Fansided

The worst NBA Draft picks for every team

By Jonathan Macri

PORTLAND, OR - 1985: Sam Bowie #31 of the Portland Trailblazers warms up prior to a game played circa 1985 at Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1985 NBAE (Photo by Brian Drake/NBAE via Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR - 1985: Sam Bowie #31 of the Portland Trailblazers warms up prior to a game played circa 1985 at Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1985 NBAE (Photo by Brian Drake/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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(Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)
(Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images) /

15. New York Knicks: Frederic Weis

As a Knick fan, even typing the letters of his name brings on a cringe and severe pain in the pit of my stomach.

It’s somewhat inexplicable that whenever New York’s ineptitude of the last two decades gets brought up, Weis’ name appears near the top of the list of follies. By himself, Ron Artest – the Queensbridge product who went to college in the Knicks’ backyard and was selected immediately after Weis in the 1999 draft — wouldn’t have reversed the fortunes of the franchise. Sure, he might have made a difference in the conference finals that year versus Indiana, the team he would eventually earn his lone All-Star birth with, but he wasn’t going to singlehandedly reboot the franchise as the Ewing era drew to a close. Artest has even recently admitted that he, too, might have been too lit for New York City as a pro.

But the Knicks — and Weis — need to be this high, in part because of all the picks they traded away over the years (the Cavs Corollary, if you will), but mostly because there may have never been a more obvious choice in NBA history than New York drafting Ron Artest. That’s why, despite the fact that it isn’t even one of their ten most negatively impactful moves of the last 20 years, the pick always gets mentioned in LOL Knicks parlance. The easy choice was staring at them in the face, and they whiffed.

All to take a guy who would never play a minute in the NBA and would become best known for Vince Carter elevating his nether-regions atop Weis’ 7-foot-2 frame in perhaps the most famous dunk of all time.

Yeah…15 probably isn’t high enough.

Honorable Mention: Jordan Hill (8th) over DeMar DeRozan (9th), 2009

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