One of, if not the, biggest drafting blunders in NBA history belongs to the Portland Trail Blazers. They selected the 7'1" Sam Bowie out of Kentucky ahead of Michael Jordan. OK everyone knows that already. But do you know who exactly was responsible for making that pick? Or what that person's criterion was for making such a horrendous error in judgment?
Meet Stu Inman
In 1984 Stu Inman was director of personnel and was in charge of scouting and drafting for the Portland Trailblazers. Inman was widely recognized around the league as a basketball genius, a savvy executive with a deep understanding of the game, especially evaluating players. Other teams would literally track Stu Inman’s scouting activities and use rumors about which players he was interested in to gain confidence in their own personnel decisions. With such high NBA prestige it’s clear why Portland left the future of the franchise in Inman’s hands. He was charged with ensuring the #2 pick in the ’84 draft was used to springboard the Trailblazers into long-term championship success.
Having lost the coin flip to Houston, Inman knew Olajuwon, the clear choice for the number one pick, would be going to the Rockets, but there was no clear choice on which player to take at number 2. Little did he know that, in retrospect, the choice was quite simple, and his decision would go down as arguably the greatest gaffe in NBA history. Not only that, but Inman’s well-respected career would be tarnished by one draft pick while the impact on the franchise would prove devastating.
So how did Stu Inman come to this earth-shattering and eventual pro basketball-changing decision?
Consider the reasons for choosing Bowie that actually made basketball sense for the Portland franchise in 1984.
Redundancy: Portland already had very good depth at shooting guard. Led by Jim Paxson a 6’6 sharp shooter with just enough quickness to create his own shot. The previous season Paxson played 33.2mpg and averaged 21.3ppg on 51.4% from the field. In the 1983 draft the Trailblazers selected Clyde Drexler with the 14th pick. Although Drexler was still a work in progress, he was considered a slashing, high-flying 2-guard from his days playing for the “Phi Slama Jama” basketball fraternity at University of Houston. From a scouting perspective this was a very similar playing style to that of Jordan.
Unpredictability: Nobody could have forecasted that Michael Jordan would become the famed “Air Jordan” and all the success and dominance that followed that nickname. Not even his college coach Dean Smith. Why? At UNC the offensive system was not conducive to individual showcase of talent. That is a large reason why Jordan only averaged 17.7ppg & 5rpg in college and only 16.5ppg in 10 NCAA tournament games. In that sense the “real” Michael Jordan was hidden from Inman’s keen scouting ability.
Due diligence: As part of the evaluation process Sam Bowie was put through a rigorous physical. The doctors meticulously examined Bowie’s surgically repaired shin fracture that kept him out of two seasons at Kentucky. He was cleared. Therefore Inman and the Portland medical staff could not have known Bowie would quickly become the man made of glass. I am willing to bet Portland’s ownership and fans are praying daily Greg Oden doesn’t suffer the same fate.
1977 NBA Champions: Portland’s only NBA championship came in that 1977 season when they were led by “Big Red-Head” Bill Walton. Inman believed the only way the franchise would reach the promise land again was behind another dominating player in the middle.
Formula for success: Very good-to-great big men win championships. History has shown this wasn’t just a philosophy but a requirement for winning a championship. Look at the previous 5 NBA championship team’s big man:
1983: Moses Malone
1982: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
1981: Robert Parish & Kevin McHale
1980: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
1979: Jack Sikma (7-time NBA All-Star) Add the Russell/Chamberlain days to that short list of Hall of Fame centers (excluding Sikma) and that is more than enough to cloud anyone’s judgment.
The big question Stu Inman and the rest of his scouting staff couldn’t overcome was, “Where’s [Jordan] going to play?” It was clear Sam Bowie would anchor the middle on defense for Portland and provide the team with a decent scorer and excellent passer in Jack Ramsay’s intricate offensive system.
Maybe the deciding factor for choosing Sam Bowie was his performance against Houston and Olajuwon where Bowie grabbed 18 boards and scored 8 points while holding Hakeem to 14 points & 12 rebounds before he fouled out.
