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A historical draft special...

As the NBA draft approaches this Wednesday, and with it, a draft class that has been unanimously maligned for being underwhelming, I got to thinking about some of the greatest and worst drafts in NBA history. While we all know about the legacies of ’84, ’96, and ’03, what other drafts were loaded with enough stars to be spoken of in the same haughty breath as that triumvirate? Or what long-forgotten drafts have aged poorly enough to have withered in our memories? What I found were some long-lost surprises on both sides, and one relatively recent draft whose stink may never fade. After an eye-reddening amount of scrutiny over several days, I have finally whittled the list down to my top-five and bottom-five drafts of all time. While there is a wealth of data to follow, my hope was to structure this in a way that allows you to refer to separate data points to compare and contrast.

The reality, of course, is that no ranking can ever be truly objective, but I did my best to lay out an argument based on statistics and accolades. Players are first listed by the draft number they were selected at for their respective drafts. All players listed as Hall of Famers are based on their playing careers. I did not consider statistics or awards that were unavailable during any listed player’s career, sorry blocks, steals, Defensive Player of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, and Most Improved Player. Statistics for a player’s career reflect only the regular season numbers, as the massive differences in playoff games played as the league has extend the postseason favors recent players far too much. I aggregated statistics and awards from the ABA, as I felt it only fair to the collection of great players who participated in that parallel league for stretches of their careers. While I have a complicated relationship with how much I value All-Star game appearances, in a conversation of greatness, it is undeniable that making it to an All-Star team in a given year is mostly reflective of a player in the midst of a standout season. The numbers outlining All-Star appearances reflect the number of individuals selected at least once, followed by the number of cumulative selections, and then the individual’s number of times being selected themselves. The win share numbers are those from Basketballreference.com, as I like their model for computing win shares for players who played prior to the tracking of turnovers. I list win shares in part as an acknowledgment of a player’s longevity being a very fundamental component in assessing their greatness, but, the number 70 is used as the benchmark for win shares because it was often the line of demarcation between very good players and guys who just lasted. I went as far back as the very first NBA draft in 1950 and stopped considering drafts as of 2014, as I thought it unfair to judge a draft whose players have not had substantial enough time for me to make a proclamation about who they are historically. Since some of the bad drafts get pretty bleak, and I always hope to end on a high note, we’ll begin with the worst draft classes of all time. Try to keep your eyes open, it’s going to get ugly. List goes from least worst to best, if that makes any damn sense.

5. 1973 Draft

Hall of famers: George McGinnis (22^nd)

Other notables: Doug Collins (1^st), Kermit Washington (5^th), Swen Nater (16^th), Caldwell Jones (32^nd), Larry Kenon (50^th), “Super John” Williamson (96^th)

• All-star appearance (6/19): McGinnis (6), Kenon (5), Collins (4), Nater (2-ABA), Jones (1-ABA), Washington (1)

• 70+ win shares (1): McGinnis (74.6)

• 20,000 points (0)

• 15,000 points (1): McGinnis (17,009)

• 20 points per game for their career (1): McGinnis (20.2)

• 15 points per game for their career (4): McGinnis (20.2), Collins (17.9), Williamson (17.5), Kenon (17.2)

• Top-50 points all-time (0)

• Top-50 assists all-time (0)

• Top-50 rebounds all-time (0)

• MVP awards (1): McGinnis (’75-ABA)

• Top-75 players (0)

While ’73 alums McGinnis, Jones, Nater, Williamson, and Collins were all well-regarded players among their peers and those who intimately follow the game, only McGinnis was impactful enough to warrant a Hall of Fame induction. Even aggregating the ABA and NBA careers for players like Williamson, Kenon, Jones, Nater, and McGinnis does not inspire much regarding statistical profiles. Only three players from this draft scored more than 10,000 career points—McGinnis (17,009), Kenon (12,954), and Jones (10,241). “Big George,” the player most regarded from this class and considered a physical specimen of the highest order, was often maligned for his lack of concern for winning—most explicitly highlighted by a career average of four turnovers a game from the power forward position. McGinnis’ reputation as just good enough to let you down feels apt for this group of players who never quite met the high expectations they entered the league with.

4. 1975 Draft

Hall of famers: David Thompson (1^st)

Other notables: Marvin Webster (3^rd), Alvan Adams (4^th), Daryl Dawkins (5^th), Lionel Hollins (6^th), Gus Williams (20^th), World B. Free (23^rd), Dan Roundfield (28^th)

• All-star appearance (6/13): Thompson (1-ABA, 4), Roundfield (3), Williams (2), Adams (1), Free (1), Hollins (1)

• 70+ win shares (1): Alvan Adams (73.5)

• 20,000 points (0)

• 15,000 points (1): Free (17,955)

• 20 points per game for their career (2): Thompson (22.7), Free (20.3)

• 15 points per game for their career (3): Thompson (22.7), Free (20.3), Williams (17.1)

• Top-50 points all-time (0)

• Top-50 assists all-time (0)

• Top-50 rebounds all-time (0)

• MVP awards (0)

• Top-75 players (0)

The late ‘70s and early ‘80s were blighted by rampant cocaine use in the league. A direct result of this was a wealth of talented players like David Thompson, whose flames didn’t burn as bright or as long as they should have. Even without the scourge of drugs, the ’75 draft wasn’t brimming with superstar talent after Thompson anyway. But what the ’75 class may have lacked in overall talent, it more than made up for in terms of personalities. With Dawkins, Free, and Thompson, this group might not beat out other drafts in terms of skill on the floor, but they would not be outdone in a battle of personalities.

