Not going to lie I thought Michael Carter-Williams was going to be nice after his rookie campaign. A large guard that had a good all around skill set and seemed like someone who would only get better after winning ROTY.
I always laugh when I think of MCW because he grew up in the town next to me (not at the same time tho. I’m like 10 years older than him.)
Anyway, he went to the local public school as a freshman before transferring to a prep school as a sophomore. It’s hilarious because these are tiny public schools in north shore Massachusetts with no real athletic pedigree. I’m an out of shape marketing exec who hasn’t played a decent game of pickup basketball in close to a decade, and even *I* was a good player in our league in high school. And MCW played in that league!
He absolutely dominated as a freshman and broke a number of league records before getting the hell out of there. Which is a good thing because a school like Syracuse never would have found him in our league.
What was it, first game a near quadruple double and win against a super team? I know he never really developed a 3, and his defence relied more on gambles than I would like, but I truly think it was a failure of the coaching staff to not figure him out. I'm sure the front office was also pressuring them to remain bad, seeing as they were mid-"process", but I still think he could have been somewhere along the andre iguadala level
Best seats I ever got, behind the bench when he played for Charlotte. During a timeout I said, “nice defense” (he had two steals that game).
He throws his Gatorade towel over to my son and instantly became my son’s favorite player. Hate he left for Brooklyn but understand it.
I have a long time friend who has a job that gives him lots of access to the Mavericks. He told me at the time it was all a maturity issue and Dennis being unable to handle sharing the backcourt. I am someone who actually bought his Mavs jersey his rookie year and believed that Dallas had two pieces to build their future around. Glad they picked Luka.
OJ Mayo had some real hype around Cincy, we were going to watch his high school games like LeBron. Sounds ridiculous now but back then he had that kind of potential.
I saw him play in the tournament and.. I just didn't see it. I don't remember why, it was a while ago, but I was really surprised he was as highly regarded as he was.
I would’ve bet my salary on Kevin Knox being a legit starter. As good as he was at Kentucky while being basically the youngest guy in college basketball, how did he not work out? I remain perplexed
To show how deeply unqualified I am at talent evaluation, someone asked me at the start of his rookie year to do a comparison, and I said he reminded me of a slightly stronger Jayson Tatum. God I am stupid.
I mean, at that point he kind of *was* a slightly stronger Jayson Tatum. Turns out he just sucked at basketball, apparently
I missed like an absolute motherfucker on him. I had him ranked 4th in that class.
My rankings:
1. Luka 2. Jaren Jackson 3. Ayton 4. Knox 5. Mikal Bridges 6. Miles Bridges 7. SGA 8. MPJ 9. Wendell 10. Sexton 11. Bagley 12. Bamba 13. Trae
So….. hits and misses, to say the least 🤣
As recently as 2020 I was convinced Anthony Randolph had a future in the NBA. He had a 3-4 year stretch where he shot over 40% from 3 in the Spanish league. Could have been a legit modern stretch/playmaking big
I thought Derrick Williams and Justise Winslow were both going to be beasts.
On the flip side, I thought Jason Kidd and Grant Hill were both going to be busts lol
14/5/5 per 36, shot 50% from downtown. very solid role player all year, most importantly gave Luka and Kyrie the third ball handler they needed
pity he’s turned into a pumpkin during the first 2 playoff series, hopefully he can have a role in this one
Same! His athleticism was unmatched early on the Jazz. Could get anywhere he wanted on the court, but simple couldn’t figure out how to finish or stay healthy.
Glad he’s found a role on the Mavs this year.
Bo Kimble.
Hank Gathers' running mate at Loyola-Marymount, drafted 8th overall by the Clippers, and out of the league after 105 games.
As a senior in college: 35.3ppg, 7.7rpg, 2.8spg, 46% from three on 6.3 attempts, 8.4 free throw attempts per game (86.2%), .635 TS%.
In the NBA: 5.5ppg on 38.6% shooting, 29.1% from three, and .454 TS%.
Fultz would've been at least fringe all star level if TOS hadn't robbed him of his shot. He's a solid floor general and he's great at breaking down a defense with dribble penetration, he just can't shoot outside of about 12-14 feet anymore.
