Top 20 biggest bust in the NBA draft lottery since 2000

I agree, how can you be a bust at such low draft pick number, where such player are rarely considered franchise players or have franchise potential. In basketball, those draft pick rankings are dangerously close to the playoff line, while the best players tend to go in the top 5, usually.

 

Am I the only one who thinks a derailed career by injury still makes you a bust?

Obviously not your fault, but if you're not out there on the court, you're not helping your team. I consider Greg Oden a MASSIVE bust, especially considering Durant was picked right after him.

 

Injuries are not what makes a player a bust, makes him an injured prone. Bust is Hasheem Thabeet. 2nd over all, NEVER INJURED, yet he plays awful. THAT'S A BUST.

 

It shouldn't be a surprise, but the way the degree to which the list is skewed towards big men is the #1 thing I take from the list.

And I'm sorry for bringing it up, but it is relevant to the people who dislike the idea of Dwight Howard.

 

Oden would have made Portlands frontline formidable. Long, athletic and young. The team would be a perennial contender if it hadn't been for his injury.

 

Brandon Roy is a semi bust then. So is everybody in mentioned in this thread:
http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=239073

BTW, does another one else find it funny that two guys named Swift are on the list? And I think Stromile taken so high should be a top 5 bust.

 

There's mainly 2 types of busts. (For lack of better terms)

- Simply UN-talented busts. The PURE bust. No excuses, teams just swung and missed.
- "Added factors" busts. Possible*asterisks busts, some preventative factors in there. (The "ROYCE WHITE" elements.) The types where you can say "What-IF?" the most.

Added factors include things outside of pure skills like injuries, personal choices, personal issues, life reasons. Then business decisions (things like "numbers game", coaching disagreements, contract disputes, trades, etc)

Though STILL those are mostly the PLAYER'S and TEAM'S accountability. So you'd have to still count them as busts.

I'd say the only "added factors" busts they listed are Greg Oden, Shaun Livingston, Jay Williams, maybe Robert Swift.

All the rest of them just didnt have what it takes. Michael Sweetney should have the dedication to fitness to be a professional. Fran Vasquez dilemma is a HEADACHE for teams, and why teams don't draft international players that high anymore. Adam Morrison has diabetes and mood issues but if STEVE NOVAK can make himself into a respectable DEFENDER, then most players can. Coulda carved out a better journeyman niche

 

Stromile was definitely a bust, but that 2000 draft was just putrid. I think for someone to be a bust, they have to be compared with what the team could have had. Here's what Memphis could have picked from that 2000 draft: Mike Miller, Jamal Crawford, Hedo Turkoglu, Quentin Richardson, Jamaal Magloire, DeShawn Stevenson, Eddie House, Eduardo Najera, and Michael Redd.Stro was definitely a bust, but that was just a bad draft class with few impact players.

 

I think injuries CAN count. Because Sam Bowie is considered a bust. Though there doesnt seem to be much consistency to it.

This list has Greg Oden at #2, but oddly Jay Williams at #20. Jay wasnt injury "prone" a risky personal decision did it, but to me its still INJURY reason. And he was the 2nd pick in the draft. Oden showed MUCH more potential than Jay Williams did.

I agree Swift should be higher. He's a PURE bust like Hasheem Thabeet.

But then there's the added context to consider, such as the EXPECTATIONS and HYPE they had coming in. And "Who They COULDA Got" measure, the alternative options being so much BETTER that it RUBS it in more.

That 2000 draft was infamously slim pickings, I think thats what gets Stromile off the hook. Would you have drafted Mike Miller as the #2 pick? Brian Cardinal in the top 10? lol

 

What's the difference, the overall impact on the team is the same. Oden is not a result of some freak injury its an innate shortcoming. As a NBA player Oden is as effective or is that ineffective as Thabeet.

 

He's on there at #3. Just like Thabeet's paragraph, the formatting of the article makes it hard to see.

 

Many of those said busts are tall players 6 foot 8 or taller.

Just goes to show you that being tall and some what athletic is not enough to complete last a decent level in the NBA.

 

No Ekpe Udoh?

 

Someone refresh my memory please.

How did drtroit get the number 2 pick that year?

 

Surprised Eddie Griffin isn't on this list. He was a much bigger bust than Moiso, and by picking him, the Rockets lost a great opportunity for building a deep roster (instead, they went for the talented guy who had punched 2 different teammates and had quit on his Seton Hall team). That lack of depth really hurt once we got Tmac and Yao - I would have loved to have seen this team with Richard Jefferson and Tony Parker.

 

It came from Memphis I think - Detroit had traded them a washed up Otis Thorpe.

 

Michael Beasley and Sebastian Telfair belong on this list.

 

That's a dang good point. Thanks for pointing it out.

That's also why I was not sold on Andre Drummond. I was wrong there......again!

 

That list is incomplete with out Kwame Brown, Darco Melicic and Hasheem Thabeet

 

all 3 of them are on there...