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Top NBA draft steals
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Elliott Kalb / Special to FOXSports.com
Posted: 12 hours ago
In the NBA, one player can turn a franchise around, much quicker than a first-year baseball or football player. Teams that draft one of the top five or six players in the first round have an excellent chance of showing immediate improvement.
The other general managers still have a chance to draft an impact player, even an All-Star. And with that in mind, here are some of the best steals in NBA draft history.
1. 2002 draft, 9th overall: Amare Stoudemire
The Phoenix Suns drafted ninth in 2002. They nabbed Stoudemire, who averaged 26 points per game last season, and 30 in the playoffs, and he doesn't turn 23 years old until mid-November. The four players picked directly in front of Stoudemire were Nikoloz Tskitishvili , Dajuan Wagner, Nene, and Chris Wilcox. Sometimes, you have to be a little lucky, especially if you're going to take a chance on a high school kid like Stoudemire.
Also in this category (high risk, high reward with youth):
Shawn Kemp, Tracy McGrady.
2. 1998 draft, 32nd overall: Rashard Lewis
Like Stoudemire, Lewis was drafted right out of high school. And anyone who watched the draft in 1998 remembers Lewis being brought to tears in front of a national TV audience after the first round came and went and he still hadn't been picked. But he has made teams pay for passing him over. Lewis started for the Sonics as a teenager, and has now finished his seventh season with the team, and his first as an All-Star, and he improved his scoring each of his first five seasons. The players picked in the 1998 second round included some serviceable NBA players (Shammond Williams, Jerome James, Jahidi White) but the Sonics found the real diamond in the second-round rough.
3. 1996 draft, 15th overall: Steve Nash
Steve Nash didn't quite have that MVP look back when he was drafted in 1996. (Andy Hayt / Getty Images)
Almost every MVP entered the NBA as one of the top picks in the draft. The closest "steal" to 2005 MVP Nash was the MVP winner in 1997 and 1999, Karl Malone. The Mailman was selected 13th in 1985, a steal if ever there were one. And Nash was a real steal for the Suns. Why was he such a surprise? He played his college ball at the University of Santa Clara. He grew up in Victoria, British Columbia; where he discovered basketball in the eighth grade and told his mom, Jean, that he was going to play in the NBA someday.
4. 1986 draft, 27th overall: Dennis Rodman
The 1986 NBA draft class is littered with disappointments and tragedy, especially at the top of the draft. Despite the landmines, the Detroit Pistons were able to pick two players that helped them win two NBA championships, and reached the Eastern Conference finals five years in a row. John Salley was picked 11th out of Georgia Tech — ahead of the college player of the year (St. John's product Walter Berry). The Pistons followed that up in the second round with a skinny forward from SE Oklahoma State. Dennis Rodman and Long Tall Salley were key ingredients to the Pistons' success. Rodman was a rebounding monster in Detroit, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year there, and even led the league in field-goal percentage in 1989. Given his later headaches and headlines, people forget about how good a player Rodman was in his first years in Detroit.
Of course, Rodman wouldn't have been the steal of the 1986 draft if Portland had been able to sway Arvydas Sabonis (25th overall) to the States. Many people consider Sabonis in his prime to be one of the best big men ever to play the game, but he didn't join Portland until 1996. He gave the Blazers seven seasons — his seven worst seasons — but could have been one of the greatest NBA centers of all time.
Also in this category (two good draft picks in the same year):
The 1978 Blazers did fine with Mychal Thompson and Ron Brewer. The 1993 Detroit Pistons picked Lindsey Hunter 10th overall, and Allan Houston 11th.
5. 1962 draft, 9th overall: John Havlicek
He was a steal by the Celtics, who got 16 years of service out of Hondo. He was the leading scorer on four different NBA title teams. The opinion here: Havlicek was a bigger steal than the Celtics' drafting of Sam Jones (8th overall in 1957).
Also in this category (a perfect fit):
Willis Reed, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Wes Unseld, Billy Cunningham.
6. 1978 draft, 36th overall: Maurice Cheeks
There were a ton of point guards that were drafted ahead of Cheeks. Phil Ford went to the Kings, second overall. Michael Ray Richardson went to the Knicks, fourth overall. Butch Lee was taken 11th. But the best point guard to come out of the 1978 draft — one of the best ever — was Cheeks. He was a Sixers starter for a decade, and led them to the 1983 championship.
