[The GoatParticipant]

 There’s obviously some well known draft mistakes, Anthony Bennett and Kwame Brown both going #1, late steals like Giannis, Kawhi, Kobe, Dirk, and Pierce, as well as second round finds like Manu and Draymond. It’s still early but I can’t help but think how scary the Sixers would be if they had drafted Porzingis and Tatum over Okafor and Fultz. Simmons Redick Tatum Porzingis Embiid How do you stop that? What’s your team’s biggest "what if" draft moment?  

[GronounoursParticipant]

Sure, if GMs knew the future, they would make less mistakes. And if only one had that ability, he would build a terrific team. What’s the point of discussing this though?

[The GoatParticipant]

 Don’t discuss it then, come back when you are off your period

[GronounoursParticipant]

 I think you misinterpreted the tone of my reply. I’m not pissed off, I’m slightly amused by the pointlessness of your post.

[holefillers1Participant]

Imagine if Hinkie took Giannis instead of Noel and MCW…maybe they don’t get Embiid the next year.  If they draft Porzingis, maybe they don’t get the top pick the next year’s draft.  And if my Aunt had balls she would be my Uncle…  I would rather have Simmons and Embiid. Picturing my Aunt with balls is not an exercise I suggest.

[HitsterParticipant]

Portland not taking MJ at 2 in 1984 even Houston passing on MJ with Hakeem the same year could be called a blunder.

Bucks and Atlanta both passing on CP3 in 2005 even with hindsight Portland taking KD over Oden in 2007 and Miami or Memphis taking Westbrook in 2008 instead of Beasley and Mayo.

Memphis taking Thabeet over Harden a year later.

Of course Darko being taken by Detroit in 2003 is my personal favourite as a D-Wade, Bosh, Melo could have turned that 5 time Finals team into multiple winners potentially.

[whiteflashParticipant]

 Hakeem Olajuwon is the most versatile player in NBA history, the best center of all timme and THE ONLY player to ever win a championship without another All-Star, and there’s no guarantee Jordan would’ve done in Houston what he did in Chicago due to a myriad of factors. So, no, passing on Olajuwon was not "a blunder".

[The GoatParticipant]

No all stars ?! Clyde Drexler? 

[whiteflashParticipant]

 That was his second chip. He won his first without any other All-Star or HOF’er, and he’s literally the only player in NBA history to do it.

[The GoatParticipant]

he had Otis Thorpe for the first one

[whiteflashParticipant]

 He did, but Thorpe wasn’t an All-Star that year, and was a one time All-Star the year previous. What Olajuwon was able to do during the Golden Era of big men is truly astounding. 

[travis33dupreeParticipant]

 Otis Thorpe all star 1x all star 1992. Check it.

[OhCanada-Participant]

The Toronto Raptors did an inside the draft room show that featured Bryan Colangelo during 2008 which showed him arrogantly decline a trade for Deandre Jordan. I forget which team or teams made the offer but I remember him laughing at the fact that they wanted a million dollars for an early second round pick. 

[ChewyParticipant]

 I’m more upset because I thought it was obvious at draft time and my Bulls took the wrong guy. #1 taking James Johnson instead of Jrue Holiday and #2 taking Tony Snell instead of Mason Plumlee

 

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

 Well hindsight is always 20/20, but if they had taken porzingis than they might not have actually been in the position to draft simmons. And I think it’s just a tad bit early to assume fultz will be a bust.

[JDB12Participant]

Wolves taking Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn before Steph in 09… Love before Westbrook in 08, Muhammed the pick before Giannis, and Dieng before Gobert in 13, Wesley Johnson in 2010 at number 4 with DMC, Hayward and Kawhi going 5, 9, and 10… 

[JDB12Participant]

 Looking back when watching those drafts, I really wanted the Wolves to pick Curry and DeRozan. I didn’t think Curry was going to be a superstar like his is, but I thought he would be better than people expected him to be, and he was/still is my favorite player.  And I love dudes with bounce and thought DeRozan could be a very good player if he developed a jumper. In 08 I was happy with the Love trade because I honestly thought that Beasley and Rose were the only franchise players in that draft, and Love would be the next best option. And then Russ decided that he was going to average a triple double… in 13 I honestly had no idea who Giannis or Gobert were so I wasn’t upset about not picking them. But I did not want Muhammed at all, and was content with the Dieng pick coming off a national championship, and we needed a rim protector. And I was actually super excited about the Wes Johnson pick, and then he ended up not living up to the 4th overall pick. But has made a good career as a role player.

[220Participant]

 Rubio and Flynn over Curry seemed like a mistake even on draft night. Rubio and Curry could have been a strong tandem.

[SubZeroParticipant]

If Jonny Flynn didn’t play that 13OT game against UConn I bet he doesn’t get drafted that high too. Add that to the list of stars that aligned for Golden State

[220Participant]

 The 76ers taking Larry Hughes over Paul Pierce and to a lesser extent Dirk Nowitzki. No one knew how good Nowitzki could be, but Paul Pierce was clearly better than Larry Hughes at the time. AI and Pierce could have been phenomenal.

[whiteflashParticipant]

 Paul Pierce and Clyde Drexler are the two biggest head scratchers of all time to me. There’s several players that everyone thought would be great who never panned out, and guys who seemingly come out of nowhere to be all-stars, and everything in between, but those two were complete studs at every level and clearly had games that perfectly translated to the pro’s and still fell on draft night. Craziness. 

