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The “Documented” 10 biggest NBA draft day mistakes

It’s NBA draft day and our staff got to thinking of some of the biggest NBA draft blunders in recent history. Since the conception of the NBA there have been many drafting mistakes made and quite frankly hindsight is 20/20. A draft pick can often be looked at as a coin flip in the future. If the coin lands on heads your team is headed to the NBA Finals. If the coin lands on tails, your blunder lands you right back in the lottery.

From an educated fans standpoint we all know that drafting is not an exact science. As good as a kid looks in college or high school, on paper or in a workout in a gym, his game might not crossover to the NBA. We have compiled a list of 10 decisions that cost some teams multiple championships and many fans.

#10. In 1997 there was a multi team meltdown. It started with the 76ers at the #2 position and missing out on Tim Duncan who was drafted #1 by the Spurs and Chauncey Billups #3, to select Keith Van Horn. Vancouver (Memphis), Denver, Boston, New Jersey and Golden State then pass on high schooler Tracy McGrady in order to draft Antonio Daniels, Tony Battie, Ron Mercer, Tim Thomas and Adonal Foyle. All McGrady has done is land himself on seven consecutive All-Star teams and seven All-NBA honors. How many All-Star appearances did the other five players account for you ask? Zero All-Star nods and zero All-NBA awards.

#9. In 1993, Philadelphia passes on Penny Hardaway and Jamal Mashburn to take 7′5 Shawn Bradley at the #2 spot. At the time the 76′ers had a vision of turning around their franchise with the help of a big center. Although Bradley put together a 12 year career with Philadelphia, New Jersey and Dallas, all Shawn Bradley accomplished was being posterized by Tracy McGrady.

#8. In 2001, Washington passes on Pau Gasol and Tyson Chandler to Kwame Brown #1 overall. Kwame was a disaster for Washington and has done very little recently for the Lakers. Paul Gasol made an immediate impact with the Grizzlies averaging 18 points and 8 boards a game. Tyson Chandler took a while to develop but has certainly had more of an impact than Brown.

#7. In 1987, the Nets and Clippers pass on Scottie Pippen, Kevin Johnson and Reggie Miller for Dennis Hopson and Reggie Williams. We really don’t even need to explain this one. Although Pippen was a late bloomer and had the help of the greatest basketball player ever, all Scottie, KJ and Reggie did was combine for 15 All-Star appearances, 15 All-NBA teams and 10 All-Defensive awards.

#6. In 1998, Milwaukee drafts German Dirk Nowitzki and trades him to Dallas for Robert “Tractor” Traylor out of Michigan. The Bucks should have known better to draft a player who played overweight all throughout college. As a double kick to the face, the Bucks also passed on Paul Pierce who just got an NBA Finals MVP award with Boston.

#5. 1999, Toronto drafts Jonathan Bender out of high school. The next five picks in order go Wally Szczerbiak, Rip Hamilton, Andre Miller, Shawn Marion and Jason Terry. The only disappointing player in this group is Jonathan Bender. The #57 player selected in the ‘99 draft, Manu Ginobili.

#4. In 1985, 13 teams including Phoenix, Chicago and Washington pass on country boy Karl Malone. Selected right before Malone was Ed Pinckney, Keith Lee and Kenny Green. What did Malone do in his career that made him so special you might ask? Malone tallied 36,928 points, 14,968 rebounds, 13 All-Star games, named to 14 All-NBA teams and was named league MVP twice. How many titles would the Bulls have won with Malone, MJ and Pippen?

#3. In 1996, Dallas, Indiana, Golden State and Cleveland pass up a Philadelphia area high school player by the name of Kobe Bryant. Samaki Walker, Erick Dampier, Todd Fuller and Vitaly Potapenko all went before Bryant. The Hornets drafted Bryant at 13 and immediately traded him to the Lakers for king of flop Vlade Divac. Some teams have all the luck. What players were selected after Bryant? Only Peja Stojakovic, Steve Nash and Jermaine O’Neal! One mistake after another.

#2. In 2003, a very notable draft field, Detroit passes on Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh to select Darko Milicic! What the hell were they smoking? Those 3 guys are now a part of the USA Olympic team as well as the NBA All-Star teams.

#1. In 1984, Portland passes on Michael Jordan at #2 to select Sam Bowie, this easily the biggest blunder of all time in our eyes. The #5 selection was Charles Barkley and the #16 selection was John Stockton. Portland made a big mistake in 1984 and we now know that Olajuwon, Jordan, Barkley and Stockton were all named to the NBA’s 50 Greatest roster years later. To Portland’s defense they drafted Clyde Drexler in ‘83 who played the same position as Jordan. Either way you dice it, Michael Jordan is still the greatest of all time.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 1:59 pm and is filed under NBA Basketball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “The “Documented” 10 biggest NBA draft day mistakes”

  1. Carroll B. Merriman Says:
    March 21st, 2010 at 5:12 pm

    Do you think Bryce Harper will actually be the first draft pick in this years major league baseball draft? Mel from Bryce Harper Baseball

  2. Madie Vagt Says:
    May 12th, 2010 at 2:31 pm

    I think your article was actually a good kick off to a potential series of write ups about this topic. Most users pretend to understand what they’re writing about when it comes to this area and most of the time, hardly anyone actually get it. You seem to know about it however, so I think you need to run with it. Thanks a lot!

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