Charlotte Hornets: Kobe Bryant, 1996 NBA Draft
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Credit to the Charlotte Hornets for at least taking the high school phenom who will go down as one of the 10 greatest players in NBA Draft. The only problem was that they didn’t actually keep Kobe Bryant after drafting him.
It wasn’t really Charlotte’s fault, as Bryant’s agent (Arn Tellem) effectively said that Bryant would never play for Charlotte, and the wheels were already in motion to bring Bryant to Los Angeles.
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Ryan Mitchell says
I’m sorry but I’m not seeing how Dominque Wilkins was such a mistake . His career wasn’t all that Illustrious. He won some dunk contests. WOW. By Utah sending him off for the cash to help keep the franchise afloat. The next couple of draft the scored to of the Greatest Players to step on the court. Utah has blown it way worse in the draft than that.
Barry Anderson says
Tough to be more painful or regretful than the Celtics picking Len Bias in 1986.
Rick3262 says
Clippers passing on Glen Rice wasn’t their biggest mistake. At the time, Elgin Baylor wanted Rice, but said that drafting him #2 was too high. He ended up drafting Danny Ferry, who never played for them, but Elgin Baylor did trade Danny Ferry for Ron Harper and two first rounders.
Clippers big mistake was drafting Al Farouk-Aminu and passing on Paul George, who had grown up a Clipper fan. Neil Olshey drafted the long-armed Aminu to cover for the short-armed Blake’s defensive deficiencies. Instead, he could’ve fielded a team of Blake Griffin, Paul George, DeAndre Jordan, Eric Gordon, and Eric Bledsoe. In the end, it probably didn’t matter as the Clippers traded Aminu, along with a handful of others in the Chris Paul trade.
Ronald Ferreirae says
Warriors traded Robert Parish and the #3 pick (which turned out to be Kevin McHale) to Boston for the #1 pick, Joe Barry Carroll. Ouch.
jim says
Pistons take Darko…. Ugh
James says
Portland’s mistake was not drafting Charles Barkley. The upgrade of Drexler to Jordan would not be as great as the upgrade from Kenny Carr ( a very good player) to Charles Barkley.
Guy says
How about the Kings taking Tyreke Evans over Stephan Curry or Thomas Robinson over Damian Lillard. Or anyone over Purvis Ellison
Justin Bryant says
Didn’t Clyde end up in Houston to win a championship???
Brian Sureck says
Absolutely wrong on the Dallas Mavericks. The biggest draft mistake was in 1985 when the Mavs took Bill Wennington over Joe Dumars and Detlef Schrempf over Karl Malone.
William Stanford says
As a lifelong Spurs fan, they have made lots of draft errors, as have all teams. However, most Spurs fans consider the pick of Alfrederick Hughes in the mid 80s to be the worst in franchise history.
Johnny says
If I’m the Sixers, I would rather have Paul George or Gordon Hayward instead of Cousins from the 2010 draft.
Kevin Love says
Dallas would have drafted Dirk Nowitski with the sixth pick, but they know he would still be available when Milwaukee drafted 9th, so they orchestrated the trade with the Bucks before either team drafted. If the Bucks had declined, Dallas would have taken Dirk at 6th. The Bucks never had the opportunity to have Dirk on their roster with the 9th pick. It is a common misconception that the Bucks blundered here, but that simply is not the case.
kevwheels says
The Bucks would have never been able to draft Nowitski for themselves. It was a prearranged deal that if the Bucks hadn’t agreed to it, the Mavs would have just taken Nowitski at #6 But you could easily replace Nowitski with Paul Pierce who went one pick after the Bucks original draft spot.
http://archive.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/121668333.html
Dylan Sides says
Yes, the Rockets passed on Drexler in 1983 as well as Ellis and Scott. HOWEVER, if they would have taken Drexler, would they have been in a position to win the coin flip the next season to draft Olajuwon? Perhaps not.
Marc Bethely says
How about Portland doing it again taking Oden over Durant?
Richard L Simons says
That one is second only to Bowie over Jordan. How could they miss that one?