Cavaliers know the best, worst of NBA draft
The NBA draft is notoriously a crapshoot. You can end up with an All-Star at any position or a player who will bust out of the league in a couple of years. Take the Warriors for example. Their current dynasty was built on shrewd draft picks and unique foresight that has become the envy of the league. They weren’t scared to take a scrawny point guard from Davidson, which ultimately set the foundation for their run of three titles in four years.
Here are the best and worst picks made for each Top 10 draft position made in the last 40 years.
No. 1
Best: LeBron James, 2003, Cavalier
Worst: Anthony Bennett, 2013, Cavaliers
Unsurprisingly, the No. 1 pick has historically had the best success rate with all-time greats including Magic Johnson, Tim Duncan, Shaquille O’Neal, David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon slotted right behind James in ranking the best of the best. Bennett, on the other hand, was a pretty shocking choice by Cleveland in 2013 and played himself out of the league after 151 games.
No. 2
Best: Kevin Durant, 2007, SuperSonics
Worst: Hasheem Thabeet, 2009, Grizzlies
There have been a ton of disappointments at No. 2, but none more so than Thabeet, who was chosen instead of future All-Stars James Harden, Steph Curry and DeMar DeRozan and ended his NBA career with a 2.2-point scoring average. He fell out of favor in Memphis so quickly, he was a trade-deadline giveaway in his second season. With his second title and second Finals MVP, Durant passes Isiah Thomas as the best player to be drafted second overall.
No. 3
Best: Michael Jordan, 1984, Bulls Worst: Chris Washburn, 1986, Warriors
Jordan is obviously a no-brainer, but the No. 3 pick is one of the most interesting in the draft. Historically, it has yielded a few superstars but also a number of useful players who had long NBA careers. That was not the case, however, for Chris Washburn, who struggled with drug addiction and busted out of the league after 72 games.
No. 4
Best: Russell Westbrook, 2008,
Thunder
Worst: Bill Garnett, 1982, Mavericks
When Sam Presti took Westbrook at No. 4, many analysts considered it a reach. Instead, his partnership with Durant turned Oklahoma City into a premiere franchise, and Westbrook gets the nod here over Chris Paul by virtue of his league MVP award. Garnett, a forward who led Wyoming to two NCAA tournaments, was mostly a bench player during his four NBA seasons before going to Italy. No. 5
Best: Scottie Pippen, 1987, Bulls Worst: Nikoloz Tskitishvili, 2002, Nuggets
You could easily give this honor to Kevin Garnett, who was a revolutionary draft figure coming out of high school, or Dwyane Wade, who will end up as a top three shooting guard all time. But the Bulls making a draft-day trade to get Pippen out of tiny Central Arkansas was a decision that changed NBA history and set them on a course for six titles. Tskitishvili, an alluring 7-footer despite averaging 6.6 points in the Italian league, was strictly an end-of-thebench guy during parts of six seasons in the NBA.
No. 6
Best: Larry Bird, 1978, Celtics Worst: Jan Vesely, 2011, Wizards Nobody even comes close to matching Bird’s greatness as a No. 6 pick, though that occurred at a time when the rules were different and he played another full season at Indiana State before going to the NBA. Though there were plenty of candidates here for worst No. 6 pick (11 of them averaged fewer than 8.0 points), Vesely was symptomatic of how poorly the 2011 draft class was scouted. Klay Thompson (No. 11), Kawhi Leonard (No. 15) and Jimmy Butler (No. 30) went on to be stars, while Vesely went back to Europe after three seasons and a scoring average of 3.6 points. No. 7
Best: Steph Curry, 2009, Warriors Worst: Eddie Griffin, 2001, Nets Nobody in Minnesota will forget that the Timberwolves, who had the No. 5 and No. 6 picks, used them both on point guards but not Curry, who fell to the Warriors and ultimately sparked a new dynasty. Sadly, Griffin’s story is a tragic one. Controversy and off-court questions followed Griffin from high school to Seton Hall to the NBA, where he never lived up to his potential in 303 games, struggling with alcoholism his entire career. He died in a drunken-driving accident shortly after being released from the NBA.
No. 8
Best: Tom Chambers, 1981, San Diego Clippers
Worst: Joe Alexander, 2008, Bucks Chambers, a four-time All-Star, is the only Hall of Fame-eligible player with more than 20,000 points in the NBA who has yet to be inducted. It’s historically a lot easier to find a bad NBA player at No. 8 than a good one, and Alexander was the worst of them all. After impressing teams with his pre-draft workouts, he appeared in just 67 games and was planted in the D-League by his third year. He edges out DaSagana Diop and Rafael Araujo in No. 8 pick infamy.
No. 9
Best: Dirk Nowitzki, 1998, Mavericks
Worst: Patrick O’Bryant, 2006,
Warriors
Though he’s nearing the end of his career, Nowitzki’s 1,471-game run with the Mavericks has been magical, yielding an NBA title, an MVP award and 13 All-Star appearances. On the other end of the spectrum, O’Bryant came off a Sweet 16 run with Bradley as a muchhyped 7-footer. He ended up becoming the first lottery pick to get sent to the DLeague and averaged 5.8 minutes and 2.1 points in his 90-game NBA career. No. 10
Best: Paul Pierce, 1998, Celtics Worst: Jimmer Fredette, 2011, Kings
One of the all-time draft mysteries is how Pierce, an elite scorer at Kansas, fell into Boston’s lap despite being projected in the top five. His 10 All-Star appearances proved that more than a few general managers made a mistake. Though there were arguably a few No. 10 picks who were worse NBA players than Fredette, his lack of production (6.0 points per game) combined with the hype coming off his stellar BYU career adds to the unfortunate nature of this pick.