Duke star Cooper Flagg will do what he can to avoid joining the dubious list of the NBA Draft’s all-time biggest busts when he likely goes No. 1 overall to the Dallas Mavericks. Widely considered a can’t-miss prospect much like Victor Wembanyama’s pre-draft grades two years ago, Flagg hopes to make a rookie-season impact at the next level and become the latest Blue Devils product to earn annual All-Star love, following Jayson Tatum, Kyrie Irving and others.
But not all lottery picks are created equal. And some of the highest-picked players in league history went on to fall well short of expectations.
Here are 10 of the biggest busts in NBA Draft history, ranked:
1. Anthony Bennett (No. 1 overall, 2013, Cleveland Cavaliers)
Several years removed from watching their franchise player leave for the Miami Heat, the Cavaliers’ front office expected Bennett to be an immediate force in the low post. However, Bennett was a massive talent evaluation whiff for Cleveland during a draft cycle featuring Victor Oladipo (No. 2 overall to Orlando) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (15th to Milwaukee) among others. After securing future superstars LeBron James and Kyrie Irving with previous No. 1 picks, Bennett was a disaster and only played four NBA seasons. Bennett averaged 12.6 minutes and 4.4 points per game over his four-year career.
Getty Images
Who knows how Oden’s career could progress had it not been for injuries, but the 7-footer’s chronic knee problems became devastating. Oden played 105 career games over five years, averaging 8.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per contest. For a former national player of the year and defensive force of a big man at Ohio State, Oden’s trajectory was significantly underwhelming at the next level.
Getty Images
3. Kwame Brown (No. 1 overall, 2001, Washington Wizards)
Blame Michael Jordan for this one. The NBA’s greatest player signed off on the Wizards taking this high school phenom with the top pick in 2001. Brown wasn’t the transcendent talent that Jordan saw in him and was traded away after four seasons. The South Carolina native later blamed Jordan and Wizards coach Doug Collins for setting him up to fail. Brown spent 12 years in the NBA as a role player of sorts, averaging 6.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game for his career. Hall of Famer Pau Gasol went two picks after Brown to the Atlanta Hawks.
4. Michael Olowokandi (No. 1 overall, 1998, Los Angeles Clippers)
The 1998 NBA Draft’s first round was loaded with Hall of Famers Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce, but the Clippers didn’t land any of those all-time scorers. Instead, Los Angeles went with 7-foot-1 center Olowokandi out of the University of the Pacific. He started five years for the Western Conference franchise as a serviceable big, but not the franchise player the Clippers thought they were getting. His career-best 12.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per game came during the 2002-03 season.
5. Sam Bowie (No. 2 overall, 1984, Portland Trail Blazers)
Bowie played 10 NBA seasons and was an all-rookie first-team honoree in Portland, but when you consider Jordan was still on the board when it was the Trail Blazers’ time to pick, this was an unforgettable missed opportunity. Bowie battled through injuries and only played one full season over four years with the franchise. During that stretch, Jordan led the league in scoring twice and would go onto win six NBA titles in Chicago.
6. Darko Milicic (No. 2 overall, 2003, Detroit Pistons)
The pick after LeBron James and before Carmelo Anthony will always live in infamy for the Motor City. Despite Milicic floundering, the Pistons won the NBA championship that season behind Finals MVP Chauncey Billups with Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace handling the dirty work in the frontcourt as All-Stars. Milicic played for six different franchises over 12 seasons with his most notable coming with the Minnesota Timberwolves when he averaged 8.8 points over 24.4 minutes per game in 2010-11.
7. Pervis Ellison (No. 1 overall, 1989, Sacramento Kings)
Ellison was a no-brainer in the 1989 NBA Draft after leading Louisville to a national championship as a freshman, but then the injuries came. Ellison endured knee and foot problems throughout this career and over 11 seasons, only played the entirety of the schedule three times. He did win the NBA’s ‘most-improved’ award in his third season, but by then, Ellison was two years removed from being traded as a rookie to the Washington Bullets and the Kings had seen little return on his selection.
8. Adam Morrison (No. 3 overall, 2006, Charlotte Bobcats)
Another draft-day miss courtesy of Jordan, this time the Bobcats were handed a former college star at Gonzaga whose skills failed to translate in the more athletically enhanced NBA. Morrison was a Day 1 starter as a rookie in Charlotte, before going to the bench midway through his first season due to struggles at the defensive end. In his second season, an ACL tear limited Morrison to only 44 games. He was traded to the in a package with Shannon Brown that same 2009-10 season to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers, headlined by Kobe Bryant, won consecutive championships with Morrison on the roster, but he was a non-factor with a limited role. Morrison’s four-year pro career featured 161 games averaging 7.5 points.
9. Hasheem Thabeet (No. 2 overall, 2009, Memphis Grizzlies)
Outside of Johnny Flynn’s short tenure with Minnesota, Thabeet was the only other player selected inside the top 10 of the 2009 draft who failed to make a lasting impact. A dominant shot-blocker and versatile threat around the rim at UConn, Thabeet was sent to the D-League to fine tune his arsenal at both ends of the floor a few months into his rookie season. The first Tanzanian-born NBA player lasted five seasons with four teams, averaging 2.2 points and 2.7 rebounds per game.
Fultz was the right pick out of Washington and had all the necessary tools to be a star in the NBA, but there was one major problem — he inexplicably forgot how to shoot following an injury as a rookie. One of the strangest stories to ever unfold for an expected scoring assassin, Fultz has only played two full seasons since he was drafted and his career-best 14 points per game came during the 2022-23 season with Orlando.