Convincing enough argument for you? No? Yeah, me either. But, those realities created a distorted view of Michael Jordan in Inman’s eyes when evaluating him as a player.
In hindsight the correct move for Inman and the Trailblazers was to sign & trade Jim Paxson and Clyde Drexler for a center rather than pass on the greatest player in the history of the NBA.
The sad part for the Portland franchise is that the 1984 NBA draft wasn’t the first major miscue on their part. In 1972, Portland with the #1 pick selected LaRue Martin (who?) ahead of number 2 pick Bob McAdoo and Philadelphia’s own Julius Erving picked 12th! But hey, that’s why there are no geniuses in basketball.
Showing posts with label Draft busts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Draft busts. Show all posts
Biggest NBA Busts by Team
1. Clippers: Michael Olowokandi, 1st, 1998How do you like your 50 Cent jokes? Over easy? Slightly poached? Completely unfunny? Or would you prefer to just sit here and laugh at what a jimmy-joke Olowokandi is? Yeah, I thought so. The Kandi-Man never amounted to anything, but at least that's apropos of the Clippers franchise. Godspeed, Blake Griffin. Godspeed.
2. Grizzlies: Bryant Reeves, 6th, 1995It would be totally reasonable to say "Stromile Swift" here. Totally. But the fact of the matter is that Big Country was a franchise-defining pick when the team was in Vancouver. I mean, there were more players to choose from, like Swift and 'Reef and Bibby, but Country was the guy. As you know, the team is no longer in Canada. You do the math.
3. Thunder: Danny Vranes, 5th, 1981Ahhhhh, simpler times. When the Sonics weren't the Thunder. When Seattle wasn't Oklahoma. And when Clay Bennett wasn't Lucifer. But hey, what can you do? Oh, right. Lots of stuff: like revisit the past for the the Seattle Supersonics! For instance, Mr. Vranes maxed out in 1984 by averaging 8.4 points per game. Good times, etc.
4. Kings: Joe Kleine, 6th, 1985Kleine, a big boy from the south, was picked No. 6 in Sacramento's virgin draft. The Kings passed up Karl Malone, Detlef Schrempf, Chris Mullin, Joe Dumars and Terry Porter. An inauspicious start, to say the least.
5. Wizards: Kwame Brown, 1st, 2001When judging the Wiz' draft in '01 is that you have to remember two words: Michael Jordan. The greatest basketball player of all time was responsible for one of the biggest draft busts of all time, not to mention the fact that he is currently ruining the Bobcats franchise. At least Kwame made a ton of money.
6. Timberwolves: William Avery, 14th, 1999 The trickiest thing about the T-Wolves is that you have to remember: worse things could have happened if Joe Smith hadn't cost them eleventy-billion No. 1 picks. But for this spot, we'll take Avery. Why? Did you see how well he played in the NBA? Exactly. Add in the fact that he was a by-product of a great Duke team, yet he was the only guy that didn't pan out.
7. Warriors: Todd Fuller, 11th, 1996 & Chris Washburn, 3rd, 1986That's, right, it's a tie! And sure, Adonal Foyle deserves strong consideration here, mainly because he was picked ahead of Tracy McGrady. But good gracious, look at the list of folks who were drafted after my boy Fuller (Nash, JO'N, Peja, Big Z, KOBE BRYANT). Also, I just wanted to make sure my NC State Wolfpack were fully represented. Sigh.
8. Knicks: Frederic Weis, 15th, 1999The absurdity of the NBA draft can't be better defined outside of "Isiah Thomas doesn't own the worst pick ever for the New York Knicks." But it's true: Weis never sniffed the floor for the 'Bockers and proved to be worse than Michael Sweetney, even.
9. Raptors: Rafael Araujo 8th, 2004I wanted Jonathan Bender here for the NBA Live 2000 factor, but they did score a Davis by trading him, so it's hard to justify. Of course, not nearly as difficult to justify as taking Araujo (2.8 points and rebounds per game for his career) over Andre Iguodala and the rest of the semi-studs in that draft class, need aside.
