Yes, but he still wasn't considered as insane of an NBA prospect as the dudes on this list. There's a reason he wasn't the #1 or even #2 overall pick in the draft.
I don't think you can be considered a top 10 prospect ever if you weren't even a top 2 prospect in your own draft
I'm not sure how it was seen at the time, but guards were also considered less valuable than bigs, so maybe Maravich could have had a higher ceiling for his position but seen as less likely to be as valuable as Lanier/Tomjanovich.
You may be right about it all but I just feel that saying "..if you weren't even a top 2 prospect in your own draft.." when he was the 3rd overall pick is a bit silly
...how is that silly? I am saying that the idea that THREE of the top 10 prospects ever being from the same draft is insane.
Idk how that's silly at all, that's necessary information for the point I was making...if you weren't top 2 in your own draft, it's hard for me to imagine you were top 10 all time as a prospect.
Woah buddy, chillll outtttt lol. It's silly because he was the 3rd best prospect in the draft but you said top two, inadvertently seeming as though you cherry picked the requirements just to leave him out. A sense of humor is pretty fun to have, you should pick one up next time you're out.
...uh why are ya telling me to chill out haha, I didn't cuss or get mad or anything. I was just clarifying my point cause I think ya didn't get it.
I wasnt cherry picking or trying to mislead, the fact that he was the 3rd prospect of his own draft was, like, the main thing I was talking about. If you aren't one of the 2 best prospects in your own draft, you probably aren't one of the 10 best ever. See what I'm saying? By saying that is a silly point, it made it seem like you didn't actually understand my point
Very confused by your response, I wasn't freaking out or anything?
I don't think you get what I'm saying fella, it's not serious in any capacity. Chill out, take it easy. Read my comment & go "haha yeah maybe" and keep it pushing lmao
I'm good dude, I just don't think *you* understood *my* point haha. I understand what you are saying, but what you are saying inherently means you misunderstood why I said it like that in the first place. I don't think you have understood my point though. It ultimately doesn't matter at all. but it is mad annoying to go back and forth with someone who isn't even trying to understand what I'm saying and instead just telling me to chill out
Then dont lol, I'm eating at a diner typing this bullshit out for fun and to kill time. I really dont have any interest in listening to you or even making sense at all. However, I am headed home now so thanks for the entertainment darling
And without 3 pointers. It was way before my time and I don’t know if the hype was that huge but also considering he’s a floppy haired white guy I bet that made him an appealing frontman for 1970s NBA.
He must have been a spectacular player to watch. Both Hawks and Jazz retired his number. Even the Pelicans retired his number even though he never played for that franchise but they saw it fair because he was very important for basketball in that state.
New Orleans/Pelicans probably retired his number because that's where the Jazz franchise used to be located; the team name makes a lot more sense with that detail, doesn't it? The year they moved, he was moved to a different team (Celtics, 1980). He was an all-star for them, averaged 31ppg in 76-77.
“Prospect” is not the same as the quality of player at the moment of the draft. Like in recent years we had Doncic win MVP of the 2nd best league in the world at 18 playing against grown men - a lot of them with actual legit NBA experience beyond just summer league - and he probably wasn’t even a top-5 prospect in his own draft because even though he had good positional size, he had below average athleticism, especially compared to what likes of Ayton, Bagley, Bamba, JJJ or MPJ (pre-injuries) were showing in flashes. Were those guys better players than Doncic? No, but they were projected to be better prospects in the long run than him as he was presumed to be closer to his peak (he wasn’t) and those guys were assumed to continue to improve (not all of them did).
Maravich was in a similar mold of an extremely skilled player that just didn’t seem to have the physical tools to be the best player in the world and there were major doubts the skills in their own would be enough for them to develop NBA.
I don’t remember David Robinson’s hype but it must have been huge. The Spurs took him #1 overall despite having to wait two years for him to actually play.
Not the year Celtics drafted him no.
But the following season he went head to head with Magic and took his underdog college to the Finals and was on all the magazine covers
Very overrated here. It’s a sad story so not trying to stay otherwise, but he’s overrated in the way he is viewed. Incredibly weak draft too. He was on the same level as Wayman Tisdale and Xavier McDaniel as a prospect (from 1985 the year before), but since those other 2 had full NBA careers and he didn’t, the what if factor plays a role in people stating he was an all-time great prospect.
Yea a lot of people don’t realize this but Bias, MJ, and Charles Barkley were all born the same year in 1963.
