Worst Draft Pick of the Last 20 Years?

[Jakay]

Anthony Bennett was like a WTF moment for me.

Most mock drafts had Thabeet and Darko at their respective draft positions, so picking them initially were not mistakes.

I remember Thabeet being seen as a bust well before the actual draft. Mock drafts try to guess where a player is going more than they do who should go at what spot.

That one always stood out to me as the bust everyone saw coming a mile away.

[Sactowndog]

it's early but Bagley over Luka is looking incredibly stupid.

Yeah probably deserves to be on the list.

[Sactowndog]

it's early but Bagley over Luka is looking incredibly stupid.

Something in my gut tells me he forced his way to Dallas, albeit quietly. I just don't see 3 teams passing on him because they thought Ayton, Bagley and Young were better prospects. That narrative doesn't add up. I think Luka looked at the top 5 teams picking and said to his agent find a way to get me to Dallas. Feels Kobe-esque to me. More info will come out in time.

o

There is some truth to this comment. It was known in Serbian circles that Luka was threatening to stay in Real Madrid unless he was drafted by a major market. Regardless, Vlade could have called his bluff.

[Time for Change]

To me this is Flynn over Curry. Yes Darko was a horrible pick, but Melo, Bosh and Wade were never MVP candidates. Curry won two MVPs and established a dynasty. I do wonder what the Pistons could have done if they picked Wade though, they won with Darko on the bench.

I’m changing my mind. If you have a championship caliber squad like the Pistons had and you pick Wade instead of Darko, you could have an epic dynasty. But realistically Melo was the only other option than Darko, and I don’t think he makes a dynasty like Wade would.

[iggymcfrack]

Darko pick might have been the most damaging since there was so much talent behind him, but it was at least slightly understandable at the time. Darko was a difficult player to read and a lot of players thought he would be a big-time talent.

Anthony Bennett on the other hand never showed any potential anywhere of being close to a top talent. He was a middling player at a mid-major school and somehow the Cavs convinced themselves to take him #1. It was possibly the most senseless pick in history.

[rtiff68]

Darko pick might have been the most damaging since there was so much talent behind him, but it was at least slightly understandable at the time. Darko was a difficult player to read and a lot of players thought he would be a big-time talent.

Anthony Bennett on the other hand never showed any potential anywhere of being close to a top talent. He was a middling player at a mid-major school and somehow the Cavs convinced themselves to take him #1. It was possibly the most senseless pick in history.

The thing is, you’re considering the context with one pick, and not the other.

The 2013 draft was considered awful at the time, and it fulfilled those expectations. Nerlens Noel was the closest thing to a “consensus top guy,” and he had enormous question marks...for good reason!

Oladipo was viewed as a “good” player with a very limited ceiling— which is exactly what he was before one unexpected, late breakout year with his 3rd team. You like that at 25th overall, but 2nd? Cody Zeller? Otto Porter? Alex Len? Ben McClemore?

I give the Cavs WAY more of a pass for swinging for the fences when there wasn’t anything remotely close to a true top prospect available than I give some other teams in the OP’s poll.

My Warriors have a decent shot at the top pick overall this year, and unfortunately this draft (at the time) looks like that one. I’m not going to kill them regardless of who they pick, because there really isn’t a “just don’t **** this up” tier of top prospects this year.

[Gday mate]

Definitely Flynn over Curry for me. With Rubio on board you have to take the shooter. The Lawson pick was made for Denver not that it makes Kahn look any better. Darko was seen as a generational big. He just liked to party a bit too much.

[leolozon]

It makes no sense that Darko is first ahead of Flynn.

1- Darko was going to get taken 2nd by most teams while Flynn was a reach over Curry.
2-Darko actually stuck in the league longer than Flynn
3- Curry is FAR better than Melo (he was going 2nd, not Wade)

Darko is just first because it’s been a longer running joke, but he logically shouldn’t.

As for Bennett, it was an atrocious draft anyway at the top, no one should care that much... the Cavs missed out on trading Oladipo instead of Bennett.

[rtiff68]

It makes no sense that Darko is first ahead of Flynn.

1- Darko was going to get taken 2nd by most teams while Flynn was a reach over Curry.
2-Darko actually stuck in the league longer than Flynn
3- Curry is FAR better than Melo (he was going 2nd, not Wade)

Darko is just first because it’s been a longer running joke, but he logically shouldn’t.

As for Bennett, it was an atrocious draft anyway at the top, no one should care that much... the Cavs missed out on trading Oladipo instead of Bennett.

You’re using 100% hindsight logic, though.

The degree to which Curry ended up better than Melo/Wade doesn’t really factor much into this discussion.

Darko was a great prospect— so were Melo and Wade (especially Melo). Darko was also largely an unknown— we saw Melo— who played toe-to-toe with LeBron in AAU— lead Syracuse to an NCAA championship as a freshman. Wade was a monster at Marquette in the NCAA tournament as a sophomore. There were far surer things in that draft, and what those prospects were should’ve been VERY appealing to the Pistons, considering what they had at the time roster wise. They were a 50 win team that excelled at defense and needed a half court scorer. Who was available when they were picking?

