By Jeff Fox

foxyjj@sympatico.ca

June 12th, 2006

NBA Draft: Ranking the Lottery-Era Drafts

The best and worst drafts of the past 21 years

This month’s NBA Draft marks the 22^nd year that a lottery was used to determine which teams got the top picks.  While this year’s edition of the draft doesn’t appear to have a franchise superstar in it, it is a draft deep with talent.  But where will it rank in the history of the lottery era drafts?  Time will tell, but for the meantime here is how the drafts in the past 21 years stack up.

21) 2000

Studs

#1 – New Jersey – Kenyon Martin – Cincinnati – 409 gms, 14.9ppg, 7.4rpg, 1.3bpg

#8 – Chicago – Jamal Crawford – Michigan – 393 gms, 13.0ppg, 3.9apg, 2.7rpg

#17 – Seattle – Desmond Mason – Oklahoma State – 465 gms, 12.6ppg, 4.5rpg, 1.6apg

#19 – Charlotte – Jamaal Magloire – Kentucky – 425 gms, 9.5ppg, 7.8rpg, 1.1bpg

#43 – Milwaukee – Michael Redd – Ohio State – 392 gms, 19.3ppg, 4.2rpg

Duds

#4 – Chicago – Marcus Fizer – Iowa State – 289 gms, 9.6ppg, 4.6rpg, 1.2apg

#6 – Atlanta – DerMarr Johnson – Cincinnati – 300 gms, 6.6ppg, 2.4rpg, 1.0apg

#10 – Clippers – Keyon Dooling – Missouri – 327 gms, 6.3ppg, 2.0apg, 1.3rpg

#11 – Boston – Jerome Moiso – UCLA – 145 gms, 2.7ppg, 2.7rpg, 0.5bpg
#12 – Dallas – Etan Thomas – Syracuse – 282 gms, 6.2ppg, 5.0rpg, 1.1bpg
#13 – Dallas – Courtney Alexander – CS Fresno – 187 gms, 9.0ppg, 2.2rpg

Consensus

Even with second round pick Redd turning out to be a star this draft is still a stinker.  Look at all the lottery picks that turned out to be duds (6) and Martin will never be a franchise player.

20) 1989

Studs

#3 – San Antonio – Sean Elliott – Arizona – 742 gms, 14.2ppg, 4.3rpg, 2.6apg

#4 – Miami – Glen Rice – Michigan – 1000 gms, 18.3ppg, 4.4rpg, 2.1apg

#12 – New Jersey – Mookie Blaylock – Oklahoma – 889 gms, 13.5ppg, 6.7apg

#14 – Golden State – Tim Hardaway – UTEP – 867 gms, 17.7ppg, 8.2apg

#17 – Seattle – Shawn Kemp – Trinity Valley CC – 1051 gms, 14.6ppg, 8.4rpg

Duds

#1 – Sacramento – Pervis Ellison – Louisville – 474 gms, 9.5ppg, 6.7rpg, 1.6bpg

#2 – Clippers – Danny Ferry – Duke – 917 gms, 7.0ppg, 2.8rpg

#5 – Charlotte – J.R. Reid – North Carolina – 672 gms, 8.5ppg, 5.0rpg

#6 – Chicago – Stacey King – Oklahoma – 438 gms, 6.4ppg, 3.3rpg

#8 – Dallas – Randy White – Louisiana Tech – 281 gms, 7.4ppg, 4.9rpg

Consensus

Five busts for lottery picks, including the top 2 selections.  Hardaway has a shot at the hall of fame, as would have Kemp if his game continued to blow up instead of his weight.

19) 2005

Studs

#1 – Milwaukee – Andrew Bogut – Utah – 82 gms, 9.4ppg, 7.0rpg, 2.3apg

#4 – New Orleans – Chris Paul – Wake Forest – 78 gms, 16.1ppg, 7.8apg, 5.1rpg

#5 – Charlotte – Raymond Felton – North Carolina – 80 gms, 11.9ppg, 5.6apg, 3.3rpg

#7 – Toronto – Charlie Villanueva – Connecticut – 81 gms, 13.0ppg, 6.4rpg, 0.8bpg

#8 – New York – Channing Frye – Arizona – 65 gms, 12.3ppg, 5.8rpg, 0.7bpg

Duds

#10 – Lakers – Andrew Bynum – High School – 46 gms, 1.6ppg, 1.7rpg

#11 – Orlando – Fran Vasquez – Spain – 0 gms – stayed in Europe

#12 – Clippers – Yaroslav Korolev – Russia – 24 gms, 1.1ppg, 0.5rpg

Consensus

With this draft still being so fresh it is extremely difficult to project whom the studs and the duds are.  However, Paul has already shown that he will be an all-league performer for years to come (and possible hall of famer).  While the rest of the studs all had good rookie years, I’m not sure if we have any future hall of famers in the bunch.

