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What The Blazers Can Expect With The 23rd Overall Pick

By Chris St. Jean

Jun 26, 2014; Brooklyn, NY, USA; A general view as the names of the first round draft picks are displayed above the stage during the 2014 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 26, 2014; Brooklyn, NY, USA; A general view as the names of the first round draft picks are displayed above the stage during the 2014 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 18, 2013; Shanghai, Shanghai Province, China; Los Angeles Lakers retired player A.C. Green Jr. on the sideline before the game against the Golden State Warriors at Mercedes-Benz Arena. Mandatory Credit: Danny La-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 18, 2013; Shanghai, Shanghai Province, China; Los Angeles Lakers retired player A.C. Green Jr. on the sideline before the game against the Golden State Warriors at Mercedes-Benz Arena. Mandatory Credit: Danny La-USA TODAY Sports /

All 23rd Picks Are Not Equal

The 23rd overall pick in the first round of the NBA Draft has only existed since 1980. Prior to that the No. 23 pick actually landed in the second round. Especially in those early years (1980-1988), the 23rd overall pick was probably more equivalent to the 28th overall pick today. It was one of the last picks in the first round doled out to the best teams from the prior season.

Today, picking 23rd overall isn’t necessarily as flashy as picking in the lottery, but there are many teams that would still rather be picking there than at 30 or even worse, waiting until the second round. Many picks after 25-30 are boom or bust, and the deeper you get in the draft the more likely the player selected never even becomes a valuable NBA player.

In the history of the 23rd pick, eight players drafted at that position were out of the NBA within four seasons of being drafted. But the majority of those were before 1995.

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    • As the NBA has grown, the first round has too, and the 23rd overall pick has moved closer and closer to the lottery and further and further away from the second round.

    Until 1992, half of the players drafted in the first round at 23rd were out of the league within four years. The lone bright spot is the 1985 selection of A.C. Green by the Los Angeles Lakers (the Lakers had won the 1985 NBA championship over the Boston Celtics and had the next to last pick, at 23).

    A.C. Green went on to play in 17 seasons in the NBA where he averaged 9.6 points and 7.4 rebounds for his career, according to Basketball-Reference. One of the great Iron Men of the NBA, Green played in all 82 games in 14 seasons including 11 straight from 1987-88 to 1997-98 (he even played in 83 games in 1996-97 because of an in-season trade).

    Green is the only player ever to be drafted in the first round at 23 overall to receive an All-Star nomination; the 1989-90 campaign in which he averaged 12.9 points and 8.7 rebounds. He also won three NBA championships as a member of the Lakers both in the Magic Johnson/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar era and the Shaquille O’Neal/Kobe Bryant era. Not bad for the next to last pick in the first round.

    As the 1990’s wore on, the 23rd overall pick stabilized greatly, and you’ll see that it provided some extremely valuable players to the league.

    Next: The Golden Age Of Role Players

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