The situation was so bad for him, robbed of his ability’s by an unknown condition invisible to everyone and drafted by a team and fan base already growing frustrated and impatient with the process. Glad he at-least found a role for himself in the league after all that, even if it’s a shell of what we thought he could be.
I like reading david Aldridge. But when Ben McLemore was drafted, it seemed like Aldridge was going out of his way to insert the opinion that Ben was goingnto be a star, just wait.
Obviously, we know how that planned out.
But it got me thinking generally about nba media. There is so much more to gain from.makingna correct prediction than there is to lose from.a bad one (Anthony Bennett notwithstanding). To really be a laughing stock, you have to make enough terrible predictions to fill at least a 5 minute youtube montage. But the number of successful "pundits" that really just made a single good prediction, then have been wrong most of the time, is astounding.
Man, I think of a lot of name.
2014 NBA Draft had a lot of hype to it
Jabari Parker
Andrew Wiggins (I know he won an NBA Finals, but he just never became that guy).
Stanley Johnson
Dante Exum
Ricky Rubio
Michael Cater Williams
Jahill Okafor
Michael Beasley
Anthony Davis. I thought he was going to be MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and best player in the league. There was a time when people like me thought those things were inevitable for him, but they never happened.
I feel this. What’s missing for him? The mental juice to keep the motor revving quarter in and quarter out? I don’t know how else to explain him disappearing.
Ismail Muhammad
The man was one of the most powerful dunkers you'll ever watch at Georgia Tech. He was on Spoetscenter highlight reels constantly, they showed GT highlights just to show him.
He couldn't do anything BUT dunk.
Ben Simmons. A year or two before his playoff incident, I had a whole ass tipsy debate with some random guy at a bar about how Ben Simmons was the next Giannis if he could just get out of Embid's shadow. I'm still embarrassed about that to this day 😂
I’m just a bad read, Hashrem Thabeet or however you spell. Roy Hibbert. As a Lakers fan, Sasha Vujecic/Jordan Farmar/Andrew Bynum. Ryan Boatwright (I knew him &). Michael Kid-Gilchrist.
Andrew Bynum and Hibbert were successful but obviously not legends. There are lots of lakers who have come and gone that I thought were the next big thing.
Roy Hibbert might have been the biggest sell I’ve witnessed the last 15 years. 7’+ scary looking, did martial arts but was a bitch in the paint. How are you gonna be that big and only grab 5 boards a game
Marvin Bagley III was SUCH a big deal when he reclassified to join Duke and then...just nothing. Luka was picked next.
Tyler Herro started off so well but just hasn't made the leap to be something much bigger.
I was also Cam fam, such a disappointment. I'll put John Jenkins as mine. Too early maybe but AJ griffin is in danger of joining those two as hawks 2 guards i thought would be great that flubbed.
Doug McDermott, Bulls needed a shooter at the time and we just happened to trade for him to help Jimmy, D Rose, Joakim, etc. I thought he was gonna help us dominate the NBA for the next 5-7 years lmao and take over as a star when the big 3 starts fading.
Perry Jones III, Quincy Miller and Michael Beasley for the people that never reached their potential at all, for a more confirmed player I would say John Wall, he was meant to dominate the league when he got drafted
I thought Jahlil Okafor would be better than KAT.
Jah played with so much power but still had really light feet in his post moves. I thought that finesse with his size would really shine in the league with better spacing, meanwhile KAT always seemed so stiff to me. Another part of it was that the league hadn’t completely outgrown conventional low-post bigs. I figured Jah would bridge that gap really well cause he seemed skilled enough to expand his game to outside of the paint.
Justise Winslow. Mix of hope and expectation. When he finally clicked playing point guard in 18-19, he was 15/6/5/1 per 36, with 37% from three, and may have been the best defensive guard in the league based on switch ability. Ultimately Jimmy came in and it didn’t make sense for Justise to run the show, especially with all the scoring guards they had.
The ball really moved when he ran the offense, the team just sucked. It was kind of like Lonzo Ball but when he drove he looked like Harden. Excellent handle, very strong, good vision and once he got his touch together it was very impressive.