3. 1990 Draft

Hall of famers: Gary Payton (2^nd)

Other notables: Derrick Coleman (1^st), Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (3^rd), Tyrone Hill (11^th), Jayson Williams (21^st), Elden Campbell (27^th), Toni Kukoč (29^th), Antonio Davis (45^th)

• All-star appearance (6/11): Payton (6), Ceballos (1), Coleman (1), Davis (1), Hill (1), Williams (1)

• 70+ win shares (1): Payton (145.5)

• 20,000 points (1): Payton (21,813)

• 15,000 points (1): Payton (21,813)

• 20 points per game for their career (0)

• 15 points per game for their career (2): Coleman (16.5), Payton (16.3)

• Top-50 points all-time (1): Payton (#44, 21,813)

• Top-50 assists all-time (1): Payton (#11, 8,966)

• Top-50 rebounds all-time (0)

• MVP awards (0)

• Top-75 players (1): Gary Payton

Much like in his career, Gary Payton is putting in work, because boy, this draft is rough. Payton is the only member from this group to be selected to an All-Star team more than once. This class did have several productive big men, and Abdul-Rauf was a player who could light you up on any given night, but this group just offers very little to get excited about once “The Glove” comes off. When your leading scorer in terms of career points per game is a guy considered by many to be a bust in Derrick Coleman, you’re probably not killing it as a draft class.

2. 1988 Draft

Hall of famers: Mitch Richmond (4^th)

Other notables: Danny Manning (1^st), Rik Smits (2^nd), Hersey Hawkins (6^th), Rony Seikaly (9^th), Dan Majerle (14^th), Rod Strickland (19^th), Anthony Mason (53^rd)

• All-star appearance (6/14): Richmond (6), Majerle (3), Manning (2), Hawkins (1), Mason (1), Smits (1)

• 70+ win shares (5): Hawkins (90.6), Mason (88.3), Strickland (85.8), Richmond (79.3), Majerle (78.5)

• 20,000 points (1): Richmond (20,947)

• 15,000 points (1): Richmond (20,947)

• 20 points per game for their career (1): Richmond (21.0)

• 15 points per game for their career (1): Richmond (21.0)

• Top-50 points all-time (0)

• Top-50 assists all-time (0)

• Top-50 rebounds all-time (0)

• MVP awards (0)

• Top-75 players (0)

Players taken in the ‘88 draft spent nearly their entire careers in the offensive wasteland that was the ’90s, so the lack of scoring in this group doesn’t come as much of a surprise. But what’s stark is just the lack of star power in this draft overall. Mitch may have been “The Rock” way before Dwayne, but he was far from ever being a superstar, even though he has top billing amongst this group of B-listers. Manning’s career was felled by bad knees, but even if he had been able to fulfill more of his promise, this is mostly just a group of solid players capable of a few flashes of something more.

1. 2000 Draft

Hall of famers: N/A

Other Notables: Kenyon Martin (1^st), Mike Miller (5^th), Jamal Crawford (8^th), Hedo Türkoğlu (16^th), Quentin Richardson (18th), Jamal Magloire (19^th)

• All-star appearance (3/3): Magloire (1), Martin (1), Redd (1)

• 70+ win shares (0)

• 20,000 points (1): Crawford (19,419)

• 15,000 points (1): Crawford (19,419)

• 20 points per game for their career (0)

• 15 points per game for their career (1): Michael Redd (19.0)

• Top-50 points all-time (0)

• Top-50 assists all-time (0)

• Top-50 rebounds all-time (0)

• MVP awards (0)

• Top-75 players (0)

Rare is the draft from which little historical value can be extracted, but aside from J-Crossover’s longevity, this bunch is pretty rough to remember. The three individual players making an All-Star Game appearance are tied with the ‘68, ‘97, and ‘13 drafts for the fewest since ‘60. But whereas the three players from ’68 (Hayes, Kauffman, Unseld), ’97 (Billups, Duncan, and McGrady), and ’13 (Antetokounmpo, Gobert, and Oladipo) combined for 20, 27, and 13 total All-Star team selections respectively, the players from the ’00 draft were each bestowed the honor just once. The dearth of scoring and significant statistical markers, along with the fact that not a single star was among the class, places the ’00 draft squarely atop the heap of worsts in NBA history.