NBA DRAFT BUSTS And Why the Standards are Incorrect By Todd Levy

The Michael Jordan/Sam Bowie Bust After Hakeem Olajuwon was selected with the first overall pick of the 1984 NBA draft the Portland Trail Blazers had a choice to make: They could choose Sam Bowie, a lanky center out of Kentucky University, Charles Barkley a big Power forward out of Auburn, John Stockton a small guard out of Gonzaga, or Michael Jordan a Junior Shooting guard out of North Carolina Of the four players, three will definitely be, or are, first ballot Hall of Famers. Unfortunately for them, they chose the only non-Hall of Famer: Sam Bowie Michael Jordan went on to be considered the greatest player in the history of the NBA and win six championships Stockton went on to break many assist records Barkley was a dynamic personality, and player and was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame Bowie, however, had a mediocre NBA career averaging a little more than 10 points per game He shows that a big man with injury problems is never worth picking over the fast guards, or the athletic big man, even if that player is not a necessity.

Chris Washburn Chris Washburn is a HUGE bust He probably had a worse career than anyone picked in the first two rounds of the 1986, including a future hall of famer, Dennis Rodman, Ron Harper, and Jeff Hornecek Washburn was the third pick and averaged 3.1 points per game in two NBA seasons

Kwame Brown Kwame Brown was picked by the aforementioned Michael Jordan in his Washington Wizards GM position He was the first player ever picked first overall, as he was in the 2001 draft, with no college basketball experience He has played a very poor career, and has had alcohol and attitude problems throughout, and is now on his 3 rd team, and has been arrested for driving on the wrong side of the road, in trouble for throwing cake at a person, and suspended for faking a stomach ailment

Kwame Brown SEASON AVERAGES SeasonTeamGGSMPGFG%3p%FT%OFFDEFRPGAPGSPGBPGTOPFPPG 07-08LAL MEM Career

1999

1999: The Good Andrei Kirilenko is a Russian basketball star who plays for the Utah Jazz, selected with the 24 th pick of the draft, he is a former NBA all- star Manu Ginóbili is a Argentinean basketball legend, who has also been an all-star and has won three NBA championships Raja Bell is a Phoenix Suns contributor from the U.S. Virgin Islands, who guards one of the NBA’s best scorers Kobe Bryant whenever the Suns play his Lakers The three aforementioned players were all not born in the Continental United States, and their teams are all in the top six teams in the incredible Western Conference of the NBA

1999: The very bad Trajan Langdon was a Duke graduate and a minor contributor in his three years with the Cavaliers as their 11 th pick Frédéric Weis is an uncoordinated Frenchman, who the Knicks picked with the 15 th pick, but never played a game in his NBA career Jonathon Bender was the 5 th pick, and was straight out of high school. He played seven very unsuccessful season with the pacers and before having a career ending injury

What can be learned From these Mistakes (Position Rule) Rule 1: Pick for skill not position (i.e. Sam Bowie,). Don’t pick the decent point guard 15 spots ahead of where he is supposed to go, because you need one. Your better off trading you pick for a veteran point guard, picking another player to strengthen everything else and waiting a season to pick one

What can be learned From these Mistakes (Foreigner Rule) Raja Bell, Manu Ginobili, and Andrei Kirilenko proved this with their surprise success College success doesn’t mean their suited for the next level, such as Trajan Langdon wasn’t. Scouting foreign countries for these players is a very good idea, because coming into the draft they are often a mystery, seemingly not worth taking a chance on The reigning champion San Antonio Spurs’ three best players were not born inside the continental United States

What can be learned From these Mistakes (Experience Rule) Even though High school Players can’t play in the NBA anymore, young inexperience players often have a hard time adjusting to the NBA Freshman and High School star Dujaun Wagner is an example of a player who never adjusted Players must be tested to show they are truly going to be good