All Time Worst Draft Busts

[user1]

Start with #20 and click through.
See if you can guess the top five.
(of course a pick has to be one of the top 5 or so picks to have a chance of being a bust)

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0606/gallery.nbadraftbusts/content.1.html

In case you don't want to waste time, here are the top five, just mouse over to see:


5-Dennis Hopson, 1987
4-Joe Smith, 1995
3-Michael Olowokandi, 1998
2-Chris Washburn, 1986
1-Sam Bowie, 1984

[MacabreMob]

Some of those were pretty funny.

Amazing how selections were SO bad at times. Wonder why? Was it the GM? Or was it the 'pro scouts' and the drive-by media telling the GM who some top picks should be.

On another tangent of this threads topic - 'Draft Busts'.... I knew some of this would be spoken and heard all over.

EVERYBODY who follows college hoops and the NBA knows this years draft is the first year HS grads can NOT enter the draft. They have to wait a year. So EVERYBODY knows the draft is a little short on all the typical talent entering the draft (flooded by HS grads). We have all been hearing it and reading it for a year now.

My prediction has been if OB goes in the Top10, then BCS, B10 and Illini fans will lean on the 'quality' of the players in the draft to explain how high he went. Well, it has definitely surfaced today... had 3 BCS/B10/Illini fans stick a fork in me over how all the talent this year is under 19.

Well, I DON'T CARE!



If he goes #9 - it is STILL #9! YOU CAN NOT TAKE THAT AWAY FROM HIM AND AWAY FROM BRADLEY HAVING A PLAYER GO AT #9.

[chitownBUB]

I'm not sure I totally agreee with the Sports Illustrated selections.
Of course you can't account for injuries that might occur in the future, so Sam Bowie was still a reasonable option to take in the Top 3 pick. Of course the greatness of the guy who got selected right behind him (MJ) shouldn't be a factor. But Bowie hung in the NBA for 10 seasons, and averaged 11/8 over that span, about the same as he averaged in college. But if unforseen injury is a factor, then using the #2 overall pick in 2002 on Jay Williams has to be up there with Bowie.

And how about the use of the Knicks' #7 pick in 2002 for Nene Hilario. Hilarious!!

I do agree with Chris Washburn who was drafted #3 overall and scored barely 200 pts in his entire career.
But Olowokandi had a couple decent years, two of which were better than any year Chris Kaman has had, and Kaman is being billed as a fine NBA center.
Same with Joe Smith, who has had several borderline All-Star years.

Surely Chris Mims, Darko Milicic, and have been bigger busts than anyone they have in their top 5.

And last year's use by Orlando of the #11 pick to select Fran Vasquez has to be top 5 since the guy didn't even want to come to the US and play in the NBA, so it was a totally wasted pick with Danny Granger, Nate Robinson, and Luther Head still on the board.

A few more busts'
Bryant Reeves, #6 in 1995
Sharone Wright, #6 in 1994
Isaiah Rider, #5 in 1993
and Ronny Turiaf & Len Bias because of their tragic circumstances.

[Braveman]

This guy says POB will be a bust....

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/5735388?FSO1&ATT=HMA

[tornado]

This guy says POB will be a bust....

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/5735388?FSO1&ATT=HMA

This is the same Fox columnist that just rated the midmajors and especially the MVC teams very, very high in his preseason rankings for 2006-2007.

http://www.bradleyfans.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=3376

Thankfully what Goodman thinks is, in the end, irrelevent.
The NBA doesn't care what he thinks.

[BU1999]

Anyone think Rico Hill (ISU) should be on the list of draft busts?
He missed being a 1st round pick barely (#31 in 1999 to Clippers) then quicklly showed he didn't belong in the NBA.
Manny Ginobli, Michael Ruffin, Wang Zhi Zhi, Todd MacCulloch, and Calvin Booth were all still available.

[MacabreMob]

I wouldn't say #31 would be a bust.

Plus, I REALLY DID like Rico (even tho he was a Redbird).

This points to something I dislike about the NBA and NBA fans. (I am not lumping you in this group) There is the perception the NBA is the BEST basketball players. I don't think this to be true. The NBA has the best TYPE of basketball player. So this is why when people guage how great a basketball player someone was based on whether they made it in the NBA - I think they are wrong.