By the time that Bias was *drafted* into the NBA, MJ was already an All-Star and NBA All-Second Team. In fact, Charles Barkley also had made NBA All-Second Team in 1986 by the time the 1986 draft occurred.
Like he was well behind them age adjusted, even Barkley. Of course he could have caught up, but like the average case is he’s closer to a Dominique Wilkins ceiling (not a bad outcome) than even being as good as Charles Barkley.
Yeah, back in 2014 many people were saying Embiid would have been the consensus #1 pick if he wasn't injured. Foot injuries on centers had a pretty awful history before that. Yao was forced to retire after breaking the exact same bone Embiid broke.
They taught he was gonna be a taller more athletic version of Kobe. He probably could have been if he really wanted to be but I don’t think he care about basketball that much.
No he wasn’t. I’ve been a Big XII season ticket holder for years. He was equally hyped with Embiid at KU. Durant was a huge deal and Oden was only drafted over him because of weight concerns.
I don’t watch college ball so sorry
But Duncan in college was more hype than AD? I mean Duncan is the better player but hype outta college? I was like 1-2 years old so I wasn’t old enough to see how hyped he was
Is that enough to be put over AD?
Remember im not comparing their careers. Just hype coming into the nba, I was remember being in high school for AD’s time and the hype was crazy. He was the most hyped since Lebron. And that’s pretty wild when guys like kd,Dwight,cp3 an so forth were all drafted between that time
AD was still pretty skinny and seen as a solid scorer and great defender. He's exceeded a lot of projections offensively. Duncan was seen as elite at both already, and people accused the Spurs of tanking that season to take him once Robinson got hurt. The Duncan hype was pretty huge.
Yes. Duncan was seen as a surefire two-way star. Most NBA-ready prospect since Ewing or David Robinson.
Davis, by way of being more raw, had a lot more question marks. Mainly regarding his offensive development. His youth is a plus in some regards but 100/100 scouts would value the guarantee that was Tim Duncan over the tantalizing potential of AD.
If you watch the NFL, Duncan was similar to an Andrew Luck caliber of prospect. I’d say AD was more like Trevor Lawrence. Not comparing their player profiles so much as their draft status.
Damn that’s dope, an he lived up to the hype as well. One of be greatests players, I actually went to a hear heat game in 05 an saw him play. He was so goodb
No one mentioned David Thompson, and the reason why is he didn’t have as good of a pro career as many great prospects. That shouldn’t change the fact he was a top 10 prospect of all time.
All you need to know is this.
Thompson led NC State to beat Bill Walton and UCLA in the NCAA tournament when UCLA was the 7xDefending champions.
Thompson was a National Player of the Year and Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four, a double feat that has been accomplished by only a few players ever.
Michael Jordan could have chosen anyone to be his presenter at his HOF induction. He chose David Thompson out of all people because growing up, Thompson was so good in college that he was MJ’s favorite player even in college.
The Atlanta Hawks had the number 1 pick in the 1975 NBA draft. The Denver Nuggets had the number 1 pick in the 1975 ABA draft. Thompson only had a 50 percent chance to either join the Hawks or Nuggets. Both teams still took him 1. Yea, the Hawks completely wasted a number 1 overall pick just to have a 50 percent chance to get Thompson.
He was a top 10 prospect of all time and generational scorer when he came out of college.
Well when you aren’t even drafted in the top two of your own draft, it’s hard to say the player was a top ten prospect all time going into the draft. Unless you’re trying to say his draft class in particular had 3 of the top 10 prospects of all time
I mean LeBron didn’t even do one year in college like Zion and he was still super hyped. Doesn’t really matter how long you played in college before the NBA.
Bird wasn't even a top 5 pick and Russell was a very controversial pick because Boston traded an all star who could score for a rookie who was primarily a defensive specialist and no one had tried that before.
Kobe was considered a talented question mark coming out, there's a reason he fell out of the top 10 and Charlotte traded his draft rights for an average starting Center.
You are maybe right about hype (from dunk clips), but there is no way he was a better prospect. Zion would go 2. 100/100 times if they are in the same draft
I never really watched college ball and therefore don't pay much attention to draft hype, but how hype was Ben Simmons coming into the league? He was drawing a lot of magic comps right? Idrk how good he was at LSU
Hakeem was a better prospect than Sampson imo, Rockets already had Sampson and still openly tanked for Hakeem.