10. Bucks: Marcus Haislip, 13th, 2002 I originally wanted to roll with Andrew Bogut, with my theory being that "anyone you picked ahead of Chris Paul and Deron Williams is inherently a tremendous bust," but that seemed shortsighted. Besides, Haislip played a grand total of 79 games in his career, while averaging 3.6 points per game. The people drafted after Haislip aren't spectacular but that's weak-sauce, son.
11. Nets: Eddie Griffin, 7th, 2001Far be it from me to mock someone who has since passed away, but I think it's fair to say that Griffin, God rest his soul, was not a fantastic choice for the Nets at seventh overall. Seriously, I'm not here to judge people, just to pick the busts of the draft. And, yes, I feel bad about this one, but a bust is a bust.
12. Bobcats: Adam Morrison, 3rd, 2006If you're a fan of North Carolina (professional) basketball, allow me to lead you in a resounding, SIIIIIIIIIIGH. Morrison was the brainchild of His Airness, for whatever reason, and was drafted before such stinkers as Brandon Roy, Randy Foye, Danny Granger, Rudy Gay, Rajon Rondo and J.J. Redick. Yes, that's exactly how inconsequential BBJ has become.
13. Pacers: Scott Haskin, 14th, 1993There are several players you could make a bust claim for when it comes to the Pacers over the past few years (I desperately want to tag Clark Kellogg, but such is life). Of course, the Pacers have done a pretty good job on draft day, relatively speaking. But Haskin only played in 27 games during a one-year stint with Indiana, and that's more than enough to qualify him here.
14. Suns: Zarko Cabarkapa, 17th, 2003Gracious. Where to start? Rajon Rondo? Luol Deng? Rudy Fernandez? Oh right. They drafted all those people ... they just happened to trade them for nothing. Poor Phoenix fans. Instead, I'll offer you Cabarkapa, another foreign fella that the Suns organization mistakenly fell in love with. Here's a draft day hint, all you GM's: if someone's first name is ends in "-arko", avoid him.
15. Pistons: Darko Milicic, 2nd, 2003Like shooting fish in a freaking barrel. For those that somehow don't know, Darko was selected before Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. He also managed -- through theoretical osmosis -- to bring down the entire Detroit Pistons organization, all by himself. When Joe Dumars and Larry Brown are framed for murder in three years, just don't act surprised, m'kay?
16. Bulls: Marcus Fizer, 4th, 2000The really crazy thing about the Bulls' draft history is that they had nine straight years with a pick of ninth or better. So, yeah, there's been some quality basketball in Chi-town since MJ left. Remarkably, they've done a pretty decent job of drafting during that time too, although Fizer is an obvious exception, even if the 2000 NBA Draft was a tremendous stinker. (And it was.)
17. 76ers: Shawn Bradley, 2nd, 1993Bradley is immortalized (via poster usually) as a Dallas Maverick -- the team's old tealish colors really did wonders for bringing out his skin complexion. But he was drafted as a Sixer way back when reading SI was cool (I remember his cover!) and he was taken in front of Penny, Mashburn, Rodney Rogers and even Vin Baker.
18. Heat: Harold Miner, 12th, 1992The Heat's drafting prowess is relatively impressive, with regard to not taking total stinkbombs, actually. But the thing with Miner is that he was hyped as "Baby Jordan" -- I mean, really, people -- and only played 200 games, averaged under 10 points per game, and Miami could have had Doug Christie. Doug Christie! (Also, Spree and Big O if you prefer your jokes to be of the crazy/fat variety instead of whipped husband jokes.)
19. Hawks: Shelden Williams, 5th, 2006Note to self: there is one good thing about that shipwrecked basketball city, Charlotte. It keeps you from being a Hawks fan. I wanted to go with Marvin here, but Shelden's the better Tobacco Road choice for one main reason (Chris Paul aside): the Hawks refuse to take a point guard. They had Brandon Roy, Randy Foye and Rajon Rondo all hanging around in '06 and they still Williams when they didn't even need him. Insanity, same thing, etc.
20. Jazz: Luther Wright, 18th, 1993BO-RING. The Jazz nailed Stockton (16th, 1984) and Malone (13th, 1985) and from then until forever, the only time they've needed to step up and nail a big pick, they pulled Deron Williams. You could argue Raul Lopez in 2001 was a bust, but he wasn't found at a rest stop "banging cans and smashing in windows." Also, little known fact: Wright gets paid $153k every year for 25 years.
