10 Biggest NBA Draft mistakes of the 21st century
The 2020 NBA Draft is set for November 18th, and the anticipation is always major for the Draft night. However, some teams have made highly questionable choices in the past, which hindered their short-term future as they missed their chance to get All-Star calibre NBA players. One of the biggest NBA Draft mistakes ever seen was the Portland Trail Blazers selecting Sam Bowie ahead of Michael Jordan in the 1984 NBA Draft.
10 Biggest NBA Draft mistakes of the 21st century
In this article, we will look at the 10 Biggest NBA Draft mistakes of the 21st century. The picks on this list are chosen by what other talented athletes were left on the board.
Without further ado, let us start with this infamous list for several NBA franchises.
#10 Marvin Williams - 2nd pick in the 2005 NBA Draft
A 13-69 record in the 2004-05 NBA season meant the Atlanta Hawks got the second pick in the 2005 NBA Draft. The Hawks selected Marvin Williams from North Carolina.
Williams had averaged 11 points and seven rebounds per game for the National Champions UNC in only one year at college. He has had a solid NBA career, playing over 1,000 NBA regular-season games and 58 NBA Playoffs games and averaging 10 PPG, but Williams has never been the central piece of any team.
The issue with this pick is that because the Hawks had a PG crew formed by Tyronn Lue and Royal Ivey, and they selected Williams right in front of All-NBA point guard Deron Williams, and future Hall of Famer Chris Paul.
#9 Thomas Robinson - 5th pick in the 2012 NBA Draft
The Sacramento Kings have made several mistakes in the last few years while analyzing talent, and the 2012 NBA Draft was another case of bad judgment of talent.
The Kings selected Thomas Robinson with the 5th pick in an NBA Draft class with lots of talent.
Robinson had played three years at Kansas before declaring for the NBA Draft, but his NBA career only lasted five years and 313 games for six teams. In fact, he only played 51 games for the Kings before they traded him in his rookie year.
Sacramento used their fifth-spot in the NBA Draft on Robinson, right before five-time All-NBA guard Damian Lillard was selected, while Andre Drummond, Draymond Green, and Khris Middleton were still on the board.