In the NBA, one superstar — for better or for worse — can absolutely change the trajectory of a team, if not the franchise as a whole. That’s why so many teams are trying to “tank” when they’re losing — they want to secure a higher chance to draft a top talent in the forthcoming NBA Draft. But when they do get that chance and end up blowing it on a player that turns out to be a bust, that can set the franchise back for years. To that end, we wanted to make a list of the top 19 players who were drafted in the last three years, but already look like busts.
We also then identified two “honorable mention” players selected in the 2018 NBA Draft, whom we think have the highest probability of being a draft bust in the near future, for various reasons (which we’ll explain):