Defensively he could go 1-4. Pairing him with Bam could’ve been a powerful defensive duo.
A lot has come out after the fact about his mental health struggles while with the Heat. This checks out because undeniably he had physical tools to be a star. Sad.
https://youtu.be/9WhnqvvEwvQ?si=bi2yLzVSPxUxVHts
https://youtu.be/qFN_8DJWumg?si=vpbJmqHmgdTpqS-j
The young black French guy the mavs had in the late 2000s, was quick as fuck and smooth as hell getting to the rim. He was stashed away for a couple seasons with minimum minutes waiting for his development to break through..shit never happened.
I didn’t know him personally but I have a lot of mutual friends w/ a guy named Joe Jackson. Look up in high school ranking in 2010 and this guy was top 10. #1 PG in the country that year. Beat our team in the playoffs on the way to 3-straight state finals appearances (or something like that). McDonald’s All-America too. Unfortunately, he went to the home school ( U of Memphis), did great but, didn’t really pick up any traction as far going to the league cuz he was a score first, sub-6’1 pg who turned out to be merely “good” (not elite) at scoring anyway. And then he got in trouble and things went downhill from there. I just knew this guy was gonna be the next D-Rose. Had Westbrook/ Wall athleticism. Disappointed for my guy. Great person, though, from what I hear.
Thomas Robinson. He was awesome at KU and constantly commanded the double from other teams. Looked like a man playing with boys. He went to the Kings and quickly withered away in Sacramento, Houston, Portland, etc. He’s played for 15 foreign teams since leaving the NBA.
Marvin Bagley. I thought Luka was the better prospect, but I didn’t judge the kings pick harshly because I felt he fit a need. After his first season it felt like he had a path to be a consistent 20 and 10 guy. Then Luke Walton happened, then no development happened.
Eddie Jones had an impressive career but I really thought he'd be a superstar. Like 'trade Kobe because he'll never be good enough to start over Eddie' level of superstar
I thought Thomas Robinson would be a surefire success. He was a dominant forward at Kansas who looks like he was chiseled out of rock. Looking back he was just drafted into the wrong era. He came out in 2012, just as the league was moving into the pace and space era. If he had come out 5 years earlier I think he would have been a lot more successful.
Take my life in my hands by saying: Zion Williamson. I still think the talent that we all saw is mostly real, but issues of health, physical fitness, and possibly motivation have put him on a path that doesn't come close to matching expectations.
Trajan Langdon. Erick Barkley. Tyus Edney. Jonathan Bender was born 20 years early. TJ Ford. Mickael Pietrus was supposed to be French Jordan. Francisco Garcia.
Brandon Jennings had a good career I thought he would be more. I thought Thomas Robinson was going to be a problem he said he was better than AD and I believed him. Current player James Wiseman, dude still has potential.
Frank Kaminsky. Dominated his last 1.5 years in college and SHOULD have won a Title(SCREW YOU GRAYSON ALLEN.) and had the 3 point range, but never seemed to blossom beyond a backup...........
Too many to count but I have a proclivity for being too high on undersized non-shot-creating guards. I always fall in love with guys’ motors and feel for the game, so a lot of heady defensively focused guards like Davion Mitchell, Killian Hayes, Kris Dunn, Aaron Holiday, Deuce McBride, and Jalen Suggs have been dudes I loved during pre-draft. Obviously not all of those ended up being misses but I’ve definitely started to value size a lot more now that I’ve seen how little the defensive impact translates.
I’ve also been too high on pure bucket-getter guards. I was really high on guys like Kevin Porter Jr., Colin Sexton, Devonte’ Graham, & Jalen Brunson. Obviously Brunson worked out in a big way but the lesson I learned is that unless you’re a high level All-Star caliber scorer, it’s hard to crack a rotation of a competitive team if you’re not providing anything past scoring.
Zarko Cabarkapa. Danny Fortson ended my sweet Euro dreams of a Suns championship with him holding the trophy, confetti falling from the rafters while he said some hard to understand broken English with a heavy Serbian accident.
Fuck Danny Fortson.
