Worst #1 Overall Pick In the past 20 years

by **showstopper496** on Thu Dec 11, 2003 8:01 am

who is it?

Kwame "What was MJ thinking" Brown
Michael "The Cancer" Olowakandi
Joe "Medicore"Smith
"Never Nervous" Pervis Ellison
Ralph"1 year wonder" Sampson
Elton"never won anything"Brand (he should not be here but i hate him)
Other

by **DipSetVC** on Thu Dec 11, 2003 8:11 am

Michael Olowakandi, hands down...

by **Matthew** on Thu Dec 11, 2003 9:12 am

Shaq (he shouldnt be here but i hate him...)
Kwame Brown.. what a soft cock lol.. remember when he told mike "you wont regret drafting me"? Well I don't think mj regrets it now knowing that washington is still waiting for him to develop :twisted:

by **DrNick** on Thu Dec 11, 2003 9:21 am

Olawakandi

y do u have brand there? he is not da greatest but he is pretty good.

by **Jowe** on Thu Dec 11, 2003 10:02 am

kwame gets my vote for worst #1 pick Ev-ah.

Still looks lost out on the court, while other picks in the same draft are showing signs of development ie Curry and chandler in chicago..

YouTube · by **Andrew** on Thu Dec 11, 2003 10:52 am

If we held those drafts again today, Brand would probably be the only guy who would still go first overall. I narrow my choice of worst to Kwame, Kandiman and Pervis Ellison.

Kwame still looks like a bust, but he probably deserves at least one more year with increased court time to show what he can do. I think we're getting pretty close to officially writing him off as a wasted first overall choice though.

Olowokandi could and should probably be a lot better by now, but he's still a legitimate seven foot centre capable of putting up decent numbers, which in today's NBA makes him a more valuable commodity than he should be. Consider the players that could have been taken number one in 1998; Kandi was definitely an ill-advised pick.

Ellison is probably the best player of the three, but he was taken ahead of players such as Glen Rice, Sean Elliott, Tim Hardaway and Shawn Kemp. He too was a poor choice, though the 1989 Draft did not feature too many candidates who would be a worthy first overall pick. Mind you, if GMs had the same mentality back then as they do today, Kemp probably would have gone first overall, or at the very least in the top ten.

Considering talent and other players in the same draft class, I'd say Kandi has been the worst number one pick in the last 20 years. The Clippers could have selected Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Mike Bibby or Paul Pierce.

by **EGarrett** on Thu Dec 11, 2003 11:04 am

I think the saddest thing is that you couldn't even make the playoffs with that line-up...

Considering the available choices (Dirk, Vince, Pierce, Jamison, Bibby etc)...I think Michael Olowokandi is definitely the worst #1 overall of the last 20 years. He doesn't even have the injury excuse...he just stunk it up.

by **Vins15** on Thu Dec 11, 2003 11:56 am

Michael Olowakandi and Joe Smith for me...they stunk badly....

by **Fresh8** on Thu Dec 11, 2003 1:56 pm

Damn! Kwame is benched...he cant develop much now!

by **The Big Racist** on Thu Dec 11, 2003 3:31 pm

EGarret wrote:He doesn't even have the injury excuse

If you mean Kandiman then you have missed something,He has had that leg injury for about 2-3 years...This year it has been showed up really bad and he may miss the entire season.

by **Shep** on Thu Dec 11, 2003 3:58 pm

Damn! Kwame is benched...he cant develop much now

kwaym has had all season thus far to show what he can do.....the same shit happens every year: he gets opportunity, he blows the opportunity, he returns to the bench. he seems to play better off the bench anyway...

by **benji** on Fri Dec 12, 2003 1:21 am

Sit wrote:Damn! Kwame is benched...he cant develop much now!

He's actually playing better off the bench...

Kwame still looks like a bust, but he probably deserves at least one more year

How many years do we have to hear this...I was told he was ready last year by quite a few people...

Ellison is my pick because of his nickname...and because he got everyones hopes up after a 20/10 season only to crush them! Yes! Go "Never Nervous"!

Too bad I can't go back to 1972 and say LaRue Martin.

by **hmm** on Fri Dec 12, 2003 2:12 am

by **paul_pierce_the_truth** on Fri Dec 12, 2003 5:39 am

Martin wrote:
EGarret wrote:He doesn't even have the injury excuse

If you mean Kandiman then you have missed something,He has had that leg injury for about 2-3 years...This year it has been showed up really bad and he may miss the entire season.

Good point, Kandiman missed 46 games last season.

I agree he was not a great pick, he certainly has missed some games do to injuries. He has averaged 10pts and 8rebs for his career, in 2002 he has averaged 11 pts 9 reb and 1.8 blocks, that's not really stinking it up, except you would like more from a number 1 for sure.

