NBA Draft: 30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history

NBA Draft is the most valuable means of building a winning team, and the first overall pick itself is often a ticket to contention. Teams can change their fortunes by winning the top pick. Six of the top 10 or so players in NBA history went first overall.</p> <p>That doesn’t mean it’s a lock to get a good player with the No. 1 pick. The draft is a process of taking teenagers and young men who have never played in the NBA and deciding how good they will be when they arrive. There is risk, luck and uncertainty involved, and it can strike any team, even if they are picking first.</p> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: What’s the criteria?</h2> <p>For the purposes of this ranking, we considered the first overall pick in every NBA Draft. That means we are not counting the ABA Draft, nor the three years of the BAA Draft; our window begins in 1950. It also ends in 2019, as there isn’t enough information to make a call on the last pick or two.</p> <p>We are considering a player’s impact in the NBA overall, not to the team who drafted them or how they did in other leagues. We also aren’t evaluating how a player did in college; in many cases some of the worst professionals had good college careers, which is how they earned the first overall pick.</p> <p>We begin with a player known to New York Knicks fans of the 1960s, Cazzie Russell.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 30 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_215632" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="wp-image-215632 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_3087,w_4637/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2016%2F08%2F485404587-tribecaespn-sports-film-festival-gala-when-the-garden-was-eden-2014-tribeca-film-festival.jpg" alt="Cazzie Russell" width="4637" height="3087" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/08/485404587-tribecaespn-sports-film-festival-gala-when-the-garden-was-eden-2014-tribeca-film-festival.jpg 4637w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/08/485404587-tribecaespn-sports-film-festival-gala-when-the-garden-was-eden-2014-tribeca-film-festival-768x511.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 4637px) 100vw, 4637px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:4637px;">Cazzie Russell (Photo by Ben Gabbe/Getty Images for the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival )</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 30. Cazzie Russell</h2> <p><strong>Stats: </strong></p> <ul> <li>15.1 points</li> <li>3.8 rebounds</li> <li>2.2 assists</li> </ul> <p>Playing in the largest city in the country, in the greatest arena in the world, the New York Knicks are elevated on a platform that ensures countless eyes and ears for everything they do. When the team is good, that means every single player becomes a celebrity.</p> <p>It’s not that Cazzie Russell necessarily needed the boost. He was a prolific scorer in college, averaging 30.8 points per game his final season at Michigan. The <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://hoopshabit.com/eastern-conference/new-york-knicks/">New York Knicks</a> took him first overall in the 1966 NBA Draft.</p> <p>Russell became an instant sensation in The Big Apple, scoring points in bunches on a team that grew in power through the early years of his career. By his third season he was averaging 18.3 points per game despite sharing the ball with Willis Reed, Dick Barnett, Walt “Clyde” Frazier and Dave DeBusschere.</p> <p>The Knicks won the title in 1970, with Russell playing a key reserve role for the team as the players around him got better and better. The Knicks traded him soon after the championship run, and he played for the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers for six years, continuing to put up points even as the teams around him were worse. One more low-usage season in Chicago became the final year of his career as he retired at the age of 33.</p> <p>He totaled 51.7 win shares over 817 games and made the All-Star team in 1972 with the Warriors. He doesn’t hold up compared to the stars of the day or modern first overall picks, but Russell was a valuable and talented player who helped the Knicks win the title.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> Lou Hudson (originally 4th) or Dave Bing (originally second).</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 29 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_428394" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="wp-image-428394 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1068897706.jpeg" alt="Milwaukee Bucks logo" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1068897706.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1068897706-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Milwaukee Bucks logo (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 29. Bob Boozer</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>14.8 points</li> <li>8.1 rebounds</li> <li>1.4 assists</li> </ul> <p>As was the case with nearly every first overall pick prior to the 1990s, Bob Boozer was a highly decorated college player. The Nebraska native led Kansas State University to the Final Four and twice was named an All-American. That propelled him not only to the first overall pick, but to a spot on the prestigious 1960 Olympic basketball team that won the gold medal in Rome.</p> <p>Back then, players were only eligible to represent their country in the Olympics if they were “amateur” players; appearing in the NBA would have made a player such as Boozer ineligible. He was drafted first overall by the Cincinnati Royals in the 1959 NBA Draft, but postponed his NBA career by a year to retain Olympic eligibility and instead played (and dominated) in an AAU league.</p> <p>Boozer finally joined the Royals in 1960, and slowly developed from there, going from a bench player to a full-time starter. The Royals moved on from him in late 1963, trading him to the New York Knicks where he got a larger role and played well enough to be flipped to the Los Angeles Lakers for Dick Barnett.</p> <p>The transactional movement continued for Barnett, who played in his first NBA Finals in 1966 with the Lakers. Unprotected in the following summer’s expansion draft, Boozer was selected by the new Chicago Bulls franchise. It was with the Bulls that he had his best statistical seasons, including averaging 21.5 points and 9.8 rebounds in 1967-68 to earn his first and only All-Star berth.</p> <p>Boozer’s career arc landed with a final season in Milwaukee with the Bucks, where he rejoined former Olympic and Cincinnati teammate Oscar Robertson alongside Lew Alcindor, winning the NBA Championship in 1971 and bracketing Boozer’s career with title success. Buoyed by relative good health over his 11-year career, Boozer amassed 64.2 win shares over 874 games; no other player in this “worst 30” list totaled more.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> Wilt Chamberlain (originally 3rd)</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 28 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_199445" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-199445" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1559,w_2048/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2016%2F05%2F51602572-glenn-robinson-l-of-the-milwaukee-bucks-pleads-w.jpg" alt="Glenn Robinson, Milwaukee Bucks" width="2048" height="1559" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/05/51602572-glenn-robinson-l-of-the-milwaukee-bucks-pleads-w.jpg 2048w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/05/51602572-glenn-robinson-l-of-the-milwaukee-bucks-pleads-w-768x585.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:2048px;">Glenn Robinson, Milwaukee Bucks. JEFF HAYNES/AFP/Getty Images</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 28. Glenn Robinson</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>20.7 points</li> <li>6.1 rebounds</li> <li>2.7 assists</li> </ul> <p>The history of the No. 1 overall pick is one of general success; 45 of 71 players chosen first overall have made at least one All-Star Game, a 63.3 percent hit rate. 18 of those players are already in the NBA Hall of Game, and another handful are locks to join when their careers end. While this list is highlighting the times when the pick didn’t turn out, that doesn’t mean all of these players were bad. To build out a list of 30 “worst” first overall picks, we dip into a handful of “pretty good” players to start.</p> <p>Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson, in addition to bearing a great basketball nickname, also had a lot of natural basketball scoring talent. He was the nation’s leading scorer as a junior at Purdue and led the Boilermakers to the Elite Eight. It was enough to catch the eye of NBA teams, as Robinson was taken first overall in the 1994 NBA Draft by the <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://hoopshabit.com/eastern-conference/milwaukee-bucks/">Milwaukee Bucks</a>.</p> <p>Robinson came into the league confident in his abilities and refused to play for the Bucks until he could ink a lucrative long-term contract. That ended up being a 10-year, $68 million contract, that to this day is the richest rookie contract in league history; the following year the rookie salary cap was worked out.