[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

Best: Willis Reed (1964)
The NBA Draft was definitely a lot different in 1964. The 8th pick was actually in second round. The Knicks selected Reed and he immediately paid dividends, winning Rookie of the Year in 1965. He was widely considered the best player in franchise history pre-Patrick Ewing, winning league MVP in 1970 and leading the franchise to 2 championships in his career.
Other Contenders: Sam Jones (1957) Robert Parish (1976) Jack Sikma (1977) Ron Harper (1986) Vin Baker (1993)

Worst: Joe Alexander (2008)
There have been several notable busts at the 8th pick over the years, but I judged Alexander to be the worst of the bunch. Alexander was an athletic forward who really came on strong toward the end of his junior year at West Virginia, and played his way into the lottery with strong pre-draft workouts. It seemed like a solid pick for Milwaukee, but it just didn’t work out. He was never able to play his way into consistent minutes on a veteran team. He was traded during his second season and was out of the league for good after just 72 games. He is still playing in Europe.
Other contenders: Lancaster Gordon (1984) Bo Kimble (1990) Shawn Respert (1995) Rafael Araujo (2004) Nik Stauskas (2014) Stanley Johnson (2015) Marquesse Chriss (2016)

[dmo21Participant]

Best: Sam Jones in 1957, 5 time all star, 3 time all NBA, 10 time champ, and in the HoF. Spent his whole tenure with Boston. There’s a ton of good players drafted at #8. To add a few more honorable mentions to the ones you stated: Petrie in 1970 and Twyman in 1955.

Worst: There is also a ton of bad picks at #8. But as a Raptor fan, i have to go with Araujo. He was just not that good. Could have had Iggy. And if they wanted a big man they could have had Big Al or at least Biedrins (who had some above average years in Golden State).
For some other bad picks, you could have had Jordan Hill in 2009 or Diop in 2001.

[Author]

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