Kevin Durant surprised no one by announcing he will go to the NBA after only one year in college. Durant led Texas to a great season and won all kinds of awards, clearly he's ready for the NBA. NBA Draft experts are calling this summer's draft one of the deepest in a long time. This is good news for everyone. Most years there are a handful of impact players, thus, only a few teams really cash in via the draft. This year teams should be able to pick up impact players into the second round of the draft.
There is always all kinds of movement and trading going on before the draft. Teams will try to move into a position to grab that one player they feel they need. This year will be no different. After the top 2 picks no one is really certain where anyone else will go, a lot of it will depend on a teams particular need. So after Greg Oden and Durant go with the top two picks, who knows what will happen. So with all the talk of how deep this years draft is I will steal an idea that I saw on SI.com today and give you, my loyal 3 readers, the ultimate NBA draft since 1981. So I will list picks 1 through 30 with the all time best number one pick going in the one slot and so on and so forth. Along with listing the best pick at any position, I will also list the worst pick. This is going to take me a really long time so here we go. (I don't have enough time or energy to write something up about each player. I will provide links so you can see how good/bad each player is.
1. Best: Shaquille O'Neal 1992
1. Worst: Michael Olowokandi 1999
2. Best: Isiah Thomas 1981
2. Worst: Len Bias 1986 (Never played in the NBA)
3. Best: Michael Jordan 1984
3. Worst: Chris Washburn 1986
4. Best: Dikembe Mutombo 1991
4. Worst: Marcus Fizer 2000
5. Best: Kevin Garnett 1995
5. Worst: Jon Koncak 1985
6. Best: Antoine Walker 1996 (the sixth pick is cursed)
6. Worst: William Bedford 1986
7. Best: Chris Mullin 1985
7. Worst: Eddie Griffin 2001
8. Best: Tom Chambers 1981
8. Worst: Shawn Respert 1995
9. Best: Tracy McGrady 1997
9. Worst: Ed O'Bannon
10. Best: Paul Pierce 1998
10. Worst: Adam Keefe 1992
11. Best: Reggie Miller 1987
11. Worst: Trajan Langdon 1999
12. Best: Mookie Blaylock 1989 (seriously, another cursed pick)
12. Worst: Khalid Reeves 1994
13. Best: Kobe Bryant 1995
13. Worst: Terry Dehere 1994
14. Best: Clyde Drexler 1983
14. Worst: William Avery 1999
15. Best: Steve Nash 1995
15. Worst: Blair Rasmussen 1985
16. Best: John Stockton 1984
16. Worst: Rex Walters 1993
17. Best: Jermaine O'Neal 1995
17. Worst: Uwe Blab 1985
18. Best: Joe Dumars 1985
18. Worst: Luther Wright 1993
19. Best: Rod Strickland 1988
19. Worst: Acie Earl 1993
20. Best: Larry Nance 1981
20. Worst: BJ Tyler 1994
21. Best: Michael Finley 1995
21. Worst: Greg Kite 1983
22. Best: Scott Skiles 1986
22. Worst: Roy Rogers 1996
23. Best: Tayshaun Prince 2002
23. Worst: Stanley Roberts 1991
24. Best: Terry Porter 1985
24. Worst: Dalibor Bagaric 2000
25. Best: Al Harrington 1998
25. Worst: John Thomas
26. Best: Vlade Divac 1989
26. Worst: Lance Blanks 1990
27. Best: Dennis Rodman 1986
27. Worst: Malcolm Mackey 1993
28. Best: Tony Parker 2001
28. Worst: Priest Lauderdale 1996
29. Best: Josh Howard 2003
29. Worst: Leon Smith 1999
30. Best: Nate McMillan 1986
30. Worst: Fennis Dembo 1988
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3 comments:
Interesting list. Also, I think your blog should feature more pictures of Scott Skiles.
Skiles once had thirty assists in one game. That's an NBA record.
Blake,
Great list! Looking through it, I was reminded how much can be gained later in the draft - the Princes, the Howards, the Finleys. Too many teams at the top are thinking about potential. Get the guy that will win you games. Why oh why do NBA GMs suck so bad?
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