Also in this category (why pay retail?):
Andrei Kirilenko, who was drafted 24th overall by the Jazz in 1999. He matches up quite nicely with the player drafted first that same year (Elton Brand).
7. 2001 draft, 28th overall: Tony Parker
The San Antonio Spurs needed to find a point guard to replace the aging Avery Johnson. The Utah Jazz needed one to replace the aging John Stockton. The Jazz had the 24th pick in the draft and selected a player from Spain named Raul Lopez. The Spurs took a teenager from France named Tony Parker. Lopez went on to suffer a torn ACL in his right knee, and that and other injuries to the knee have left him far inferior to Parker.
Also in this category (the European invasion):
Vlade Divac, Toni Kukoc, Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol.
8. 2001 draft, 31st overall: Gilbert Arenas
Selected after his sophomore season at Arizona, Arenas worked hard in the gym and outworked just about everyone. He became the first member of the draft class of 2001 to make the All Star team. The Wizards use him as a point guard and shooting guard; and he's nearly impossible to defend because he can shoot the 3-pointer, hit the mid-range jumper, and slash to the hoop.
Also in this category (late bloomers):
John Starks, Anthony Mason (53rd player in the 1988 draft), and Steve Kerr (50th overall in 1988) .
9. 1971 draft, 11th overall: Curtis Rowe
The lesson here is not to be afraid of drafting the second- or third-best players from a top college team. Sidney Wicks was the star of UCLA's NCAA title team. He was picked second, and was an NBA disappointment. Rowe was selected the same year by Detroit and became a solid player and an All-Star in his fifth season. Wicks' numbers went down each year from his rookie season.
Also in this category (second bananas in college often do well in pros):
Jamaal Wilkes, Ben Gordon.
Michael Jordan took the NBA by storm in 1984. (Rick Stewart / Getty Images)
10. 1984 draft, 3rd overall: Michael Jordan
In some cases, the best steals aren't the late bloomers (Arenas), the high school risks (Stoudemire), the Europeans (Parker), or the players from small colleges (Rodman). In certain cases, a player is a steal at any draft position. Despite an abundance of talented players in the 1984 draft — Hakeem Olajuwon was drafted ahead of Michael Jordan; Charles Barkley and Stockton behind him — the Bulls had a steal with Jordan. Dean Smith could hold Michael under 20 points per game, but no one in the NBA ever could.
Also in this category (a steal at any price):
Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Kevin Garnett.
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Top NBA draft busts
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Elliott Kalb / Special to FOXSports.com
Posted: 20 hours ago
Just as you really can't call a player selected with one of the top five or six picks overall a "steal," you can't call a player picked after that one of the biggest "busts."
And therefore, the choices for the biggest draft busts of all time were all top five selections.
For example, there are players like Tom Riker, who was selected eighth overall by the New York Knicks in 1972. Riker played exactly 82 games in his NBA career, averaging a robust 2.7 points per game.
He is not one of the biggest busts of all time.
He wasn't even the biggest bust of that year's draft.
1. LaRue Martin, 1st overall, 1972
When the Portland Trail Blazers selected a 7-footer from Loyola University in Chicago as the first overall selection in 1972, they thought they had found their big man to compete with Kareem Abdul Jabbar. It wasn't even close. Martin averaged 4 points per game as a rookie and lasted just four years in the league. The Blazers passed up Bob McAdoo, who could put the ball on the floor and might have been the best shooting big man of all time.
2. Kwame Brown, 1st overall, 2001
Kwame Brown has definitely not lived up to the hype after being selected No. 1 in the 2001 draft. (Mitchell Layton / Getty Images)
The Wizards have invested more than $17 million in Kwame Brown the last four years. It has not been a wise investment. 2001 was a deep draft — but not the year to have the No. 1 pick. Brown was tutored by the most dedicated player, Michael Jordan, and the most dedicated coach, Doug Collins. But Brown's lack of production — and at times, effort — remains puzzling. The Wizards would have been better off by selecting a different high school player (Eddy Curry, perhaps), looked to the college ranks (Jason Richardson), or checked the available talent overseas (Pau Gasol).
3. Chris Washburn, 3rd overall, 1986
The Golden State Warriors' selection of Washburn is an even greater failure than the other dismal picks from the Class of '86. Washburn was a 7-footer with athleticism, but everyone saw this train wreck coming. He lasted only one year with the Warriors, and one more in the NBA. He struck out looking for his career (he failed a third drug test and was banned from the league in 1989).
