LaRue Martin would like to remind you that he still holds that record and that the Blazers curse is still called the Curse of LaRue (they just had to have a center and chose Martin over Bob McAdoo).Yep. Worst #1 pick ever in any sport.
LaRue Martin would like to remind you that he still holds that record and that the Blazers curse is still called the Curse of LaRue (they just had to have a center and chose Martin over Bob McAdoo).Yep. Worst #1 pick ever in any sport.
It's definitely true that Bennett was part of a pretty bad draft class with no sure things, Giannis' development being completely unforeseeable.Bennett also because it happened so recently and we like to think the pitfalls that had caused other busts in the past would have been easily spotted. With Darko it is easy to see why he was drafted so high; NBA executives didn't understand European basketball very well and everyone wanted the next Dirk. We expect front offices to know better and the scouting process is so thorough, it makes it seem like a huge bust like Bennett wouldn't be possible.
LOL at the teams throwing the ball into the post. What was that about?!?(Also, lol at the shorts).
That Florida team is really the last classic team in college basketball history. They had upperclassmen who were legit NBA prospects, something that basically doesn't exist today. One of the reasons the Oden game is so impressive is that he was only a freshmen going against two great defensive big men upperclassmen in Horford and Noah.LOL at the teams throwing the ball into the post. What was that about?!?
Yep, Olowakandi is another guy like this. His career sucked, mostly because he was uncoachable, but what made it worse was that 3 Hall of Famers were drafted in the top 10 that year (Vince Carter, Paul Pierce and Dirk) and a 4th that could have gone in easily (Antawn Jamison), and Bibby was #2 overall.I wouldn’t consider Bennett the biggest bust since the other options would have also been busts. To me, that isn’t what a bust is. Markelle Fultz is a bust bc they could have had Tatum or even Ball. Darko is a bust as Detroit could have had Carmelo, Wade or Bosh. Again, everyone can have their own opinion on what constitutes a bust but mine
As I said, it was a matter of degrees. Maybe decent is overstating it, but he was a rotation player (for mostly bad teams) for more than a year or two (16+ minutes in 6 seasons). Not counting the 35 total playoff minutes with Detroit he made just one playoff appearance, with a sub .500 Magic team (they were swept in round 1, he played 28.8 mpg).Darko was a decent rotation player for what? He got minites next to Howard, GHill and Turkoglu then got minutes on a couple 20-win teams in Memphis. He was never ever good.
While the above can certainly apply to Bennett, the worst example of bad drafting with successive #1 picks remains the Bengals picking Dan Wilkinson and Ki-Jana Carter #1 in successive draft years.Yep. Worst #1 pick ever in any sport.
I think that you're putting too much import on the fact that Darko got more minutes. Some teams will feed a top draftee minutes in the hope that he figures it out. By any metric, he was an atrocious basketball player. Below replacement level bad. The worst true shooting 7 footer possible. Good at nothing.As I said, it was a matter of degrees. Maybe decent is overstating it, but he was a rotation player (for mostly bad teams) for more than a year or two (16+ minutes in 6 seasons). Not counting the 35 total playoff minutes with Detroit he made just one playoff appearance, with a sub .500 Magic team (they were swept in round 1, he played 28.8 mpg).
Compare that to Bennett, who played just 4 seasons total, never even got to 16 mpg. He didn't have the Darko excuse of being buried on the bench of a title contender, the only time Bennett was on a team that wasn't awful (2016 Raptors), he was waived in March. Darko was a lousy player who nonetheless legitimately belonged in the NBA for awhile. Bennett was not an NBA player.
Ryan Leaf wants to be notified when you’re doing worst #2 pick. He’ll be on the sidelines warming up.Yep. Worst #1 pick ever in any sport.
Yeah, I remember watching that game. Oden was super impressive.That Florida team is really the last classic team in college basketball history. They had upperclassmen who were legit NBA prospects, something that basically doesn't exist today. One of the reasons the Oden game is so impressive is that he was only a freshmen going against two great defensive big men upperclassmen in Horford and Noah.
Two of the worst #1 pick “controversies” were Manning/Leaf and Bledsoe/Mirer.Ryan Leaf wants to be notified when you’re doing worst #2 pick. He’ll be on the sidelines warming up.
It was a 6-player draft at the top. After Oladipo it went Porter, Cody Zeller, Len and Noel. Maybe not complete busts who never made the league but I’d challenge anyone to find a worse Top-6 in modern NBA history. The next three were even McLemore, KCP, and Trey Burke. That’s the Top-9 ouch!!@HomeRunBaker I disagree slightly w/ your assertion that there were just busts behind Bennett. IIRC, the prohibitive favorite for the #1 pick leading up to the draft was Victor Oladipo, who went on to have a decent career derailed by injuries (and it took him a while to really get started).
If Cleveland went chalk with Oladipo, that would have been a perfectly fine and expected pick that didn't work out perfectly, but not a total bust.
Bennett came out of NOWHERE to be 1 overall and I don't think anyone outside of Cleveland thought he should be 1-1. When the news came out, it was definitely an unexpected pick that went against the grain.
All of that is to say that the combination of him being a surprise pick and having zero NBA skills combined with a Jamarcus Russell work ethic have got to make him an elite bust
I didn’t think there would be one that close wow!! I’ll dig later but I think it may be short. Martin and Miller had nice careers.OK, how about the 2000 draft?
