We like talking about the best and worst of drafts, but we always start too early, calling picks busts when they've hardly played 30 games in their career. Then people object that the guy is a project and you have to give him a year under his belt. Once he has a year under his belt, no one talks about him being a bust or not. So, I figured we can take a look now at the guys we were calling busts a year ago (even though it is probably stilll too early). The Draft Class of 2001: 1 Was Kwame Brown 2 Chi Tyson Chandler 3 Atl Pau Gasol 4 Chi Eddy Curry 5 GS Jason Richardson 6 Van Shane Battier 7 Hou Eddie Griffin 8 Cle DeSagana Diop 9 Det Rodney White 10 Bos Joe Johnson 11 Bos Kedrick Brown 12 Sea Vladimir Radmanovic 13 NJ Richard Jefferson 14 GS Troy Murphy 15 Orl Steven Hunter 16 Cha Kirk Haston 17 Tor Michael Bradley 18 bNJ Jason Collins 19 Por Zach Randolph 20 Orl Brendan Haywood 21 Bos Joseph Forte 22 Orl Jeryl Sasser 23 NJ Brandon Armstrong 24 Uta Raul Lopez 25 Sac Gerald Wallace 26 Phi Samuel Dalembert 27 Van Jamaal Tinsley 28 SA Tony Parker I suspect most people will pick Kwame Brown. But I pick Diop. He might actually play pretty well when mature and healthy. But, I knew before the draft that he'd have an injury-riddled career and Cleveland should have known it too. Why risk such a high pick on a guy who very well might have to retire due to injury in a couple of years? Barring injury, though, my pick is Kedrick Brown. No one understood why he'd be a lotto-pick (or even a first round pick) and, frankly, I still don't understand.
Vancouver had a basketball team last season, ummm coulda fooled me. anywayz you took my pick, Kwame Brown was a huge waste for the Wiz. Dasegnia Diop is a close second. This year both of Denver's picks will probably get my vote. Nicloz Tskitshvilli or whatever his name is really sux. And Nene Hilaro isnt much better either. They passed on Amare Stoudimare and Caron Butler for this. This guys are poised to take the Clips place for being the worst franchise in the NBA. And Clyde Drexler wants to coach this. Dont do it Clyde, you deserve better.
Tinsley, Parker, Wallace, Haywood, and Randolph all great picks also, Troy Murphy continues to impress
I have to disagree about Kwame. He has looked MUCH better this year. I think overall he is playing better than Curry, Chandler and Diop. I think Diop is far and away the one player that is the biggest bust because of his development so far has been non-exsistant. I am not sure if he has any skills other than being tall. Kwame is nowhere as impressive as Amare is this year but he has some decent skills. Given time I think he will turn into a Jermaine O'neal type of player. Rodney White is also a player that has been very disappointing. Enough of a disappointment for Detroit to trade him away! Chris
It is absolutely too early. Give a rookie class 5 years before labeling the individuals as "busts". With more and more high schooler players entering the NBA, they will need more time to develop.
Thats a horrible draft class so far. Look at the top 10: Gasol and Richardson are ballas. But it looks like the Rockets did really well at pick 7 with Griffin. Look at the rest of the top 10: Kwame Brown: Has potential, but has struggled at every moment except the preseason. Tyson Chandler: Not bad, but not doing what a #2 should be doing. Still young, but still not that good. Eddie Curry: Look at Chandler and replace "#2" with "#4". Shane Battier: Had a great rookie season, but has kinda fallen off the map this season. Less than 8 points and 5 boards a game. DeSagana Diop: BUST Rodney White: Has shown glimpses of promise, but is very inconsistent. But, with his increased playing time, he is showing that he can score. Joe Johnson: 7 ppg. Nothing special. He is athletic and has talent, but still has a lot of growing to do before he has any impact. That rounds out the top 10. Thats horrible.
Tinsley and Parker were probably the best 2 picks of that draft, considering where they were picked. For this class, it is very early to judge since there were so many lottery high schoolers. I don't think Diop has gotten much of a chance, so I won't include him. Rodney White has shown the least, IMO. I remember the rumors of him going even higher than 9th. Radmanovich, Murphy, Randloph, and Haywood all look like pretty solid picks so far, each could have probably gone higher.
NYKRule, Eddie Griffin is the best defender in that whole class too, on top of the "glimpses" of offense.
Best in the top 10. I agree he's much better than White, but it's not like he has been consistent and has developed an offensive game outside of shooting threes.
Best in the top 10. I agree he's much better than White, but it's not like he has been consistent and has developed an offensive game outside of shooting threes. If the draft went now he'd be 1 or 2 picks higher at most.
I think you can still evaluate the draft after one or two years. The 'best pick' might not be the player who ends up best in ten years time, but rather the one who benefits his team most. Toronto made a 'great pick' with Tracy McGrady, but so what?? By the time he developed he was a free agent and no longer helped the team. Kwame may be like this (in his dreams ), but if it takes him until after his stint with Washington is over to reach his potential, was he really a good #1 pick??? Was Oliwakandi (sp??) a good #1??? Even if he turns into the next Hakeem (he’s still very young), he was a lousy first pick because he'll do that for another team unless the Clips ante up big time.
Don't complain to me about it. It was a cut & paste job. Next time, I'll let you find a list yourself.
I disagree. A bust in sports is defined by an athletes performance for a career (or up until the present date) versus their draft position. Not their draft position versus their performance for their drafted team. Is it McGrady's fault that Toronto gave up on him before he realized his potential? Nope. It was the organization's fault for being shortsighted in their analysis of the player. Hence McGrady isn't a bust, but Toronto looks sheepish. If Brown goes on to a Hall-of-Fame career with a franchise besides Washington, that absolutely doesn't make him a bust. It just makes Wizards executives look silly.
I guess this makes Kobe one of the greatest draft steals ever (at least until his performance this year ). I kind of look at the draft from the teams perspective, and if the player takes too long, or costs too much, then it wasn't such a good pick. I can see your point too. It makes evaluating drafts much easier because there is much less to consider. It also makes it near impossible to evaluate a draft of underclassmen until 5 plus years out (pretty astute observation, huh!). And its not really a good assessment of the general manager's job with the pick.
Forte is my pick, but you're on the right track. I still think that Brown can be a decent contributor for the Celts. His greatest asset is defense; no matchup seems to bother him. Problem is, even with all the athleticism in the world, without any experience he still can't read plays, fight through screens or even get into a shooting rhythm. O'Brien should rest his superstars and give Brown and Bremer some minutes late in the first half.
Kedrick Brown had all world potential coming out of the JUCO ranks. He was extremely raw and was considered a lengthy project when drafted.
So was Diop, I might add. I caught a glimpse of him playing a week or so back, and I could see why Cleveland took a chance on him at #8 -- he's big, athletic, and seemed to have a sense of what was going on out on the floor. Even if all he develops into after several years is something like Erick Dampier is now, you're probably better off drafting a center like that than hoping to get one via trade or free agency. Arguably, they're rarer than good PF/SF/SG players like Jefferson or Troy Murphy.
