| NBA: Biggest Busts Of The Decade (1998-2008) |
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| Articles - NBA Articles | ||||||
| Written by Mike Murray | ||||||
| Thursday, 05/28/09 May 2009 09:55 | ||||||
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Biggest Busts Of The Decade (1998-2008) by Mike Murray
When I consider who the Biggest Busts Of The Decade would be in the NBA, I use many factors. These are the guidelines I use when weighing the size of the bust: 1. Where they were selected in the draft, and what is expected from that numbered pick. This means you hold a number 3 pick at a much higher standard than a number 10. A strong bust must be within the top 15 to have reasonable expectations.
Debate: Who Will Be The Busts Of The Upcoming 2009 NBA Draft?
2008: This was a great draft class. It may still be too early to call anyone a bust, but Joe Alexander turning 23 next season may be the most likely candidate for the award of “biggest bust”. Less than 5 points and 12 minutes played a game is nowhere near what was expected from the 8th pick in the draft. He does have time to fix this, so I am not ready to call him a bust.
2007: I still see Brandan Wright having a whole lot of potential. The Warriors gave up a big time player to get him, but there is still time for him to develop. The other two players receiving great consideration for the award are Corey Brewer and Yi Jianlian. Brewer was selected 7th and therefore came in with big expectations. He was supposed to be a big time stopper with offensive ability, and has failed to live up to expectations. Yi came in as a young project player who looked downright horrible, and according to poorly kept birth records may be years older than first thought. Poor play from a 19 year old is much more acceptable than a 22 or 23 year old. Taken Ahead Of: Hawes, Stuckey, Brooks, Fernandez, Noah, Gasol, Thornton, Young, Sessions, and G. Davis
2006: While at first Bargnani looked like an all time bust, he has done much to redeem himself as of late. While a few stars budded out of this class, like Aldridge, Gay, and Roy, more busts were taken than solid players. It could be argued that half of the top 10 were busts and 2/3 of the top 15 were busts. Tyrus Thomas is on his way up, but still does not deserve the 4th pick in the draft. Sheldon Williams has looked downright horrible and has no business as the 5th pick. When healthy, Foye is a decent player, but he was traded for Roy which was a huge mistake for the Wolves franchise. O’Bryant and Sene were both project centers and both have failed to develop. Adam Morrison has been horrible in his career, especially considering he was the 3rd pick in the draft and had very high expectations. Taken Ahead Of: Roy, Rondo, Gay, Foye, Millsap, and R. Brewer
2005: This draft has brought much grief to the Hawks, who decided to take Marvin Williams over Deron Williams and Chris Paul. Bogut is a decent player but was selected 1st, a mistake of course, but he hasn't been terrible. Bynum fell to 10th, 1 pick behind Ike Diogu who has had 2 good games in his career. Fran Vazquez was selected 11th, and didn't even come to the USA to play for the Magic. This was a huge blow to the rebuilding of the team. Granger fell to 17th while Yaroslav Korolev was taken 12th. Taken Ahead Of: Granger, D. Lee, M.Ellis, N.Robinson, Green, Warrick, Jack, F.Garcia, Kleiza, and Gomes
Debate: Who Are Your Biggest Busts Of This Decade ('98-'08)?
2004: Shaun Livingston was the 4th pick, and just may have been injured since. Rafael Araujo was selected 8th (1 pick ahead of Iguodala) and has averaged a terrible 2pts/2rebs in his career. Luke Jackson, a solid college player, was taken 10th and has thrown up a 3.5 scoring average for his career. Projects like Robert Swift, Telfair, and Kris Humphries were taken 12-14, and just ahead of Al Jefferson. Taken Ahead Of: Iguodala, Jefferson, Kev.Martin, J.Smith, J.Nelson, Biedrins, J.R. Smith, De. West, Varejao, and Duhon
2003: This may go down as the greatest draft class ever, but a few players are being left behind the Lebron/Wade/Carmelo/Bosh train. The easiest target is Darko who was selected 2nd, and over all the other studs in the draft except James. He has averaged 5 points and 4 rebounds in his career and should never have been a top 15 pick. Sweetney was selected 9th and ate his way out of the league. The 15th pick Reece Gaines, and 13th Marcus Banks were selected before players like David West, Boris Diaw, Josh Howard, Leandro Barbosa, and other solid players. Taken Ahead Of: Anthony, Wade, Bosh, West, Howard, Kaman, Mo Williams, Hinrich, Ford, Diaw, and Barbosa
2002: Jay Williams, 2nd overall, ended his career in a motorcycle accident. He fell well below expectations and destroyed the future of the Bulls for the next several years. Nokoloz Tskitishvilli was selected 5th and Dajaun Wagner 6th, both ahead of Amare Stoudemire who was selected 9th and Caron Butler 10th. Taken Ahead Of: Stoudemire, Butler, Boozer, Prince, Dunleavy, Gooden, Nene, Salmons, and Scola
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2001: The beginning of the Michael Jordan questioning. Drafting Kwame Brown 1st was a terrible decision. He is a very obvious reason the Wizards spent years in the lottery of late. The Clippers stole Elton Brand from the Bulls for Tyson Chandler, who could not get anything going until he met Chris Paul. Diop was selected 8th and has averaged 2 points and 4 rebounds in his career. That was 2 picks before Joe Johnson and 5 picks before Richard Jefferson. Griffin at 7, Rodney White at 9, and Kedrick Brown at 11 were all very poor choices. Taken Ahead Of: Gasol, T.Parker, Arenas, Johnson, J. Richardson, Battier, Jefferson, Murphy, Randolph, G.Wallace, Okur and S. Dalembart
2000: This was a terrible draft, with the best players being Jamal Crawford at 8 and Turkoglu at 16. Kenyon Martin had a good stretch before injury, but much more was expected of him as the top pick in the draft. Swift at 2, Miles at 3, Fizer at 4, Dermarr Johnson at 6, Mihm at 7, Dooling at 10, Moiso at 11, Etan Thomas at 12, Alexander at 13, Cleaves at 14, and Collier at 15, all big time busts. Taken Ahead Of: Redd, J.Crawford, Turkoglu, and M.Miller
1999: Trajan Langdon (11) and Alek Redojevic (12) were taken before Corey Maggette. William Avery and Frederick Weis round out the top 15. Artest was taken 16th, but would not wish the first 8 seasons of his career on anyone. Jonathan Bender was taken 5th based on potential and failed horribly. He was taken directly before Szcerbiak, Hamilton, Andre Miller, Marion, and Jason Terry. Taken Ahead Of: Ginobilli, R.Hamilton, A.Miller, Marion, J.Terry, Maggette, Artest, Posey, Kirilenko, and Szcerbiak
Taken Ahead Of: Nowitzki, Pierce, Carter, Bibby, Jamison, R.Lewis, Hughes, B.Wells, J.Williams, and Alston
Debate: Who Are Your Biggest Busts Of This Decade ('98-'08)? Debate: Who Will Be The Busts Of The Upcoming 2009 NBA Draft? Debate: Who Are Your Biggest Busts Of All Time?
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