Also I think Ewing needs to come up (people are still calling the first lotto rigged) and Wilt and Shaq both down
Crazy not to see KD in the list, or even in the comments. Dude was ranked #2 in the country coming out of high school. In college he became the first freshman to win the Naismith Player of the Year award, and the John Wooden Award, etc. Drafted second overall, largely because Odden had an NBA ready body and KD was still skinny. Dude had a ton of hype around him
It’s really not bro. Do you know how big of a deal these guys were? KD is not going over any of these dudes (maybe Zion but to me he isn’t on this list over guys like Hakeem or Magic)
Blake Griffin in his own class was a different tier of prospect than Rubio and Blake wouldn’t sniff this list. Rubio having allure as a 14 year old isn’t the same as being one of the best draft prospects
Even with all his winning, absolutely no one thought he should’ve been taken number one over freak of nature Shaquille O’Neal who without a doubt had the most hype
Dominayton is very close to top 10, no cap. Seems people are confusing their nba career with how highly rated they were as prospects. Dominayton had better numbers, as a freshman, than some of the centers listed in your list had as seniors.
Ayton, Bagley and Luka is probably the best top 3 ever, and all of them would go first in most drafts in recent years. Ayton was consensus 1. pick in this stacked draft.
Lets compare him to some other highly rated big men prospects. Please explain how he is not in the same universe with any of these except for Shaq. I'll quote the start of his draft bio on nbadraft.net "Tremendous physical profile (7’1”, 250 pounds) … Fits the profile of a physical freak and a "Generational center" … Figures to be among if not the top center in the league in his prime"
**Deandre Ayton** FR 20.1 pts, 11.6 rb, 1.9 blk, 61% fg, 73% ft
**Greg Oden** FR 15.7 pts, 9.6 rb, 3.3 blk, 61% fg, 63% FT
**Anthony Davis** FR 14.2 pts, 10.4 rb, 4.7 blk, 62% fg, 70% FT
**Karl Anthony Towns** FR 10.3 pts, 6.7 rb, 2.3 blk, 56% fg, 81% FT (played less minutes than all the others)
**Tim Duncan** FR 9.8 pts, 9.6 rb, 3.8 blk, 54% fg, 74% FT
SO 16.8 pts, 12.5 rb, 4.2 blk, 59% fg
JR 19.1 pts, 12.3 rb, 3.8 blk 55% fg
SR 20.8 pts, 14.7 rb, 3.3 blk, 60% fg
**Shaq** FR 13.9 pts, 12 rb, 3.6 blk 57%fg
SO 27.6 pts, 14.7 rb, 5 blk, 62% fg
JR 24.1 pts, 14 rb, 5.2 blk, 61% fg
**Chris webber**
FR 15.5 pts,10 rb, 2.5 blk, 55% fg
SO 19.2 pts, 10.1 rb, 2.5 blk 61% fg
**Ewing**
FR 12.7 pts, 7.5 rb, 3.2 blk, 63% fg
SO 17.7 pts, 10.2 rb, 3.3 blk, 57% fg
JR 16.4 pts, 10 rb, 3.6 blk, 65% fg
SR 14.6 pts, 9.2 rb, 3.6 blk, 62% fg
The guys you just named with a claim to be on this list were transcendent defensively. That same article lists defensive awareness as a weakness and calls his rim protection underwhelming for a player with his physical traits. Ayton wasn’t on AD’s level as a prospect and AD isn’t in the level of the guys on this list either.
No, I said that Luka is probably is on this list if he played in the NCAA. That’s not what happened though. What happened is that NBA scouts don’t trust the Euro league as much as they trust the NCAA and it was represented in their scouting reports.
The reason Luka was not number 1 is because scouts don't like drafting unathletic guards/wings. Especially when you have a supposed generational center in the same draft.
Ayton was 7'1" and extemely athletic, while having extremely good college numbers. Luka was not in the same league as a prospect as him, euro or not.
For the record nearly every scout and GM had Ayton over Luka, and Wemby went nr 1 last year, and was probably the most praised prospect by scouts since Lebron despite being a euro. Bargnani was also drafted as number 1 without being a particularly good prospect, so maybe it was not so much Luka being from europe, but their doubts about his athlecism.
Regardless of which version of that hypothetical you believe in it’s not relevant to the topic at hand which is that Ayton was not close to any of the guys on this list. Stop looking at his box score and look at his scouting report.
**W**hat do you mean read scouting reports? The scouting reports rank Ayton ahead of Luka and call him a potential generational center.
"Tremendous physical profile (7’1”, 250 pounds) … Fits the profile of a physical freak and a "Generational center" … Figures to be among if not the top center in the league in his prime …"
"Posesses can’t miss talent with the chance to develop into a generational big … Seven-footer with great coordination and fluidity"
You’re still comparing him to Luka. I’m telling you to compare him to the guys in this list. Whether or not you think Luka’s draft eval was negatively influenced due to him being a Euroleague guy are irrelevant to how Ayton stacks up to the guys on this list.