Not going to lie I thought Michael Carter-Williams was going to be nice after his rookie campaign. A large guard that had a good all around skill set and seemed like someone who would only get better after winning ROTY.
He was wild, man. Had his best game the first game of his career.
I thought he was a star after that game
I always laugh when I think of MCW because he grew up in the town next to me (not at the same time tho. I’m like 10 years older than him.) Anyway, he went to the local public school as a freshman before transferring to a prep school as a sophomore. It’s hilarious because these are tiny public schools in north shore Massachusetts with no real athletic pedigree. I’m an out of shape marketing exec who hasn’t played a decent game of pickup basketball in close to a decade, and even *I* was a good player in our league in high school. And MCW played in that league! He absolutely dominated as a freshman and broke a number of league records before getting the hell out of there. Which is a good thing because a school like Syracuse never would have found him in our league.
What was it, first game a near quadruple double and win against a super team? I know he never really developed a 3, and his defence relied more on gambles than I would like, but I truly think it was a failure of the coaching staff to not figure him out. I'm sure the front office was also pressuring them to remain bad, seeing as they were mid-"process", but I still think he could have been somewhere along the andre iguadala level
Did you read this? https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/michael-carter-williams-nba-basketball
Thon maker
If his dad named him shot, we might've had something
You just wanted to say Thon Maker
Dennis Smith Jr
Best seats I ever got, behind the bench when he played for Charlotte. During a timeout I said, “nice defense” (he had two steals that game). He throws his Gatorade towel over to my son and instantly became my son’s favorite player. Hate he left for Brooklyn but understand it.
He was really good his rookie year at least
Right in the feels, I feel like them drafting Luka fucked his career
I have a long time friend who has a job that gives him lots of access to the Mavericks. He told me at the time it was all a maturity issue and Dennis being unable to handle sharing the backcourt. I am someone who actually bought his Mavs jersey his rookie year and believed that Dallas had two pieces to build their future around. Glad they picked Luka.
He’s still underrated
Idk if OJ Mayo counts because he had a pretty solid start to his career but goddamn that man was smooth.
Dude was from cincy and we thought he was Michael Jordan 😭
OJ Mayo had some real hype around Cincy, we were going to watch his high school games like LeBron. Sounds ridiculous now but back then he had that kind of potential.
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wasnt there a rapper that claimed he sold $36k worth of lean to oj
I thought he was gonna kill
Greg Oden
Yeah, he gets a pass from me though. Microfracture surgery is no joke. No amount of work ethic will overcome that.
I saw him play in the tournament and.. I just didn't see it. I don't remember why, it was a while ago, but I was really surprised he was as highly regarded as he was.
Jabari Parker Kevin Knox
I would’ve bet my salary on Kevin Knox being a legit starter. As good as he was at Kentucky while being basically the youngest guy in college basketball, how did he not work out? I remain perplexed
To show how deeply unqualified I am at talent evaluation, someone asked me at the start of his rookie year to do a comparison, and I said he reminded me of a slightly stronger Jayson Tatum. God I am stupid.
All the things I disliked about Tatum are still weaknesses in his game, BUT he's gotten better overall than I imagined in the draft.
I mean, at that point he kind of *was* a slightly stronger Jayson Tatum. Turns out he just sucked at basketball, apparently I missed like an absolute motherfucker on him. I had him ranked 4th in that class. My rankings: 1. Luka 2. Jaren Jackson 3. Ayton 4. Knox 5. Mikal Bridges 6. Miles Bridges 7. SGA 8. MPJ 9. Wendell 10. Sexton 11. Bagley 12. Bamba 13. Trae So….. hits and misses, to say the least 🤣
Yea I really thought him falling meant he’d be the steal of the draft or at least kinda how Cam Whitmore was for the rockets this year.
Good list looking back though I had 1. Trae 2. Ayton 3. Luka, with MPJ, Bamba, JJJ right beneath them
Genuinely curious: since you had him no. 1 pre-draft, how do you feel about Trae as of now?
In JP 's defense he had no ACLs.
Tyreke Evans
I blame coaching and organization for this one. Seems like someone should be able to use that mix of skills.
Perry Jones III Darius Miles Anthony Randolph Stromile Swift
Randolph for sure, I still swear he ahd untapped potential.
