Which Team Has The Worst Draft Record?
I would say the Timberwolves.
Other than Kevin Garnett, I would say they have a pretty lousy record of drafting. Throw in their horrible luck in the lottery and the fact that they are the only team I can ever remember having multiple draft picks taken away, I think they are the worst. That includes the Clippers...
Yeah the Clips actually have had decent talent drafted, their problem is their owner letting them go over the years. Minny may be the worst...I can't remember them drafting a single All-Star other than Garnett. Did they draft Marbury? Hawks are another possibility.
This is an interesting topic. There are reasons why the same teams lose year after year and why other teams always seem to do well. The answer is management. When you have a smart GM and progressive thinking, your team will always do well. When you have a dumb GM and regressive thinking, your team will do poorly. This is true in the NFL where you can count on the same teams to lose every year.
As for the NBA, there are so many bad organizations, you might run out of room trying to list them. Just think about NBA TV policies. They always televise games with the same 8-10 teams [Phoenix, LA, Cleveland, Boston, San Antonio, etc]. There must be 12-15 NBA teams I never saw on TV. Well those are the teams with bad management and they will probably continue to do poorly by making dumb choices in the upcoming draft as they usually do.
Portland is the prototypical example where a new GM and vision turned around a floundering franchise. Their GM is one of the smartest in the league and their philosophy is progressive. As a result, they're stockpiling outstanding talent/draft choices and will become a dominant team for years to come.
The Clippers are the prototypical example of an organization with horrible management, no vision, and a lack of leadership. They're certainly not alone, but for some reason, they're the first bad team that comes into my mind. I think Minnesota and the Knicks under Isiah Thomas, deserve honorable mention. This list can grow exponentially, so I'll stop here.
Minnesota made bad picks. And Joe Smith signing cost them a couple years of first round picks. Guys like Rashad McCants, Brewer, Ndudi Ebi , and decent guys like Wally Szczerbiak, and Randy Foye, and K Love. Nothing to Special. But they have drafted guys like OJ Mayo, Ray Allen, and Brandon Roy, and traded them all. They need to learn how to hold on to their drafted talent.
bflaa2, I think your post made an excellent point. Creating a winning tradition involves much more than simply who you draft. It requires team chemistry, good trades, the right head coach, and several other factors including leadership, maturity, and intelligent decision making. I think there are many reasons why Minnesota's been one of the worst NBA franchises with Kevin McHale running the show.
Off the top of my head, the only GM who was worse than McHale over the past several years was Isiah Thomas.
I ahve always wondered why did OKC get Durant and Green? The top 2 SF that year in the draft they should have trade Ray Allen for another position not another SF. Imagine if they could have gotten like Al Jefferson. They would have a legit lineup then. They should have got 2 positions rather and 2 players that basically play the same position.
In my opinion, the Raptors are definitely up there in terms of bad drafting.
You guys remember Araujo? 8th pick. They skipped on J. Smith, J.R. Smith, Iggy, Delonte West, Al Jefferson, and heck, the second round has a few guys who've performed better than Araujo (Ariza, Ivey, and others) He had 3 horrible seasons, now relegated to Russian B League.
Michael Bradley? at 17 in 2001? in the Leauge for 5 seasons. played only 173 games that's less than 35 games a season. Most of these came by way of DNP-CDs.
1996 Draft could have drastically altered the history of the Raptors for the better, but they chose Camby at 2 instead of Nash, Abdur Rahim, Kobe, and Ray Allen, all all-stars or better.
IMO, the worst pick by any team in the lottery:
Aleksandar Radejovic. Remember him? OF COURSE NOT!!! This guy played 3 games in his first season. Then he was on NBA rosters for another 3 years, I believe. Still, he couldn't even get off the bench for one measly game while on Denver and Milwaukee rosters. If you go on his Bio on NBA.com, his career best for blocks is... wait for it.... keep waiting.... 1 Block! This guy is 7'3" !!! Injuries might have played a role, but playing 3 games before going back to Europe is just sad, for any first rounder.
The other picks the raptors have made have been ok for their Draft positions, with only McGrady outperforming his draft position (9 in 1997)
In recent years, with the Hawks getting guys like Josh Smith and Horford, 2 starters on the 4th seed in the east, I wouldn't say they're among the worst anymore. And even though passing on Chris Paul was a mistake, Marvin Williams hasn't been that bad and still has a lot of potential. I'd say Minnesota is definitely worse than the Hawks.
Minnesota Timberwolves;
A. losing 4 out of 5 first round picks because of Joe Smith
B. Drafting Ndudi Ebi the one year your awarded a first round draft pick in 5 years and passing up on Josh Howard, Kendrick Perkins, Sofoklis Schortsanitis and Mo Williams. Great Job Minnesota
C. Drafting Rashad McCants over Gerald Green, Danny Granger, and Jarret Jack. Brilliant Guys.
D. Drafting Brandon Roy. Trading Him for Randy Foye and Passing up on Rudy Gay. Awesome
E. Drafting Corey Brewer over Thaddeus Young, Acie law, Al Thornton, and Rodney Stuckey. Brilliant
F. Drafting OJ Mayo and trading him for Kevin love and Mike Miller. Terrible
G. Drafting anyone other than Brandon Jennings or Johnny Flynn in the 2009 Draft at #6.
I think the TWolves and the Raptors are pretty much even from what I'm hearing...thanks guys! No wonder why these teams are among the league's worst franchises (among other reasons of course, but the draft is I think the best indicator of a team's prospects, when you look at it) !
I think that the Sonics/Thunder drafted Kevin Durant and traded for Jeff Green because they believed that both of those players had a lot of versatility and could be on the court at the same time. They envisioned Kevin Durant spending a lot of time at the shooting guard position as well as the small forward spot, and they also like to put Jeff Green at the power forward spot when they choose to push the ball and play up tempo.
I was gonna say the Hawks. There are a lot of bad picks in hindsight, but with them, I could see those mistakes coming a mile away. I still remember when I heard that Shelden Williams would not work out for any teams leading up to the draft because the Hawks had given him a gaurantee at #5. Those guys are idiots. But I'm leaning towards Minnesota now that I have read through these comments. Being a Pac-10 fan, I knew Roy was gonna be the best player to come out of that draft. But 2 things that need to be taken into consideration when you diss the T'Wolves: 1) The NBA did them a favor by taking away 4 drat picks for the whole Joe Smith fiasco. The league rescinded a deal that would have paid Joe 90 million dollars. In hindsight, they should send Stern a thank you card. And 2) I still think KLove is gonna work out for them. Mike MIler makes that trade pretty even.
I'm too lazy to find out once and for all on my own, but does anybody else have a clue? This could help explain a lot in the future.