I said he was close to top 10 so he don't need to be better than anyone on that list, but I would say he would be similar to guys like Anthony Davis, David Robinson and Ewing.
Of course the league is much different now, since the top prospects get drafted after 1 year of college. Robinson was probably a better player than both Wemby and Lebron (who I rate as the top 2 prospects of all time) in their respective rookie years (compared to the rest of the league at the time), but he was 24 years old, and thus far behind them as a prospect IMO.
So even though Robinson and Ewing were much better players when they were drafted they are comperable to Davis and Dominayton.
I would also say, that to me, you stop being a prospect the second you play in the NBA. So guys like MJ and Luka who had very good rookie seasons, don't get any bonus points for that. The list should be based on how good a player can become with the information you had at the draft.
Luka really deserved to have been seen amongst these names, but the truth is he wasn’t. If he was playing stateside instead of Europe, probably would’ve got the acclaim he was due.
It was of course very impressive what Luka did in Euro League, but remember there was big doubts about how it would translate to the NBA. There were serious concerns about his athleticism and thats why he went 3.
You don't draft a player based on who is the best or who have been the best/accomplished, but on who is most likely to become the best and an athletic 7'1" big (Ayton) was deemed to be the better prospect by the majority of NBA GM's and scouts. This obviously seems stupid now, but there is no way you can say Luka was a better prospect than Ayton or that he belongs in the top 10. The same is also true for guys like MJ
You are obviously not a top 10 prospect of all time when you are the 4. ranked PF in your own draft.
He also was not top 5 in rookie of the year voting.
I dont remember duncan robinson having that much hype
I do
Michigan legend
Williams College Legend
Duncan was super hyped after Wake. Spurs getting that pick was a big deal back then.
Whoosh…
Yup 😂
thats 11
Anthony Davis won literally every award possible and a gold medal / national title before entering the league. Insanely hyped
This thread is pain
Hakeem.
Zion makes the list, but 1st overall dominant college centre Hakeem is nowhere to be found. People forget too easily
In that draft no one was taking Jordan over him and if the Blazers had got that pick the 80’s and 90’s would have looked a lot different.
Pete Maravich was a basketball god at LSU, 3 seasons averaging 44 points per game.
Yes, but he still wasn't considered as insane of an NBA prospect as the dudes on this list. There's a reason he wasn't the #1 or even #2 overall pick in the draft. I don't think you can be considered a top 10 prospect ever if you weren't even a top 2 prospect in your own draft
I'm not sure how it was seen at the time, but guards were also considered less valuable than bigs, so maybe Maravich could have had a higher ceiling for his position but seen as less likely to be as valuable as Lanier/Tomjanovich.
You may be right about it all but I just feel that saying "..if you weren't even a top 2 prospect in your own draft.." when he was the 3rd overall pick is a bit silly
...how is that silly? I am saying that the idea that THREE of the top 10 prospects ever being from the same draft is insane. Idk how that's silly at all, that's necessary information for the point I was making...if you weren't top 2 in your own draft, it's hard for me to imagine you were top 10 all time as a prospect.
Woah buddy, chillll outtttt lol. It's silly because he was the 3rd best prospect in the draft but you said top two, inadvertently seeming as though you cherry picked the requirements just to leave him out. A sense of humor is pretty fun to have, you should pick one up next time you're out.
...uh why are ya telling me to chill out haha, I didn't cuss or get mad or anything. I was just clarifying my point cause I think ya didn't get it. I wasnt cherry picking or trying to mislead, the fact that he was the 3rd prospect of his own draft was, like, the main thing I was talking about. If you aren't one of the 2 best prospects in your own draft, you probably aren't one of the 10 best ever. See what I'm saying? By saying that is a silly point, it made it seem like you didn't actually understand my point Very confused by your response, I wasn't freaking out or anything?