4. Len Bias, 2nd overall, 1986
Boston had just won the NBA championship with one of the greatest teams of all time and had the second pick overall in the draft. They selected a player with Larry Bird's potential. But Bias' Celtics career only lasted hours, and the ink was barely dry on the press release announcing his selection, as he was pronounced dead at 22 years old with cocaine in his system. He had passed a physical examination just weeks earlier, and I'm hesitant to blame the Boston brain trust for this selection. How could they have passed him up? He was deemed a can't-miss prospect, and his college coach, Maryland's Lefty Driesell, called him best player ever to come out of the ACC.
5. Bill McGill, 1st overall, 1962
This was the selection of the Chicago Zephyrs, who took McGill out of the University of Utah. But he was just a journeyman in the NBA. The Zephyrs chose him over Zelmo Beatty, Dave DeBusschere, Jerry Lucas, Leroy Ellis, and John Havlicek.
6. Bill Garnett, 4th overall, 1982
The Dallas Mavericks had the fourth pick in the 1982 draft, and it was a draft rich in talent. The first three picks were "Big Game" James Worthy, Terry Cummings, and Dominique Wilkins. The Mavs selected this 6-9 forward from the University of Wyoming. They passed up players like LaSalle Thompson, Cliff Levingston, Fat Lever, Sleepy Floyd and Trent Tucker. Thompson lasted 15 years in the NBA. Garnett was gone after four seasons, never averaging more than 6.5 points per game.
7. Michael Olowokandi, 1st overall, 1998
He has finished seven years in the NBA, and his "career" year (12 points, 9 rebounds per game) came in 2003, the final year of his Clippers contract. There were so many good forwards and guards to come out of that 1998 draft (Mike Bibby, Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce) that the Kandi Man really looks like a bust.
8. Shawn Bradley, 2nd overall, 1993
The Brigham Young project had served two years on a Mormon mission. He played only one year of college ball, leading the nation in blocked shots. And he was irresistible to the 76ers, who chose him over Penny Hardaway or Jamal Mashburn. He's worked hard and lasted 12 years in the league, starting close to 500 games. He couldn't chase the smaller centers, or muscle the bigger ones, but he persevered.
9. Dave Meyers, 2nd overall, 1975
He was a member of John Wooden's last championship team, and was selected after the high-flying David Thompson. The hometown Lakers picked him, then traded him as part of the package to acquire Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Meyers lasted four years with the Bucks, and his selection is considered a bust only because of the four players picked directly behind him. Marvin Webster (the Human Eraser) was a terrific shot blocker. Alvan Adams was one of the best passing big men of all time. Darryl Dawkins lasted 12 years. And Lionel Hollins helped Portland win an NBA championship.
10 (tie). Not total busts
Neal Walk, 2nd overall, 1969: Picked behind Abdul Jabbar, he did last eight years and average 20 points per game in 1973. He wasn't Kareem, but he sure was better than players picked behind him (Terry Driscoll, Larry Cannon, Bob Portman).
Scott May, 2nd overall, 1976 Spent five years with the Bulls, two more in the league, and never the star he was in college. Will his son become the star?
Steve Stipanovich, 2nd overall, 1983 Actually made the All-Rookie team for the Pacers, so not a total bust. He was best known for shooting himself while cleaning his gun. He was a Brad Miller-type of player.
"Never Nervous" Pervis Ellison, 1st overall, 1989 He lasted 11 years, and averaged 20 points per game in 1992.
Sam Bowie, 2nd overall, 1984 He was picked ahead of Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins, Charles Barkley and John Stockton. But Portland had a pretty decent player at shooting guard in Clyde Drexler. They needed size, and Bowie, despite numerous injuries, lasted 10 years in the NBA, averaging 10 points and 9 rebounds for his career.
There are plenty of others in the crapshoot known as the NBA draft. In 1972, Dwight "Double D" Davis was a bust as the third overall pick. Ralph Sampson made a splash, but never became the superstar he was destined to become. Many people felt that Danny Ferry (2nd in 1989) was a bust. If you go down to the 6th overall pick, 1986 selection William Bedford flamed out due to cocaine problems.
It's too early to give up on a player from the 2003 NBA draft, but many people wonder where Darko Milicic (2nd overall) will wind up on this list. He was selected ahead of Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and Dwayne Wade. He hasn't gotten the playing time in his first two seasons, but he's still very young, and very talented. But as Yogi Berra once said about playing left field in Yankee Stadium, "It gets late early out there."
