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Luke Walton and Brian Cook were drafted in the same year, and now both are of no use on and off the court. At least Kareem Rush has a singing career.
http://www.sheridanhoops.com/2012/06...last-10-years/10. Charlie Villanueva, #7 pick, Toronto Raptors,2005- It was evident early that Charlie V. wasn’t a fit in Toronto, so much so that they traded him for T.J. Ford a year later. Smart move by the Raptors as his game is as maddening as any player in recent memory. He has all the tools and all the ability, except for that pesky desire thing – something a scout should have seen from him in college.
Player the Raptors could have taken – Andrew Bynum
9. Yi Jianlian, #6 pick, Milwaukee Bucks, 2007 – Yi made it pretty clear through his agent that he wanted to play in a big city, yet that didn’t stop Bucks GM Larry Harris from trying to create Yi-sanity in Wisconsin of all places. Yi frowned upon hearing his name called. “We look forward to a successful relationship for many years to come,” owner Herb Kohl said. That relationship lasted an entire year, then the Bucks shipped Yi to the swamp for Richard Jefferson.
Player the Bucks could have taken – Joakim Noah
8. DaJuan Wagner, #6 pick, Cleveland Cavs, 2002- If the Cavs picked Amar’e Stoudemire here instead of Wagner, maybe they don’t get the #1 pick the next year and select LeBron James. Maybe. What if they did select Amar’e and he didn’t play much, then he gets paired with James in 2003? James has his second star and is probably still in Cleveland. A stretch? Fair. But Wagner was still a rotten selection starting just 28 games into his brief 4-year NBA career.
Player the Cavs could have taken- Amar’e Stoudemire
7. Fran Vazquez #11 pick, Orlando Magic, 2005 - Just 4 slots after Charlie V., the Magic decided to draft the relative unknown Spanish big man. Truth be told the 2005 draft was pretty sparse of talent, but you’d think that a player taken #11 would eventually play for your franchise, if not somewhere in the NBA. I mean, they can’t even trade the guy. Who knows Magic fans, maybe this will be your year.
Player Magic could have taken – Danny Granger
6. Mike Sweetney, #9 pick, New York Knicks, 2003- Still reeling from the post-Ewing era, the Knicks need a post presence and thought Sweetney was a poor man’s Elton Brand, with a feathery touch and strong body on the block. They got sucked into the mystique of great Georgetown big men. Instead of becoming a poor man’s Brand, Sweetney pounded heavily on sweets and literally ate himself out of the league.
Player Knicks could have taken – David West
5. Adam Morrison, #3 pick, Charlotte Bobcats, 2006- People may think that Morrison should go higher on this list, but I’ll defend the selection by saying it was hard to pass on co-National College Player of the Year. That said, the results speak for themselves. One of Michael Jordan’s biggest fiascos, though some claim Bernie Bickerstaff made the choice.
Players the Bobcats could have taken – Brandon Roy, Tyrus Thomas, Rudy Gay
Players the Bucks could have taken – Brook Lopez, Jason Thompson
3. Greg Oden, #1 pick, Portland Trail Blazers, 2007 – I was at the draft lottery and Oden, after one year at Ohio State, was being called the next franchise big man. Portland just couldn’t pass on him, Kevin Durant or no Durant. No one in the room would have passed on Oden with a gun to their head. It’s a bad pick because Oden has had a myriad of injuries and Durant is Durant, but it isn’t the worst either.
Player the Blazers could have taken – Kevin Durant
Players the Pistons could have taken – Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade
1. Hasheem Thabeet, #2 pick, Memphis Grizzlies, 2009- You could make a case that based on who Detroit passed on, Darko should be number one, but I’m going Thabeet. I never thought this guy was an NBA player. He’s “played” on 3 teams in 3 years and has shown nothing. It will be interesting to see if Thabeet will ever develop into a starting NBA center and remove himself from these type of lists. So far, it doesn’t look that way.
Players the Grizzlies could have taken – Ricky Rubio, James Harden, Tyreke Evans
Luke Walton and Brian Cook were drafted in the same year, and now both are of no use on and off the court. At least Kareem Rush has a singing career.
I would have put Luke Jackson on this list instead of DaJuan Wagner in terms of Cavalier draft picks, tbh. Wagner might or might not have been any good but he never really had a chance to show it because of serious health problems. Luke Jackson was just a stiff. And missing that pick helped pave the way for LeBron's departure.
the last decade refers to the years from 2002 to 2011 imho, but the list still holds little credit as it ingored the WORST #1 draft of all time in nba history. oden also turned out to be a waste of the #1 pick but at least portland did realize he was done and waived him before he could get a lucrative extension, hence he's not at all that ty like that other #1 draft who had haunted his team for almost a decade
tabeet over harden was straight up re ed, but i guess at the time the Grizz figured they didn't need another wing
To be fair to Portland, when Oden came out everyone and their mother raved about him being the next great defensive big man. Of course Portland should have done their due diligence about his overall health but you can't really blame them for buying into the hype.
It's easy to say now that Durant would have been the obvious pick, but at that time people weren't as high on Durant as they are now. He was to thin, no body strength, couldn't bench 185 lbs, he would get pushed around, and the list goes on and on.
that's a really good point. Hindsight is 20/20 etc.
I still think durant is too small, needs to bulk up.
the cavs one is a good hypothetical. prime amare might have kept him in cleveland.
Yaroslav Korolev was a pretty underrated horrible draft choice tbh, especially since Dumbleavy promised to draft him and refused to break that promise even when Danny Granger fell to us.....
On the other hand had the Cavaliers drafted Amare they might not have had a shot at LeBron in the first place.
Lol oden
Tbh if Oden's knees weren't what Portland were looking for he'd really be dominant.
Dejuan.Wagner had major health issues iirc, but yeah I remember the hype for him and just rolling my eyes.
They called him a stronger Allen Iverson. What they didn't say was he was slow
Sweetney
^Damn!
more like the guy that ate Sweetney
No one could beat Darko at being the worst tbh. They passed up on all 4 great players.
Still to this day I think Darko would have been pretty damn good if he didn't go to a Larry Brown-coached team tbh... Brown had no patience to develop him and basically ruined his confidence for the rest of his career.....
I was going to add Brian Cook...Wasn't he a 1st round draft choice?
Not one of the Lakers better picks...
Brian Cook is definitely the worst player I've ever seen on a basketball court tbh.... still can't believe we managed to get Nick Young for his useless ass at the deadline.....
Amare needs to be in the right situation to make an impact I doubt he'd make much of difference into the Cavalier's record, they'd still have more then a great chance of landing LeBron. Amare & LeBron tho would've been scary.
True, but I still consider it the biggest "Do over". If theres one team that wishes they could re-do a particular draft, its Portland and their decision they made that year.
LOL Thabeet...the guy that Mr. no ACL DeJuan Blair shat all over in college hoops.
I don't think this guy was ever going to get it tbh
I absolutely hate when people call players busts when they're still playing in the league. Greg Oden hasn't had a season where he's played the majority of the games yet! Will he ever have one? I don't know. He could though. He could come back in a year and be the dominant big man people thought he could be. Same for Thabeet. He could bulk up and develop a post game if he works hard enough. I mean, these guys have been in the league for only 5 or less seasons. Give them a chance.
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