NBA Draft: Every NBA team’s worst draft pick

16. Chicago Bulls – Tyrus Thomas (2006)

The 2006 NBA Draft saw the Chicago Bulls make a great decision and the Trail Blazers an awful one. The Bulls selected LaMarcus Aldridge with their second overall pick while the Blazers picked Tyrus Thomas. In Aldridge, the Bulls would be getting a player who would solidify the 4 and arguably be the best to play the position since Tim Duncan. Yet, inexplicably, they swapped Aldridge with Thomas on draft day, and made it seem as though Portland actually made a good pick.

Tyrus Thomas was dominant as a one-and-done. LSU’s Final Four appearance came on his back – both offensively and defensively – so a lottery pick was justified. But Thomas’s first season with Chicago was far from ideal.

He averaged 5.2 points per game to go along with 3.7 rebounds – in the playoffs, it was virtually identical. His career high in points remains 10.8. The Bulls finished with a 49-33 record in his rookie season, but would lose in the second round of the playoffs. Imagine how far they would’ve gone with Aldridge in his place.

Thomas’s injury-plagued fourth season coincided with the rise of rookie Taj Gibson, making the former LSU star surplus to requirements. He signed a five-year deal with the Charlotte Bobcats. but they exercised the amnesty clause three years into the deal when his production dropped significantly.

You can now find Tyrus Thomas splitting time between the D-League and Germany while LaMarcus Aldridge is gearing up for a potential Finals run with the San Antonio Spurs.

Next: 15: Los Angeles Clippers