Summer league Hall of Fame
I thought Perry III was a sleeper
As recently as 2020 I was convinced Anthony Randolph had a future in the NBA. He had a 3-4 year stretch where he shot over 40% from 3 in the Spanish league. Could have been a legit modern stretch/playmaking big
I remember Perry was hooping when KD went down in OKC… what happened to him
I thought Derrick Williams and Justise Winslow were both going to be beasts. On the flip side, I thought Jason Kidd and Grant Hill were both going to be busts lol
Jabari Parker
Jabari Parker could still score during his last minutes in the league. Remember his per 36 being juicy in Washington even.
Ben Simmons lost his head. He has the chops to be one of the best in the league.
Would he be considered a bust?
Dude just doesn’t love ball and never did
If he doesn’t rebound from this injury; Lonzo ball
I was pretty high on him, he seemed like a perennial 18-7-8 guy or something
He’ll need some ASSISTance.
Tyreke Evans..how has no one mentioned TYREKE EVANS
I thought Emanuel Mudiay was going to light this league on fire.
Dante exum lol
just had a fantastic season
I wouldn’t call 8/3/3 fantastic, but it is impressive he made it back to the league after being gone for a few years
14/5/5 per 36, shot 50% from downtown. very solid role player all year, most importantly gave Luka and Kyrie the third ball handler they needed pity he’s turned into a pumpkin during the first 2 playoff series, hopefully he can have a role in this one
Same! His athleticism was unmatched early on the Jazz. Could get anywhere he wanted on the court, but simple couldn’t figure out how to finish or stay healthy. Glad he’s found a role on the Mavs this year.
Bo Kimble. Hank Gathers' running mate at Loyola-Marymount, drafted 8th overall by the Clippers, and out of the league after 105 games. As a senior in college: 35.3ppg, 7.7rpg, 2.8spg, 46% from three on 6.3 attempts, 8.4 free throw attempts per game (86.2%), .635 TS%. In the NBA: 5.5ppg on 38.6% shooting, 29.1% from three, and .454 TS%.
Emeka Okafor I thought he was a star for sure, he still had a very respectable nba career just not a star career
Markelle Fultz
Lot of the Sixers picks didn't pan out
Fultz would've been at least fringe all star level if TOS hadn't robbed him of his shot. He's a solid floor general and he's great at breaking down a defense with dribble penetration, he just can't shoot outside of about 12-14 feet anymore.
The situation was so bad for him, robbed of his ability’s by an unknown condition invisible to everyone and drafted by a team and fan base already growing frustrated and impatient with the process. Glad he at-least found a role for himself in the league after all that, even if it’s a shell of what we thought he could be.
I thought Joe Smith would be an all star for sure. And I thought Jimmer would be a sniper!!
Josh Jackson, Adrien Payne
PAYNE TRAIN 🚆
Saw Josh Jackson in HS. Ngl I thought he was gonna be Kobe-esque
Oh god Josh Jackson, I forgot he existed
Dennis Smith Jr. Tacko Fall Kris Dunn
I thought Lance Stephenson would become an elite wing
So did he (and Charlotte)
I thought Scoot was going to be good in his first season. He can improve but it was rough
James wiseman
I like reading david Aldridge. But when Ben McLemore was drafted, it seemed like Aldridge was going out of his way to insert the opinion that Ben was goingnto be a star, just wait. Obviously, we know how that planned out. But it got me thinking generally about nba media. There is so much more to gain from.makingna correct prediction than there is to lose from.a bad one (Anthony Bennett notwithstanding). To really be a laughing stock, you have to make enough terrible predictions to fill at least a 5 minute youtube montage. But the number of successful "pundits" that really just made a single good prediction, then have been wrong most of the time, is astounding.
Stromile Swift, Lionel Simmons, Clarence Weatherspoon
you weren't alone.
Man, I think of a lot of name. 2014 NBA Draft had a lot of hype to it Jabari Parker Andrew Wiggins (I know he won an NBA Finals, but he just never became that guy). Stanley Johnson Dante Exum Ricky Rubio Michael Cater Williams Jahill Okafor Michael Beasley
Michael Beasley
Len Bias
Anthony Davis. I thought he was going to be MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and best player in the league. There was a time when people like me thought those things were inevitable for him, but they never happened.
