Ranking every first overall pick in NBA history
68. 1952: Mark Workman, Milwaukee Hawks
Man, these early drafts were not that good. The then-Milwaukee Hawks took Workman with the top pick in 1952, but he played only five games before the team traded him to the Philadelphia Warriors for Don Sunderlage.
He would play 60 games with the Warriors that season, averaging 5.3 points and 3.1 boards during that stretch. He would play 15 games with the Baltimore Bullets before retiring after the 1953-54 season.
67. 2013: Anthony Bennett, Cleveland Cavaliers
Following LeBron James’ initial departure from Cleveland in 2010, the Cavs “won” the number one overall pick in the Draft Lottery for three consecutive seasons. While the team found a perennial All-Star in 2012 (more on him later), the team was not as lucky in 2013.
To be fair, the 2013 Draft was one of the worst classes of the 21st century, with only Victor Oladipo, Giannis Antetokounmpo, CJ McCollum and Rudy Gobert emerging from the pack to become star players.
While a few other players from this draft eventually developed into useful players, such as Otto Porter, Andre Roberson, and Steven Adams, Bennett couldn’t even reach that threshold. He ended up playing for four teams in four seasons, averaging 4.4 points with a 10.2 PER during that span.
66. 2001: Kwame Brown, Washington Wizards
In many ways, Brown was the original Anthony Bennett, albeit with a longer career. As SB Nation’s At the Hive points out, there were some red flags that the Wizards should have been cognizant of when scouting the Glynn Academy standout, but then-president of basketball operations Michael Jordan brushed those concerns aside and took Brown with the number one pick in the 2001 draft.
His rookie numbers were not good: 4.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and .048 win shares per 48 minutes. It probably didn’t help to have Jordan, the man that drafted him, come out of retirement to join the roster and attempt to “toughen” him up with barrages of insults and homophobic slurs during practices (though Brown denies this happening).
Ultimately, Brown spent a listless 10 seasons in the league, averaging a robust 6.6 points and 5.5 boards with 20.8 win shares.
65. 1955: Dick Ricketts, St. Louis Hawks
The only thing interesting about Dick Ricketts was his two-sport status, as he also played baseball in addition to basketball. In the grand scheme, his pro career resembled Tim Tebow more than it did Bo Jackson or Deion Sanders.
In fact, if his Wikipedia page is accurate, the only reason the St. Louis Hawks drafted him first overall was due to his affiliation with the St. Louis Cardinals, who signed him as an amateur free agent (what a dumb reason to use the number one pick on a guy).
Ricketts posted equally unimpressive numbers in both sports. In 12 games with the Cards, he pitched to a 5.82 ERA with a 4.90 FIP and minus-0.4 bWAR. In four NBA seasons, he averaged 9.3 points and accrued a whopping 2.1 win shares.