Best NBA Draft Sleepers of All-Time
2. Drazen Petrovic (1986 NBA Draft, 3rd Round, 60th Overall)
Drazen Petrovic played just four seasons in the NBA before he was tragically killed in a car accident right after the 1992-93 season. However, that was more than enough time for the Yugoslavian guard to become a legend that will live on in the history of the NBA forever.
Petrovic fell to the third round of the 1986 NBA Draft before being snatched by the Trail Blazers. After coming to the NBA in 1989, Petrovic played just a little over one season with Portland before being traded to the Nets where he rapidly became one of the best guards in the league.
In his two full seasons with the Nets, Petrovic was phenomenal, particularly as a scorer. In 152 games over those two years, the guard put up 21.4 points per game while shooting 51.2 percent from the field and 44.6 percent from three. Those two seasons left an impression on the NBA that is still felt to this day. Legends like Michael Jordan talk about his fire and competiveness to this day and even current players recognize his greatness as he was voted as the best European player of all time by the players at the 2013 FIBA Eurobasket tournament.
While Petrovic’s NBA career was sadly cut short, he touched greatness while he was in the league. Had he lived, he would almost surely have become another face of one of the most famous eras in the league. Even with how little we got to enjoy him in the NBA, it’s near unfathomable that he fell as far as he did in the 1986 NBA Draft.
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