Fansided

2014 NBA Draft: Biggest draft mistakes of the lottery era

By Michael Dunlap

Feb 18, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Miami Heat center Greg Oden (20) warms up before the game against the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 18, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Miami Heat center Greg Oden (20) warms up before the game against the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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1994 — Medium-sized dog

What a frustrating talent Glenn Robinson was. The “Big Dog” averaged 20.7 points per game throughout his NBA career, but he played in just 688 games and essentially was a mistake because of who was drafted behind him. As the No. 1 overall pick of the Milwaukee Bucks, Robinson averaged 21.9 points with 6.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game as a rookie. The mistake here was the fact that Jason Kidd and Grant Hill went directly after Robinson. That’s a NBA Hall of Famer and a generally terrific man drafted right after.

1995 — The big school theory strikes again

Michigan State University and UCLA have been known as basketball schools for quite some time and the mid-90’s were no exception. That’s why the Portland Trail Blazers and New Jersey Nets trusted Shawn Respert (No. 8) and Ed O’Bannon (No. 9), respectively. It’s not like they missed anything great, but Kurt Thomas (No. 10) put together a very good career simply filling in gaps where needed. Who wouldn’t want a player like that on their team?

1996 —  Let’s just blame everyone

First, let’s go ahead and just list the teams who passed on Kobe Bryant: Sixers, Raptors, Grizzlies, Bucks, Timberwolves, Celtics, Clippers, Nets, Mavericks, Pacers, Warriors and Cavaliers. Now, let’s slap the taste out of whomever thought it would be a good idea to trade Bryant to the Los Angeles Lakers before he ever played a minute for the Charlotte Hornets. For what it’s worth, those teams also passed on Peja Stojakovic (No. 14) and Steve Nash (No.15). Terrible job, terrible effort.

1997 —  But he was good once

For a team that’s had such a great and storied history, the Boston Celtics have made some really terrible decisions in the draft. This one involved taking Ron Mercer at No. 6, instead of going after guys like Tim Thomas or Tracy McGrady. Mercer did score 18.1 points per game in his sophomore year at the University of Kentucky before scoring 15.3 points per game on his way to first-team All-Rookie team, but then he fell off, got cast off and was never a quality scorer for a quality team (he did score 19.7 per game for a horrific 2000-01 Bulls team).

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