasn't that star studded up top. If the Clippers didn't take Olowokandi, I recall Mike Bibby being the alternative. With hindsight you could say Dirk or Pierce, but I don't think they were considerations at the time. I ran across an old article awhile back where the writer criticized the Mavs for trading away Robert Traylor (RIP) for Dirk.

And for me, I think the expectations were lower for Olowokandi as that was one of those years that didn't have a readily apparent franchise cornerstone. Olowokandi might have gone #1, but I think expectations were higher for Darko. Then add in the players who were passed up.
 

Ivan13

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May 3, 2011
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Zagreb, Croatia
That's a bad pick but at leasr Marvin has an MBA career.

I like your Thabeet pick. Now that's a bust.

Thabeet was a puzzling pick even back then, he had no offensive talent to speak of and his success on the defensive end was due to size, not ability or good understanding of the game. I thought it was a terrible pick back then.

Not sure why some are bringing up Oden.
 

darko

Registered User
Feb 16, 2009
70,265
7,786
Thabeet was a puzzling pick even back then, he had no offensive talent to speak of and his success on the defensive end was due to size, not ability or good understanding of the game. I thought it was a terrible pick back then.

Not sure why some are bringing up Oden.

Oden had flashes of how good he could be. Unfortunately there's only so many knee surgeries you can take.
 

Say Hey Kid

The best all around player ever
Dec 10, 2007
23,621
5,496
4 Dragan Bender
5 Kris Dunn
6 Buddy Hield
7 Jamal Murray
8 Marquese Chriss
9 Jakob Poeltl
http://www.nba.com/draft/

From this last draft, I'm not sure if Brown was the third BPA (some players he went ahead of are listed above) or if Thon Maker was the 10th BPA, better than Sabonis. It will be interesting to watch both careers.
 

Voight

#winning
Feb 8, 2012
40,373
16,652
Mulberry Street
http://www.nba.com/draft/

From this last draft, I'm not sure if Brown was the third BPA (some players he went ahead of are listed above) or if Thon Maker was the 10th BPA, better than Sabonis. It will be interesting to watch both careers.

Brown wasn't the BPA. he was expected to go 6-10 and even a lot of Uber-Celtic fans were pissed they picked him at #3.

'98 wasn't that star studded up top. If the Clippers didn't take Olowokandi, I recall Mike Bibby being the alternative. With hindsight you could say Dirk or Pierce, but I don't think they were considerations at the time. I ran across an old article awhile back where the writer criticized the Mavs for trading away Robert Traylor (RIP) for Dirk.

And for me, I think the expectations were lower for Olowokandi as that was one of those years that didn't have a readily apparent franchise cornerstone. Olowokandi might have gone #1, but I think expectations were higher for Darko. Then add in the players who were passed up.

You also had the UNC duo of Jamison and VC & the immortal Raef LaFrentz.

'Kandi went to a small school and came from England via Nigeria, so he was raw to say the least. He also hadn't been a highly touted prospect, the guy didn't even start playing basketball until he was 18.

Bibby on the other hand had a helluva college career, especially his final season.
 

Blackhawkswincup

RIP Fugu
Jun 24, 2007
186,842
20,299
Chicagoland
I wouldn't put Curry among worst

He was disappointment yes but he did have a few good years in NBA career before health issues pretty much ended his career midway thru his Knicks tenure

His production for a modern C was actually solid overall when he was healthy. Again disappointing as a Bull but overall he was a quality NBA bigman for several years
 

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