[EndlessknightParticipant]

Little early to say Tatum would’ve been a better pick than Fultz, no?

[SubZeroParticipant]

May be right eventually but definitely too early. Let’s let him play with 2 shoulders instead of 1 for a while before we call him a bust

[The GoatParticipant]

 True, but what about roster fit? Sixers just drafted who they thought was best, which is fair enough, but if they drafted for position I think the team would already be complete with potential stars in each spot

[cohenbc1Participant]

Going back a ways, the worst draft blunder of all time has to be Golden St.’s in 1980.

The day before the draft they sent a young Robert Parish and the #3 pick to Boston for the #1 pick. With their newly acquired top pick, Golden St. took a guy named Joe Barry Carroll — who while not the bust he is sometimes remembered to be (he averaged 18/8 over an 11-year career), did earn the nickname "Joe Barely Cares."

Boston took Kevin McHale with the #3 pick.

 

 

 

 

[BeastMode716Participant]

 And you are Way too early calling Fultz a Bust

Tatum is a great fit in Boston b/c he’s playing a role for them as a 3rd or 4th scorer (when Hayward was healthy)

Fultz is just as much of a perfect fit in Phila – when you watch their games as Embiid gets in game shape & he & Simmons gel you can see Exactly what they were thinking when they drafted Fultz & signed JJ Reddick

Right now w/ Fultz & Reddick injured Bayless & to a lesser extent TJ McConnell are getting Wide Open 3pt looks & have wide path to the Rim. Neither Bayless or McConnell are talented enuf to take advantage of all that space along the baseline.

Fultz is a kid who is a great shooter from mid range & 3pt range & can get to the Rim in Traffic so he’ll be a Nightmare w/ all that open space 

Also, Fultz does not need to be the #1 star in Phila – he’ll be the #3 option but he is a critical link between Embiid & Simmons b/c they fit so perfectluy the presence of each one makes the other 2 that much more dangerous

Phila already has Robert Covington a top DPOY finalist & solid 3 pt shooter at the Wing position so Tatum just would be too much of a duplication of abilities 

I really think it’s a rare deal where Both Boston & phila made the right decision. As great as Lonzo, DSJ, Tatum & Jackson have looked None fit the needs of Phila the way Fultz does.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[The GoatParticipant]

 Never said Fultz was a bust – I was actually a fan of his during college – but I think Tatum will be a very good player and much better fit. I think Simmons and Fultz both need the ball, and Simmons is a definite keeper. A team with Simmons, Tatum, Porzingis and Embiid would cause fits with their length

[EndlessknightParticipant]

You are discounting how good Covington is. He was 4th in DPY voting and is damn good on the offensive end too. Plus if they drafted Porzingis they probably would’ve won to many game to get Simmons.

I see the Sixers eventually having a very balanced attack. With both Embiid and Fultz averaging about 20-23 a game and Simmons around 18. Then throw in 3 point specialist like Redick, Bayless and Covington to round it out.

[HitsterParticipant]

I agree with the idea that Fultz would be the explosive guy who can take a pass off a shield or a pick and roll and then drive to the rim like a young D-Rose. Also Philly have a perfectly good SF in Covington and we have talked about Saric and Simmons guarding SFs numerous times.

Reddick gave them the shooter option who will find space so Fultz’s slashing to the basket is a nice compliment for that too.

With Simmons as the point, they would want someone to mark the opposition’s quickest player and Fultz was chosen for that role too.

All the teams who passed on Kawhi in his draft year, he fell to 15th and had been a consensus top 10 guy on virtually all mocks all season. He wasn’t considered a top 3 guy but was thought to be a lock in 6 to 10 range.

[HitsterParticipant]

 The 76ers with Porz in 2015-16 would not have won many more games than they did with Okafor IMO. Porz only averaged 14ppg that year to the Oak’s 17.5ppg. Even if he had improved them they may not have even got more wins than the Lakers on 17. So they could well have nabbed Simmons in 2016, they would not likely have got Fultz this year though. But could well have been in the mix for one of the other top 10 drafted PGs,

[Evan_MilbergParticipant]

The Wizards haven’t really started drafting well until this decade with Wall, Beal, Porter and Oubre. As a lifelong fan, I definitely still wonder what the trajectory of this team would’ve been if we’d drafted Pau Gasol first in 2001. However, I think the worst mistake we made was drafting Kenny Green 12th in 1985. Karol Malone was the next pick.

[whiteflashParticipant]

 In defense of that pick, Karl Malone did have arguably the best pure pg to ever play helping his stats. 

[holefillers1Participant]

 Larry Hughes on a Larry Brown promise, over Pierce and Nowitski

[holefillers1Participant]

 Sorry 220…didnt see you up there

[Insane13Participant]

 Clippers taking Yaroslav Korolev , Celtics taking Kedrick Brown ,  obviously Darko , and who is old enough to remember Aleksandr Radejovic. I wasn’t old enough to see any of these picks or know how good they were but I always like looking up prospects that never panned out and aren’t talked about alot. Also Nikoloz Tskitivili lol. 

[HitsterParticipant]

 Wizards have drafted well in recent years apart from Jan Vesley in 2011 when they passed on Klay, Kemba, Leonard, Vucevic to name but 4. With Wall in situ, we’ll over look Walker but a lot of drafts had them taking Leonard in that draft. They got Beal in a later draft so we can say that cancels out Klay.

[Author]

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