NBA Draft: Ranking the last 10 No. 1 overall picks of the decade

5. John Wall

It remains to be seen how good John Wall will be for the rest of his career, but he was damn good when healthy. The Washington Wizards were consistently competitive thanks to him, a status that few teams achieve.

And to be clear, Wall was pretty healthy for his first seven seasons. Only in 2017-18 and last season did he start missing games, capped by a torn Achilles which will sideline him for several more months.

Averaging 19.0 points and 9.2 assists is pretty impressive no matter how you slice it. Wall’s breakneck speed made him a terror in transition, and if teammates ran with him, he’d find them. If he came around just a few years later, he probably would’ve been coerced to shoot more 3s and become an overall more efficient player, but what we have from Wall is pretty awesome too.

4. Kyrie Irving

Deciding between Wall and Kyrie Irving was tougher than you’d think. Both players have distinct strengths and weaknesses, and neither has been the fulcrum of a true championship contender or top seed.

Irving gets the nod because if nothing else, at least we’ve seen him at the highest levels. He was instrumental in Cleveland’s Finals win in 2016, hitting one of the most important shots in league history.

Irving picks apart his opponents with a masterful handle and the rare ability to his very tough shots. This contrasts with Wall’s forceful method of blowing by opponents. Both are extremely tough to guard, but Irving’s style plays up at the highest levels. When you need a bucket, he’s your guy.

The Boston Celtics were not fond of Irving, and the Brooklyn Nets’ firing of Kenny Atkinson may have been influenced by him, but overall he’s great enough to outweigh those factors. Him and Kevin Durant will run rampant over the league.

3. Ben Simmons

Before you bark that “hE Can’T sHoOt!”, please consider how good Ben Simmons is at everything else. With the size of a big and the speed of a guard, Simmons creates opportunities for great offense on a nightly basis.

Recall that in his rookie season, he and Joel Embiid led the Sixers to 52 wins, and their teammates combined to make the best starting five in the league (by net rating). Also consider that even with a relegated offensive role in last year’s playoff series against the Toronto Raptors, he was the only person capable of keeping Kawhi Leonard from dropping 50 points a game.

His defense has gotten even better this season, as he’s often tasked with guarding the best player on the opposing team and does a wonderful job. The talk of him contending for Defensive Player of the Year is probably too much because of what Embiid does, but leading the league in steals is no small feat.

The Sixers’ gargantuan starting five does not cater to Simmons’ strengths offensively, yet he still generates a ton of 3s for teammates. It’s not his fault that the best guard on the roster is Josh Richardson, nor is it his fault that the third best player on the team is one of Tobias Harris or Al Horford.