The worst NBA Draft picks for every team

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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30. San Antonio Spurs: Cory Joseph

Leave it to the model organization of the last 20 years to be the one team that shouldn’t even really be on this list.

Since coming into the NBA in 1977, they’ve never made what anyone would call an egregious draft mistake, at least not by the standard we’ve laid out. Turns out picking in the mid to late 20’s every year has its benefits after all.

But we had to put something here, so for that, we go back to 2011. Ironically enough, that was the night the Spurs made arguably the best draft night trade in history, swapping George Hill for the 15th pick, a defense-first, non-shooter from San Diego State by the name of Kawhi Leonard. Even after a messy departure, it remains a banner moment for the franchise.

The crazy thing is it could have been even better. Fifteen picks later, another gritty small forward in the same mold as Leonard would get drafted by the Chicago Bulls with the last pick of the first round. The Spurs could have taken him with the 29th pick, but instead went with Cory Joseph.

Joseph went on to contribute to two Finals teams and is a fine player in his own right, but the guess here is that San Antonio would have rather paired Leonard with Jimmy Butler and formed maybe the greatest defensive wing pairing in the history of the league.

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