21. Hornets: J.R. Reid, 5th, 1989Sure, J.R. played a ton of games, but there's an easy comparison here: Kendall Gill was drafted at fifth overall as well the following year. And, as my attorney pointed out, it's not like Gill is some huge superstar here, folks. Sugarcoat it all you want, Carolina fans: Reid stunk, and the Hornets took him way too early (Tim Hardaway and Shawn Kemp were both drafted after the UNC product).
22. Mavericks: Samaki Walker, 9th, 1996Just so we're clear, there was a four-year stretch where the Mavs took Cherokee Parks, Samaki Walker, Kelvin Cato and Tractor Traylor with top-15 picks. Guh. If Dallas hadn't landed Dirk for Tractor, then the fat man would be the pick. But Walker is just indefensible here -- and actually worse than the aforementioned Fuller for the very same reasons (Kobe, etc.)
23. Rockets: Michael Dickerson, 14th; Bryce Drew, 16th & Mirsad Turkcan, 18th, 1998Houston's draft history is bizarre in that, at least after the Cassell/Big Shot Bob years, they managed to pull the best talent from later in the draft. Including 1998, when they landed Cuttino Mobley in the second round after lobbing up this platter of eggs in a very quick first round span. I mean, just make a freaking play and shuffle those picks around, somebody.
24. Blazers: Sam Bowie. 2nd, 1984Fair or not, he's going to be the guy here. And if for some reason you don't know why this didn't work out for Portland, hop in your car, drive to the airport, take the first flight available to Chicago, find any local sports fan and ask them how drafting Michael Jordan worked out for them that year.
25. Spurs: Rick Hughes, 14th, 1985I don't want to say that the Spurs have been "lucky," because that would insult the excellent drafting history of the franchise. How-EVA, everyone knows about David Robinson's back injury and how it landed Tim Duncan and altered the history of the universe. And if you glance at the Spurs' drafting history, you'll note some stink bombs: Sean Elliott is debatable, Tracy Murray is "meh," Reggie Johnson was bad, etc. But for a straight-up bust, Alfredrick Hughes (Rick or Alfred, depending on your preference, of course) is the choice, averaging 5 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.9 assists over his 68-game career.
26. Magic: Steven Hunter, 15th, 2001Has there ever been a team with Ping-Pong ball fortune like the Magic? Dwight Howard and Shaquille O'Neal (not to mention Chris Webber)? Of course, for every easy lay-up like those guys, there's a disaster like the three-pick '98 draft that yielded Michael Doleac, Keon Clark and Matt Harpring. But at least that trio was somewhat decent; even Zach Randolph has been more productive than Hunter.
27. Celtics: Eric Montross, 9thPart of me wants to include Joe Forte here, because his sad little pro career was so short-lived, but he had two first-rounders drafted in front of him, so hype aside, Kedrick Brown was actually worse. But in a year where we have Tyler Hans-brah in the draft, it only seems appropriate to point out that the C's thought taking a big, lumbering, white guy who wore number 0 as his number -- and didn't really project to the pros, even though he played at UNC -- was a good idea. HEED MY WORDS, MISTER JORDAN.
28. Nuggets: Nikoloz Tskitishvili, 5th, 2002Looking back at the the 2002 NBA Draft is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. Unless you're a Phoenix Suns or Miami Heat fan, in which case you probably look at this pick by the Nuggets as pretty freaking humorous, considering your teams got Amare Stoudemire and Caron Butler, respectively.
29. Lakers: Brad Holland, 14th, 1979The, ahem, haters may suggest that Andrew Bynum (SMASH!) should be slotted here because the jury is out on whether he's the "next great NBA center" or some such. But Holland's crappiness is obscured by this Magic Johnson fella that the Lakers took at the top of the draft -- when Jim Spanarkel is averaging more points than you are minutes, you suck.