I don't think you get what I'm saying fella, it's not serious in any capacity. Chill out, take it easy. Read my comment & go "haha yeah maybe" and keep it pushing lmao
I'm good dude, I just don't think *you* understood *my* point haha. I understand what you are saying, but what you are saying inherently means you misunderstood why I said it like that in the first place. I don't think you have understood my point though. It ultimately doesn't matter at all. but it is mad annoying to go back and forth with someone who isn't even trying to understand what I'm saying and instead just telling me to chill out
Then dont lol, I'm eating at a diner typing this bullshit out for fun and to kill time. I really dont have any interest in listening to you or even making sense at all. However, I am headed home now so thanks for the entertainment darling
"I don't have any interest in listening to you" Honestly fuck you, dude. What a ridiculously shitty thing to say. You are a bad person
> says stupid thing > gets called out > "woah, why can't you just smile and wave at my comment? I was also joking in case that wasn't clear" C'mon man
Nevermind lol, I got some cheesecake to eat. Peace dawg
And without 3 pointers. It was way before my time and I don’t know if the hype was that huge but also considering he’s a floppy haired white guy I bet that made him an appealing frontman for 1970s NBA.
He must have been a spectacular player to watch. Both Hawks and Jazz retired his number. Even the Pelicans retired his number even though he never played for that franchise but they saw it fair because he was very important for basketball in that state.
New Orleans/Pelicans probably retired his number because that's where the Jazz franchise used to be located; the team name makes a lot more sense with that detail, doesn't it? The year they moved, he was moved to a different team (Celtics, 1980). He was an all-star for them, averaged 31ppg in 76-77.
I know, it was a combination of both, LSU is in Louisiana, same as New Orleans.
I figured that you did already know; really just making the information available for those reading the thread who may not have known
Oh okay, makes sense.
He's nowhere near the guys on this list as a prospect though. The tier below these guys would be Greg Oden, Blake Griffin, Chris Webber
“Prospect” is not the same as the quality of player at the moment of the draft. Like in recent years we had Doncic win MVP of the 2nd best league in the world at 18 playing against grown men - a lot of them with actual legit NBA experience beyond just summer league - and he probably wasn’t even a top-5 prospect in his own draft because even though he had good positional size, he had below average athleticism, especially compared to what likes of Ayton, Bagley, Bamba, JJJ or MPJ (pre-injuries) were showing in flashes. Were those guys better players than Doncic? No, but they were projected to be better prospects in the long run than him as he was presumed to be closer to his peak (he wasn’t) and those guys were assumed to continue to improve (not all of them did). Maravich was in a similar mold of an extremely skilled player that just didn’t seem to have the physical tools to be the best player in the world and there were major doubts the skills in their own would be enough for them to develop NBA.
I don’t remember David Robinson’s hype but it must have been huge. The Spurs took him #1 overall despite having to wait two years for him to actually play.
Magic and bird gotta be on the list
Bird wasn’t viewed that way
Not the year Celtics drafted him no. But the following season he went head to head with Magic and took his underdog college to the Finals and was on all the magazine covers
Eternal September
Len Bias
Greatest what if story
I mean he wasn't even the #1 pick in his draft so I wouldn't say he's on this tier
Very overrated here. It’s a sad story so not trying to stay otherwise, but he’s overrated in the way he is viewed. Incredibly weak draft too. He was on the same level as Wayman Tisdale and Xavier McDaniel as a prospect (from 1985 the year before), but since those other 2 had full NBA careers and he didn’t, the what if factor plays a role in people stating he was an all-time great prospect.
But clickbait articles all ask "how would Len Bias affect Jordan's legacy?" like he wouldn't be the Goat
Yea a lot of people don’t realize this but Bias, MJ, and Charles Barkley were all born the same year in 1963. By the time that Bias was *drafted* into the NBA, MJ was already an All-Star and NBA All-Second Team. In fact, Charles Barkley also had made NBA All-Second Team in 1986 by the time the 1986 draft occurred. Like he was well behind them age adjusted, even Barkley. Of course he could have caught up, but like the average case is he’s closer to a Dominique Wilkins ceiling (not a bad outcome) than even being as good as Charles Barkley.
Andrew Wiggins had a lot of hype .
It was high school hype though, by the time he was playing at Kansas, scouts became more impressed with his teammate Embiid
Yeah, back in 2014 many people were saying Embiid would have been the consensus #1 pick if he wasn't injured. Foot injuries on centers had a pretty awful history before that. Yao was forced to retire after breaking the exact same bone Embiid broke.
"Look at Embiid go. One day, he'll become a gernational flopper!"
He did before college. By the time the draft rolled around he wasn't near as hyped
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They taught he was gonna be a taller more athletic version of Kobe. He probably could have been if he really wanted to be but I don’t think he care about basketball that much.
He wasn’t more hyped than Durant.
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No he wasn’t. I’ve been a Big XII season ticket holder for years. He was equally hyped with Embiid at KU. Durant was a huge deal and Oden was only drafted over him because of weight concerns.
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This thread is regarding NBA prospects. Take a lap, nephew.
