Draft mistakes that were obvious in real time…

[Hook_Em]

Marvin Williams over Chris Paul and Deron Williams. Atlanta had no PG and already had a million forwards…

Yi Jianlian over Joakim Noah. Noah being an older prospect hurt his value but he was a proven do everything big men while Yi was a do nothing big man

Hasheem Thabeet over anyone.. drafting a stiff big with bad feet #2 just because it was 2009

Johnny Flynn over Steph Curry…. Curry wasn’t an elite prospect coming out of Davidson but they had just taken a pass first PG in Rubio. Why pair him an undersized guard that couldn’t shoot?

Wesley Johnson #4 and Ekpe Udoh #6.. both 23 year old rookies who were big reaches over younger upside players

Thomas Robinson #5.. a high energy but undersized 4 that couldn’t shoot or play defense. The next 3 picks were Lillard, Barnes and Drummond

What were some other more recent?

[PlatinumState]

Bagley over Doncic
Darko over Wade, Carmelo and Bosh

[BadWolf]

Luka >>

[KuruptedCav]

Anthony Bennett over the field…


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[Funcrusher]

Luka >>

except Trae. At the time Ayton was understandable too and it's not like that decision's hurt PHX in the long run, though Luka would probably be like a super-charged CP3 in Monty's system so actually i dunno abt that one

[Statlanta]

Picking a #6-8th prospect as #1

Cleveland, 2013.

[BigLurch92]

T-wolves taking two PGs at 5 and 6 with Rubio and Flynn was odd.

[cupcakesnake]

You have to remember what people were saying at the time because it's easy to call bad picks bad picks in hindsight. I remember Wesley Johnson, Epke Udoh, and Hasheem Thabeet all having plenty of fans/supporters. There was a logic to drafting each of those guys despite it not turning out. The Bagley pick was bad yeah, but we were all debating whether Luka's athleticism would translate to the NBA.

Off OP's list, I remember Johnny Flynn being thought of as a bad pick in real time. Flynn had supporters, and he had some gutsy performances, but everyone agreed that he didn't have the upside of Rubio, and he was also nowhere near the college player Curry was. (Though people were really worried Curry's game wouldn't translate.) I had Jonny Flynn at 19 on my big board.

I remember Shelden Williams going #5 being a big surprise. I think people had him as a likely lottery pick and most people thought he was going to become a solid starting center (whoops). But when his name came at 5, people were mad that such a low upside pick went so high. Thomas Robinson was a bit like this too, but he had some big supporters due to his advanced stats in college (if memory serves).

Some players that I was really low on ended up being right about: Derrick Williams, Xavier Henry, Jordan Hill, Jahlil Okafor, Ben McLemore. (I have plenty of bad draft takes, so I'm taking my Ws on these guys!)

[Johnny Bball]

Anthony Bennett over the field…


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Wish I could find the Open Gym clip with Ujiri laughing when they picked Bennett.

[Jadoogar]

Picking a #6-8th prospect as #1

Cleveland, 2013.

The next 4 picks were Oladipo, Otto porter, Cody Zeller and Alex len. This was just an awful draft

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[TdotRap4Lyfe]

Anthony Bennett over the field…


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Wish I could find the Open Gym clip with Ujiri laughing when they picked Bennett.

Please someone add it into this thread I want to see it!

[Carlton Banksy]

Rafael Araujo over Iguodala


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[Jasen777]

Pierce's free fall

[Lalouie]

thabeet and it's not even close

draft mistakes are not obvious if several teams pass

[whatisacenter]

Todd Fuller over Kobe Bryant.

[Pachinko_]

You have to remember what people were saying at the time because it's easy to call bad picks bad picks in hindsight. I remember Wesley Johnson, Epke Udoh, and Hasheem Thabeet all having plenty of fans/supporters. There was a logic to drafting each of those guys despite it not turning out. The Bagley pick was bad yeah, but we were all debating whether Luka's athleticism would translate to the NBA.

It was blatantly obvious back then that all those people debating hadn't bothered to watch anything more than 10 min highlights of Luka and/or Bagley. It was literally two different worlds debating about the merits of their leagues and countries, not about those 2 specific players. It was a dumb discussion. And even those professionals whose job is to actually get on a plane and go watch Luka games in person got it wrong, even guys like Peja and Divac who were literally in Luka's shoes once upon a time got it wrong, which shows you how little hope the draft has of getting anything right. The draft is little more than a crapshoot.

[LewisnotMiller]

The entire 1998 draft.

[Petergrifindor]

Luka not being 1 was travesty, more so looking at it from Europe.

[srhcan]

Bruno Caboclo in 2014 Draft by Toronto Raptors. Massai screwed up big time.

[Lalouie]

Anthony Bennett over the field…


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just for some context,,,realizing that there are obvious additions to the nba draft

this was bennett's HIGH SCHOOL top players. note that bennett was a top10 player in that class. pro scouts tend to tether themselves to a high school prospect so you'll often see a hs player given a long leash because the scouts never give up on them.

i believe bennett's hs class might be the worst i've ever seen. say all you want about the players who made it over bennett but imo there was no guarantee in that nba draft. there was no zion or ja

http://www.espn.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/playerrankings/_/class/2012