30. Cavaliers: Luke Jackson, 10th, 2004There are really any number of ways to go with this pick -- there's Dajuan Wagner, although he had health issues. There's DeSagana Diop (eighth!) but he's a "specialist." There's Vitaly Potapenko, 12th, immediately before Kobe Bryant in the same year Big Z was drafted, which is tempting. But Luke Jackson floors me, and not because he only played 73 games. It's because Cleveland had just been gifted LeBron James and all they had to do was make one good choice. Just one! Al Jefferson, Jameer Nelson, Kevin Martin, Josh Smith ... any one of these would have been vastly more beneficial towards getting the King a title.
2. Grizzlies: Bryant Reeves, 6th, 1995It would be totally reasonable to say "Stromile Swift" here. Totally. But the fact of the matter is that Big Country was a franchise-defining pick when the team was in Vancouver. I mean, there were more players to choose from, like Swift and 'Reef and Bibby, but Country was the guy. As you know, the team is no longer in Canada. You do the math.
3. Thunder: Danny Vranes, 5th, 1981Ahhhhh, simpler times. When the Sonics weren't the Thunder. When Seattle wasn't Oklahoma. And when Clay Bennett wasn't Lucifer. But hey, what can you do? Oh, right. Lots of stuff: like revisit the past for the the Seattle Supersonics! For instance, Mr. Vranes maxed out in 1984 by averaging 8.4 points per game. Good times, etc.
4. Kings: Joe Kleine, 6th, 1985Kleine, a big boy from the south, was picked No. 6 in Sacramento's virgin draft. The Kings passed up Karl Malone, Detlef Schrempf, Chris Mullin, Joe Dumars and Terry Porter. An inauspicious start, to say the least.
5. Wizards: Kwame Brown, 1st, 2001When judging the Wiz' draft in '01 is that you have to remember two words: Michael Jordan. The greatest basketball player of all time was responsible for one of the biggest draft busts of all time, not to mention the fact that he is currently ruining the Bobcats franchise. At least Kwame made a ton of money.
6. Timberwolves: William Avery, 14th, 1999 The trickiest thing about the T-Wolves is that you have to remember: worse things could have happened if Joe Smith hadn't cost them eleventy-billion No. 1 picks. But for this spot, we'll take Avery. Why? Did you see how well he played in the NBA? Exactly. Add in the fact that he was a by-product of a great Duke team, yet he was the only guy that didn't pan out.
7. Warriors: Todd Fuller, 11th, 1996 & Chris Washburn, 3rd, 1986That's, right, it's a tie! And sure, Adonal Foyle deserves strong consideration here, mainly because he was picked ahead of Tracy McGrady. But good gracious, look at the list of folks who were drafted after my boy Fuller (Nash, JO'N, Peja, Big Z, KOBE BRYANT). Also, I just wanted to make sure my NC State Wolfpack were fully represented. Sigh.
8. Knicks: Frederic Weis, 15th, 1999The absurdity of the NBA draft can't be better defined outside of "Isiah Thomas doesn't own the worst pick ever for the New York Knicks." But it's true: Weis never sniffed the floor for the 'Bockers and proved to be worse than Michael Sweetney, even.
9. Raptors: Rafael Araujo 8th, 2004I wanted Jonathan Bender here for the NBA Live 2000 factor, but they did score a Davis by trading him, so it's hard to justify. Of course, not nearly as difficult to justify as taking Araujo (2.8 points and rebounds per game for his career) over Andre Iguodala and the rest of the semi-studs in that draft class, need aside.
10. Bucks: Marcus Haislip, 13th, 2002 I originally wanted to roll with Andrew Bogut, with my theory being that "anyone you picked ahead of Chris Paul and Deron Williams is inherently a tremendous bust," but that seemed shortsighted. Besides, Haislip played a grand total of 79 games in his career, while averaging 3.6 points per game. The people drafted after Haislip aren't spectacular but that's weak-sauce, son.
11. Nets: Eddie Griffin, 7th, 2001Far be it from me to mock someone who has since passed away, but I think it's fair to say that Griffin, God rest his soul, was not a fantastic choice for the Nets at seventh overall. Seriously, I'm not here to judge people, just to pick the busts of the draft. And, yes, I feel bad about this one, but a bust is a bust.