</p> <p>“Big Dog” lived up to the contract from the jump, averaging 21.9 points per game as a rookie. He would go on to average over 20 points per game in eight of the next nine seasons, earning a pair of All-Star berths in 2000 and 2001 for a Bucks team that was a legitimate title contender. At the tail end of his career he bounced around the league as injuries sapped his ability to score at an elite level. He did catch on with the San Antonio Spurs as a reserve in 2005, winning a championship to complete his career.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> Jason Kidd (2nd pick); Grant Hill (3rd pick)</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 27 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_428539" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="wp-image-428539 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2134,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2021%2F05%2F1313448515.jpeg" alt="Detroit Pistons logo" width="3200" height="2134" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/05/1313448515.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/05/1313448515-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Detroit Pistons logo (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 27. Jimmy Walker</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>16.7 points</li> <li>2.7 rebounds</li> <li>3.5 assists</li> </ul> <p>In the 1994 NBA Draft, Michigan star and Fab Five member Jalen Rose was drafted 13th overall and went on to have a long NBA career. 27 years earlier, his father Jimmy Walker led the way in the 1967 NBA Draft, going first overall to the Detroit Pistons.</p> <p>Walker, a Boston native, went to Providence and absolutely dazzled the nation with his scoring prowess. He averaged 23 points per game as a junior, then blew off the ceiling averaging 30 points per game as a senior for the Friars, including a 50-point masterpiece in Madison Square Garden.</p> <p>That display of bucket-getting led Walker to go first overall to the Pistons (he was also taken first overall by the Indiana Pacers in the American Basketball Association). In an interesting quirk, the New Orleans Saints of the NFL also drafted him, despite a lack of a football background, with the final pick of the 1967 Draft. He went first in one draft and last in another.</p> <p>Walker had a number of standout seasons for the Pistons, averaging 16.1 points per game across five seasons in Detroit. He was named in All-Star in 1970 and 1972, the two seasons in his career that he averaged over 20 points per game. Struggles with his weight and declining athleticism plagued him as he reached his 30s, and despite dropping 15.7 points for the Kansas City Kings in 1976 it would be his last season.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> Walt Frazer (5th); Earl Monroe (2nd)</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 26 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_432623" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="wp-image-432623 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_728,w_1016/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2021%2F07%2F1328971043.jpeg" alt="" width="1016" height="728" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/07/1328971043.jpeg 1016w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/07/1328971043-768x550.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1016px) 100vw, 1016px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1016px;">(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 26. Chuck Share</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>8.3 points</li> <li>8.4 rebounds</li> </ul> <p>This list is made up entirely of players who were picked first in the NBA Draft. Among his peers, only Chuck Share can claim to be the first to go first, as he was selected first overall in the inaugural 1950 NBA Draft.</p> <p>After playing four seasons for Bowling Green he was taken first by the Boston Celtics. Legendary coach and general manager Red Auerbach took Share over local favorite point guard Bob Cousy. When asked to defend his decision, <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/celtics-no-1-pick-draft-1950-didn-article-1.3172878" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he stated</a> that the team need a big man. “I’m supposed to win, not go after local yokels.”</p> <p>The Celtics would pick up Cousy later on when his franchise folded, which helped to mitigate the disappointment of taking Share over him. Share never played a game for the Celtics; whether he didn’t wish to move to Boston or didn’t like Auerbach, Share refused to sign with the Celtics and instead joined the National Professional Basketball League.</p> <p>That league folded after one season, and after Share’s rights were traded to the Fort Wayne Pistons the center finally made his NBA debut and played nine years in the league, generally staying in the Midwest. His best years came with the St. Louis Hawks, playing center alongside Bob Pettit and a stacked roster that pushed the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals for three straight seasons, winning the title in 1958.</p> <p>While he did not play as many games or minutes as some of his peers on this list, he made a tremendous per-game impact in winning metrics, as he split center duties with Ed Macauley on some strong Hawks teams. He retired with 40.9 win shares across 596 games as a player.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> Bob Cousy (4th); Paul Arizin (3rd); Bill Sharman (17th)</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 25 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_431619" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-431619" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2160,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F469268981.jpeg" alt="Greg Oden, Miami Heat" width="3200" height="2160" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/469268981.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/469268981-768x518.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Greg Oden, Miami Heat. Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 25. Greg Oden</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>8.0 points</li> <li>6.2 rebounds</li> <li>1.2 blocks</li> </ul> <p>The most difficult players to rank on historical lists of the “best” or “worst” players are those elite talents whose careers were cut short not by poor play but by devastating injuries. Players such as Grant Hill or Bill Walton lack some of the historical volume to be true all-time greats, but when they did play they were absolutely deserving.</p> <p>Something similar can be said for Greg Oden. As a young prospect he was an absolutely dominant force, the top player in his high school recruiting class and a standout at Ohio State University. He and fellow freshman Mike Conley Jr. led the Buckeyes to the national title game, where Oden posted 25 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks in a loss.</p> <p>The Portland Trail Blazers took Oden first overall in the 2007 NBA Draft, which at the time was completely reasonable even if it was a difficult decision between Oden and Texas freshman Kevin Durant. Oden signed with the Trail Blazers and soon after had microfracture surgery to help with a chronic knee injury.</p> <p>That injury never went away, and various related injuries (both knees, foot, back) limited Oden to just 105 career games across three seasons. When Oden did play he was every bit the player Portland thought he was getting on a per-minute basis, but he averaged just 19.3 minutes per game for his career as he could never ramp up to become a full-minute starter.</p> <p>If the injuries had never happened, it’s very possible Oden would have been a Hall of Fame player. He had everything you would want in a center at the time, with elite rim protection skills and the ability to score and rebound anywhere around the basket. Unfortunately the career that might have been never came to pass.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> Kevin Durant (2nd), Al Horford (3rd), Marc Gasol (48th), Mike Conley (4th)</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 24 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_431620" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-431620" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1070,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F3019684.jpeg" alt="Joe Smith" width="1600" height="1070" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/3019684.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/3019684-768x514.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 24. Joe Smith</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>10.9 points</li> <li>6.4 rebounds</li> </ul> <p>Joe Smith is the quintessential “quantity over quality” player when you look back on his career. His career spanned 16 seasons but was as ho-hum as his generic name. The most exciting thing to happen to Smith was the scandal where the Minnesota Timberwolves signed him at a lower salary with a “wink-wink” deal to pay him more later, an agreement that was illegal according to the CBA.</p> <p>Smith’s career at Maryland was strong, as the big man was a two-time All-ACC first team selection, and in 1995 was an All-American and consensus Player of the Year. That success vaulted him to the first pick in the draft, where he was selected by the Golden State Warriors.</p> <p>Smith was reasonably productive as a young player but never stayed in one place for long. He changed teams 14 times in 16 years, often traded at midseason by the team he signed with in the summer. He was involved in trades involving Sam Cassell, Allen Iverson and Ben Wallace.