9.) Greg Oden, 2007 Draft: It's never a good thing when you spend more time snapping pictures of your dong than you do actually being on the court, but that's been the problem for Oden. Looking back, it's easy to second guess Portland's choice of opting for Oden over Kevin Durant, but Oden was the consensus No. 1 pick throughout the year and cemented his status with a dominanting performance in the '07 national title game (25 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks). But at this point, any NBA general manager has to wonder how effective someone who has played 82 total games in four years (average of 22 minutes in those games) can be.
8.) Andrea Bargnani, 2006 Draft: Who plays better defense: Andrea Bargnani, or the chair Yi Jianlian practiced against in his workouts leading up to the 2007 NBA Draft. You probably said Bargnani, but the fact that you had to think about the answer is a bit terrifying. In addition to his seemingly complete unawareness at times on the defensive end, Bargnani needs to stop playing soft and rebound much better. Averaging more than 30 minutes per game for his career, simply by existing on the court a seven-footer should average more than five rebounds. A lethal offensive player without a strong defensive game, Bargnani's value lies in fantasy sports and video games.
7.) Andrew Bogut, 2005 Draft: I spent way too much time deciding on how to rank these next three, but I went with Bogut at this spot and here's why: Flashback to the 2005 NBA Draft, and you could tell from his time at Utah that Bogut would be a solid NBA player. And he has. But you knew there was the very real potential that Chris Paul could be a superstar. (Six years later, and I still regret not faxing my resume to the Atlanta front office after they passed on Paul to take Marvin Williams). And you had a strong hunch Deron Williams could be a superstar as well. With that, Bogut's production ranks him at the No. 7 spot.
6.) Yao Ming, 2002 Draft. It's always hard to come into a new team as the No. 1 pick and with the expectations of a city and a fanbase riding on your shoulders. It's 10 times harder when you don't speak English, don't have an aggressive personality and are trying to fit in with your teammates. I always wondered how Yao and Steve Francis hung out in those first few days together, but the center developed into a very good player who has never averaged less than 10 PPG in his seven years in the league (not counting this year). With his career in jeopardy the future looks bleak for Yao, but remember how good he was at his peak (2005-2008) when he averaged 23.1 PPG and 10.2 RPG. And if that's not enough, he had this!
5.) John Wall, 2010 Draft: Aside from joining a team that was completely awful, Wall was faced with the common task of replacing a former all-star point guard who drew a gun on his teammate during a locker room dispute. The rapture will most likely come before the Wizards are relevant again, but Wall would have won Rookie of the Year if not for the next person on the list. He should be a poor man's Derrick Rose, with a ceiling maybe a little bit higher, and he really is the only reason why I attended three Wizards games this past season. As crazy as it sounds, I didn't go to the Verizon Center because of Yi.
4.) Blake Griffin, 2009 Draft: 1.) Winning the War of Independence in 1783. 2.) The creation of the Internet. 3.) The first landing on the Moon. 4.) Blake Griffin making the Clippers relevant. That's my list for the most impressive feats in US history. Before Griffin, the Clippers were bad and there was no reason to watch them. With him, they're fun to watch, and there's an 80 percent chance each game of a "Blake Moment" that just makes you say Wow. His game will need to be more refined as his career goes on, and he'll always top the list of players you have to see in person at least once. Now, if only the Clippers hadn't traded an unprotected first round pick to Cleveland this offseason....
3.) Dwight Howard, 2004 Draft: If you knew absolutely nothing about basketball, but happened to turn on a game one night, you'd think Howard would be the most dominant player on the floor. Easily. But at the end of games, it's impossible to feed him because his offensive repertoire is so limited. When I had read that Howard had been working with Hakeem Olajuwon this offseason, I had hope. Maybe it was me wanting Howard to become as dominant as he should be, and not believing it wasn't possible, but I had hope. There's always that feeling there should be more with the three-time Defensive Player of the Year, which puts him in contention as the league's most frustrating player to watch.
2.) Derrick Rose, 2008 Draft: The moment I knew came during the 2008 Final Four. Rose finished with 25 points and nine rebounds against UCLA, making 11 of 12 free throws on the night. If only he had made those in the championship game two nights later. (Still bitter). But just seeing the stat line doesn't do that performance justice. It was the plethora of show-stopping moves and stutter-steps, to go along with his speed, that allowed him to put his fingerprints all over that Final Four. You knew he was ready. On a side note, I always think it's funny how the time period between the last college game and the NBA Draft allows scouts ample time to pick apart these prospects, like when some had convinced themselves that Michael Beasley would be better than Rose.
1.) LeBron James, 2003 Draft: It doesn't exactly take Watson The Computer to figure out who will top this list. The best player in the league, on a team that is one win away from reaching the NBA Finals. I remember watching James' high school games when I was in middle school, and the hype surrounding him was like nothing I had seen before. Obviously, he was what everyone made him out to be. The most obvious No. 1 pick of the past ten years has been the best, and what I'm interested in is where James ranks in the pantheon of all-time NBA greats when his Heat contract runs out.
