Bias is the answer, but he is also not the answer. I am convinced he would have been a really good NBA player.
With OKC, there was a sliver of a moment, a handful of games, when he actually looked like he may be more than a stiff with five fouls to give. Has Thabeet finally turned the corner? some including myself hoped. Then, poof! Disappeared again. For me, Darko was the biggest disappointment because I think he could've been a decent player if he had been drafted by a team that showed him patience and invested in his development. I think those formative years spent on a championship-caliber team that had no idea what to do with such a raw teenager messed him up permanently.
That was definitely a bad pick. I read somewhere once that in the nba 2nd overalls are consistently screwed up, not sure why. Even players that aren't bad (Mike Bibby, Marcus Camby) get picked in front of guys like Ray Allen, Vince Carter
It's rare there's more than 1 "can't miss" prospect in a draft. Second picks are taken on potential much of the time.
How could anyone mention a name other than Sam Bowie. When using hindsight, he is by default the worse draft choice in sports history. Mike Bibby... Now that is the perfect PG to put next to Harden. Morells needs to find the next Bibby.
And Jordan was a better player than anyone, ever. The Rockets are exempt from this criteria because their pick became a Hall of Famer and all time great. Sam Bowie, not so much.
Darko --Lots of talent in that draft passed up for him. Runner up goes to Thabeet. (only because his was a much weaker draft). Tough to put Stromile Swift on the list as the 2000 draft was just pitiful overall, and while Bowie was the biggest miss by far, it was injuries that really took him down rather than talent or attitude.
Thabeet has to be up there. IIRC, he along with other NBA players were in China and they were doing some basic dribbling drill/warm-up, and he was the only one that kept losing the ball. He's a big, but cmon, you're in the NBA getting paid millions and you cant even dribble a ball full court with no defender on you.
Thabeet was just a really tall guy, he really wasn't a basketball player, I still remember when he went to China with Yao for a promotional tour and he couldn't even make hooks in practice drills with no one guarding him. Darko was just wasted talent imo
I wish there was a Sticky thread breaking down the likelihood of getting a player of each quality (bust, rotation player, starter, star, etc.) at each pick (or groups of picks the later you go). First round picks are so overrated, and this thread helps to prove that. Posters drool over a #12 pick here - but look at how many busts are at the #2 spot! That's why I think building strictly through the draft is such a bad idea.
I gotta go with Darko over Thabeet on this one, simply because everybody knew that Thabeet was raw and a huge risk. Darko was supposed to be one of the best players out of Europe ever. Check out this quote from Sports Illustrated in 2003: The dude went from being the best prospect ever to being called "the human victory cigar" by announcers when he got inserted into games for garbage minutes. This for a guy who people were criticizing Cleveland for passing on to take Lebron James.
Sam Bowie unfortunately had his career cut short by injuries but being drafted before MJ gives him extra points and attention as being a huge bust.
To Morey--and I agree--it doesn't really matter how likely a pick can get high quality player. A pick has value as long as other GMs value it. It is just a piece of asset. If it is overrated, then trade it for real players. That's why the #12 spot was coveted over a sure first round playoffs buttkick. Incidentally, I trust Morey in trading the pick for good value than in actually using the pick to pick a good player.
I don't think there is a single person that would have taken him over Lebron. Lebron was the best prospect since KAJ. Nike gave him a 90 million dollar contract before he played a single game. How many rookies got 90 million dollar contracts before playing?
I totally disagree. Bowie could play, his body just gave on him. Thabeet was just awful. My guess is (and I mean no disrespect whatsoever) some of you are young and didn't get a chance to see Bowie play in college.
