At or before the draft these are players in recent memory that I was very high on who weren't necessarily predicted to go 1st overall. James Harden Perry Jones Giannis Antetokounmpo Demarcus Cousins Donatas Motiejunas Ricky Rubio Nic Batum Kawhii Leonard
Good (Players who I thought would be good and turned out alright) (Obvious crowd) NBA Jerry Stackhouse, Rasheed Wallace, Allen Iverson, KG, Tim Duncan, Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter, Paul Pierce, Elton Brand, Baron Davis,Yao Ming, Lebron, Melo, Bosh,Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Dwight Howard, Kevin Durant, Al Horford, Kevin Love, James Harden, Blake Griffin, Stephen Curry,and DeMarcus Cousins. NFL Peyton Manning, Randy Moss, Charles Woodson, Donovan McNabb, Richard Seymour, Marcus Stroud, Andre Johnson, Eli Manning, Phillip Rivers, Larry Fitzgerald, Sean Taylor, Vernon Davis, Adrian Peterson, Patrick Willis, Calvin Johnson, AJ Green, Julio Jones, Patrick Petersen,Dez Bryant, Andrew Luck....Sheldon Richardson (Not-so obvious) NBA: Michael Finley, Monta Ellis, Matt Harpring, Rashard Lewis - Houston, Gerald Wallace, Carlos Boozer, Al Jefferson, Rudy Gay, Arron Affalo, DeAndre Jordan (I was in the crowd that moaned over Joey Dorsey...it was a pick that Morey missed), Andre Drummond, Ty Lawson, Jeff Teague, Nikola Vucevic, (Morris over Leonard, because he is the next Melo, PP, or at worst, Big Dog) , Evan Fournier, Michael Carter Williams, Nicolas Batum, Giannis Antetokounmpo NFL: Willis McGahee (injury drop his stock)... Cam Newton, Ryan Tannenhill, Alshon Jeffreys (he fell hard in thedraft, most mock drafts had him mid 1st round and unstoppable in the SEC), Eddie Lacy, and Alex Okafor. Jake Long/Matt Ryan (not sure why Miami passed on Ryan, but people kept insisting that they didn't have an OL...which was a dumb reason then and now) (I saw bust potential) NBA: Robert Traylor, Antonio Daniels, Tony Battie, Michael Olowokandi comparing him to a young Dream, Raef Lafrentz, Michael Doleac, nearly everyone 2000 and 2001 NBA draft, Marvin Williams, Charlie Villanueva, Sean May, Rashard McCants, Adam Morrison, Shelden Williams, Joe Alexander, Hasheem Thabeet, Jordan Hill, Terrence Williams, Tristan Thompson, Bismack Biyombo, Jimmer Fredette, Otto Porter, Alex Len, Anthony Bennett, Ben McLemore, Shabazz Muhamad, and Kentavious Caldwell Pope. NFL Tim Tebow, Rex Grossman, Joey Harrington, Roy Williams (good receiver not spectacular, and going to Detroit), Matt Leinart, Mark Sanchez, Michael Crabtree, Sam Bradford (his health coming out of school and going to an awful team), Jake Locker/ Blaine Gabbert (I still laugh at you people who thought they would be better than Cam), Trent Richardson (too high, still could be decent back); the top 8 picks in 2013, except Mingo, Johnson, and Ansah...most of these guys were drafted on potential and flashy combine numbers...Fisher and Jordan. Not quite sure crowd (I thought would be great or really good list, but had decent careers): Reggie Bush, Ricky Williams, Carson Palmer, Javon Walker, Donte Stallworth, Kellen Winslow Jr., Matt Schaub, Cadillac Williams, Cedric Benson, Jay Cutler, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Stephon Marbury, Zydranus Illgauskas, Kenyon Martin, Josh Howard, Josh Smith, Tyreke Evans, Brandon Jennings Too early to tell Star Lotulei, Kenny Vaccaro, Jarvis Jones, and Alec Olgetree. Bad (Players who I thought would be mediocre and turned out alright) NBA: Bob Sura, Antoine Walker, Chris Kaman, Devin Harris, Eric Gordon, Roy Hibbert (verdict is still out), Gerald Henderson, Damian Lillard (serviceable, not as good as he is) NFL Pacman Jones (because he was knucklehead) Ugly (Players who I thought would be fantastic and they were ... y'know) NBA: Joe Smith, Chauncey Billups (tricky...because initially he was a bust ), Brevin Knight, Lamar Odom (I saw him as career all-star...know he's a Kardashian throwaway), Eddy Curry, Tyson Chandler (not a 20-10 player as I predicted), Eddie Griffin, Dan Dickau, Frank Williams, Darko Mlicic, Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon, Shaun Livingston, Raymond Felton, Randy Foye, Yi Jianlian, Michael Beasley, Anthony Randolph, Derrick Favors, Ekpe Udoh, Xavier Henry, Jordan Crawford, Derrick Williams, Jan Vesley, Jeremy Lamb, Arnett Moultrie NFL David Carr, Brady Quinn, Kyle Orton, Courtney Brown, Robert Gallery, Thomas Davis, Odell Thurman, David Pollack, Darren McFadden, Rolando McClain, and Derrick Morgan
Davis: Duncan type star (but not in a good position to win) Beal & Derozan: good mid-range shooters with potential to be top 3 SG Butler & Leonard: Hard working low key players willing to put defence as their top priority, with big rooms and potential to improve their offensive skills
I remember going to the '92 Rockets draft party and the crowd with me right in the middle chanting - "Draft Harold Miner". And then, they draft some guy named Robert Horry. Yep - I was upset because we had just missed on the second coming of Michael Jordan. Oops!! :grin:
I should've put this in the OP. Post players not yet in the league that you're high on. Someone you've been following for years and think they'll be stars one day. I remember watching Austin Rivers as a junior in HS thinking he was Dwade with a 3pt shot, still think he could be. Really the only one I can think of right now is Jabari Parker, but we could all probably say him. Time for me to find some new players to follow lol
Austin Croshere, one of the greats! <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/H0jIgGE55x4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Chandler Parsons while everyone here was mad that he was getting playing time over Mook and Terrence Williams. Although Mook turned out a lot better than I thought he would when he was languishing in the D-League. I thought he was destined for China.
I was in the minority that would have taken Durant over Oden as well. I never bought into the hype surrounding Oden. I thought maybe he'd turn out to be a slightly better version of Tyson Chandler because his offensive game was so limited. However, I didn't expect him to become this much of a bust.
Nothing earth shattering. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=165342 http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=87848
I went to a Mountain West school while Kawhi Leonard was playing, so I watched him a lot. I didn't expect him to be this good at the NBA level; I thought Parsons would edge him out, but I would take Kawhi over Parsons today. Never thought Demarcus Cousins would develop. Or Whiteside, Bynum, or Thabeet, or these other bigs people get enamored by.
I remember wanting K.Leonard so bad, i was sure he would have gone top 8 pick. Was jumping up and down with excitement when the suns drafted Markieff, knowing we would get Leonard. Was so disappointed when we picked Marcus
Got snubbed. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/P_2UpQwANfE?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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