Tonight is the 2014 NBA Draft. Some of these teams are coming off of a bad season where this is their consolation prize. Even for the teams that didn’t come off of a bad season, there’s always the hope that you draft the next big star for your franchise, at the very least a very solid rotation player that will help your team for years to come.
But life isn’t fair. For every Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irivng and John Wall are 60 other guys who fizzled. Today we’ll look back on the last 10 years of the draft to find the worst picks during this time. Let’s get started!
#10: Hasheem Thabeet, drafted #2 overall in 2009 – The one time Big East Defensive Player of the Year is mainly known these days for being the highest draft pick to ever be sent to the NBA’s D-League.
Memphis could’ve had’: James Harden, Stephen Curry & DeMar DeRozan
#9: Andrea Bargnani, drafted #1 overall in 2006 – Bargs isn’t a terrible player, but he’s been far less productive for someone you draft #1 overall. It doesn’t help when he can’t stay healthy either.
Toronto could’ve had: LaMarcus Aldridge, Rajon Rondo & Paul Millsap
#8: Michael Beasley, drafted #2 overall in 2008 – If you didn’t follow the NBA then, there was a real debate whether Derrick Rose or Michael Beasley should’ve gone #1 overall. I think we all know how that debate finished by now…
Miami could’ve had: Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love & Brook Lopez
#7: Greg Oden, drafted #1 overall in 2007 – This was another debate about who should’ve gone first overall. Oden or Kevin Durant. No one predicted that Oden would have so many career altering injuries and would play little to no basketball in his short career.
Portland could’ve had: Kevin Durant, Al Horford and Joakim Noah
#6: Robert Swift, drafted #12 overall in 2004 – Better known as a carbon copy of Chris “Birdman” Andersen, Swift was a highly touted high schooler that did squat in the NBA. Last time we saw Robert Swift he was being forced out of his foreclosed shack of a house.
Seattle could’ve had: Al Jefferson, Jameer Nelson & Josh Smith
#5: Jonny Flynn, drafted #6 overall in 2009 – Flynn was coming off of a great performance in the 2009 Big East Tournament and scouts were in love. Minnesota loved him so much they took him exactly ONE pick after taking Ricky Rubio. Well, at least Rubio’s still there.
#4: Luke Jackson, drafted #10 overall in 2004 – The Cavaliers were all “Yeah, we’re gonna get Luke Jackson & he’s gonna compliment LeBron really well & we’re gonna win all kinds of titles” There’s a reason that LeBron left…
#3: Joe Alexander, drafted #8 overall in 2008 – Alexander was apart of a great West Virginia team that made a serious run in the NCAA tourney in ’08. Unfortunately for Milwaukee & Alexander that didn’t equate to a good NBA career.
#2: Adam Morrison, drafted #3 overall in 2006 – Morrison is a classic example of a great college player that doesn’t have a game suited for the NBA. He hung around in the league longer than most expected so that’s pretty good.
#1: Marvin Williams, drafted #2 overall in 2005 – Marvin Williams isn’t a bad player, this is our #1 mainly because this was a head-scratching pick. The previous season saw the Atlanta Hawks starting Tyronn Lue at point guard. So instead of upgrading that position with some of the big names of that draft class they went with a guy who didn’t even start in college.
Atlanta could’ve had: Deron Williams, Chris Paul & Andrew Bynum
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