</p> <p>Offensive rebounding was probably Smith’s greatest strength, and he ranks 56th all-time in career offensive boards. He played in 1,020 career regular season games and another 62 playoff games. Advanced metrics are not kind to him, rating him around or below (sometimes significantly below) average. Even so the ability to stick around the league for 16 seasons counts for something.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> Kevin Garnett (5th), Rasheed Wallace (4th), Jerry Stackhouse (3rd)</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 23 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_432624" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="wp-image-432624 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2135,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2021%2F07%2F1307776763.jpeg" alt="Joe Barry Carroll" width="3200" height="2135" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/07/1307776763.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/07/1307776763-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Joe Barry Carroll (Photo by Tim DeFrisco/Allsport/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 23. Joe Barry Carroll</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>17.7 points</li> <li>7.7 rebounds</li> </ul> <p>The history of the first overall pick is filled with more big men than guards. For much of the NBA’s history the league went after size; you couldn’t teach size, after all, and the lack of floor spacing increased the value of players tall enough to score in a crowded paint.</p> <p>The 7-foot tall Joe Barry Carroll is one such player, who excelled at Purdue University scoring inside and swatting an incredible amount of shots; he broke the school record for blocks as a sophomore, the rebounding record as a junior and the minutes record as a senior. That final season he and Purdue made the Final Four and Carroll was a First Team All-American.</p> <p>As they would a few times during their history, the Golden State Warriors had the first overall pick in 1980 and selected Carroll. Right from the jump he began putting up numbers, averaging 18.9 points and 9.3 rebounds as a rookie. His scoring would balloon even as he rebounding slipped slightly, and Carroll averaged as many as 24.1 points per game in 1982-83.</p> <p>After an unexpected year away from the NBA to win a title in Italy, he returned and made his first and only All-Star appearance in 1987. Then began the journeyman phase as Carroll made his way around the league, playing for five teams over the final four seasons of his career. He would finish with 705 games played, but just four playoff berths over his time in the NBA.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> Kevin McHale (3rd)</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 22 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_431621" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-431621" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1067,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1208654655.jpeg" alt="" width="1600" height="1067" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1208654655.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1208654655-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 22. John Lucas</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>10.7 points</li> <li>7.0 assists</li> </ul> <p>John Lucas is, by all accounts, a wonderful man. A longtime coach and current assistant coach of player development with the Houston Rockets, Lucas runs a substance-abuse recovery program for young athletes and is a mentoring presence for many players.</p> <p>The reason why Lucas shows up on this list and didn’t play his way off of it was his own personal struggles with drug abuse. Lucas was a national phenom at the college level, starring for the Maryland Terrapins and making an All-American team three times, twice on the first team. He was a deserving pick first overall by the Houston Rockets.</p> <p>While never a prolific scorer, Lucas was a gifted and willing passer. For his career he averaged 7.0 assists per game, and he dishes as many as 10.7 per game in 1983-84 to hit a career high. He played just two seasons with the Rockets to start his career before they flipped him to the Warriors for the rights to sign Rick Barry.</p> <p>Lucas played well for a number of years after that, but would often miss games and struggled with his substance abuse. It came to a head in 1986 when Lucas, back with the Rockets, failed two drug tests and was waived by the team, missing their run to the NBA Finals. Thankfully Lucas was able to get help and resume his career a year later, playing four more seasons and even averaging a career-high 17.5 points per game in 1986-87.</p> <p>In total Lucas played 928 games, starting just 266 of them. He does rank 28th in NBA history in career assists, seven times finishing in the top-10 in assists. He totaled 53.7 win shares; after him that number will take a dive as we step from the “pretty good” tier of out list to the “not good” and “downright bad” tiers.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> Robert Parish (8th), Adrian Dantley (6th), Alex English (23rd), Dennis Johnson (29th)</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 21 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_431622" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-431622" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1184471571.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1184471571.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1184471571-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 21. Austin Carr</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>15.4 points</li> <li>2.9 rebounds</li> </ul> <p>Austin Carr was a walking bucket, one of the greatest scoring guards in NCAA history. The Washington D.C. native traveled to Indiana to attend Notre Dame, where he set nearly every school scoring record imaginable. He averaged 34.5 points per game, and a record and mind-boggling 50 points per game in the NCAA Tournament. He still owns the record for the most points scored in an NCAA Tournament game, dropping 61 points on Ohio in 1970.</p> <p>After three years of scoring in college he was the first overall pick of the fledgling Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1971 NBA Draft. He shot out of the gate, scoring 21.2 points per game as a rookie. Over the next three seasons he kept the scoring up, earning his first (and ultimately only) All-Star berth. In his fourth season the young Cavaliers franchise was on its way to its first ever playoff berth before Carr suffered a significant knee injury; Cleveland missed the playoffs by just a game.</p> <p>Although Carr returned and did help drive that playoff run in subsequent years, his scoring ability was never the same again. In 247 career games prior to the injury he scored 4,964 points (20.1 per game average); in 435 career games after the injury he scored just 5,509, a 12.7 points per game average.</p> <p>Carr played nine of his ten seasons with the Cavaliers, before splitting his final season between the Dallas Mavericks and Washington Bullets. He ended up logging just 18 career playoff games, and totaling 32.9 win shares for his career.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> Artis Gilmore (117th)</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 20 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_432626" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="wp-image-432626 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2134,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2021%2F07%2F656269266.jpeg" alt="Detroit Pistons logo" width="3200" height="2134" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/07/656269266.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/07/656269266-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Detroit Pistons logo (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 20. Kent Benson</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>9.1 points</li> <li>5.7 rebounds</li> </ul> <p>There’s nothing like a hometown hero, and for the state of Indiana that hero was Kent Benson. Growing up in Indiana he always wanted to play for the Hoosiers, and 1973’s “Indiana Mr. Basketball” did just that. Playing for head coach Bobby Knight young Benson became a star. As a sophomore he helped propel Indiana to a 31-1 record, and as a junior was a key part of Indiana’s undefeated 32-0 season; Benson was named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player in 1976.</p> <p>Entering the NBA Draft meant leaving Indiana, although at first he didn’t go far, as the Milwaukee Bucks took him first overall in the 1977 NBA Draft. Benson’s claim to NBA fame doesn’t involve his playing at all, but rather his instigation. Just two minutes into the first game of his career, Kent Benson fouled Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Los Angeles Lakers, including putting an elbow in his gut. The multi-time MVP responded by punching Benson, breaking the rookie’s jaw and his own hand. Abdul-Jabbar missed months with a broken hand.</p> <p>Unfortunately for Benson he couldn’t parlay his success inside the state of Indiana to the pros. He averaged just 7.7 points per game as a rookie, and his high water mark was 15.7 points per game in 1980-81 with the Detroit Pistons. Benson was frequently traded, as his size and college stats likely gave him enough extra cache in trades to paper over his middling production. Benson was a decent rebounder and decent shot blocker, but he didn’t do much to help teams win.