Has a team ever made a unexpected draft that panned out

[flyerhawk]

One of the discussions here got me thinking.

Has any team ever made a head scratching draft pick that actually turned out to work? By work I mean, met or exceeded the expectations of the draft slot. So a top 5 pick becoming an All-Star. A later lottery pick by a championship rotation level player. And so forth.

My memory isn't what it used to be but I really can't think of one.

 

[msgkings322]

One of the discussions here got me thinking.

Has any team ever made a head scratching draft pick that actually turned out to work? By work I mean, met or exceeded the expectations of the draft slot. So a top 5 pick becoming an All-Star. A later lottery pick by a championship rotation level player. And so forth.

My memory isn't what it used to be but I really can't think of one.

Wouldn't we say Klay and Steph are both playing above their draft slot?

 

[msgkings322]

How about Kawhi (picked 15th, then traded for George Hill LOL)

 

[thunderc]

One of the discussions here got me thinking.

Has any team ever made a head scratching draft pick that actually turned out to work? By work I mean, met or exceeded the expectations of the draft slot. So a top 5 pick becoming an All-Star. A later lottery pick by a championship rotation level player. And so forth.

My memory isn't what it used to be but I really can't think of one.

I honestly don’t know that anyone else was going to draft either Westbrook or Harden as high as the Thunder did.

 

[trojanfan12]

Kobe was drafted 13th and traded to the Lakers who gave up a fan favorite for him.

Fortunately, he turned out be a fairly decent player.

 

[trojanfan12]

I honestly don’t know that anyone else was going to draft either Westbrook or Harden as high as the Thunder did.

Don't know about Harden, but I was convinced that Westbrook was making a mistake going to the draft when he did.

 

[The Q]

One of the discussions here got me thinking.

Has any team ever made a head scratching draft pick that actually turned out to work? By work I mean, met or exceeded the expectations of the draft slot. So a top 5 pick becoming an All-Star. A later lottery pick by a championship rotation level player. And so forth.

My memory isn't what it used to be but I really can't think of one.

Kobe was drafted 13th and traded to the Lakers who gave up a fan favorite for him.

Fortunately, he turned out be a fairly decent player.

he would’ve gone higher if he didn’t hold out against playing for other teams.

 

[flyerhawk]

Wouldn't we say Klay and Steph are both playing above their draft slot?

That isn't really what I am asking. Klay, Steph and Draymond ALL exceeded their draft expectations. Lots of players vastly exceeded their draft slot. Willis reed and Dennis Rodman were 2nd round picks. Pretty sure they exceeded expectations

But nobody went "Huh?" when they were drafted where they were drafted but actually turned out ok. Unlike Anthony Bennett or Andrea Bargnani or Frederick Weiss. Those guys were drafted and the entire basketball world collectively said "seriously"?

 

[flyerhawk]

Kobe was drafted 13th and traded to the Lakers who gave up a fan favorite for him.

Fortunately, he turned out be a fairly decent player.

Yeah but he was a highly touted kid. He dropped because he went to the NBA straight out of high school. If he did the Tobacco Road tour for a year he would have a top 5 pick and probably No. 1 overall.

 

[Stakesarehigh]

I can't recall dirk getting high marks

 

[flyerhawk]

I honestly don’t know that anyone else was going to draft either Westbrook or Harden as high as the Thunder did.

Neither was considered a shock pick though. A consensus 6 pick going 4 isn't a shock.

 

[msgkings322]

That isn't really what I am asking. Klay, Steph and Draymond ALL exceeded their draft expectations. Lots of players vastly exceeded their draft slot. Willis reed and Dennis Rodman were 2nd round picks. Pretty sure they exceeded expectations

But nobody went "Huh?" when they were drafted where they were drafted but actually turned out ok. Unlike Anthony Bennett or Andrea Bargnani or Frederick Weiss. Those guys were drafted and the entire basketball world collectively said "seriously"?

Ok got it. Have to think harder then

 

[flyerhawk]

I can't recall dirk getting high marks

Hmm.. Hard to remember. He was one of the earlier Euros drafted high in the draft. But I can't recall what people thought of him.

 

[msgkings322]

Hmm.. Hard to remember. He was one of the earlier Euros drafted high in the draft. But I can't recall what people thought of him.

All I remember about Dirk is he was considering either going into the draft or playing for Cal LOL

 

[The Q]

Small wins I can think of

ricky Davis
Cam Johnson
Kevin Martin
Wilson chandler
George hill
Larry nance jr
Pascal siakam

Shawn Marion was a huge wtf pick that worked out really well

jimmy butler too

 

[The Q]

I ignored euro guys, just not enough info out there for most of them and many times teams didn’t want the guaranteed contract that year

 

[wildturkey]

Eh, not really that I can think of. Most prospects are scouted pretty well in basketball so you don't see many reaches. That doesn't mean they'll turn out well and warrant their pick. I'm just saying most have a good idea of what range they'll be drafted so you don't really get that shocking pick.

Best I can fit a player to that of late is maybe Jaylen Brown. He wasn't talked about much early on as much of the focus was centered around Simmons and Ingram. But even then, Brown still shot up draft boards late, usually somewhere in the top 5, so it wasn't a surprise when he went 3rd.

 

[YourFriendGannon]

How about Kawhi (picked 15th, then traded for George Hill LOL)

Although it was a risk, I recall San Antonio receiving quite a bit of praise for that one at the time. They so rarely make trades that I think many were willing to give them benefit of the doubt. Not sure if you were meaning it was head-scratching from Indy's or SA's POV, but take it for what it's worth. A decade ago playing PG and Kawhi together might have been seen as a problem, like when Okc had two "small forwards" KD and Jeff Green.

 

[YourFriendGannon]

Wasn't Indiana an unlikely landing spot for Lance Stephenson because of his temperament? I think they valued character more after Malice at the Palace. Although he rode the bench with them for quite some time, all in all that worked out for them better than anyone would have figured especially since he turned down their extension offer.

If you had a crystal ball in '07 that told you Kyle Lowry is possibly a future Hall of Famer, then the Grizzlies' pick of Conley and his subsequent leadership might be unexpected. I wasn't following drafts in '07 so I don't know if that pick was at all unexpected though.

 

[trojanfan12]

Has any team ever made a head scratching draft pick that actually turned out to work? By work I mean, met or exceeded the expectations of the draft slot. So a top 5 pick becoming an All-Star. A later lottery pick by a championship rotation level player. And so forth.

So you're talking about someone who was picked a good bit earlier than projected and actually ended up living up to that earlier pick despite everyone being surprised they were picked that high.

Yeah, that's a lot tougher. We can probably all give a list of guys who were picked where projected and didn't live up to it. So, someone like Kobe who was picked 13th and exceeded that draft projection wouldn't count because that's where he was expected to go.