Pervis Ellison gets my vote for recent picks:
http://www.basketballreference.com/play ... =ELLISPE01

1977 Kent Benson (passed on Larry Bird)
http://www.basketballreference.com/play ... =BENSOKE01
1972 Larue Martin (Ben's pick)
http://www.basketballreference.com/play ... =MARTILA01

Worst passing over a player ever to me is Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan.

by **Full Surface** on Fri Dec 12, 2003 5:50 am

Sit wrote:Damn! Kwame is benched...he cant develop much now!

He's averaging around 16 points in all the games Eddie Jordan benched him (which is much more productive than when he started, where he averaged less than 10 points).

I wouldn't call him a bust yet.. I'll give him until the end of the season. But the Wizards shouldn't be stupid about this. They need to be patient. They got rid of three guys that could have been a big impact on their franchise: Ben Wallace, Chris Webber, Rasheed Wallace

by **fgrep15** on Fri Dec 12, 2003 5:54 am

kwame sinced being benched had 18 and 4, 17 and 7 and 18 and 14.......i think its taken pressure off him....

and in the first 13 games of the season he had 3blocks total not he's getting some blocks

joe smith is not that bad

and no way did u put elton brand in that list thats jut ignorant lol....but no eally the guy i sick.....u might hate the guy but he is a very good player and elite in the league.....not too many at 6'8 could lead the league in blocks and rebounds on a good year the guy is all out hustle and determination

by **Shep** on Fri Dec 12, 2003 11:15 am

Bill wrote:He's actually playing better off the bench

Bill wrote:How many years do we have to hear this...I was told he was ready last year by quite a few people

hmm...i believe this was already covered...

by **paul_pierce_the_truth** on Fri Dec 12, 2003 12:12 pm

Shep wrote:
Bill wrote:He's actually playing better off the bench

Bill wrote:How many years do we have to hear this...I was told he was ready last year by quite a few people

hmm...i believe this was already covered...

Who's Bill?

by **EGarrett** on Fri Dec 12, 2003 12:56 pm

I will thus have to switch my nomination to Joe Smith. If he hasn't been injured then he is easily the worst. Pervis Ellison had a great start then was injured on and off for the rest of his short career.

by **TRUball** on Fri Dec 12, 2003 1:03 pm

Pervis Ellison had a couple good seasons, in his thrid year he averaged 20 PPG, 11.2 RPG with a .539 FG% and 2.68 BPG , which I think is worthly of a 1st pick, if he could of kept that up his career I don't think he would be in this list but he didn't....

by **Shep** on Fri Dec 12, 2003 1:10 pm

if he could of kept that up his career I don't think he would be in this list but he didn't

thats very observant of you... :lol:

by **TRUball** on Fri Dec 12, 2003 1:15 pm

Shep wrote:
if he could of kept that up his career I don't think he would be in this list but he didn't

thats very observant of you...

aww......shut up, i learned that in school today, lol j/k :wink:

by **MC Hao** on Fri Dec 12, 2003 2:03 pm

i have to say Kwame Brown. i looked up the dictionary today for the definition of suck, and i saw his picture there.

by **paul_pierce_the_truth** on Fri Dec 12, 2003 8:54 pm

Not to interject once again, but Joe Smith has been solid, not every number one is Tim Duncan or Shaq, but Smith has put together a decent career and had many solid seasons.

His rookie year he average 15.3ppg 8.7reb 1.04stl 1.63blk 34.4min
He added good seasons in:
1997 - 18.7ppg 8.5reb 0.9stl 1.08blk 38.6min
1998 - 17.3ppg 6.9reb 0.9stl 0.78blk 33.6min

He has since moved around a bit and his minutes are down, but he's still a guy who gets 12-14ppg 6-9reb around 1 block, with around 22-25min.

This has been over 9 seasons in the NBA and has averaged 13ppg 7.0reb 1.07blks over 29.9min per game.

He's just 28-years-old and is 16th in the NBA right now in rebounds (9.0) and is getting 11.1ppg and 1.55blks

He's been okay, not Duncan, but not everyone can be Duncan, he's just below someone like Kenyon Martin as a number one.

by **EGarrett** on Fri Dec 12, 2003 11:54 pm

All-Stars drafted after Joe Smith...

Kevin Garnett
Jerry Stackhouse
Rasheed Wallace
Antonio McDyess
Michael Finley

Kwame Brown is close but still hasn't had enough time to make a final call. Most other guys who disappointed were injured. Thus Joe Smith gets my vote.

Worst #1 Overall Pick In the past 20 years

Worst #1 Overall Pick In the past 20 years

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