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Elliott Kalb / Special to FOXSports.com
Posted: 12 hours ago
In the NBA, one player can turn a franchise around, much quicker than a first-year baseball or football player. Teams that draft one of the top five or six players in the first round have an excellent chance of showing immediate improvement.
The other general managers still have a chance to draft an impact player, even an All-Star. And with that in mind, here are some of the best steals in NBA draft history.
1. 2002 draft, 9th overall: Amare Stoudemire
The Phoenix Suns drafted ninth in 2002. They nabbed Stoudemire, who averaged 26 points per game last season, and 30 in the playoffs, and he doesn't turn 23 years old until mid-November. The four players picked directly in front of Stoudemire were Nikoloz Tskitishvili , Dajuan Wagner, Nene, and Chris Wilcox. Sometimes, you have to be a little lucky, especially if you're going to take a chance on a high school kid like Stoudemire.
Also in this category (high risk, high reward with youth):
Shawn Kemp, Tracy McGrady.
2. 1998 draft, 32nd overall: Rashard Lewis
Like Stoudemire, Lewis was drafted right out of high school. And anyone who watched the draft in 1998 remembers Lewis being brought to tears in front of a national TV audience after the first round came and went and he still hadn't been picked. But he has made teams pay for passing him over. Lewis started for the Sonics as a teenager, and has now finished his seventh season with the team, and his first as an All-Star, and he improved his scoring each of his first five seasons. The players picked in the 1998 second round included some serviceable NBA players (Shammond Williams, Jerome James, Jahidi White) but the Sonics found the real diamond in the second-round rough.
3. 1996 draft, 15th overall: Steve Nash
Steve Nash didn't quite have that MVP look back when he was drafted in 1996. (Andy Hayt / Getty Images)
Almost every MVP entered the NBA as one of the top picks in the draft. The closest "steal" to 2005 MVP Nash was the MVP winner in 1997 and 1999, Karl Malone. The Mailman was selected 13th in 1985, a steal if ever there were one. And Nash was a real steal for the Suns. Why was he such a surprise? He played his college ball at the University of Santa Clara. He grew up in Victoria, British Columbia; where he discovered basketball in the eighth grade and told his mom, Jean, that he was going to play in the NBA someday.
4. 1986 draft, 27th overall: Dennis Rodman
The 1986 NBA draft class is littered with disappointments and tragedy, especially at the top of the draft. Despite the landmines, the Detroit Pistons were able to pick two players that helped them win two NBA championships, and reached the Eastern Conference finals five years in a row. John Salley was picked 11th out of Georgia Tech — ahead of the college player of the year (St. John's product Walter Berry). The Pistons followed that up in the second round with a skinny forward from SE Oklahoma State. Dennis Rodman and Long Tall Salley were key ingredients to the Pistons' success. Rodman was a rebounding monster in Detroit, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year there, and even led the league in field-goal percentage in 1989. Given his later headaches and headlines, people forget about how good a player Rodman was in his first years in Detroit.
Of course, Rodman wouldn't have been the steal of the 1986 draft if Portland had been able to sway Arvydas Sabonis (25th overall) to the States. Many people consider Sabonis in his prime to be one of the best big men ever to play the game, but he didn't join Portland until 1996. He gave the Blazers seven seasons — his seven worst seasons — but could have been one of the greatest NBA centers of all time.
Also in this category (two good draft picks in the same year):
The 1978 Blazers did fine with Mychal Thompson and Ron Brewer. The 1993 Detroit Pistons picked Lindsey Hunter 10th overall, and Allan Houston 11th.
5. 1962 draft, 9th overall: John Havlicek
He was a steal by the Celtics, who got 16 years of service out of Hondo. He was the leading scorer on four different NBA title teams. The opinion here: Havlicek was a bigger steal than the Celtics' drafting of Sam Jones (8th overall in 1957).
Also in this category (a perfect fit):
Willis Reed, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Wes Unseld, Billy Cunningham.
6. 1978 draft, 36th overall: Maurice Cheeks
There were a ton of point guards that were drafted ahead of Cheeks. Phil Ford went to the Kings, second overall. Michael Ray Richardson went to the Knicks, fourth overall. Butch Lee was taken 11th. But the best point guard to come out of the 1978 draft — one of the best ever — was Cheeks. He was a Sixers starter for a decade, and led them to the 1983 championship.
Also in this category (why pay retail?):
Andrei Kirilenko, who was drafted 24th overall by the Jazz in 1999. He matches up quite nicely with the player drafted first that same year (Elton Brand).
