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NBA Draft: Every team’s least popular pick ever

By Cody Williams

CLEVELAND, OH - OCTOBER 30: Anthony Bennett
CLEVELAND, OH - OCTOBER 30: Anthony Bennett /
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12 Mar 1997: Forward Joe Smith of the Golden State Warriors looks on during a game against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California. The Lakers won the game 109 – 101.
12 Mar 1997: Forward Joe Smith of the Golden State Warriors looks on during a game against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California. The Lakers won the game 109 – 101. /

Golden State Warriors – Joe Smith (1995)

Coming into the 1995 NBA Draft, the Golden State Warriors owned the No. 1 overall pick and had their choice of a bevy of highly talented players—players that were stars before they went into the NBA and then left legacies in one way or another. Unfortunately for the Warriors, the guy they selected first overall in Joe Smith’s legacy is that he’s one of the most well traveled players of all time and easily the franchise’s most unpopular pick.

Make no mistake that Smith showed tremendous promise right out of the gate for the Warriors. He averaged over 18 points and eight rebounds per game in just his second season in the league. However, Smith made it clear over the course of 2.5 seasons that he wanted to go back closer to home on the east coast, so the Warriors traded him in the middle of Year 3 for Clarence Weatherspoon and Jim Jackson. Smith would never again reach the heights of performance that he showed early in Golden State—but that he only lasted two years is the real shame for the Warriors.

Though it’s a risk whenever you take any player that they just simply may not like it, that’s devastating when it happens with the No. 1 overall pick. So for Smith to be that guy in the Bay Area, his being an unpopular draft pick is less than surprising.

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