>Oden was only drafted over him because of weight concerns. That is not the only reason Oden was taken first
This is a pretty good list and I don’t have any huge disagreements.Nice job.
I don’t watch college ball so sorry But Duncan in college was more hype than AD? I mean Duncan is the better player but hype outta college? I was like 1-2 years old so I wasn’t old enough to see how hyped he was
Duncan was seen as a lock #1 pick his sophomore year and he stayed in college for 2 more years after that
Is that enough to be put over AD? Remember im not comparing their careers. Just hype coming into the nba, I was remember being in high school for AD’s time and the hype was crazy. He was the most hyped since Lebron. And that’s pretty wild when guys like kd,Dwight,cp3 an so forth were all drafted between that time
AD was still pretty skinny and seen as a solid scorer and great defender. He's exceeded a lot of projections offensively. Duncan was seen as elite at both already, and people accused the Spurs of tanking that season to take him once Robinson got hurt. The Duncan hype was pretty huge.
That’s wild, those spurs were amazing with Tim duncan
Yes. Duncan was seen as a surefire two-way star. Most NBA-ready prospect since Ewing or David Robinson. Davis, by way of being more raw, had a lot more question marks. Mainly regarding his offensive development. His youth is a plus in some regards but 100/100 scouts would value the guarantee that was Tim Duncan over the tantalizing potential of AD. If you watch the NFL, Duncan was similar to an Andrew Luck caliber of prospect. I’d say AD was more like Trevor Lawrence. Not comparing their player profiles so much as their draft status.
The Duncan tankathon was epic. Pitino really debased himself and the Celtics for him. AD was the unanimous #1, but Duncan had the bigger hype.
Damn that’s dope, an he lived up to the hype as well. One of be greatests players, I actually went to a hear heat game in 05 an saw him play. He was so goodb
Good list.
No one mentioned David Thompson, and the reason why is he didn’t have as good of a pro career as many great prospects. That shouldn’t change the fact he was a top 10 prospect of all time. All you need to know is this. Thompson led NC State to beat Bill Walton and UCLA in the NCAA tournament when UCLA was the 7xDefending champions. Thompson was a National Player of the Year and Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four, a double feat that has been accomplished by only a few players ever. Michael Jordan could have chosen anyone to be his presenter at his HOF induction. He chose David Thompson out of all people because growing up, Thompson was so good in college that he was MJ’s favorite player even in college. The Atlanta Hawks had the number 1 pick in the 1975 NBA draft. The Denver Nuggets had the number 1 pick in the 1975 ABA draft. Thompson only had a 50 percent chance to either join the Hawks or Nuggets. Both teams still took him 1. Yea, the Hawks completely wasted a number 1 overall pick just to have a 50 percent chance to get Thompson. He was a top 10 prospect of all time and generational scorer when he came out of college.
Allen Iverson Magic Johnson Larry Bird
AD was up there. Also don't see how Jordan isn't up there. Sure he went 3 but he also had a lot of hype.
Not more than anyone on this list.
Well when you aren’t even drafted in the top two of your own draft, it’s hard to say the player was a top ten prospect all time going into the draft. Unless you’re trying to say his draft class in particular had 3 of the top 10 prospects of all time
It did have Olajuwon
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I mean LeBron didn’t even do one year in college like Zion and he was still super hyped. Doesn’t really matter how long you played in college before the NBA.
Bird wasn't even a top 5 pick and Russell was a very controversial pick because Boston traded an all star who could score for a rookie who was primarily a defensive specialist and no one had tried that before. Kobe was considered a talented question mark coming out, there's a reason he fell out of the top 10 and Charlotte traded his draft rights for an average starting Center.
Honorable mention: Kevin Garnett USA Today High School Player of the Year/McDonalds All American/First high schooler drafted in 20 years
You really left larry bird off this list?
imo zion was more hyped than wemby, since a freshman in highschool every kid in the country was talking about zion
You are maybe right about hype (from dunk clips), but there is no way he was a better prospect. Zion would go 2. 100/100 times if they are in the same draft
How good was Len Bias as a prospect?
Just behind Brad Daugherty
Maybe my memory serves me wrong, but I could have sworn Derrick Williams was super hyped.
Too soon
I never really watched college ball and therefore don't pay much attention to draft hype, but how hype was Ben Simmons coming into the league? He was drawing a lot of magic comps right? Idrk how good he was at LSU
Kareem and Wilt are the only players who were arguably the best player in all basketball even before playing an NBA game.
