Best: Kobe Bryant (1996)
Even though Kobe was technically drafted by the Charlotte Hornets, a deal was already in the works on draft night to move him to the Lakers. Turned out to be a very good deal for the Lakers. Karl Malone is a close second, but Kobe clearly gets the nod here. This pick has actually been quite profitable in recent drafts, producing players like Lavine, Booker, and Mitchell, a Tyler Herro has looked promising as well.
Other contenders: Karl Malone (1985) Jalen Rose (1994) Corey Maggette (1999) Richard Jefferson (2001) Zach Lavine (2014) Devin Booker (2015) Donovan Mitchell (2017)
Worst: Georgios Papagiannis (2016)
This pick was laughable at the time. It doesn’t look much better in retrospect. “Papa G” was a huge European big with limited mobility who was being pegged as a second rounder in most projections. Yet Kings’ GM Vlade Divac just couldn’t resist taking him in the lottery (maybe he reminded him of himself). Considering Sacramento had two more first round picks ( where Papagiannis still likely would have been available) and he wasn’t at all the type of player who fit where the league was going at the time, its hard to see what the logic was. To be fair, Papagiannis did show some promise in garbage-time minutes his rookie season. However, it became evident early that he didn’t have much of a future in the league, and he was subsequently traded and waived the next season. He has been playing in Europe since.
Other contenders: Dwayne Washington (1986) Michael Smith (1989) Marcus Haislip (2002) Sean May (2005) Julian Wright (2007)
dmo21 6 years, 2 months ago.