</p> <p>Benson played 11 years in the league, only once leaving the Midwest (one season with the Utah Jazz). His 680 career games became just 33.6 win shares, and he had to watch both the Bucks and the Pistons make runs to the Conference Finals directly after trading him away.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> Marques Johnson (3rd), Jack Sikma (8th), Bernard Kind (7th)</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 19 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_197757" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-197757" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2430,w_3600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2016%2F05%2F497872966-washington-bullets.jpg" alt="Pervis Ellison, Washington Bullets" width="3600" height="2430" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/05/497872966-washington-bullets.jpg 3600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/05/497872966-washington-bullets-768x518.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3600px) 100vw, 3600px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3600px;">Pervis Ellison, Washington Bullets. Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 19. Pervis Ellison</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>9.5 points</li> <li>6.7 rebounds</li> </ul> <p>Pervis Ellison had two nicknames over the course of his basketball career that highlight how he came to be on this list. The Georgia native played college basketball at the University of Louisville, where he earned the nickname “Never Nervous Pervis” for his cool play under pressure. As a freshman he won the Final Four Most Outstanding Player award in leading the Cardinals to the national championship, only the second freshman to date to earn that honor.</p> <p>Ellison continued to thrive at Louisville as the starting center for four straight seasons, racking up points and rebounds and earning three-straight All-Metro Conference nods. That college success buoyed him in the draft and leading to the Sacramento Kings taking him first overall in the 1989 NBA Draft.</p> <p>Unfortunately for Ellison, his second nickname reared its head early in his professional career: “Out of Service Pervis.” Allegedly coined by teammate Danny Ainge, it was a reflection of a series of injuries that limited Ellison from playing a full schedule of games. Those injuries, some of them relatively minor and others serious, plagued him throughout his entire career. In 11 seasons he averaged just 43 games per year, only once playing more than 69 games (and never more than 76).</p> <p>These constant injuries hampered his development and his value to teams, and Ellison moved around frequently either in trades or as a free agent. His best season came in 1991-92, when he won Most Improved Player posting 20 points, 11.2 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game. In total Ellison logged 474 games before finally calling it quits in 2000.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> Vlade Divac (26th); Clifford Robinson (36th); Shawn Kemp (17th)</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 18 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_431623" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-431623" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1192108900.jpeg" alt="Andrew Wiggins, Minnesota Timberwolves" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1192108900.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1192108900-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Andrew Wiggins, Minnesota Timberwolves. Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 18. Andrew Wiggins</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>19.5 points</li> <li>4.4 rebounds</li> </ul> <p>We come to our first active player on this list, and one of just two total, which means Andrew Wiggins has a chance to play his way down this list. As a product of the modern NBA Draft, Wiggins did not rack up career accolades in college to earn his top pick status, but rather went one-and-done at Kansas.</p> <p>The Cleveland Cavaliers took the Canadian wing first overall in the 2014 NBA Draft, then sent him to the Minnesota Timberwolves as part of a trade for All-Star big man Kevin Love to pair with the newly signed LeBron James. Wiggins then played 5.5 seasons with the Timberwolves alongside another first overall pick in Karl-Anthony Towns.</p> <p>Wiggins was and is a natural scorer, even if he isn’t a highly efficient one. He has a career scoring average of 19.5 points, going as high as 23.6 per game in 2016-17. During his time in Minnesota that was very nearly all he brought to the table, as a combination of his effort and the system around him resulted in poor defensive play.</p> <p>To his credit, he has morphed from “inefficient wannabe first option” into a high-end role player who has improved his efficiency significantly and plays excellent defense on the wing. In his most recent season, his first full one with the Golden State Warriors, Wiggins set a career high in effective field goal percentage (54.3 percent; his previous best was 50.4).</p> <p>If Wiggins continues to improve his game and fit into his role, the tenor of his career should only improve. He will be helped by playing on a good team and adding to his five career postseason games. The ship has sailed on Wiggins being a star, and he likely can’t play himself off the “Top 30 worst” list of No. 1 overall picks, but there was a time when his trajectory looked much worse than an 18th place ranking.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> Joel Embiid (3rd); Nikola Jokic (41st); Clint Capela (25th); Julius Randle (7th)</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 17 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_431624" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-431624" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1042,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1612282.jpeg" alt="Kwame Brown, Washington Wizards" width="1600" height="1042" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1612282.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1612282-768x500.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Kwame Brown, Washington Wizards. Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 17. Kwame Brown</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>6.6 points</li> <li>5.5 rebounds</li> </ul> <p>During the height of the prep-to-pro generation of the NBA, a handful of players were taken first overall straight out of high school. Those players ranged from LeBron James, who ranked first on the “30 best No. 1 picks” list, to Kwame Brown, who shows up here as the 17th-worst.</p> <p>Brown was a late riser in his draft class, putting it all together on the court to match his tall, lanky frame and shunning a former commitment to the University of Florida to capitalize on his draft buzz. That paid off when he was taken first overall in the 2001 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards.</p> <p>After taking Brown, Michael Jordan un-retired and suddenly the Wizards’ goal was winning games right away rather than developing their new investment. The combination of a high-pressure environment as Jordan’s teammate, along with the jarring adjustment many high-schoolers had to being a professional, hampered Brown’s development and crushed him emotionally.</p> <p>To his credit Brown did not completely fold, as he continued to work hard and found a place in the league once he was out of the spotlight. He reinvented himself as a low-usage defensive center and bounced around the league filling in as needed. From his shaky start Brown parlayed his size and effort into a 12-year career.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> Pau Gasol (3rd); Tony Parker (28th); Joe Johnson (10th); Richard Jefferson (13th); Tyson Chandler (2nd)</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 16 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_398053" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-398053" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2440,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2016%2F04%2F461845154.jpeg" alt="Los Angeles Lakers" width="3200" height="2440" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/04/461845154.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/04/461845154-768x586.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">BOSTON, MA – 1960: K.C. Jones #25 of the Boston Celtics looks to shoot as Frank Selvy #11 of the Los Angeles Lakers goes for the block. (Photo by Robert Riger/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 16. Frank Selvy</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>10.8 points</li> <li>3.7 rebounds</li> </ul> <p>While many of the players on this list were truly dominant offensive forces in college, few can match the pure production that Frank Selvy achieved. The Kentucky native was spurned by Adolph Rupp, the head coach of the University of Kentucky, so he instead played at Furman University. Over the course of four seasons he led the nation in scoring twice, averaging 32.5 points per game for his career.</p> <p>The pinnacle of that scoring prowess came on February 13, 1954, when Selvy scored 100 points in a game against Newberry College. The 6’3″ guard dropped 100 despite not having a 3-point line; <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://vault.si.com/vault/1995/02/06/man-of-the-century-frank-selvys-100-point-game-secured-him-a-spot-in-college-hoops-history" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he once said</a> that “at least eight or nine baskets” would have been 3-pointers today. That record is still standing more than 65 years later.