Well today is draft day, I don’t know about you guys but I’ve been waiting for this day for a while now. The more I look at past drafts the more I realize how unpredictable it can be sometimes. So lets reflect on some past drafts the good, bad, and the unlucky, and depending on who your team is some of you may laugh and some of you may cry.
The Good
1. The San Antonio Spurs selected Manu Ginobili with the 57th pick in 1999, talk about a major steal. Manu has become an elite player in the NBA and he has helped the Spurs win 3 titles in 5 years.
2. The L.A. Lakers traded Vlade Divac to the Charlotte Hornets for Kobe Bryant on draft day. Vlade continued to have a solid career, but Kobe is now one of the top basketball players in the world. He has helped bring 3 more titles to the Lakers.
3. The Dallas Mavericks traded Robert Traylor to the Milwaukee Bucks for Dirk Nowitzki on draft day. Robert barely made it off the bench during his short career, he was overweight, and has had off the court issues. Dirk has become a superstar MVP and has helped the Mavericks become one of the NBAs top teams.
4. The Milwaukee Bucks selected Michael Redd with the 43rd pick in 2000. They’ve found themselves a franchise player in the middle of the 2nd round. Michael was a solid college player, but nobody expected him to be the player he is today.
5. The San Antonio Spurs are on the list again. They made a bold move by selecting the teenage French point guard Tony Parker with the 28th pick in 2001. Tony has become one of the top PGs in the league, he is a finals MVP, and also helped the Spurs get 3 titles in 5 years.
The Bad
1. The L.A. Clippers selected Michael Olowokandi #1 overall in 1998. Man he turned out to be a HUGE BUST not only for the Clippers, but the T’Wolves and Celtics to. They could have selected Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce, Mike Bibby anyone but "Kandi Man." The past few seasons they have become a playoff caliber team, but they messed up big in 1998.
2. The Chicago Bulls traded an established player in Elton Brand, for an uproven high schooler in Tyson Chandler. Brand is an all star franchise power forward. While Chandler still hasn’t developed fully and is now a New Orleans Hornet. Chicago is still looking for a post player who can score.
3. The Denver Nuggets selected Nikoloz Tskitishvili #5 in 2002. He never developed at all, and is one of the true bust of all-time. He ended up playing just 3 short seasons with the Nuggets and had even shorter stints with the Warriors, T’Wolves, and Suns. They could’ve selected Amare Stoudemire.
4. The Detroit Pistons selected Darko Milicic #2 overall in 2003 one of the best draft classes ever. Although it didn’t hurt the Pistons that year because they won the title, and are still an elite team. One can only wonder what if they had picked Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, or Dwyane Wade.
5. The Washington Wizards selected Kwame Brown #1 overall in 2001. This was Michael Jordans personal pick. But honestly it wasn’t a very good draft to have the #1 pick because the prospects weren’t top pick material. Only 2 players selected after Brown are solid enough to be considered #1 Eddy Curry and Pau Gasol. Although Kwame played nowhere close to a #1 pick, they eventually traded him for a new all star in Caron Butler.
The Unlucky
1. The Indiana Pacers got Jonathan Bender 5th in 1999. He had alot of potential with his talents. But serious knee problems hindered his development and he ended up leaving the game at 25 years old, really only playing 1 full season.
2. The Cleveland Cavaliers selected DaJuan Wagner 6th overall in 2002. He played one year of college ball and was the best player. He once scored 100 points in a high school game. He had a solid rookie season with the Cavs. After that he had health problems, injuries and other issues that hindered his career. He still trying to fight his way onto a team. Had he stayed healthy he could be the sidekick LeBron James needs.
3. I’m giving this 3 spot to the teams that selected 2-8 in the 1997 draft. I’m sure none of them knew that Tracy McGrady who was selected at #9, would become on of the leagues superstars coming from high school. But the players selected before him are either average or aren’t in the league anymore. So really only Chauncey Billups at #3 eventually turned out to be great.
4. The L.A. Clippers selected Shaun Livingston with the 4th pick in 2004. He was becoming their point guard of the future and on the verge of being an all star PG. He had a freakish knee injury that he may never fully recover from, and his career could be cut short, we still must wait and see.
5. The Golden State Warriors selected Gilbert Arenas 31st in 2002. As Arenas puts it "they though I was a zero letting me sit on the bench majority of the time." Unfortunately for the Warriors when his contract was up there was a loophole in it, so instead of them being able to resign to the mid-level exception. Gilbert was allow to leave to the Wizards for a max deal. Since then Arenas is now an all star franchise player. This would have been a major steal for the Warriors.
So there you have it HoopsVibe readers, some crazy things that have happened over the years with players being drafted. Hopefully your team will make the right choices with their selections in this years draft and also in future drafts. What a team does during the draft can make or break a franchise as you can see with these few examples. Tune into the draft tonight at 7pm on ESPN, check back with HoopsVibe.com for the latest draft results.