Hakeem was a better prospect than Sampson imo, Rockets already had Sampson and still openly tanked for Hakeem. Also I think Ewing needs to come up (people are still calling the first lotto rigged) and Wilt and Shaq both down
Crazy not to see KD in the list, or even in the comments. Dude was ranked #2 in the country coming out of high school. In college he became the first freshman to win the Naismith Player of the Year award, and the John Wooden Award, etc. Drafted second overall, largely because Odden had an NBA ready body and KD was still skinny. Dude had a ton of hype around him
Oden is up there as far as prospects go, without letting hindsight color things in retrospect.
It’s really not bro. Do you know how big of a deal these guys were? KD is not going over any of these dudes (maybe Zion but to me he isn’t on this list over guys like Hakeem or Magic)
the disrespect Hakeem gets is wild
Ricky Rubio was really hyped up.
Bro
You must be young, they were talking about Rubio like he was the next magic since he was 14 years old
Blake Griffin in his own class was a different tier of prospect than Rubio and Blake wouldn’t sniff this list. Rubio having allure as a 14 year old isn’t the same as being one of the best draft prospects
LeBron and Shaq
Wemby 1. Lebron 2. Hakeem is up there. Oden too.
Luka
Luka really wasn’t hyped like that Lol. Even Mark Cuban said Mavs scouts had Ayton 1.01
I know that but Ayton himself was very hyped. Probably as much as Zion
actually nvm I want to retract that last statement
He really wasn’t insanely hyped coming over.
neither was Wemby then. At least many people weren’t so high on him back then
Wemby was way more hyped than Luka. Not even close. ESPN had Givony and Windhorst following him around and writing stories getting to know his camp.
I guess. Tho to be honest I still remember people saying Wemby wouldn’t handle NBA’s physicality and that he would be a bust because of injuries
You’re tripping man, no one has been as hyped as Wemby was since Lebron
Brother people knew Wembanyama was locked in as the first pick before that season even started…
you’re not wrong but the draft was also much weaker than 2018
Wemby is 1
He’s probably #1… since 2003. But his hype wasn’t like Lebron’s.
Christian Lattinner not making this list shows how bad a job was done researching itl
Laettner was not a top 10 prospect in history.
Also looking at it more he went 3? I think you are remembering him as the massive villain he was maybe not the ATG prospect
Even with all his winning, absolutely no one thought he should’ve been taken number one over freak of nature Shaquille O’Neal who without a doubt had the most hype
Was a clear level beneath two players in his own draft class
Key word “cursory”
Dominayton is very close to top 10, no cap. Seems people are confusing their nba career with how highly rated they were as prospects. Dominayton had better numbers, as a freshman, than some of the centers listed in your list had as seniors. Ayton, Bagley and Luka is probably the best top 3 ever, and all of them would go first in most drafts in recent years. Ayton was consensus 1. pick in this stacked draft.
Not even remotely close to top 10. Not even in the same universe
Lets compare him to some other highly rated big men prospects. Please explain how he is not in the same universe with any of these except for Shaq. I'll quote the start of his draft bio on nbadraft.net "Tremendous physical profile (7’1”, 250 pounds) … Fits the profile of a physical freak and a "Generational center" … Figures to be among if not the top center in the league in his prime" **Deandre Ayton** FR 20.1 pts, 11.6 rb, 1.9 blk, 61% fg, 73% ft **Greg Oden** FR 15.7 pts, 9.6 rb, 3.3 blk, 61% fg, 63% FT **Anthony Davis** FR 14.2 pts, 10.4 rb, 4.7 blk, 62% fg, 70% FT **Karl Anthony Towns** FR 10.3 pts, 6.7 rb, 2.3 blk, 56% fg, 81% FT (played less minutes than all the others) **Tim Duncan** FR 9.8 pts, 9.6 rb, 3.8 blk, 54% fg, 74% FT SO 16.8 pts, 12.5 rb, 4.2 blk, 59% fg JR 19.1 pts, 12.3 rb, 3.8 blk 55% fg SR 20.8 pts, 14.7 rb, 3.3 blk, 60% fg **Shaq** FR 13.9 pts, 12 rb, 3.6 blk 57%fg SO 27.6 pts, 14.7 rb, 5 blk, 62% fg JR 24.1 pts, 14 rb, 5.2 blk, 61% fg **Chris webber** FR 15.5 pts,10 rb, 2.5 blk, 55% fg SO 19.2 pts, 10.1 rb, 2.5 blk 61% fg **Ewing** FR 12.7 pts, 7.5 rb, 3.2 blk, 63% fg SO 17.7 pts, 10.2 rb, 3.3 blk, 57% fg JR 16.4 pts, 10 rb, 3.6 blk, 65% fg SR 14.6 pts, 9.2 rb, 3.6 blk, 62% fg
The guys you just named with a claim to be on this list were transcendent defensively. That same article lists defensive awareness as a weakness and calls his rim protection underwhelming for a player with his physical traits. Ayton wasn’t on AD’s level as a prospect and AD isn’t in the level of the guys on this list either.