</p> <p>All of that scoring ensured him the top spot in the 1954 NBA Draft, where he was selected by the Baltimore Bullets. The Bullets promptly folded, and he was picked up by the Milwaukee Hawks in the dispersal draft. In a much smaller league he was able to earn All-Star honors as a rookie, when he scored 19 points per game but on just 37.8 percent from the field.</p> <p>The shooting didn’t improve much over time, and he would finish his career as a 39.4 percent shooter overall from the field. He moved to St. Louis with the Hawks, then stopped in Minneapolis with the Lakers, New York with the Knicks and Syracuse with the Nationals. Finally he landed back with the Lakers and packed his things with them to move to Los Angeles.</p> <p>It was with the Lakers that Selvy saw the most team success of his career, playing alongside future Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor and Jerry West. He earned another All-Star berth in 1961-62 largely because the Lakers were good and the league needed someone to fill the spots in a nine-team league. In total Selvy played 565 games in nine seasons, a largely inefficient chucker who never reached the heights of college while in the NBA.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> Bob Pettit (2nd)</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 15 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_431625" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="wp-image-431625 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1186,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F512778700.jpeg" alt="" width="1600" height="1186" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/512778700.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/512778700-768x569.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">MORGANTOWN, WV – FEBRUARY 20: West Virginia University unveiled a statue of Rodney Clark “Hot Rod” Hundley in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 15. Hot Rod Hundley</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>8.4 points</li> <li>3.3 rebounds</li> <li>3.4 assists</li> </ul> <p>We have back-to-back picks from the 1950s on our list, which kicks off a trend: seven of the 15-worst No. 1 overall picks in league history were taken in the 1950s, when teams’ scouting departments were much smaller and considerations like geographic location and skin color were influencing who teams drafted. In fact, nine of the decade’s ten No. 1 picks show up somewhere on this list of 30; only Elgin Baylor (1958) would prove to be a great use of the top slot.</p> <p>Rodney Clark Hundley was not simply a basketball player but a showman. He earned the nickname “Hot Rod” for the ways he showed off to the crowd, with zany dribbling moves and wild shot motions. The West Virginia native stayed close to home, attending West Virginia University. In three seasons with the varsity team he scored 2,180 points, twice making the first team All-American teams.</p> <p>Upon graduation he was the first pick in the 1957 NBA Draft, taken by the nearby Cincinnati Royals — who immediately traded his rights to the Minneapolis Lakers. He played with the Lakers for all six years of his career, earning himself two “oh, you play for the Lakers” All-Star berths despite never averaging more than 12.8 points per game in a season.</p> <p>In total Hundley played in 431 career games, three in Minneapolis and three in L.A. Knee injuries ended his career, but thankfully that early retirement just led to an early start on a long career in broadcasting.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> Sam Jones (8th)</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 14 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_431626" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-431626" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1177,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F461638619.jpeg" alt="Andrea Bargnani, New York Knicks" width="1600" height="1177" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/461638619.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/461638619-768x565.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Andrea Bargnani, New York Knicks. Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 14. Andrea Bargnani</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>14.3 points</li> <li>4.6 rebounds</li> </ul> <p>Andrea Bargnani debuts on this list as the first and only international player who never attended high school or college in the United States. That is largely because NBA teams have historically been extremely cautious drafting international prospects, pushing them down draft boards. There is only one other first overall pick with solely international experience prior to coming to the league, Yao Ming.</p> <p>There have certainly been whiffs on a number of international players taken early in drafts, so Bargnani is not alone, but he is certainly in the running for worst value ever from selecting an international player. Bargnani was a productive player overseas, as he would clearly need to be to go first overall, but he was never anything but empty calories and defensive mistakes in the NBA.</p> <p>After playing multiple years in Italy and earning the EuroLeague Rising Star award in 2006, he was drafted first overall in the 2006 NBA Draft by the Toronto Raptors. It took Bargnani some time to get his footing, but by his fifth season he averaged a career-best 21.4 points per game and looked to be putting things together.</p> <p>That year was the high water mark of his career, as his scoring and efficiency began to plummet from there. The Raptors pulled off a modern trade coup by flipping him to the New York Knicks in 2013 for a package including multiple rotation players and a first round pick that landed in the top-10.</p> <p>For his career Bargnani played 550 games but totaled just 18.9 win shares. He was never in the running for any significant awards or recognition, and he largely stayed what he was from the beginning: an inefficient stretch-big in name only who was one of the league’s worst defenders.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> LaMarcus Aldridge (2nd); Kyle Lowry (24th); Rajon Rondo (21st)</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 13 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_428542" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="wp-image-428542 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2021%2F05%2F1310623086.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/05/1310623086.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/05/1310623086-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">(Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 13. Bill McGill</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>10.5 points</li> <li>4.4 rebounds</li> </ul> <p>While in high school Bill McGill was a scoring machine, the best player in Los Angeles who led his team to two City Championships. It was also in high school that McGill severely injured his knee. Doctors told him to get the knee replaced and never play basketball again; instead he had a doctor secretly drain the knee for years to allow him to continue playing.</p> <p>McGill didn’t let the knee slow him down in college, as he led the nation in scoring as a senior at the University of Utah. His 38.8 points per game average was the second-highest in NCAA history, behind just Frank Selvy in 1953-54. That production drove him up to be the first player selected in the 1962 NBA Draft by the Chicago Zephyrs.</p> <p>McGill’s career was a bit of a yo-yo, as one season he would be healthy and average double-digit scoring, and the next he would miss significant time and average single digits. He bounced around the league, playing in Chicago, Baltimore, New York, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Denver, Pittsburgh and Dallas across just a five-year career. The knee just wouldn’t hold up, and his career ended there.</p> <p>The biggest claim-to-fame for McGill is the (potentially apocryphal) story that <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://www.espn.com/nba/playoffs2003/story?id=1549466%22 target="_blank" rel="noopener">he invented the jump hook</a> in a pickup game in college with Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain. It’s certainly the sort of tale one hopes is true.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> John Havlicek (9th); Chet Walker (14th); Jerry Lucas (6th); Dave DeBusschere (4th)</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 12 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_431339" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="wp-image-431339 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2021%2F06%2F1303051580.jpeg" alt="Lakers logo" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/06/1303051580.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/06/1303051580-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Lakers logo (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 12. Fred Hetzel</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>11.2 points</li> <li>5.9 rebounds</li> </ul> <p>In the modern era of the NBA Draft, top prospects tend to pick big-name schools. That is not always the case, but of the last 12 first overall picks only one went to a non-Power 5 school, Anthony Bennett of UNLV (and he will be showing up later on this list). Players don’t go to small schools, ball out, and earn the top pick anymore.