People will always remember what a bust Darko was relative to who was drafted after him but people forget that the Pistons were picking as a team who had just lost in the Eastern Conference Finals and who was looking to complement a winning roster. Yes, Darko was still a disappointment but the circumstances of him being picked show why they reached on him. This was a team that needed a defensive stretch 4 and Darko was thought to be one of the better defensive bigs in the draft with potential to have outside range. After the Darko bust, they acquired Rasheed Wallace who became what they wanted for Darko. When you look at it like that, it seems like the Pistons had the right idea...just with the wrong player.
Nah, more like an All NBA Reach team. Big surprise when Rockets picked him at 24. I remember one guru saying he didn't have him in his top 100 players.
Yea, but they should have learned from the mistakes of past franchises. That's like saying that Portland didn't take Jordan because they already had a wing player that was good, so Bowie is still the better choice. Can you imagine that Detroit team with Melo?
What a horrible draft. Easily the worst ever. 1986 was bad because it was a tragedy. 2000 just lacked talent.
<img style="-webkit-user-select: none; cursor: -webkit-zoom-out; " src="http://blog.mlive.com/pistons_impact/2008/07/medium_061212-kwame-brown-dunks-with-lakers.jpg" width="239" height="308"> was it too obvious?
Martell Webster Acie Law Gerald Henderson Evan Turner (still up in air) Xavier Henry (still up in air) Darius Miles (due to injury) Dermarr Johnson Courtney Alexander Trajen Langden DeJaun Wagner There is a list of lottery SG (even if they play PG/SF as well) that were drafted in the 2000s, and are busts.
Jimmer Fredette JJ Reddick Adam Morrison Sheldon Williams Hasheem Thabeet That's a scary NCAA team. You've got two animals in the front court who can block shots and get boards. And Sheldon wasn't a bad scorer. Jimmer was lights out in college, as were Reddick and Morrison.
Wesley Johnson, Hasheem the Dream, Jonny Flynn, Beasley, Oden, Marvin Williams (compared to cp3 and deron), Darko (compared to the class), Jay Williams (huge bust), Kwame, Stromile Swift, Olowokandi, LaFrentz (compared to the class), Joe Smith (compared to class, terrible pick), Shawn Bradley, etc.
I'm gonna take this in a different direction and try to make the best team possible out of some of the worst busts. I'll go with the last 20 year, as I'm most familiar with players from the 90s and aughts. Starters G - Sebastian Telfair (most overhyped NYC point guard ever?) G - O.J. Mayo (I like Mayo's game, I really do, but he was incredibly hyped as a prep star, and Kevin Love, Westbrook, Gallo, and Eric Gordon were drated right after him, in that order) F - Marvin Williams (when you consider that the Hawks were running Tyronn Lue and a washed up Kenny Anderson, passing up on Paul and DWill was borderline criminal) F - Kwame Brown (slightly off-topic, but to bring up the newest Rocket, from what I've seen, Kwame's hands are basically Larry Fitzgerald's compared to Asik's) C - Shawn Bradley (2nd Overall over Penny, Mashburn, Vin Baker, Allan Houston, Sam I Am) Bench G - Bobby Hurley or Jay Williams, whoever you prefer (kind of weird that accidents on the road derailed the careers of both great Duke PGs) G - Shaun Livingston (not an awful player and the knee injury played a part, but when you'r anointed as the next Magic or Penny, you had better at least be decent) F - Joe Smith (Decent enough, but picks 2-5 were McDyess, Stackhouse, Sheed, and KG, not to mention Damon Stoudamire, Kurt Thomas, Theo Ratliff, and Michael Finley) F - Jonathan Bender (4th over Wally World, Richard Hamilton, Andre Miller, Shawn Marion, Jason Terry, Corey Maggette, Metta World Peace, and 4AK7) C - Michael Olowokandi (his predraft measurements actually were ridiculous, I honeslty can't fault Elgin Baylor THAT much for taking the guy. Kandi could have been a damn good player if he wanted to be one)
Bobby Hurley Jay Williams Trajan Langdon Danny Ferry Shelden Williams Chris Washburn is maybe the biggest draft bust of all time.