18)  1986

Studs

#1 – Cleveland – Brad Daugherty – UNC – 548 gms, 19.0ppg, 9.5rpg, 3.7apg

#25 – Dallas - Mark Price – Georgia Tech – 722 gms, 15.2ppg, 6.7apg, 1.2spg

#27 – Detroit – Dennis Rodman – Southeastern Oklahoma State – 911 gms, 7.3ppg, 13.1rpg

#46 – Phoenix – Jeff Hornacek – Iowa State – 1077 gms, 14.5ppg, 4.9apg, 3.4rpg

#60  - Portland – Drazen Petrovic – Croatia – 290 gms, 15.4ppg, 2.4apg, 2.3rpg

Duds

#2 – Boston – Len Bias – Maryland – 0 gms - died of a drug overdose

#3 – Golden State – Chris Washburn – North Carolina State – 72 gms, 3.1ppg, 2.4rpg

#5 – New York – Kenny Walker – Kentucky – 448 gms, 7.0ppg, 4.0rpg

#6 – Phoenix – William Bedford – Memphis – 238 gms, 4.1ppg, 2.4rpg

Consensus

Daugherty, Price & Rodman were all top players in their day, Hornacek had a very long productive career and Petrovic was well on his way to one before his tragic death.  4 out of the top 6 picks didn’t do much in the pros though.

17) 2001

Studs

#3 – Atlanta – Pau Gasol – Spain – 378 gms, 18.5ppg, 8.4rpg, 1.8bpg
#5 – Golden State – Jason Richardson – Michigan State – 387 gms, 18.6ppg, 5.4rpg, 3.2apg

#13 – Houston – Richard Jefferson – Arizona – 352 gms, 16.3ppg, 5.8rpg, 3.1apg
#28 – San Antonio – Tony Parker – France – 394 gms, 15.0ppg, 5.4apg, 3.1rpg

#30 – Golden State – Gilbert Arenas – Arizona – 344 gms, 21.7ppg, 5.4apg, 4.2rpg

Duds

#1 – Washington – Kwame Brown – High School – 325 gms, 7.6ppg, 5.7rpg, 1.0bpg

#7 – New Jersey – Eddie Griffin – Seton Hall – 290 gms, 7.4ppg, 5.9rpg, 1.8bpg

#8 – Cleveland - DeSagna Diop – High School – 274 gms, 1.8ppg, 3.2rpg, 1.1bpg

#9 – Detroit – Rodney White – UNC-Charlotte – 218 gms, 7.1ppg, 2.2rpg, 1.1.apg

#11 – Boston – Kedrick Brown – Okaloosa-Walton CC – 143 gms, 3.6ppg, 2.4rpg

Consensus

It looks safe to say that Brown may become a half decent player but he definitely won’t ever be “The Man”.  4 other lottery picks turned out to be weak, but the 5 studs listed above are top shelf talent, led by the last of them picked – Arenas.

16) 1988

Studs

#1 – Clippers – Danny Manning – Kansas – 883 gms, 14.0ppg, 5.2rpg, 2.3apg

#2 – Indiana – Rik Smits – Marist – 867 gms, 14.8ppg, 6.1rpg, 1.3bpg

#5 – Golden State – Mitch Richmond – Kansas State – 976 gms, 21.0ppg, 3.9rpg, 3.5apg

#9 – Miami – Rony Seikaly – Syracuse – 678 gms, 14.7ppg, 9.5rpg, 1.3bpg

#19 – New York – Rod Strickland – DePaul  – 1094 gms, 13.2ppg, 7.3apg, 3.7rpg

Duds

#7 – Phoenix – Tim Perry – Temple – 481gms, 6.8ppg, 4.0rpg

Consensus

This draft is rated higher than expected due to its limited lottery pick busts, only 1.  Richmond turned out to be the best of the bunch, but the other 4 studs weren’t slouches either.

15) 2002

Studs

#1 – Houston – Yao Ming – China – 301 gms, 17.5ppg, 8.8rpg, 1.9bpg

#9 – Phoenix – Amare Stoudemire – High School – 220 gms, 19.8ppg, 8.8rpg, 1.4bpg

#23 – Detroit – Tayshaun Prince – Kentucky – 288 gms, 11.6ppg, 4.2rpg, 2.3apg

#24 – New Jersey – Nenad Krstic – Serbia – 155 gms, 11.8ppg, 5.9rpg, 0.8bpg

#34 – Cleveland – Carlos Boozer – Duke – 240 gms, 14.2ppg, 9.2rpg, 2.0apg

Duds

#2 – Chicago – Jay Williams – Duke – 75 gms, 9.5ppg, 4.7apg, 2.6rpg

#5 – Denver – Nikoloz Tskitishvili – (country of) Georgia – 172 gms, 2.9ppg, 1.8rpg

#6 – Cleveland – Dajuan Wagner – Memphis – 102 gms, 9.4ppg, 1.9apg, 1.4rpg

#12 – Clippers – Melvin Ely – Cal. State-Fresno – 230 gms, 6.6ppg, 3.8rpg

#13 – Milwaukee – Marcus Haislip – Tennessee – 79 gms, 3.6ppg, 1.5rpg

Consensus

Assuming they stay healthy, Yao and Amare will have places saved for them in the hall of fame.  This draft could move up the rankings if #2 Williams is able to come back fully from his injuries.