</p> <p>That’s what Fred Hetzel did years ago, when he starred at Davidson College. The DMV native averaged 25.7 points and 13.8 rebounds per game while at Davidson, and the team lost just 13 games in three seasons while he was there. His senior year he was a consensus first-time All-American.</p> <p>That level of production boosted Hetzel to the first pick of the 1965 NBA Draft where he was taken by the San Francisco Warriors. The Warriors took future Hall of Famer Rick Barry with the fourth pick in the same draft, and both rookies made the NBA’s All-Rookie Team that season.</p> <p>Unfortunately that would be the last NBA accolade Hetzel would receive. He was unable to generate efficient offense for himself or others, and at a time when most NBA teams had an elite big man or two he struggled to carve out a role for himself. He was taken by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1968 expansion draft and started to bounce around the league as his career took a quick dive towards its end.</p> <p>When it was done, after the 1970-71 season, Hetzel had logged 416 games across only six seasons before calling it quits. His 15.9 win shares are not good, but they are the highest career number left on this list.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> Rick Barry (4th); Gail Goodrich (10th); Billy Cunningham (7th); Bill Bradley (2nd)</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 11 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_432627" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="wp-image-432627 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2560,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2021%2F07%2F1293396488.jpeg" alt="Boston Celtics logo" width="3200" height="2560" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/07/1293396488.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/07/1293396488-768x614.jpeg 768w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/07/1293396488-600x480.jpeg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Boston Celtics logo (Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 11. Jim Barnes</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>8.8 points</li> <li>6.5 rebounds</li> </ul> <p>The NBA is replete with nicknames, many of which are incredible (The Answer, Big Aristotle) and others of which are random and fail to catch on. In very rare circumstances a player’s actual name is even better than their nickname. That has to be the case for Jim “Bad News” Barnes: he has a great nickname, but his actual first name is Velvet. The applications for that on the basketball court are numerous.</p> <p>Unfortunately for Barnes we have some bad news: he is the 11th-worst player in NBA history to go first overall. That doesn’t take away from all of his many pre-draft accomplishments, from winning the gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics to being one of the greatest players in Texas Western history; he holds multiple records for the school, which two seasons after his graduation made the historic run to win the NCAA Championship Game against the University of Kentucky.</p> <p>Barnes started his career on the right trajectory, averaging 15.5 points per game as a rookie and then averaging a double-double each of the next three seasons. Then injuries struck, and a variety of knee and Achilles ailments wiped out his ability to play significant minutes or make an impact when he was on the court.</p> <p>A championship ring did some his way in 1969 with the Boston Celtics; Barnes was Bill Russell’s backup for the season, although he missed the postseason due to injury. His career ended after seven seasons in the league.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> Willis Reed (10th); Paul Silas (12th)</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 10 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_432631" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-432631" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2134,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2021%2F07%2F1095660028.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2134" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/07/1095660028.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/07/1095660028-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 17: A general view of the NBA London Game 2019 logo on the floor of the court during the NBA London Game 2019 between the Washington Wizards and the New York Knicks at The O2 Arena on January 17, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 10. Si Green</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>9.2 points</li> <li>4.3 rebounds</li> <li>3.3 assists</li> </ul> <p>Just one time in NBA history has a single college produced the top overall pick in back-to-back NBA Drafts. Surely that college would be a panacea of basketball greatness, an all-time historic school with a long list of NBA alumni? Instead the singular honor goes to Duquesne, a school in Pittsburgh, PA which has only been to the NCAA Tournament five times in school history.</p> <p>Sihugo “Si” Green was the second of those picks, going first overall in 1956 after Dick Ricketts went first in 1955; unfortunately for Duquesne Ricketts will also be appearing on this list. Green was a tough-rebounding guard who showed up for big games and helped the Dukes win the NIT in 1955.</p> <p>His professional career was a different story. After the Rochester Royals drafted him he split time between Rochester and a Continental Basketball League team his rookie year. The following year he missed due to mandatory military service, and when he came back he just didn’t break through into being a reliable starting-level player.</p> <p>Green bounced around the league, playing for the Royals, the Hawks, the Packers, the Zephyrs and the Bullets. After nine seasons he was waived for the last time and continued playing in minor leagues for as long as he could.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> Bill Russell (2nd); Tim Heinsohn (6th); K.C. Jones (14th)</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 9 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_432632" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="wp-image-432632 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2130,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2021%2F07%2F1304131943.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2130" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/07/1304131943.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/07/1304131943-768x511.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">(Photo by G Fiume/Maryland Terrapins/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 9. Ernie Beck</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>6.3 points</li> <li>3.2 rebounds</li> </ul> <p>In the early days of the NBA, it was not uncommon for players to get the privilege of playing close to home. In the modern NBA that often has little bearing, and a player being drafted by his local team is unusual (looking at you, LeBron James). In the 1950s, however, it was common practice with “territorial picks” that a team took players in their local market to increase the team’s appeal to fans.</p> <p>Few teams leaned into territorial picks as much as the Philadelphia Warriors, who made seven of the 23 territorial selections in league history. In Ernie Beck, they found the quintessential “territory” pick. The 6’4″ shooting guard was born in Philadelphia, raised in Philadelphia, and went to college at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) in Philadelphia. They took him first overall, with a territorial pick, in the 1953 NBA Draft.</p> <p>Whether or not taking a hometown kid helped boost revenue is lost to history, but it certainly did not help them much on the court. Beck never figured things out at the professional level, although he was a reserve on the Warriors’ 1956 title team. His best year came in 1957-58 when Beck averaged 10.1 points and 4.3 rebounds on a career-best 39.8 percent from the field.</p> <p>After seven seasons Beck was done in the league, totaling 371 games and just nine win shares. As shocking as it may seem, things only get worse from here in evaluating the 30 worst No. 1 overall picks.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked: Cliff Hagan (3rd round); Frank Ramsey (6th)</strong></p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 8 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_330915" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-330915" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1068618410.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1068618410.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1068618410-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 8. Markelle Fultz</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>10.9 points</li> <li>4.6 assists</li> </ul> <p>We now come to our second of two active players, point guard Markelle Fultz. For much of this list we are looking into the lives and careers of players from the NBA’s distant past, and without a plethora of websites and podcasts discussing the NBA Draft it’s hard to know what was expected out of these former No. 1 picks, other than the unrealized expectation that they would be the best player in the draft class.</p> <p>With Fultz we do have that knowledge of expectation, and they were sky high. As a freshman at the University of Washington he was electric with the ball in his hands, scoring 23.2 points per game and shooting a stout 41.3 percent from deep. He even added 1.2 blocks and 1.6 steals to his ledger. Fultz was supposed to be a can’t-miss prospect, a dynamic point guard who could shoot and defend. The Philadelphia 76ers traded up to the first pick to take him.