With all the talk of teams tanking for the upcoming NBA draft, with ping-pong balls determining a team’s fate, it made me think of draft busts. Sure we all know the Michael Olowokani and Kwame Brown bust stories. The Sam Bowie being picked ahead of Michael Jordan debacle.(Portland, poor Portland. Not just for that but the history of their top picks getting hurt)
Yet, certain draft busts do not grab our attention. It could be that some have had long and somewhat decent careers. Others have the ability to be so boring of a bust, that they are just forgotten about in the NBA bust galaxy. Have no fear Joe Smith and the like, today we are breaking down the top 5 sneakiest busts in recent history.
5: Joe Smith- Don’t worry Joseph, we have not forgotten about your meteoric career. Drafted with the 1st overall pick by Golden State way back in the 1995 draft out of Maryland. Smith is a bust out of the expectations of being a number 1. If he was not drafted so high, through no fault of his own, Smith would be remembered as a wild old vet who had a long and pretty solid career. Being drafted number one overall? Well expectations are higher than averaging 11 points a game. Like a good horror villian, Smith would not die. Joe was last seen on the 2011 Los Angeles Lakers, where he played a whopping 5 games. Before that 12 different teams, even reoccurring roles in Philly, Minnesota, and Cleveland, always coming back for more. By all accounts he was a productive and useful player on almost every team he landed on. But never even close to living up to the expectations a number 1 pick comes with. While Smith is not near the bust of Kwame Brown, we would still like you to remember him as something more than a journeymen, we want him remembered as the former savior of Golden State basketball.
4: Raef LaFrentz- Depending on your age you probably don’t even know who the guy is. The guy was the 3rd overall pick in the 1998 draft. What is really strange about Raef is that his first 5 years in the league he was relatively productive. Being the 3rd overall pick he put up decent numbers, numbers expected from a guy taken around that spot. Hovering around the 13 points per mark is pretty solid. Improvement and potential seemed to make Raef destined to have a respectable career. Fast forward a decade and LaFrentz is out of the league. Finishing his career averaging 10 points a game. What makes him a bust is the fact nobody remembers him. Unless you really love Kansas basketball or journeymen Power Forwards, this might actually be the first time you have heard of him. He was never bad YET he was never really that good.
3: Keith Van Horn- Van Horn was not a bad player at all. In fact, most of the time he was an above average one. What puts him on the list is hope. Being compared to Larry Bird, Van Horn was drafted 2nd overall in the 1997 draft by Philly who would immediately trade him to the Nets. His rookie year he looked just fantastic, putting up 20 a game. The next year even better at 21. Early impressions were that indeed, Van Horn, was a franchise player. Alas, he was sneaky mediocre. Even with really solid play and numbers in New Jersey something always seemed not quiet right with Keith. What was it? Well he was over payed and overrated. Despite being a major player on the 2002 Nets team who made it to the finals, New Jersey traded him in the off-season to Philly. That means the Jersey brass thought Van Horn was a really swell role player, who just made way to much money. After a year long stint in Philly Keith jumped from team to team until finally hanging up the sneakers in 2006. Van Horn was not bad, not at all. But with racial overtones that came with being the 2nd pick overall, the hope he brought into the league never materialized. People wanted so badly for him to be Larry Bird, Bird he was not, he was a really good player who scored 16 a game throughout his NBA career. The bust is on the fans more than its on Keith. Shame on you for comparing a play a player to Larry because he is white!
2: Jonathan Bender- Bender’s career was not even close to what people imagined. Standing 7 feet tall with amazing athleticism, people thought he would revolutionize the small forward position. Bender was drafted 5th overall in the 1999 draft. Even in his NBA debut he showed his promise, being the first High Schooler to have a double/double in their NBA debut. It is essentially all down hill from there. Potential can only get a man so far and injuries will take him even farther back. Having only played in over 60 games in one season his career can be summed up rather easily. After said one season this is what we learned, size, athleticism, and potential will land you a 4 year 28 million dollar deal. Bender did more in the way of ruining the way General Managers handed out contracts then changing the way the Small Forward position was played at. Bender taught us GMs are idiots.
1: Marvin Williams- Potential, you are such a funny thing. Williams was the 6th man on a North Carolina team that won a national championship. Can’t start on your college team? Well you are the number 2 overall pick in the 2005 draft because you have potential. Drafted by the Hawks, you can still watch Williams nowhere match his potential during the regular and post season. Never averaging more than 15 ppg in a season Williams is far past the point of being able to live up to that potential. Potential gets people fired, it is a saying that is going around a lot lately. Williams is a prime example despite the Hawks not faltering because of it. Players seem to be drafted way to high just because of potential. Had Atlanta just gone with the best player available instead of the potential of Willams, Deron Williams OR Chris Paul would have played there. Those 2 players were more sure fire selections and in hindsight are better players, but potential got Marvin picked number 2 overall. So potential lands him as number one on the sneakiest busts of recent times list. Sure he is not horrible, but he has potential to be.
Joseph Nardone is a Writer/Blogger for Sir Charles In Charge. You can follow him on the twitter machine@JosephNardone