NBA Draft 2016: Every team’s most underrated pick ever

Cleveland Cavaliers: Carlos Boozer, No. 34 pick, 2002 NBA Draft

This is going to be tough for Cleveland fans to swallow. Obviously, the Cavs have enjoyed some draft success since Carlos Boozer joined the ranks in 2002 (cough, LeBron James, cough), but things did not end well between the player and the team. Boozer famously went back on a handshake agreement with Cleveland’s then-owner, signing a lucrative contract with the Utah Jazz and never looking back. Unfortunately, that ugly heel turn will not keep Boozer off the list.

Any time you can grab a legitimately important piece in the second round, it is a big win for an organization, and picking up Boozer (out of Duke, of all places) in 2002 fit that bill nicely. The power forward averaged 15.4 points and 11.1 rebounds per game in just his second season in the NBA, and Boozer was on his way to a career that included two All-Star appearances.

Sadly, the Cavs did not get to enjoy most of Boozer’s considerable success, but in the same breath, Cleveland’s other high-impact draft choices often get the credit that they deserve. Unearthing a talent like Boozer from a prominent school like Duke isn’t something that normally happens in the second round, and Cleveland took full advantage of the missteps portrayed by the rest of the NBA.

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