You never know what you’re going to get in the NBA Draft. Some players are chosen because of their accomplishments in college. Some are chosen because of their raw potential. Some are chosen because they’re really tall.
Despite all of those factors, it’s just an educated guess as to whether a player is going to make it in the NBA. So many things have to go exactly right to have a successful career in the league. Not everyone can have a long career like LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, or even a role player like Kyle Korver.
This list is the guys who should have been stars but weren’t. Take a look at what they did to earn the hype, and what went wrong in the NBA. For some of them, they just weren’t cut out for the league. Others had their promising careers cut short because of injury.
Take a look at this list and think back to what could have been.
Andrea Bargnani
Judging talent in the Euro leagues is always hard. The level of competition means that it’s not exactly apples and oranges when projecting how a player’s skills will translate to the NBA. Andrea Bargnani is a perfect example of that.
Bargnani was supposed to be the next Dirk Nowitzki. He was a big man that could put up points in the paint and beyond the arc. The Raptors took him with the 1st overall pick in the 2006 Draft. While earned a spot on the All-Rookie team his first year, he averaged just 14 points and 4.6 rebounds per game over an average 10-year NBA career.