14) 1990

Studs

#1 – New Jersey – Derrick Coleman – Syracuse – 781 gms, 16.5ppg, 9.3rpg, 1.3bpg

#2 – Seattle – Gary Payton – Oregon State – 1267 gms, 16.9ppg, 6.9apg, 4.1rpg

#29 – Chicago – Toni Kukoc – Croatia – 846 gms, 11.6ppg, 4.2rpg, 3.7apg

#45 – Indiana – Antonio Davis – UTEP – 903 gms, 10.0ppg, 7.5rpg, 1.0bpg

#48 – Phoenix – Cedric Ceballos – Cal. State Fullerton – 609 gms, 14.3ppg, 5.3rpg, 1.2apg

Duds

#6 – Minnesota – Felton Spencer – Louisville – 640 gms, 5.2ppg, 5.4rpg, 0.8bpg

#8 – Clippers – Bo Kimble – Loyola Marymount – 105 gms, 5.5ppg, 1.5rpg

#10 – Atlanta – Rumeal Robinson – Michigan – 336 gms, 7.5ppg, 3.5apg

Consensus

Payton was one of the top players of his era, and he is in a good spot to get his first championship ring this year.  Not too many horrible busts in this lottery either.

13) 2004

Studs

#1 – Orlando – Dwight Howard – High School – 164 gms, 13.9ppg, 11.3rpg, 1.5bpg

#2 – Charlotte – Emeka Okafor – Connecticut – 99 gms, 14.6ppg, 10.7rpg, 1.8bpg

#3 – Chicago – Ben Gordon – Connecticut – 162 gms, 16.0ppg, 2.7rpg, 2.5apg

#7 – Chicago – Luol Deng – Duke – 139 gms, 13.1ppg, 6.0rpg, 2.0apg

#9 – Philadelphia – Andre Iguodala – Philadelphia – 164 gms, 10.7ppg, 5.8rpg, 1.7spg

Duds

#8 – Toronto – Rafael Araujo – BYU – 111 gms, 2.9ppg, 3.0rpg

#10 – Cleveland – Luke Jackson – Oregon – 46 gms, 2.7ppg, 1.0rpg

#11 – Golden State – Andris Biedrins – Latvia – 98 gms, 3.7ppg, 4.1rpg, 0.7bpg
#14 – Utah – Kris Humphries – Minnesota – 129 gms, 3.6ppg, 2.7rpg,

Consensus

Howard is a Stud with a capital S and looks to be a top player in the league for the next 15 years, while Araujo is a Dud with a capital D.  The 4 other studs are also well on their to above average careers.

12) 1991

Studs

#1 – Charlotte – Larry Johnson – UNLV – 707 gms, 16.2ppg, 7.5rpg, 3.3apg

#2 – New Jersey – Kenny Anderson – Georgia Tech – 858 gms, 12.6ppg, 6.1apg, 3.1rpg

#4 – Denver – Dikembe Mutombo – Georgetown – 1073 gms, 10.6ppg, 10.8rpg, 2.9bpg

#5 – Miami – Steve Smith – Michigan State – 942 gms, 14.3ppg, 3.2rpg, 3.1apg

#11 – Cleveland – Terrell Brandon – Oregon – 724 gms, 13.8ppg, 6.1apg, 3.0rpg

Duds

#7 – Minnesota – Luc Longley – New Mexico – 567 gms, 7.2ppg, 4.9rpg, 1.0bpg

#8 – Denver – Mark Macon – Temple – 251 gms, 6.7ppg, 1.9rpg, 1.4spg

Consensus

Very solid draft with not too many lottery mistakes.  Mutombo is hall of fame bound, while LJ would have been a lock if not for injuries cutting his career short.

11) 1993

Studs

#1 – Orlando – Chris Webber – Michigan – 761 gms, 21.6ppg, 10.1rpg, 4.4apg

#3 – Golden State – Anfernee Hardaway – Memphis – 688 gms, 15.4ppg, 5.1apg, 4.5rpg

#4 – Dallas - Jamal Mashburn – Kentucky – 611 gms, 19.1ppg, 5.4rpg, 4.0apg

#8 – Milwaukee – Vin Baker – Hartford – 791 gms, 15.0ppg, 7.4rpg, 1.0bpg

#24 – Houston – Sam Cassell – Florida State – 880 gms, 16.3ppg, 6.2apg, 3.3rpg

Duds

#2 – Philadelphia – Shawn Bradley – BYU – 832 gms, 8.1ppg, 6.3rpg, 2.5bpg

#6 – Washington – Calbert Cheaney – Indiana – 825 gms, 9.5ppg, 3.2rpg, 1.7apg

#7 – Sacramento – Bobby Hurley – Duke – 269 gms, 3.8ppg, 3.3apg, 1.1rpg

Consensus

Younger readers may snicker at seeing Hardaway and Baker in the stud list, but they were both top players in their day before injuries and alcohol deteriorated their talents respectively.