Flynn wasn’t as big of a reach over Curry as you’re intimating. I worked in sales for GSW at the time, and met Flynn (great kid) when he visited. He was pretty universally acknowledged as a “5-10” guy in that draft, and Curry was not nearly the prospect that Melo (especially) or Wade were.

[giberish]

Some of these were defensible at the time (MKG, Oden, Parker, Fultz)

Others were bad but later without the apparent high stakes. I'd include Bennett here as the #1 pick in 2013 was like the #5 pick in a typical draft. Flynn as well - sure there were several teams hoping Curry fell another spot or two (GS, Phx, NYK) but if anyone was thinking MVP they would have been trying to move higher then 7 or 8.

I'd lean Darko. Granted i had personally fallen somewhat for the Darko hype I'm also not a full-time pro in an NBA front office who should have know how far down in the Euro pro leagues Darko was playing. Thabeet was a pretty bad pick as well, especially as Memphis had a good rookie center already in place so he was a poor fit on top of everything else.

I'd also agree that two others should also be top-10. Toronto taking Hoffa over Iggy/Deng was horrible as he had backup C upside and just made no sense as a top-20 draft pick. Also Luka being passed over by Phx and Sac, just becaue he was such a sure thing (the only argument against taking him #1 was the ridiculous claim that he had peaked at 18 and wouldn't improve).

[Time for Change]

I remember going to the March Madness in 2013 with my Dad. Before the game I googled the prospects, I found Bennett was supposed to be a low lottery pick. So I watched him closely. He seemed like the third best player on his team. I couldn’t understand how he would be drafted at all.

[Fencer reregistered]

Flynn over Curry becomes a no brainer if you think that in the same draft they also drafted Rubio over Curry.
Wolves picked 2 guards over Curry. You can't beat this.

That's my inclination too.

Kwame over Gasol and Dirk has the excuse of people not understanding much about the Euro situation back then. And Paul Pierce slipping too has the excuse that his team did terribly in the tournament.

[HMFFL]

it's early but Bagley over Luka is looking incredibly stupid.

I'm hoping Bagley gets the injuries behind him and stays healthy. I would like to see the young man have a successful career. His brother will be fun to watch in College next season.

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[Texas Chuck]

it's early but Bagley over Luka is looking incredibly stupid.

I'm hoping Bagley gets the injuries behind him and stays healthy. I would like to see the young man have a successful career. His brother will be fun to watch in College next season.

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Hey I wish him success too. But the problem is even without the injuries it was obvious that pick was a mistake in real-time and the only reason they made it was because they were having trouble getting any of the top players to come work out and guys openly trying to steer themselves elsewhere and Bagley was telling everyone he could that he wanted to be picked #2. They made a PR pick and not a basketball pick. And if the stories are true of old bad blood between Divac and Luka's dad, well be a grown-up and call his old man and work it out--do what you got to do. Dallas hadn't worked with Bill Duffy in 15 years going back to the Nash fiasco, but obviously Luka is worth making piece and Cuban swallowing some pride.

This was an unforced error and they had to have had scouts telling them what a huge mistake they were making. Not Bagley's fault at all. Very talented guy. Was very young as he was supposed to be a freshman in what was his rookie year. But he's not Luka. The game is moving away from the post-up big especially ones who don't defend which he didn't.

I feel so bad for Kings fans who were so great back before the Maloofs went broke. That barn was as rowdy as it got with those cowbells. But even the ownership change hasn't helped. They feel no closer to relevance still. And I like some of their players: Fox, Bogs, Bjelica. But ugh. They fire good coaches and replace them with bad ones for no real reason. They continue to make silly draft picks and worse trades.

[HMFFL]

Milwaukee has many first round picks that went in the top 10 that have done nothing or have become role players that don't contribute.

Joe Alexander selected 8th overall.
Yi Jianlian 6th
Jimmer Fredette 10th but traded to Sacramento
Jabari Parker 2nd


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[robillionaire]

i went with thabeet, taking him 2nd with harden and steph on the board is really bad

[Vampirate]

Milwaukee has many first round pocks that went in the top 10 that have done nothing or have become role players that don't contribute.

Joe Alexander selected 8th overall.
Yi Jianlian 6th
Jimmer Fredette 10th but traded to Sacramento
Jabari Parker 2nd


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And the one they hit a home run on was out of the top 10.

[Vampirate]

The answer is still Darko imo, the Pistons missed out on 3 HoF type players.

[bondom34]

Voted Bennett mainly because at the time Darko was getting hype and seemed reasonable. Same for the rest really, from memory Bennett was the only one where people were instantly confused.

[GTR11]

There is one consistent pattern that glare. Those gm's that drafted position of need lose more often than not. I still think best available talent is way to go no matter what type of team sport you pick. Unless that player or people from his camp made it clear they don't want no part of certain franchise. For example NJN wanted Kobe but his ppl made it clear they'd would force trade one's selected. Curry I believe wanted Knicks and that's why Hann picked Rubio and Flynn right after for security reasons.
I wish I could vote three times because those picks where clearly can't miss options. 1a Thabeet over Harden, 1b Oden over KD and Darko over Melo or D.Wade.