'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The NBA Draft classes tend to feature superstar-caliber players who go on to win several accolades in the NBA and etch their names in the competition's history books. Two such NBA Draft classes were 1984 and 2003, to name a few. However, some NBA Draft classes have produced massively underwhelming players.
Five worst NBA Draft classes in the 21st century
The NBA Draft provides teams the opportunity to select potentially transcendent players in the hope that they would go on to change the fortunes of the franchises. However, that does not always happen. Players emerging from a few NBA Draft classes did not live up to the expectations of franchises or their fans.
In the first 16 NBA Draft nights of this century, only three produced a player apiece who went on to garner All-Star and All-NBA selections. That can make the evaluation of an NBA Draft class a challenging proposition.
There might be hidden talent among late entrants in the first round or in the second round of an NBA Draft. However, the absence of solid performances from the top-five selections in a draft class tends to downgrade the quality of the said NBA Draft.
Without further ado, let's have a look at the five-worst NBA Draft classes of the 21st century.
#5 2004 NBA Draft
Though Dwight Howard was the first overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft, that class largely underwhelmed in terms of the players it produced.
Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon, Shaun Livingston, Devin Harris and Josh Childress followed Howard. Though they turned out to be solid NBA pros, none of them achieved superstar status, with only one (Harris) making an All-Star team.
The rest of that NBA Draft class gave us Luol Deng, Andre Iguodala, Al Jefferson, JR Smith, Jameer Nelson, Tony Allen and Kevin Martin. They were decent players but were not stunning.
In fact, Howard is the only player of the 2004 NBA Draft to have gone on to have All-Star and All-NBA selections in his career. Of course, Iguodala has one Finals MVP award to his name, and Tony Allen was a tremendous defender too, but overall, the class was largely a forgettable one.
There were as many as 13 players in this NBA Draft who did not play a single NBA game, which is the second-most in the 21st century (behind that of the 2015 NBA Draft class, which had as many as 15 players who did not play a match in the NBA).
#4 2002 NBA Draft
Yao Ming was the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft. While there is no doubt about Ming's pedigree as a player - he was a Hall of Famer and an All-Star in every year of his career - those who followed him in that NBA Draft were far from being superstars.
Jay Williams, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Drew Gooden, Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Dajuan Wagner, Nene Hilario and Chris Wilcox were selected between Yao Ming and Amar'e Stoudemire (ninth pick).
Ming, Stoudemire and second-rounder Carlos Boozer were the only players of this NBA Draft class who went on to have All-Star and All-NBA selections. Tayshaun Prince (23rd) and Caron Butler (tenth overall pick) had solid but unspectacular careers.
#3 2013 NBA Draft
The 2013 NBA Draft class was not great, but the worst part about that class was the general poor judgement of talent by NBA executives.
Out of the two NBA Draft rounds, only three players made it to All-Star games and earned All-NBA selections. However, only one of those players - Victor Oladipo - was a high pick. Two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year winner Rudy Gobert were selected 15th and 27th in this NBA Draft class.
In this NBA Draft class, the Cleveland Cavaliers selected Canadian Anthony Bennett with the first overall pick. However, Bennett went on to play only 151 NBA games with four teams, averaging four points and three rebounds per game.
#2 2006 NBA Draft
The 2006 NBA Draft consisted of four players who earned selections to All-Star and All-NBA teams in their careers. They were LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, Rajon Rondo and Kyle Lowry.
However, the performances of Andrea Bargnani (first), Adam Morrison, Tyrus Thomas, Shelden Williams, Patrick O'Bryant, Mouhamed Sene and Hilton Armstrong among the Top-12 picks downgraded the pedigree of this NBA Draft class.
Bargnani was not a terrible player in the NBA but never lived up to his first-pick status. Similarly, the rest of the players mentioned along with him also did not go on to have stellar careers in the competition.
The fact that these guys were selected ahead of the likes of Rondo, Lowry, Paul Millsap and JJ Barea, with CJ Watson going undrafted, reflected the general poor judgement of talent by executives of various teams in this NBA Draft.
#1 2000 NBA Draft
It is difficult to find an NBA Draft class filled mostly with role players, but the 2000 NBA Draft fits that box.
The numer one overall pick, Kenyon Martin, had a solid NBA career, but he never really made the kind of impact many first overall draft picks had before or after him. Only Michael Redd (43rd pick) was selected to an All-Star Game and the All-NBA team during his career.
Jamaal Magloire and Martin were the only other players to make an All-Star team from this NBA Draft class, with both doing so only once apiece.
Made up of mostly role players, the 2000 NBA Draft class did have three-time Sixth Man of the Year Award winner Jamal Crawford, who scored more than 19,000 points in his NBA career and is still active in the competition.
Also read: NBA Draft 2020: Ownership pressure could force Golden State Warriors to pick LaMelo Ball; James Wiseman favorite to go No. 1 overall.