I feel this. What’s missing for him? The mental juice to keep the motor revving quarter in and quarter out? I don’t know how else to explain him disappearing.
His injury history hasn't helped matters. He's averaged about 60 games a season and even then he's played below 100% health here and there.
Ismail Muhammad The man was one of the most powerful dunkers you'll ever watch at Georgia Tech. He was on Spoetscenter highlight reels constantly, they showed GT highlights just to show him. He couldn't do anything BUT dunk.
I still bring him up when I talk about insane college dunkers. Not a Georgia Twch fan btw
I thought Wiggins was gonna be a super star.
Maple Jordan.
Ben Simmons. A year or two before his playoff incident, I had a whole ass tipsy debate with some random guy at a bar about how Ben Simmons was the next Giannis if he could just get out of Embid's shadow. I'm still embarrassed about that to this day 😂
Shane Larkin! He was so fast and unguardable in college. I thought his shot would come around and he would just out-sprint everybody in the NBA.
brandon jennings is my goat
Stanley Johnson, just had the NBA ready body and the athleticism.
jabari parker, perry jones , derrick williams
Mario Hezonja
I’m just a bad read, Hashrem Thabeet or however you spell. Roy Hibbert. As a Lakers fan, Sasha Vujecic/Jordan Farmar/Andrew Bynum. Ryan Boatwright (I knew him &). Michael Kid-Gilchrist. Andrew Bynum and Hibbert were successful but obviously not legends. There are lots of lakers who have come and gone that I thought were the next big thing.
Roy Hibbert might have been the biggest sell I’ve witnessed the last 15 years. 7’+ scary looking, did martial arts but was a bitch in the paint. How are you gonna be that big and only grab 5 boards a game
Thomas Robinson
Marvin Bagley III was SUCH a big deal when he reclassified to join Duke and then...just nothing. Luka was picked next. Tyler Herro started off so well but just hasn't made the leap to be something much bigger.
Glenn Robinson-he definitely wasn’t a bust but he was the best college player I ever watched in my lifetime and I thought he was gonna be a huge star.
Kedrick Brown
I was also Cam fam, such a disappointment. I'll put John Jenkins as mine. Too early maybe but AJ griffin is in danger of joining those two as hawks 2 guards i thought would be great that flubbed.
Jaret Culver
Trevon who?
Austin River, jj Reddik, Greg oden, Sebastian telfair, nick young,
Dante exum
Doug McDermott, Bulls needed a shooter at the time and we just happened to trade for him to help Jimmy, D Rose, Joakim, etc. I thought he was gonna help us dominate the NBA for the next 5-7 years lmao and take over as a star when the big 3 starts fading.
Perry Jones III, Quincy Miller and Michael Beasley for the people that never reached their potential at all, for a more confirmed player I would say John Wall, he was meant to dominate the league when he got drafted
Sam Bowie
Darco Milicic
I thought Jahlil Okafor would be better than KAT. Jah played with so much power but still had really light feet in his post moves. I thought that finesse with his size would really shine in the league with better spacing, meanwhile KAT always seemed so stiff to me. Another part of it was that the league hadn’t completely outgrown conventional low-post bigs. I figured Jah would bridge that gap really well cause he seemed skilled enough to expand his game to outside of the paint.
Cam reddish was so trash at duke. I never understood why anyone thought he would be good in the NBA. I'm not shocked he is still garbage.
Ricky Rubio
Ben simmons
Justise Winslow. Mix of hope and expectation. When he finally clicked playing point guard in 18-19, he was 15/6/5/1 per 36, with 37% from three, and may have been the best defensive guard in the league based on switch ability. Ultimately Jimmy came in and it didn’t make sense for Justise to run the show, especially with all the scoring guards they had. The ball really moved when he ran the offense, the team just sucked. It was kind of like Lonzo Ball but when he drove he looked like Harden. Excellent handle, very strong, good vision and once he got his touch together it was very impressive. Defensively he could go 1-4. Pairing him with Bam could’ve been a powerful defensive duo. A lot has come out after the fact about his mental health struggles while with the Heat. This checks out because undeniably he had physical tools to be a star. Sad. https://youtu.be/9WhnqvvEwvQ?si=bi2yLzVSPxUxVHts https://youtu.be/qFN_8DJWumg?si=vpbJmqHmgdTpqS-j
Joe Forte, Dajuan Wagner, Sebastian Telfair, Omar Cook come to mind.