12. Bobcats: Adam Morrison, 3rd, 2006If you're a fan of North Carolina (professional) basketball, allow me to lead you in a resounding, SIIIIIIIIIIGH. Morrison was the brainchild of His Airness, for whatever reason, and was drafted before such stinkers as Brandon Roy, Randy Foye, Danny Granger, Rudy Gay, Rajon Rondo and J.J. Redick. Yes, that's exactly how inconsequential BBJ has become.
13. Pacers: Scott Haskin, 14th, 1993There are several players you could make a bust claim for when it comes to the Pacers over the past few years (I desperately want to tag Clark Kellogg, but such is life). Of course, the Pacers have done a pretty good job on draft day, relatively speaking. But Haskin only played in 27 games during a one-year stint with Indiana, and that's more than enough to qualify him here.
14. Suns: Zarko Cabarkapa, 17th, 2003Gracious. Where to start? Rajon Rondo? Luol Deng? Rudy Fernandez? Oh right. They drafted all those people ... they just happened to trade them for nothing. Poor Phoenix fans. Instead, I'll offer you Cabarkapa, another foreign fella that the Suns organization mistakenly fell in love with. Here's a draft day hint, all you GM's: if someone's first name is ends in "-arko", avoid him.
15. Pistons: Darko Milicic, 2nd, 2003Like shooting fish in a freaking barrel. For those that somehow don't know, Darko was selected before Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. He also managed -- through theoretical osmosis -- to bring down the entire Detroit Pistons organization, all by himself. When Joe Dumars and Larry Brown are framed for murder in three years, just don't act surprised, m'kay?
16. Bulls: Marcus Fizer, 4th, 2000The really crazy thing about the Bulls' draft history is that they had nine straight years with a pick of ninth or better. So, yeah, there's been some quality basketball in Chi-town since MJ left. Remarkably, they've done a pretty decent job of drafting during that time too, although Fizer is an obvious exception, even if the 2000 NBA Draft was a tremendous stinker. (And it was.)
17. 76ers: Shawn Bradley, 2nd, 1993Bradley is immortalized (via poster usually) as a Dallas Maverick -- the team's old tealish colors really did wonders for bringing out his skin complexion. But he was drafted as a Sixer way back when reading SI was cool (I remember his cover!) and he was taken in front of Penny, Mashburn, Rodney Rogers and even Vin Baker.
18. Heat: Harold Miner, 12th, 1992The Heat's drafting prowess is relatively impressive, with regard to not taking total stinkbombs, actually. But the thing with Miner is that he was hyped as "Baby Jordan" -- I mean, really, people -- and only played 200 games, averaged under 10 points per game, and Miami could have had Doug Christie. Doug Christie! (Also, Spree and Big O if you prefer your jokes to be of the crazy/fat variety instead of whipped husband jokes.)
19. Hawks: Shelden Williams, 5th, 2006Note to self: there is one good thing about that shipwrecked basketball city, Charlotte. It keeps you from being a Hawks fan. I wanted to go with Marvin here, but Shelden's the better Tobacco Road choice for one main reason (Chris Paul aside): the Hawks refuse to take a point guard. They had Brandon Roy, Randy Foye and Rajon Rondo all hanging around in '06 and they still Williams when they didn't even need him. Insanity, same thing, etc.
20. Jazz: Luther Wright, 18th, 1993BO-RING. The Jazz nailed Stockton (16th, 1984) and Malone (13th, 1985) and from then until forever, the only time they've needed to step up and nail a big pick, they pulled Deron Williams. You could argue Raul Lopez in 2001 was a bust, but he wasn't found at a rest stop "banging cans and smashing in windows." Also, little known fact: Wright gets paid $153k every year for 25 years.
21. Hornets: J.R. Reid, 5th, 1989Sure, J.R. played a ton of games, but there's an easy comparison here: Kendall Gill was drafted at fifth overall as well the following year. And, as my attorney pointed out, it's not like Gill is some huge superstar here, folks. Sugarcoat it all you want, Carolina fans: Reid stunk, and the Hornets took him way too early (Tim Hardaway and Shawn Kemp were both drafted after the UNC product).