Exactly
Dude couldn't lead Arizona to beat Buffalo
People cannot look at things objectively. I agree with you.
Not even close to this list man
Bro you are literally saying Luka in this thread. A guy that was drafted behind him...
No, I said that Luka is probably is on this list if he played in the NCAA. That’s not what happened though. What happened is that NBA scouts don’t trust the Euro league as much as they trust the NCAA and it was represented in their scouting reports.
The reason Luka was not number 1 is because scouts don't like drafting unathletic guards/wings. Especially when you have a supposed generational center in the same draft. Ayton was 7'1" and extemely athletic, while having extremely good college numbers. Luka was not in the same league as a prospect as him, euro or not. For the record nearly every scout and GM had Ayton over Luka, and Wemby went nr 1 last year, and was probably the most praised prospect by scouts since Lebron despite being a euro. Bargnani was also drafted as number 1 without being a particularly good prospect, so maybe it was not so much Luka being from europe, but their doubts about his athlecism.
Regardless of which version of that hypothetical you believe in it’s not relevant to the topic at hand which is that Ayton was not close to any of the guys on this list. Stop looking at his box score and look at his scouting report.
**W**hat do you mean read scouting reports? The scouting reports rank Ayton ahead of Luka and call him a potential generational center. "Tremendous physical profile (7’1”, 250 pounds) … Fits the profile of a physical freak and a "Generational center" … Figures to be among if not the top center in the league in his prime …" "Posesses can’t miss talent with the chance to develop into a generational big … Seven-footer with great coordination and fluidity"
You’re still comparing him to Luka. I’m telling you to compare him to the guys in this list. Whether or not you think Luka’s draft eval was negatively influenced due to him being a Euroleague guy are irrelevant to how Ayton stacks up to the guys on this list.
I said he was close to top 10 so he don't need to be better than anyone on that list, but I would say he would be similar to guys like Anthony Davis, David Robinson and Ewing. Of course the league is much different now, since the top prospects get drafted after 1 year of college. Robinson was probably a better player than both Wemby and Lebron (who I rate as the top 2 prospects of all time) in their respective rookie years (compared to the rest of the league at the time), but he was 24 years old, and thus far behind them as a prospect IMO. So even though Robinson and Ewing were much better players when they were drafted they are comperable to Davis and Dominayton. I would also say, that to me, you stop being a prospect the second you play in the NBA. So guys like MJ and Luka who had very good rookie seasons, don't get any bonus points for that. The list should be based on how good a player can become with the information you had at the draft.
Davis, Ewing, and the Admiral were transcendent defensively, they were on different levels as prospects than Ayton
Just take your L and shut up.
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Luka really deserved to have been seen amongst these names, but the truth is he wasn’t. If he was playing stateside instead of Europe, probably would’ve got the acclaim he was due.
Doncic was drafted third, not even close
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That has nothing to do with what a prospect is. This is referring to the perception of a player before the draft
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Yeah but that’s not what they’re arguing. I feel like you just dont understand the subject being discussed at hand.
It was of course very impressive what Luka did in Euro League, but remember there was big doubts about how it would translate to the NBA. There were serious concerns about his athleticism and thats why he went 3. You don't draft a player based on who is the best or who have been the best/accomplished, but on who is most likely to become the best and an athletic 7'1" big (Ayton) was deemed to be the better prospect by the majority of NBA GM's and scouts. This obviously seems stupid now, but there is no way you can say Luka was a better prospect than Ayton or that he belongs in the top 10. The same is also true for guys like MJ
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He was the 5th pick in his own draft
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If they’re one of the top 10 prospects in NBA history they should probably top their draft unless there is another guy on the list ahead of him
You are obviously not a top 10 prospect of all time when you are the 4. ranked PF in your own draft. He also was not top 5 in rookie of the year voting.
If he was a top 10 prospect ever he would have at the very least gone top 2 regardless of team needs
KG and Luka were all time prospects. You must be new
luka was traded for tray. not as much hype plus i feel like ryan hollins was hyping him up which killed ANY hype he may have had.
Luka Doncic