</p> <p>Then something…broke. Fultz battled injuries and a sudden inability to shoot. The Internet was loaded with speculation on what had happened. Was it physical? Mental? Voodoo? Whatever happened, Fultz could no longer shoot at all. For his career he has only made 44 of his 166 3-point attempts, good for 26.5 percent.</p> <p>Fultz lasted two injury-plagued seasons in Philadelphia before he was traded to the Orlando Magic, who have extended his contract in hopes of unearthing the star within. A knee injury eight games into his second season with the Magic further derailed his career, but he will be just 23 for the entirety of next season. There is still hope for Fultz, and that could boost him away from the top-10 on this list.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> Jayson Tatum (3rd); De’Aaron Fox (5th); Donovan Mitchell (13th); Bam Adebayo (14th)</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 7 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_428543" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="wp-image-428543 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2137,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2021%2F05%2F1310950513.jpeg" alt="Knicks logo" width="3200" height="2137" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/05/1310950513.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/05/1310950513-768x513.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Knicks logo (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 7. Art Heyman</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>13.0 points</li> <li>4.7 rebounds</li> </ul> <p>Four times in NBA history has the prestigious Duke University seen a player go first overall in the NBA Draft. Three of those players <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://hoopshabit.com/2021/04/24/nba-draft-best-picks/">made our list</a> of the 30 best players to go first overall: Zion Williamson, Kyrie Irving and Elton Brand. The fourth falls all the way to seventh on the opposite list, as Art Heyman had nowhere near the same career as his fellow Duke alumni.</p> <p>The New York City native was one of the nation’s best players during his time at college. In the 1960s college freshman were not eligible to play for the “varsity” team, so Heyman was limited to just three seasons with the full team. He made the most of them, earning third-team All-American honors as a sophomore, second-team as a junior, and first-team as a senior. He is one of just three players in ACC history to have been a three-time unanimous All-ACC selection, along with David Thompson and Tyler Hansbrough.</p> <p>That level of success in college led to Heyman’s selection at first overall in the 1963 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks. A great scorer and strong rebounder, Heyman performed at a solid per-minute level throughout his career. The problem for Heyman was playing time, as his propensity to get into fights or mouth off to coaches and other players saw him marginalized in the NBA.</p> <p>Heyman went overseas for a year and when he came back he caught on to the ABA, playing another three seasons there. For his NBA specific time he played in 147 games over just three seasons, and he totaled just four win shares for his career.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> Nate Thurmond (3rd); Gus Johnson (11th)</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 6 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_432633" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="wp-image-432633 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_964,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2021%2F07%2F1292320934.jpeg" alt="Portland Trail Blazers logo" width="1600" height="964" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/07/1292320934.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/07/1292320934-768x463.jpeg 768w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/07/1292320934-268x162.jpeg 268w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Portland Trail Blazers logo (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 6. LaRue Martin</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>5.3 points</li> <li>4.6 rebounds</li> </ul> <p>Long, long before Loyola Chicago made their famous run to the Final Four in 2018, they featured a shy center named LaRue Martin. The Chicago native was relatively unheralded but instantly productive for the Ramblers, averaging 16.6 points and 14.4 rebounds as a sophomore and 18.2 points and 15.9 rebounds for his three-year career.</p> <p>While he never received All-American accolades, he did prove himself at a crucial time. In 1972 Bill Walton and the UCLA Bruins, in the midst of their 88-game winning streak, frequently drew the presence of NBA scouts. When Loyola Chicago played the Bruins Martin showed up, not only defending Walton but pacing him with 19 points and 18 rebounds. His play impressed a Portland Trail Blazers scout.</p> <p>That led to the Trail Blazers drafting Martin first overall in the 1972 NBA Draft. Right from the beginning he struggled to get minutes and touches, with Portland head coach Jack McCloskey refusing to play him. He averaged just 14 minutes in four seasons with the team; by the time McCloskey was replaced as coach the team had drafted Walton, burying Martin on the depth chart.</p> <p>In total he played just four seasons in the NBA before he was traded and waived. Over 271 games he could put together just 1,430 points and 1.9 win shares.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> Julius Erving (12th); Bob McAdoo (2nd); Paul Westphal (10th)</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 5 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_432634" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-432634" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2139,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2021%2F07%2F958432000.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2139" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/07/958432000.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/07/958432000-768x513.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">WUQING, TIANJIN, CHINA – 2018/05/07: NBA China opened its first lifestyle center on April 25 in Tianjin. The center covers 12,000 square meters and offers regulation-sized basketball courts, a basketball theme kid’s center and an NBA retail store. (Photo by Zhang Peng/LightRocket via Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 5. Dick Ricketts</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>9.3 points</li> <li>6.3 rebounds</li> </ul> <p>If players got credit for being exception in multiple sports, then Dick Ricketts would at the very least move down this list, as he was a two-sport athlete playing both basketball and baseball, and pitched professionally for a decade. Alas, on this list Ricketts gets credit only for his NBA time, and that makes for a rough evaluation.</p> <p>Ricketts attended Duquesne along with his brother, Dave, who likewise played basketball and baseball and later on would catch pitches for his brother in the pros. At Duquesne the elder Ricketts was a key part of a team that made the NIT title game in back-to-back seasons, winning the tournament in 1955. He would total 1,965 points during his time with the Dukes.</p> <p>The St. Louis Hawks took Ricketts first overall in 1955, and he simultaneously signed a contract with the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball. Since the Cardinals sent him to the minor league Rochester Red Wings, he lobbied (successfully) to be traded to the Rochester Royals where he played both sports.</p> <p>Eventually Ricketts had to make a decision between the two sports, and he chose baseball. His final season in the NBA was 1957-58, when he played in all 72 games for the Cincinnati Royals and averaged 7.8 points per game. For his career he scored just 1,974 points, just nine more than he did in college.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> Jack Twyman (10th), Kenny Sears (5th)</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 4 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_197763" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-197763" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2092,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2016%2F05%2F497554-michael-olowokandi.jpg" alt="" width="3200" height="2092" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/05/497554-michael-olowokandi.jpg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/05/497554-michael-olowokandi-768x502.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Tom Hauck /Allsport</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 4. Michael Olowokandi</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>8.3 points</li> <li>6.8 rebounds</li> </ul> <p>The allure of untapped potential is powerful, especially to NBA scouts and general managers with tenuous job security chasing the hidden gem of basketball talent. That is true today, with teams chasing the next Nikola Jokic or Giannis Antetokounmpo, but it was also the case back in the late 1990s.</p> <p>Michael Olowokandi was born in Nigeria but spent most of his childhood in London, England. As he grew it occurred to he and his family that he should consider playing basketball. He first played basketball at the age of 18; at age 20 he enrolled in the University of the Pacific as a completely unknown commodity.