Top six are:
Kenyon Martin (a legit starter)
Stromile Swift (bust)
Darius Miles (bust)
Markus Fizer (bust)
Mike Miller (legit rotation/6th man)
DerMarr Johnson (bust)
And no Giannis later to save it!
https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2000.html
Martin and Miller are legit players, but that's a pretty awful top 6. Jamal Crawford at 8 is probably the best guy drafted that year, or Michael Redd.
Smart or Rozier? I take Smart even at the same money, never mind at 5m less per year.
He's really proven the doubters wrong when he got that first deal from Charlotte. IDK if I'd pay him that much, but he's proven to be a pretty good NBA player.
Yeah, I couldn’t have soured on KD more than I have the last 5 years. Almost to the point of being glad he didn’t come to the Celtics (almost). He comes across almost as poorly as Kyrie with regards to the narcissistic personality (sans the other crazy shit). He just seems like a dude that is not happy, despite making $50m a year, being at the top of his profession, and having reasonable success (relatively speaking). I feel like I would hate having a beer with him as he moaned about the media and the lack of respect and how everyone else has fucked things up for him.The amazing thing is that these two guys are so self-obsessed that they insist on continuing to talk about this. It happened years ago.
View: https://twitter.com/samesfandiari/status/1428361026538377223?s=19
Well, the Cs really could have use TRoz's shooting, particularly 3P shooting, last year. Although for a team that should be in the tax for the upcoming seasons, $5M a year does start to make a difference.Smart or Rozier? I take Smart even at the same money, never mind at 5m less per year.
Isn’t that a home run for them? They haven’t won a playoff series since Paul Silas was coaching Baron Davis and Jamaal Mashburb 20 years ago.CHA has locked themselves into a Ball/GH/TR/PJ Washington core for the next several years. Does that get them any higher than a 5 seed? I guess it depends on how good Ball becomes.
Injury situation, I view that a little differently.Brien Taylor?
I think the tough thing with these guys is the, to paraphrase Draymond's well-titled show, "chip" that they wear around is key to success -- be it MJ or KD or Kobe or....Isnt KD kinda like Michael in that respect? (perceived) Disrespect drives him.
Not sure you can turn that off an on. "life is pretty good.....oh wait....naw fuck that....these guys are against me". it works because he believes it.
Good call. Crazy thing about this pick is that any further diligence and background check/PI’s could have avoided this situation.JaMarcus Russell was pretty bad.
I’d say that non-accidental self-inflicted injuries don’t warrant a mulligan.Injury situation, I view that a little differently.
Yeah this is all major revisionist history. Multiple reporters who were close to the Warriors, Ethan Sherwood Strauss comes to mind, had said that the team was basically sick of Durant’s shit but Green was the one who got fed up with him and voiced it. Haley O’Shaughnessy tweeted that she had heard that a few Warriors players went over to Draymonds house during the suspension to thank him for speaking up.KD and Dray admit that the entire incident was traumatic for the team and they needed to work through it and move on...but then blamed Kerr and Myers for trying to get them to work through it and move on. Seems right out of KD's playbook where he blames the fans/media/league/coaches for all the negativity and doesn't accept any blame himself.
I think they are pretty much opposites actually. MJ didn’t care at all what people thought of him. He made up perceived slights to push himself even further.Isnt KD kinda like Michael in that respect? (perceived) Disrespect drives him.
Not sure you can turn that off an on. "life is pretty good.....oh wait....naw fuck that....these guys are against me". it works because he believes it.
Probably not. Barkley maybe.I think they are pretty much opposites actually. MJ didn’t care at all what people thought of him. He made up perceived slights to push himself even further.
Durant cares a lot about what people think about him.
I mean, could you imagine Jordan creating burner accounts to go on Twitter to argue with random fans about how good he is at basketball?
Yep. Strauss's book "The Victory Machine" is a good, quick read that sheds a lot of light on that team's dynamic. Revisionist history is fun but at this point I think even casual NBA observers know how fragile/self-obsessed KD is when it comes to anything involving his ego or image.Yeah this is all major revisionist history. Multiple reporters who were close to the Warriors, Ethan Sherwood Strauss comes to mind, had said that the team was basically sick of Durant’s shit but Green was the one who got fed up with him and voiced it. Haley O’Shaughnessy tweeted that she had heard that a few Warriors players went over to Draymonds house during the suspension to thank him for speaking up.
Not to mention that in this interview they both say that they wanted the situation to be handled in completely different ways (KD wanted the whole team to talk about it, Draymond said that only the two of them needed to talk) yet still manage to blame everyone else.
More of the same shit from KD. Deflect, blame everyone else, take no responsibility but give off the impression of being introspective so everyone will lap it up and talk about how fascinating and vulnerable you are. The guys a fantastic player, the best in the game right now, but I would hate having to root for him. Same with his brother in arms and deflection, Kyzuzu
Can you imagine Jordan launching a multi part documentary so that he could shit on his former teammates and rivals 20 years after the fact?I think they are pretty much opposites actually. MJ didn’t care at all what people thought of him. He made up perceived slights to push himself even further.
Durant cares a lot about what people think about him.
I mean, could you imagine Jordan creating burner accounts to go on Twitter to argue with random fans about how good he is at basketball?