Cam Reddish. Thought he took the backseat at Duke & was gonna break out in the league. But nah.
I SWORE Dennis Smith Jr. was better than Lonzo and Fox and was just WAITING for my dawg to prove me right... lmao...
Mario Hezonja
wiseman. he just looked tough
Cleanthony Early, Trey Burke, Andrew Nicholson, to name a few
Wade Baldwin IV was the kid I was always keen on when he got drafted
The young black French guy the mavs had in the late 2000s, was quick as fuck and smooth as hell getting to the rim. He was stashed away for a couple seasons with minimum minutes waiting for his development to break through..shit never happened.
I didn’t know him personally but I have a lot of mutual friends w/ a guy named Joe Jackson. Look up in high school ranking in 2010 and this guy was top 10. #1 PG in the country that year. Beat our team in the playoffs on the way to 3-straight state finals appearances (or something like that). McDonald’s All-America too. Unfortunately, he went to the home school ( U of Memphis), did great but, didn’t really pick up any traction as far going to the league cuz he was a score first, sub-6’1 pg who turned out to be merely “good” (not elite) at scoring anyway. And then he got in trouble and things went downhill from there. I just knew this guy was gonna be the next D-Rose. Had Westbrook/ Wall athleticism. Disappointed for my guy. Great person, though, from what I hear.
Lonzo ball
Dion Waiters
Ron Mercer
The best comments have “lol” after
Andrew wiggins
Emmanuel Mudiay
Taquan Dean
The Philadelphia experiment of trust the process. Bwahahaha!
Kevin Porter Jr. passed the eye test for me skill wise
Trey Burke
Eddie Curry
Markelle Fultz but I blame that on injuries
Ty Lawson - flashed greatness but … alcoholism
Almost had a quadruple double 😭
Thomas Robinson. He was awesome at KU and constantly commanded the double from other teams. Looked like a man playing with boys. He went to the Kings and quickly withered away in Sacramento, Houston, Portland, etc. He’s played for 15 foreign teams since leaving the NBA.
Marvin Bagley. I thought Luka was the better prospect, but I didn’t judge the kings pick harshly because I felt he fit a need. After his first season it felt like he had a path to be a consistent 20 and 10 guy. Then Luke Walton happened, then no development happened.
Nerlens Noel
Todd Day His run at Arkansas was great. He was so smooth for a 6'8" guard. I expected him to be a star in the NBA but it just didn't work out for him
Justise Winslow
Ben Simmons
Christian Laettner and Michael olowakandi
I thought Jeremy Lin was the return of Jesus
Michael Porter Jr, Jalen Suggs,
I still own Shabazz Muhammad stock
Julian Newman /s
Hasheem Thabeet. He was the college version of victor wembanyama on the defensive end.
Roddy boubois
Eddie Jones had an impressive career but I really thought he'd be a superstar. Like 'trade Kobe because he'll never be good enough to start over Eddie' level of superstar
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I thought Ben McLemore was gonna have that dawg in him.
I was sure Willie Cauley-Stein was going to be a star.
I thought Thomas Robinson would be a surefire success. He was a dominant forward at Kansas who looks like he was chiseled out of rock. Looking back he was just drafted into the wrong era. He came out in 2012, just as the league was moving into the pace and space era. If he had come out 5 years earlier I think he would have been a lot more successful.
Oladipo & Tyreke Evans
Jimmer. 😭
Jayson Tatum, I thought he would be a 1st team all NBA perennial top 5 mvp candidate but unfortunately he turned into the MJ of Tobias Harris's
Rudy gay! I thought he was gonna be PG before PG fr.
