NBA Draft: Top 10 Second-Round Draft Picks of All-Time
Being drafted in the second round of the NBA Draft comes with no cheering and no glory. Most times when someone gets drafted in the second round, it's the first time their name is being heard around in the NBA world.
But more than in other sports, the NBA Draft can be a fickle thing. People study everything about the players right from college and think that they have them pinned down, but as soon as they get into the NBA, it turns out that they were completely wrong about them.
There are many times teams take a gamble on overseas players or sometimes teams just get lucky and end up with a Hall of Fame talent. That is why we rarely see a team get a good player in the second round.
But in the history of this great game, there are bound to be second round players that turned their career around and converted them into a Hall of Fame career. Let us look at the top 10 second-round draft picks in NBA History.
#10 Mark Price
Mark Price was selected first in the second round by the Dallas Mavericks in the 1986 NBA Draft. He was acquired by the Cleveland Cavaliers in a draft day trade.
As a point guard, Price mystified the critics that said that he was too slow, too small and too deliberate for the league. He was known to be one of the most consistent in the NBA. In a 12-year NBA career, Price averaged 15.2 points per game and 6.7 assists per game while shooting 47 percent from the field, 40 percent from beyond the arc and 90.4 percent from the free throw line.
Price became the second player after Larry Bird to join the 50-40-90 club. The only others players to be part of the club are Reggie Miller, Steve Nash, Kevin Durant and Dirk Nowitzki. That is some class to be a part of for a second-round pick.
Another one of Price's distinguishing traits on the court was his pioneering of the splitting of the double team. Former teammate, Steve Kerr explained that Mark revolutionized the way that people attack the screen and roll. He’d duck right between them and shoot that little runner in the lane. Everyone does it now in the league and Mark was a pioneer in that regard.
He was a 4-time NBA All-Star and also won the three-point contest 2 times. Mark Price left a mark on the NBA, and his Cleveland Cavaliers jersey is still being worn in Cleveland. He has done things that most NBA players will never do in a career, which is why he finds his name on this list over many other more accomplished players.