Michael Beasley, Dirk Nowitzki - The biggest draft lottery mess ups – NBA Draft Special (Part 3)
Houston Rockets, Eddie Griffin
With the seventh overall pick in the year 2001, the New Jersey Nets selected the big guy from Seton hall, Eddie Griffin. The Houston Rockets saw a huge potential in Griffin and traded away Brandon Armstrong, Richard Jefferson and Jason Collins to get their
hands on the young power forward.
Although Griffin had a solid first year at the franchise, questions about his attitude towards the game began to surface and after the second year, troubles related with profuse drinking, missed practice sessions and a bunked team flight, forced the Rockets
to release him.
Indiana Pacers, George McCloud
The Indiana Pacers have been always been very smart in what they select and as such they have never made a huge mistake in the NBA draft lottery. Although they did pass on Larry Bird, their hometown hero back in 1978, but that was way back before the lottery
was even started.
However, Pacers did pick George McCloud as the seventh pick in 1989. Many other players in the same year were drafted after him and they could have been more beneficial for the franchise. McCloud was a decent performer for Indiana but Shawn Kemp, Vlade Divac,
Tim Hardaway and Nick Anderson proved to be more suitable options in the years that followed.
Los Angeles Clippers, Michael Olowokandi
The Los Angeles Clippers’ infamous number one overall pick back in 1998 came from the University of Pacific, who were toppled in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) in the same season.
Although, the 7 footer Michael Olowokandi was a major player for the University of the Pacific, however he was not the best among the available options by any stretch of imagination. The Clippers overlooked the likes of Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce, Vince
Carter, Mike Bibby and Antawn Jamison that year. Olowokandi headed out with decent stats and averaged 12 points and 9 rebounds per game the later injury problem spelled an end to his career. Nowitzki and Pierce on the other hand are ruling the league, even
now.
Milwaukee Bucks, trading Dirk Nowitzki
In 1996, the Dallas Mavericks drafted the big man Robert Traylor aka ‘Tractor’ as number 6. The Milwaukee Bucks showed interest in Traylor after few picks and traded their number nine pick with the Dallas big man.
That number nine pick turned out to be one of the best European players in the history of NBA. He was none other than Dirk Nowitzki. Nowitzki joined Dallas Mavericks that time and established himself as an offensive threat in his very first year. While Traylor
never made it big and unfortunately died in a car accident last month, Nowitzki just gave the Mavs, their first ever NBA Championship.
Miami Heat, Michael Beasley
A couple of years back, there was a big debate going on over who should be selected first in the 2008 draft. The two contenders were Chicago Bulls sharp-shooter Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley.
The Bulls did the smart thing by drafting Rose first, who took his them on the top almost single-handedly this year. Miami Heat picked Beasley afterwards while they had a number of options like Russell Westbrook, Brook Lopez, Kevin Love and O.J. Mayo available.
Michael played two seasons with the Heat and scored with an average of 14.35 points per game He was never able to prove himself as a reliable starter and when the Big Three combined at the South Beach, he was traded to Minnesota Timberwolves.
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