</p> <p>Olowokandi became known very quickly, leading the team in scoring, rebounds and blocks as a sophomore. By his senior year he was averaging 22 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks, just a few years into playing basketball for the first time. That tantalizing potential — what more could he become — boosted his stock even further, and he was taken first overall in the 1998 NBA Draft.</p> <p>Then came the NBA, and that upside was never realized. Only twice did he even average double digit points in a season, and in only one season in his career did he even make it to the playoffs. His career averages are 8.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, and his 43.5 percent shooting mark is atrocious for a 7-foot center. Olowokandi lasted nine years in the NBA, but totaled just 2.5 win shares for his 500-game career.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked: Dirk Nowitzki (9th); Paul Pierce (10th); Vince Carter (5th)</strong></p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 3 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_197739" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-197739" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_4088,w_6144/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2016%2F05%2F457903229-brooklyn-nets-v-cleveland-cavaliers.jpg" alt="" width="6144" height="4088" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/05/457903229-brooklyn-nets-v-cleveland-cavaliers.jpg 6144w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/05/457903229-brooklyn-nets-v-cleveland-cavaliers-768x511.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 6144px) 100vw, 6144px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:6144px;">Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 3. Anthony Bennett</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>4.4 points</li> <li>3.1 rebounds</li> </ul> <p>Scouting NBA Draft prospects is a difficult task, and there is a large degree of luck involved for even the best decision makers. No team is going to nail every pick, and sometimes draft busts are unavoidable. In the case of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2013, however, they were setting themselves up for failure from the beginning.</p> <p>Canadian-born Anthony Bennett spent a single season at UNLV, winning the Mountain-West Freshman of the Year award. Prior to his freshman season, Bennett wasn’t on the first-round radar. While he impressed during the year to earn top-10 buzz, he was nowhere near a lock to go first and in fact most expected him not to. Our own Hoops Habit <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://hoopshabit.com/2013/06/24/nba-draft-2013-mock-draft-final/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slotted Bennett fourth</a>, and on the day of the draft NBA.com’s consensus mock draft placed him seventh.</p> <p>Instead Bennett went first to the Cavaliers, the second of three No. 1 picks the Cavaliers would have in a four-year span. Bennett couldn’t get anything going from the jump, averaging just 12.8 minutes per game as a rookie and scoring just 4.2 points.</p> <p>He was sent to the Minnesota Timberwolves as part of the trade for Kevin Love when LeBron James was coming into town, and things did not get much better from there. Bennett bounced around the league over the next couple seasons, playing just 151 career games with only four starts to his name. He was a speculative pick from the most important draft slot, and when he never panned out it highlighted the poor process and poor results of the pick for the Cavaliers.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> Literally anyone(2-60); Giannis Antetokounmpo (15th); Rudy Gobert (27th); Victor Oladipo (2nd); CJ McCollum (10th)</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 2 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_432630" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-432630" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2130,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2021%2F07%2F1301529264.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2130" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/07/1301529264.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/07/1301529264-768x511.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">COLLEGE PARK, MD – FEBRUARY 02: The Maryland Terrapins logo on a basketball before the game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Xfinity Center on February 2, 2021 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by G Fiume/Maryland Terrapins/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 2. Mark Workman</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>4.9 points</li> <li>2.9 rebounds</li> </ul> <p>Earlier we highlighted Dick Ricketts and Si Green, the only two college teammates to go first overall in back-to-back drafts. An equally quirky piece of trivia is that only one high school has produced two first overall picks, Charleston High School in West Virginia. We already talked about Hot Rod Hundley, 15th on this list, who attended West Virginia University and went first overall in 1957. He was following in the footsteps of Mark Workman, who attended the same schools and went first overall in 1952.</p> <p>While at West Virginia Workman was the quintessential dominant center in the early 1950s, averaging 23.1 points and 17.5 rebounds his final season for the Mountaineers. He was a consensus second-team All American as a senior before leaving for the NBA Draft, where he was taken in 1952 by the Milwaukee Hawks.</p> <p>Disaster struck from there. It’s not simply that Workman struggled to find playing time, or developed slowly. He was awful from the jump and didn’t get any better from there. He was an overwhelmingly negative offensive player, shooting 33.1 percent for his career (as a center!) and amassing a negative win shares total in 79 career games. He retired after two seasons and went into sales, traveling eastern Asia selling the region equipment for bowling.</p> <p><strong>Should have picked:</strong> Clyde Lovellette (10th)</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 1 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_432629" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="wp-image-432629 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1961,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2021%2F07%2F1269166327.jpeg" alt="NBA logo" width="3200" height="1961" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/07/1269166327.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/07/1269166327-768x471.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">NBA logo (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history: 1. Gene Melchiorre</h2> <p><strong>Stats:</strong></p> <ul> <li>N/A</li> </ul> <p>Mark Workman managed to accrue negative win shares while he was in the league, and yet he wasn’t the worst No. 1 overall pick in NBA history? What could be worse than that? Cheating to the point of being banned from the league before ever playing a single minute would do the trick.</p> <p>Gene Melchiorre was a 5’8″ point guard who played college basketball at Bradley University. The Braves were wildly successful while Melchiorre was there, going 119 – 22 over his four seasons. He was a consensus first-team All-American as a senior in 1951 and was taken first overall by the Baltimore Bullets in that summer’s draft.</p> <p>Just weeks after the draft, Melchiorre and four of his teammates admitted that they took bribes to “shave points” off the final margin of victory. While their cooperation may have kept them out of jail, they were also kept out of the league. NBA President Maurice Podoloff and the league took a no-tolerance stance on point shaving, and Melchiorre and his teammates were banned from the league for life.</p> <p>There is no “should have picked” for this category, however, because no one from the 1951 draft made much of an impact in the league. It’s a fitting end to our list; Gene Melchiorre never played an NBA minute because he cheated in college, but it’s hard to even say the Bullets made a mistake drafting him given the other options were largely negative players themselves.</p> <p>Our list of the 30 worst No. 1 overall picks in league history is a difficult one to read, spanning from All-Stars to scrubs and everything in between. Even with the first pick it’s possible to go horribly wrong, even if in recent years the hit rate has continued to go up. The pace of Mark Workmans and Dick Ricketts busting out is going down. Whether that’s luck, smarter teams or both, it means a shift in the draft landscape.</p> <p>It also means that the players at the top of this list may be stuck here for a very long time.</p> <div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="dark" data-text="NBA Draft: Ranking every draft class from 1996-2020" data-url="https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/04/nba-draft-ranking-every-draft-class-1996-2020/" data-call-to-action="Next"> <div class="story-link-next"> <a class="story-link-next-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-next-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/18/nba-draft-30-worst-no-1-overall-picks-league-history/"https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/04/nba-draft-ranking-every-draft-class-1996-2020/"> <span class="call_to_action">Next:</span> NBA Draft: Ranking every draft class from 1996-2020 </a> </div> </div><!—pageview_candidate—>">