Ranking every first overall pick in NBA history
60. 1956: Sihugo Green, Rochester Royals
This was the draft that shaped the Boston Celtics’ championship pedigree for the next decade. Not only did the team use their territorial pick to select that season’s eventual Rookie of the Year Tom Heinson, but they also drafted point guard K.C. Jones and finagled their way into acquiring scoring wing Sam Jones and one of the greatest big men in NBA history, Bill Russell.
In addition to those picks, trailblazing guard Elgin Baylor was also ripe for the taking to. Instead, the Rochester Royals (who would later become the Sacramento Kings) selected Duquesne combo guard Sihugo Green with the first pick.
Green would average an encouraging 11.5 points in his rookie season, but that represented the high mark of his career. He would play for three other franchises through his nine seasons, averaging 9.2 points with a 9.1 PER and 10.0 cumulative win shares. Green was a bust on his own merits, but the success of others in this class further illuminated that.
59. 2006: Andrea Bargnani, Toronto Raptors
No one should blame the Toronto Raptors for using the number one pick on Andrea Bargnani in 2006. After all, the guy often drew comparisons to Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki around that time, so it made sense that Toronto, a team that has historically struggled to acquire and keep star players, would roll the dice on the international hotshot.
Of course, Bargnani never came close to living up to those comparisons. He was a good 3-point shooter, but he offered little else to the three franchises he played for in 10 NBA seasons. During that span, Bargnani averaged 14.3 points with a 14.4 PER and .057 win shares per 48 minutes.
As we learned from Bargnani (and Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, who had question marks surrounding them going into their respective drafts), international picks should be evaluated on a case by case basis instead of making easy comparisons.
58. 1976: John Lucas, Houston Rockets
Unlike many of the other names on this list, John Lucas failed to live up to his draft status because of substance abuse issues rather than a lack of talent.
The University of Maryland standout came into the league with an accomplished collegiate resume, which included being named an All-American in three of his four years at College Park.
Lucas’ pro career looked just as promising, as he averaged double scoring totals in each of his first four seasons. However, his issues with drugs and alcohol ultimately stymied his career.
He had his best season as a pro in 1986-87 with the Milwaukee Bucks, where he averaged 17.5 points. For his career, Lucas averaged 10.7 points with a 15.9 PER and .101 win shares per 48 minutes. Fortunately, his story has a happy ending, as he eventually overcame his addictions to become a coach in the NBA, currently working with the Rockets as a player development coach.
57. 2014: Andrew Wiggins, Cleveland Cavaliers
While he’s far from the least talented number one overall pick, Andrew Wiggins may go down as one of the most disappointing. He’s not a terrible player — depending on who you ask — but based on the hype that surrounded him before he played a game at Kansas, plateauing as an average player feels like a big letdown.
The Cavaliers picked Wiggins first overall in the 2014 draft, but with LeBron James’ return looming, the team shipped him to the Minnesota Timberwolves as part of a three-team deal that brought Kevin Love to Cleveland.
Wiggins would compile gaudy counting stats in his first three years with the team — he even averaged 23.6 points per game in 2016-17 — but this established him as a Rudy Gay-esque high volume shooter, the type of player that teams in today’s NBA are avoiding building around.
When Jimmy Butler came over to the Wolves via trade in 2017-18, Wiggins’ uselessness without the ball was exposed even further. As of 2018, Wiggins has a 14.8 PER and .048 win shares per 48 minutes.
Like Fultz, Wiggins is still young enough to become an All-Star caliber player, but he is far from the transcendent player that everyone thought he would be.