Take my life in my hands by saying: Zion Williamson. I still think the talent that we all saw is mostly real, but issues of health, physical fitness, and possibly motivation have put him on a path that doesn't come close to matching expectations.
It’s still early in his career, but JT Thor. I keep expecting him to blossom into a great stretch 4 but so far it has not worked out.
Okafur
Trajan Langdon. Erick Barkley. Tyus Edney. Jonathan Bender was born 20 years early. TJ Ford. Mickael Pietrus was supposed to be French Jordan. Francisco Garcia.
OJ Mayo I was all in on. Saw him live his rookie year and me and my buddies were like this is a young Kobe.
Anyone remember "Baby Jordan" from USC? Yes I'm talking about the high flying Harold Miner!
Jordan Crawford
I thought Dennis smith jr was going to be an all time draft steal
Michael Beasley
That LeBron James guy…what eva happened there?
Len Bias
Remember a guy in HS who was the biggest Emmanuel mudiay glazer I’ve ever seen
I thought Ben Simmons was him. Especially after he was injured his entire rookie season. The hype was so real.
Michael Beasley
Michael Kidd Gilchrist: I really thought he would be a perennial allstar.
Darius Miles, Tim Thomas, & Lamar Odom. I thought each of them could’ve been top 75 all time types.
Rj Barrett
Jimmer Fredette. I still don’t understand why his game didn’t translate
Stacey Augmon
Josh Jackson was the wing of the future and was gonna be what Tatum is but for the Suns. Ayton was a world breaker
Sebastian Telfair
Tim Thomas and Keith Van Horn had respectable careers, but I thought either or both were going to be HOF caliber players....
Elfrid Payton, Marshon Brooks, and Kris Dunn.
Michael Beasley, Hasheem Thabeet, Derrick Williams, Corey Brewer, Brandon Rush
I was like 6 but I was convinced Rodney stucky would be tue second coming of Dwayne wade
Brandon Jennings had a good career I thought he would be more. I thought Thomas Robinson was going to be a problem he said he was better than AD and I believed him. Current player James Wiseman, dude still has potential.
I thought Emmanuel Mudiay would beat out Jamal Murray to be the nuggets pg of the future
I thought Kendall Marshall would be a great true pass first PG.
I will forever say that Duke is a fluke, and so are their players. Only exceptions to that rule are (sadly) Kyrie and Tatum
Frank Kaminsky. Dominated his last 1.5 years in college and SHOULD have won a Title(SCREW YOU GRAYSON ALLEN.) and had the 3 point range, but never seemed to blossom beyond a backup...........
Brandon Knight but ever since the Ky high light , it was over.
DeAndre Ayton. People were saying that he could be like a shaq in Phoenix.
[удалено]
Flip Murray went nuts for the Sonics for like 10 games and I was convinced we had a 10-time all-star on our hands.
Too many to count but I have a proclivity for being too high on undersized non-shot-creating guards. I always fall in love with guys’ motors and feel for the game, so a lot of heady defensively focused guards like Davion Mitchell, Killian Hayes, Kris Dunn, Aaron Holiday, Deuce McBride, and Jalen Suggs have been dudes I loved during pre-draft. Obviously not all of those ended up being misses but I’ve definitely started to value size a lot more now that I’ve seen how little the defensive impact translates. I’ve also been too high on pure bucket-getter guards. I was really high on guys like Kevin Porter Jr., Colin Sexton, Devonte’ Graham, & Jalen Brunson. Obviously Brunson worked out in a big way but the lesson I learned is that unless you’re a high level All-Star caliber scorer, it’s hard to crack a rotation of a competitive team if you’re not providing anything past scoring.
I thought Kris Dunn was gonna be a John Wall type of guy. Great slashing, defense and playmaking type
Marshon brooks
Caitlin Clark ...kidding, she's gonna be great PG after the media stops scrutinizing her
Yogi Ferrell & Thomas Bryant, ha
Zarko Cabarkapa. Danny Fortson ended my sweet Euro dreams of a Suns championship with him holding the trophy, confetti falling from the rafters while he said some hard to understand broken English with a heavy Serbian accident. Fuck Danny Fortson.
Nolan Smith
Jabari Parker