7. 2001 draft, 28th overall: Tony Parker
The San Antonio Spurs needed to find a point guard to replace the aging Avery Johnson. The Utah Jazz needed one to replace the aging John Stockton. The Jazz had the 24th pick in the draft and selected a player from Spain named Raul Lopez. The Spurs took a teenager from France named Tony Parker. Lopez went on to suffer a torn ACL in his right knee, and that and other injuries to the knee have left him far inferior to Parker.
Also in this category (the European invasion):
Vlade Divac, Toni Kukoc, Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol.
8. 2001 draft, 31st overall: Gilbert Arenas
Selected after his sophomore season at Arizona, Arenas worked hard in the gym and outworked just about everyone. He became the first member of the draft class of 2001 to make the All Star team. The Wizards use him as a point guard and shooting guard; and he's nearly impossible to defend because he can shoot the 3-pointer, hit the mid-range jumper, and slash to the hoop.
Also in this category (late bloomers):
John Starks, Anthony Mason (53rd player in the 1988 draft), and Steve Kerr (50th overall in 1988) .
9. 1971 draft, 11th overall: Curtis Rowe
The lesson here is not to be afraid of drafting the second- or third-best players from a top college team. Sidney Wicks was the star of UCLA's NCAA title team. He was picked second, and was an NBA disappointment. Rowe was selected the same year by Detroit and became a solid player and an All-Star in his fifth season. Wicks' numbers went down each year from his rookie season.
Also in this category (second bananas in college often do well in pros):
Jamaal Wilkes, Ben Gordon.
Michael Jordan took the NBA by storm in 1984. (Rick Stewart / Getty Images)
10. 1984 draft, 3rd overall: Michael Jordan
In some cases, the best steals aren't the late bloomers (Arenas), the high school risks (Stoudemire), the Europeans (Parker), or the players from small colleges (Rodman). In certain cases, a player is a steal at any draft position. Despite an abundance of talented players in the 1984 draft — Hakeem Olajuwon was drafted ahead of Michael Jordan; Charles Barkley and Stockton behind him — the Bulls had a steal with Jordan. Dean Smith could hold Michael under 20 points per game, but no one in the NBA ever could.
Also in this category (a steal at any price):
Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Kevin Garnett.
msn.foxsports.com/nba/sto...8?GT1=6555
Top NBA draft busts
Story Tools: Print Email
Elliott Kalb / Special to FOXSports.com
Posted: 20 hours ago
Just as you really can't call a player selected with one of the top five or six picks overall a "steal," you can't call a player picked after that one of the biggest "busts."
And therefore, the choices for the biggest draft busts of all time were all top five selections.
For example, there are players like Tom Riker, who was selected eighth overall by the New York Knicks in 1972. Riker played exactly 82 games in his NBA career, averaging a robust 2.7 points per game.
He is not one of the biggest busts of all time.
He wasn't even the biggest bust of that year's draft.
1. LaRue Martin, 1st overall, 1972
When the Portland Trail Blazers selected a 7-footer from Loyola University in Chicago as the first overall selection in 1972, they thought they had found their big man to compete with Kareem Abdul Jabbar. It wasn't even close. Martin averaged 4 points per game as a rookie and lasted just four years in the league. The Blazers passed up Bob McAdoo, who could put the ball on the floor and might have been the best shooting big man of all time.
2. Kwame Brown, 1st overall, 2001
Kwame Brown has definitely not lived up to the hype after being selected No. 1 in the 2001 draft. (Mitchell Layton / Getty Images)
The Wizards have invested more than $17 million in Kwame Brown the last four years. It has not been a wise investment. 2001 was a deep draft — but not the year to have the No. 1 pick. Brown was tutored by the most dedicated player, Michael Jordan, and the most dedicated coach, Doug Collins. But Brown's lack of production — and at times, effort — remains puzzling. The Wizards would have been better off by selecting a different high school player (Eddy Curry, perhaps), looked to the college ranks (Jason Richardson), or checked the available talent overseas (Pau Gasol).
3. Chris Washburn, 3rd overall, 1986
The Golden State Warriors' selection of Washburn is an even greater failure than the other dismal picks from the Class of '86. Washburn was a 7-footer with athleticism, but everyone saw this train wreck coming. He lasted only one year with the Warriors, and one more in the NBA. He struck out looking for his career (he failed a third drug test and was banned from the league in 1989).