22. Mavericks: Samaki Walker, 9th, 1996Just so we're clear, there was a four-year stretch where the Mavs took Cherokee Parks, Samaki Walker, Kelvin Cato and Tractor Traylor with top-15 picks. Guh. If Dallas hadn't landed Dirk for Tractor, then the fat man would be the pick. But Walker is just indefensible here -- and actually worse than the aforementioned Fuller for the very same reasons (Kobe, etc.)
23. Rockets: Michael Dickerson, 14th; Bryce Drew, 16th & Mirsad Turkcan, 18th, 1998Houston's draft history is bizarre in that, at least after the Cassell/Big Shot Bob years, they managed to pull the best talent from later in the draft. Including 1998, when they landed Cuttino Mobley in the second round after lobbing up this platter of eggs in a very quick first round span. I mean, just make a freaking play and shuffle those picks around, somebody.
24. Blazers: Sam Bowie. 2nd, 1984Fair or not, he's going to be the guy here. And if for some reason you don't know why this didn't work out for Portland, hop in your car, drive to the airport, take the first flight available to Chicago, find any local sports fan and ask them how drafting Michael Jordan worked out for them that year.
25. Spurs: Rick Hughes, 14th, 1985I don't want to say that the Spurs have been "lucky," because that would insult the excellent drafting history of the franchise. How-EVA, everyone knows about David Robinson's back injury and how it landed Tim Duncan and altered the history of the universe. And if you glance at the Spurs' drafting history, you'll note some stink bombs: Sean Elliott is debatable, Tracy Murray is "meh," Reggie Johnson was bad, etc. But for a straight-up bust, Alfredrick Hughes (Rick or Alfred, depending on your preference, of course) is the choice, averaging 5 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.9 assists over his 68-game career.
26. Magic: Steven Hunter, 15th, 2001Has there ever been a team with Ping-Pong ball fortune like the Magic? Dwight Howard and Shaquille O'Neal (not to mention Chris Webber)? Of course, for every easy lay-up like those guys, there's a disaster like the three-pick '98 draft that yielded Michael Doleac, Keon Clark and Matt Harpring. But at least that trio was somewhat decent; even Zach Randolph has been more productive than Hunter.
27. Celtics: Eric Montross, 9thPart of me wants to include Joe Forte here, because his sad little pro career was so short-lived, but he had two first-rounders drafted in front of him, so hype aside, Kedrick Brown was actually worse. But in a year where we have Tyler Hans-brah in the draft, it only seems appropriate to point out that the C's thought taking a big, lumbering, white guy who wore number 0 as his number -- and didn't really project to the pros, even though he played at UNC -- was a good idea. HEED MY WORDS, MISTER JORDAN.
28. Nuggets: Nikoloz Tskitishvili, 5th, 2002Looking back at the the 2002 NBA Draft is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. Unless you're a Phoenix Suns or Miami Heat fan, in which case you probably look at this pick by the Nuggets as pretty freaking humorous, considering your teams got Amare Stoudemire and Caron Butler, respectively.
29. Lakers: Brad Holland, 14th, 1979The, ahem, haters may suggest that Andrew Bynum (SMASH!) should be slotted here because the jury is out on whether he's the "next great NBA center" or some such. But Holland's crappiness is obscured by this Magic Johnson fella that the Lakers took at the top of the draft -- when Jim Spanarkel is averaging more points than you are minutes, you suck.
30. Cavaliers: Luke Jackson, 10th, 2004There are really any number of ways to go with this pick -- there's Dajuan Wagner, although he had health issues. There's DeSagana Diop (eighth!) but he's a "specialist." There's Vitaly Potapenko, 12th, immediately before Kobe Bryant in the same year Big Z was drafted, which is tempting. But Luke Jackson floors me, and not because he only played 73 games. It's because Cleveland had just been gifted LeBron James and all they had to do was make one good choice. Just one! Al Jefferson, Jameer Nelson, Kevin Martin, Josh Smith ... any one of these would have been vastly more beneficial towards getting the King a title.
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