Top NBA draft busts

[Stone Cold is Bout It, Bout It]

Just as you really can't call a player selected with one of the top five or six picks overall a "steal," you can't call a player picked after that one of the biggest "busts."

And therefore, the choices for the biggest draft busts of all time were all top five selections.
For example, there are players like Tom Riker, who was selected eighth overall by the New York Knicks in 1972. Riker played exactly 82 games in his NBA career, averaging a robust 2.7 points per game.

He is not one of the biggest busts of all time.

He wasn't even the biggest bust of that year's draft.


1. LaRue Martin, 1st overall, 1972
When the Portland Trail Blazers selected a 7-footer from Loyola University in Chicago as the first overall selection in 1972, they thought they had found their big man to compete with Kareem Abdul Jabbar. It wasn't even close. Martin averaged 4 points per game as a rookie and lasted just four years in the league. The Blazers passed up Bob McAdoo, who could put the ball on the floor and might have been the best shooting big man of all time.


2. Kwame Brown, 1st overall, 2001
 

The Wizards have invested more than $17 million in Kwame Brown the last four years. It has not been a wise investment. 2001 was a deep draft — but not the year to have the No. 1 pick. Brown was tutored by the most dedicated player, Michael Jordan, and the most dedicated coach, Doug Collins. But Brown's lack of production — and at times, effort — remains puzzling. The Wizards would have been better off by selecting a different high school player (Eddy Curry, perhaps), looked to the college ranks (Jason Richardson), or checked the available talent overseas (Pau Gasol).


3. Chris Washburn, 3rd overall, 1986
The Golden State Warriors' selection of Washburn is an even greater failure than the other dismal picks from the Class of '86. Washburn was a 7-footer with athleticism, but everyone saw this train wreck coming. He lasted only one year with the Warriors, and one more in the NBA. He struck out looking for his career (he failed a third drug test and was banned from the league in 1989).


4. Len Bias, 2nd overall, 1986
Boston had just won the NBA championship with one of the greatest teams of all time and had the second pick overall in the draft. They selected a player with Larry Bird's potential. But Bias' Celtics career only lasted hours, and the ink was barely dry on the press release announcing his selection, as he was pronounced dead at 22 years old with cocaine in his system. He had passed a physical examination just weeks earlier, and I'm hesitant to blame the Boston brain trust for this selection. How could they have passed him up? He was deemed a can't-miss prospect, and his college coach, Maryland's Lefty Driesell, called him best player ever to come out of the ACC.


5. Bill McGill, 1st overall, 1962
This was the selection of the Chicago Zephyrs, who took McGill out of the University of Utah. But he was just a journeyman in the NBA. The Zephyrs chose him over Zelmo Beatty, Dave DeBusschere, Jerry Lucas, Leroy Ellis, and John Havlicek.


6. Bill Garnett, 4th overall, 1982
The Dallas Mavericks had the fourth pick in the 1982 draft, and it was a draft rich in talent. The first three picks were "Big Game" James Worthy, Terry Cummings, and Dominique Wilkins. The Mavs selected this 6-9 forward from the University of Wyoming. They passed up players like LaSalle Thompson, Cliff Levingston, Fat Lever, Sleepy Floyd and Trent Tucker. Thompson lasted 15 years in the NBA. Garnett was gone after four seasons, never averaging more than 6.5 points per game.
 


7. Michael Olowokandi, 1st overall, 1998
He has finished seven years in the NBA, and his "career" year (12 points, 9 rebounds per game) came in 2003, the final year of his Clippers contract. There were so many good forwards and guards to come out of that 1998 draft (Mike Bibby, Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce) that the Kandi Man really looks like a bust.


8. Shawn Bradley, 2nd overall, 1993
The Brigham Young project had served two years on a Mormon mission. He played only one year of college ball, leading the nation in blocked shots. And he was irresistible to the 76ers, who chose him over Penny Hardaway or Jamal Mashburn. He's worked hard and lasted 12 years in the league, starting close to 500 games. He couldn't chase the smaller centers, or muscle the bigger ones, but he persevered.


9. Dave Meyers, 2nd overall, 1975
He was a member of John Wooden's last championship team, and was selected after the high-flying David Thompson. The hometown Lakers picked him, then traded him as part of the package to acquire Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Meyers lasted four years with the Bucks, and his selection is considered a bust only because of the four players picked directly behind him. Marvin Webster (the Human Eraser) was a terrific shot blocker. Alvan Adams was one of the best passing big men of all time. Darryl Dawkins lasted 12 years. And Lionel Hollins helped Portland win an NBA championship.


10 (tie). Not total busts
Neal Walk, 2nd overall, 1969: Picked behind Abdul Jabbar, he did last eight years and average 20 points per game in 1973. He wasn't Kareem, but he sure was better than players picked behind him (Terry Driscoll, Larry Cannon, Bob Portman).

Scott May, 2nd overall, 1976 Spent five years with the Bulls, two more in the league, and never the star he was in college. Will his son become the star?

Steve Stipanovich, 2nd overall, 1983 Actually made the All-Rookie team for the Pacers, so not a total bust. He was best known for shooting himself while cleaning his gun. He was a Brad Miller-type of player.

"Never Nervous" Pervis Ellison, 1st overall, 1989 He lasted 11 years, and averaged 20 points per game in 1992.

Sam Bowie, 2nd overall, 1984 He was picked ahead of Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins, Charles Barkley and John Stockton. But Portland had a pretty decent player at shooting guard in Clyde Drexler. They needed size, and Bowie, despite numerous injuries, lasted 10 years in the NBA, averaging 10 points and 9 rebounds for his career.




There are plenty of others in the crapshoot known as the NBA draft. In 1972, Dwight "Double D" Davis was a bust as the third overall pick. Ralph Sampson made a splash, but never became the superstar he was destined to become. Many people felt that Danny Ferry (2nd in 1989) was a bust. If you go down to the 6th overall pick, 1986 selection William Bedford flamed out due to cocaine problems.

It's too early to give up on a player from the 2003 NBA draft, but many people wonder where Darko Milicic (2nd overall) will wind up on this list. He was selected ahead of Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and Dwayne Wade. He hasn't gotten the playing time in his first two seasons, but he's still very young, and very talented. But as Yogi Berra once said about playing left field in Yankee Stadium, "It gets late early out there."



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