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The 2020 NBA Draft is set for November 18th, and the anticipation is always major for the Draft night. However, some teams have made highly questionable choices in the past, which hindered their short-term future as they missed their chance to get All-Star calibre NBA players. One of the biggest NBA Draft mistakes ever seen was the Portland Trail Blazers selecting Sam Bowie ahead of Michael Jordan in the 1984 NBA Draft.
10 Biggest NBA Draft mistakes of the 21st century
In this article, we will look at the 10 Biggest NBA Draft mistakes of the 21st century. The picks on this list are chosen by what other talented athletes were left on the board.
Without further ado, let us start with this infamous list for several NBA franchises.
#10 Marvin Williams - 2nd pick in the 2005 NBA Draft
A 13-69 record in the 2004-05 NBA season meant the Atlanta Hawks got the second pick in the 2005 NBA Draft. The Hawks selected Marvin Williams from North Carolina.
Williams had averaged 11 points and seven rebounds per game for the National Champions UNC in only one year at college. He has had a solid NBA career, playing over 1,000 NBA regular-season games and 58 NBA Playoffs games and averaging 10 PPG, but Williams has never been the central piece of any team.
The issue with this pick is that because the Hawks had a PG crew formed by Tyronn Lue and Royal Ivey, and they selected Williams right in front of All-NBA point guard Deron Williams, and future Hall of Famer Chris Paul.
#9 Thomas Robinson - 5th pick in the 2012 NBA Draft
The Sacramento Kings have made several mistakes in the last few years while analyzing talent, and the 2012 NBA Draft was another case of bad judgment of talent.
The Kings selected Thomas Robinson with the 5th pick in an NBA Draft class with lots of talent.
Robinson had played three years at Kansas before declaring for the NBA Draft, but his NBA career only lasted five years and 313 games for six teams. In fact, he only played 51 games for the Kings before they traded him in his rookie year.
Sacramento used their fifth-spot in the NBA Draft on Robinson, right before five-time All-NBA guard Damian Lillard was selected, while Andre Drummond, Draymond Green, and Khris Middleton were still on the board.
#8 Markelle Fultz - 1st pick in the 2017 NBA Draft
The 2017 NBA Draft class was interesting to watch develop, with the father of probable lottery pick Lonzo Ball, Lavar, making all kinds of noises about his son and the top-seed in the East — the Boston Celtics — having the number one pick.
The Philadelphia 76ers traded up to get the first spot, and the Celtics got the third selection in the NBA Draft. Philadelphia picked Markelle Fultz from Washington, ahead of Ball, who went to the LA Lakers. Boston selected Jayson Tatum, who could be considered the best player from that NBA Draft class.
Fultz played only 33 games for the Sixers in two years, and though he has had a resurgence with the Orlando Magic, he is not at Tatum's level for now.
#7 Michael Beasley - 2nd pick in the 2008 NBA Draft
The Miami Heat had in their hands the second overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, and they selected Michael Beasley from Kansas State.
Beasley had had a monster single-season for Kansas State, averaging 26 points and 12 rebounds per game. However, his NBA career never really went as great, despite one good year for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2010-11 season (averaging 19 PPG).
Beasley played 11 NBA seasons, averaging 12 points and five rebounds per game. Though he did not reach his potential, Beasley's career was not mediocre. Still, the pick was terrible if we consider superstars Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, and even solid pros like Brook Lopez, DeAndre Jordan, and Goran Dragic were on the board.
#6 Darko Milicic - 2nd pick in the 2003 NBA Draft
The pick after LeBron James in the 2003 NBA Draft, Darko Milicic, went to the Detroit Pistons.
Though many would be quick to say this is one of the worst NBA Draft picks ever and possibly the worst since 2000, Detroit's success from 2003 to 2008 will always be one way to downplay this pick.
The 7 ft Serbian center played 468 NBA games, and he even won the NBA championship as a rookie with the Pistons. He averaged six points and four rebounds in 19 minutes per game in his career, but the real issue was being selected in front of Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade.
Even though he entered the NBA with a contending team and had little chances to progress as a player, Milicic will normally be considered a bad pick because he is the only non-All-Star out of the Top-6 picks in his NBA Draft class.
#5 Kwame Brown - 1st pick in the 2001 NBA Draft
One of the most infamous first picks of any NBA Draft, Kwame Brown, was selected by the Washington Wizards in the 2001 NBA Draft.
He was the first high-school player to go first in an NBA Draft and played 607 games in his career. Though he had a long career, Brown is remembered as a mediocre player without any great skill, who underperformed vastly.
Brown was selected ahead of Tyson Chandler and Pau Gasol.
#4 Greg Oden - 1st pick in the 2007 NBA Draft
The Portland Trail Blazers made a reasonable choice with the first pick of the 2007 NBA Draft. Greg Oden was the number one pick out of Ohio State.
Though the pick was not horrible at the moment, Oden's unfortunate injury-plagued career hindered Portland, and he never established himself as the great NBA player he was expected to become.
Oden missed his entire rookie season with a knee injury. He returned and played 61 games in his second year, but he averaged just nine points per game. He then played 21 games before missing three full seasons and played his last 23 NBA games with the 2013-14 Miami Heat.
The pick that followed Oden was Kevin Durant to the then-Seattle Supersonics (now OKC Thunder). Even if Oden turned out to have an injury-free career, his chances of being a league MVP and one of the greatest scorers in NBA history were not as good as Durant's.
#3 Anthony Bennett - 1st pick in the 2013 NBA Draft
The Cleveland Cavaliers were usually in the Top 5 of the NBA Draft after LeBron James left in 2010. However, in the 2013 NBA Draft, they made one of their worst picks.
With Victor Oladipo tipped as the likely #1 pick, Cleveland made a shocker and chose Anthony Bennett from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Bennett was the first Canadian player to be selected first in an NBA Draft, but his NBA career lasted just four seasons (151 games - four starts), and he averaged four points and three rebounds per game.
Oladipo, on the other hand, is a two-time NBA All-Star with averages of 17 points, five rebounds, and four assists per game.
#2 Hasheem Thabeet - 2nd pick in the 2009 NBA Draft
Hasheem Thabeet played three years at UConn, averaging 10 points and nine rebounds per game in 100 appearances. Those numbers were enough to convince the Memphis Grizzlies to select him in the second spot of the 2009 NBA Draft.
Thabeet played a career-high 68 games in his rookie season and averaged three points on 13 minutes per game. From that point on, he played just four other NBA seasons for three different teams without much impact.
After the 2013-14 NBA season, Thabeet was out of the NBA. This was one of the worst NBA Draft selections ever, as he was selected in front of two fure NBA MVPs, James Harden and Stephen Curry, Rookie of the Year winner Tyreke Evans and All-Stars DeMar DeRozan, Jrue Holiday, and Jeff Teague.
#1 Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn - 5th and 6th pick in the 2009 NBA Draft
Ricky Rubio is still a solid NBA point guard, having played 563 NBA games and averaging 11 points and eight assists per game. However, the Spanish PG was part of the worst choices made by a team in the NBA Draft since 2000.
Rubio was picked fifth in the 2009 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves, while Jonny Flynn was selected sixth by the same team. The two picks were immediately before future Hall of Famer, and two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry went to the Golden State Warriors.
The worst part is Minnesota selecting two point guards ahead of an all-time Top-2 PG. While Rubio turned to be a better player than Fynn, he made his NBA debut in 2011 for Minnesota.
Rubio is currently playing for the Phoenix Suns, Fynn has been out of the NBA for eight years, and Curry is a three-time NBA champion and looking for even more with Golden State.
