Indiana Pacers: 5 worst draft picks and draft-day trades in history

Five worst draft picks and draft-day trades in Indiana Pacers history

Every team in the NBA has its bad drafts and its good drafts. Some players go on to make a huge impact on their team, while others never see the court for the organization that drafted them. The Indiana Pacers, just like any other team, have had their fair share of both kinds of drafts.

This is the first part of a two-part series looking at the best and worst draft picks and the draft day moves. Today we look at the worst draft moves for the Pacers including trades, injury-plagued players, and players that have never made an impact.

Indiana Pacers draft mistake: trading for Jonathan Bender

The Toronto Raptors selected Jonathan Bender with the fifth overall pick in the 1999 NBA Draft. The Pacers then made the appalling decision to separate the Davis Brothers. In one of the worst trades in Draft Day history the Pacers traded Antonio Davis to the Raptors for Bender. Their careers went in polar opposite directions from that point on.

Antonio Davis went on to play seven more seasons in the NBA. He played for the Raptors, Bulls, and Knicks after the Pacers traded him. He was named an All-Star for the Raptors in the 2001 season. Davis averaged 10.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game for his career.

Jonathan Bender, on the other hand, had a less than stellar career. He was riddled with injuries for all of his career. In his seven seasons, Bender only played 237 games. That is less than three full seasons. He played a majority of these in the 2001-02 season when he played 78 games.

In his final two seasons with the blue and gold he played a total of nine games. He averaged 5.6 points and 2.2 rebounds during his Pacers career. His career ended after a comeback attempt in 2009 with the Knicks when he played 25 games. There is no doubt this was one of the worst moves on draft day for the Pacers.