4. Len Bias, 2nd overall, 1986
Boston had just won the NBA championship with one of the greatest teams of all time and had the second pick overall in the draft. They selected a player with Larry Bird's potential. But Bias' Celtics career only lasted hours, and the ink was barely dry on the press release announcing his selection, as he was pronounced dead at 22 years old with cocaine in his system. He had passed a physical examination just weeks earlier, and I'm hesitant to blame the Boston brain trust for this selection. How could they have passed him up? He was deemed a can't-miss prospect, and his college coach, Maryland's Lefty Driesell, called him best player ever to come out of the ACC.
5. Bill McGill, 1st overall, 1962
This was the selection of the Chicago Zephyrs, who took McGill out of the University of Utah. But he was just a journeyman in the NBA. The Zephyrs chose him over Zelmo Beatty, Dave DeBusschere, Jerry Lucas, Leroy Ellis, and John Havlicek.
6. Bill Garnett, 4th overall, 1982
The Dallas Mavericks had the fourth pick in the 1982 draft, and it was a draft rich in talent. The first three picks were "Big Game" James Worthy, Terry Cummings, and Dominique Wilkins. The Mavs selected this 6-9 forward from the University of Wyoming. They passed up players like LaSalle Thompson, Cliff Levingston, Fat Lever, Sleepy Floyd and Trent Tucker. Thompson lasted 15 years in the NBA. Garnett was gone after four seasons, never averaging more than 6.5 points per game.
7. Michael Olowokandi, 1st overall, 1998
He has finished seven years in the NBA, and his "career" year (12 points, 9 rebounds per game) came in 2003, the final year of his Clippers contract. There were so many good forwards and guards to come out of that 1998 draft (Mike Bibby, Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce) that the Kandi Man really looks like a bust.
8. Shawn Bradley, 2nd overall, 1993
The Brigham Young project had served two years on a Mormon mission. He played only one year of college ball, leading the nation in blocked shots. And he was irresistible to the 76ers, who chose him over Penny Hardaway or Jamal Mashburn. He's worked hard and lasted 12 years in the league, starting close to 500 games. He couldn't chase the smaller centers, or muscle the bigger ones, but he persevered.
9. Dave Meyers, 2nd overall, 1975
He was a member of John Wooden's last championship team, and was selected after the high-flying David Thompson. The hometown Lakers picked him, then traded him as part of the package to acquire Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Meyers lasted four years with the Bucks, and his selection is considered a bust only because of the four players picked directly behind him. Marvin Webster (the Human Eraser) was a terrific shot blocker. Alvan Adams was one of the best passing big men of all time. Darryl Dawkins lasted 12 years. And Lionel Hollins helped Portland win an NBA championship.
10 (tie). Not total busts
Neal Walk, 2nd overall, 1969: Picked behind Abdul Jabbar, he did last eight years and average 20 points per game in 1973. He wasn't Kareem, but he sure was better than players picked behind him (Terry Driscoll, Larry Cannon, Bob Portman).
Scott May, 2nd overall, 1976 Spent five years with the Bulls, two more in the league, and never the star he was in college. Will his son become the star?
Steve Stipanovich, 2nd overall, 1983 Actually made the All-Rookie team for the Pacers, so not a total bust. He was best known for shooting himself while cleaning his gun. He was a Brad Miller-type of player.
"Never Nervous" Pervis Ellison, 1st overall, 1989 He lasted 11 years, and averaged 20 points per game in 1992.
Sam Bowie, 2nd overall, 1984 He was picked ahead of Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins, Charles Barkley and John Stockton. But Portland had a pretty decent player at shooting guard in Clyde Drexler. They needed size, and Bowie, despite numerous injuries, lasted 10 years in the NBA, averaging 10 points and 9 rebounds for his career.
There are plenty of others in the crapshoot known as the NBA draft. In 1972, Dwight "Double D" Davis was a bust as the third overall pick. Ralph Sampson made a splash, but never became the superstar he was destined to become. Many people felt that Danny Ferry (2nd in 1989) was a bust. If you go down to the 6th overall pick, 1986 selection William Bedford flamed out due to cocaine problems.
It's too early to give up on a player from the 2003 NBA draft, but many people wonder where Darko Milicic (2nd overall) will wind up on this list. He was selected ahead of Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and Dwayne Wade. He hasn't gotten the playing time in his first two seasons, but he's still very young, and very talented. But as Yogi Berra once said about playing left field in Yankee Stadium, "It gets late early out there."
