With all the talk about KD becoming the best player from this draft, becuase he will have a chip on his shoulder, take a look at this: 2005: Marvin Williams (#3 Chris Paul, #4 Deron Williams) 2003: Darko Milicic (#3 ‘Melo, #4 Bosh, #5 D.Wade) 2002: Jay Williams (out of the league, tragedy) 2001: Tyson Chandler (#3 Pau Gasol) 2000: Stro Swift (true 2000 is the worst draft EVER, but still… Stro Swift?) 1999: Steve Francis (#3 Baron Davis) 1997: Keith van Horn (3# Chauncey Billups) 1996: M. Camby (tons of injuries) 1995: McDyess (tons of injuries) 1993: Shawn Bradley 1989: Danny Ferry (#3 Sean Elliott) 1986: Len Bias (death, tragedy) 1985: Wayman Tisdale (later: X-Man, Shrempf, Chris Mullin, Karl Malone, Oakley, Joe Dumars, Terry Porter) 1984: Sam Bowie (#3 M. Jordan) 1983: Steve Stipanovich (3#R. McGray, #4 Byron Scott) 1982: Terry Cummings (#3 Dominique) 1980: Darrell Grifith (#3 Kevin McHale) The rest, that turned out OK to great: 2004: Okafor 1998: Bibby 1994: J.Kidd 1992: Zo 1991: Kenny Anderson (OK pick in a poor draft) 1990: G.Payton 1988: Rick Smits 1981: Isiah 2006 is too early to call...
that one hell of a list but i think 2005 is too early to call as i remember marvin willams put 20 points on us
Good list. Two corrections, however. Terry Cummings was no slouch. His career was as good as Dominique's. Sam Bowie's problem was primarily injuries. Jordan would make any #2 pick look bad.
For the first 9 or 10 seasons of his career, Cummings was every bit worthy of the #2 pick, and maybe even the #1 pick (his stats were better than Worthy's). IIRC, Cummings had a nasty knee injury after his first few years with the Spurs and returned just a shell of his former self.
Even with some corrections, this is still an impressive list. It seems #3 turns out better than #2 most of the time. Interesting.
This draft is an exception because Oden and Durant, IMO, aren't #1 and #2. They're more like #1A and #1B. Portland can feel good about any pick they make RIGHT NOW because each player deserves to be number one. How they play and perform over their careers...that we will have to wait and see..but right now, Portland can't lose with either one.
steve francis wasn't okay? he was a three time all star and co-rookie of the year. I understand the last two seasons have been forgetable, but to lump him in with a group of cursed athletes is sort of stretching. he and baron have had similar careers, baron's had a good year last year but he's been injury prone his entire career.
I was going to start a thread about underrated eighties players a couple of weeks ago. number one on my list was going to be terry cummings. I was a huge fan of his game as a kid. played in an unfortunate era of great teams. his division included jordan and isiah, that's rough.