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NBA Draft: 30 greatest No. 1 overall picks in league history

By Josh Cornelissen

25 Jun 1997: Center Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs speaks with a reporter during the NBA Draft at the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. Mandatory Credit: Craig Jones /Allsport
25 Jun 1997: Center Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs speaks with a reporter during the NBA Draft at the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. Mandatory Credit: Craig Jones /Allsport /
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Elton Brand
Elton Brand – MARIO TAMA/AFP via Getty Images /

NBA Draft: 30 greatest No. 1 overall picks in league history: 28. Elton Brand

On this list of the 30 greatest first overall picks in league history, a few colleges have alumni showing up twice: LSU, UCLA, Kentucky and Georgetown. The only one to show up three times is Duke University.

Elton Brand will be the only multi-year Duke player on this list, but he is also the first Duke player selected in the NBA Draft to leave school early.
His sophomore year was a dominant one as Brand was named the consensus player of the year in 1999. Duke made it to the championship game before losing to UConn, and Brand declared for the NBA Draft. He was taken first overall by the Chicago Bulls, a franchise that had lost its way after the end of the Michael Jordan dynasty years.

Brand dropped 20 and 10 as a rookie, with an NBA-ready body despite leaving school early. The Bulls offloaded him after just two seasons to try a high school experiment with Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler. Brand, now on the LA Clippers, became a fixture on the block. A picture of consistency, Brand averaged 20.1 points and 10.0 rebounds in Chicago and…20.3 points and 10.3 rebounds in Los Angeles.

Brand returned to the Eastern Conference in 2008, playing four seasons for a Philadelphia 76ers team he would later run as general manager. On the downside of his career, Brand bounced around the league for a few more seasons before retiring in 2016. By the end, Brand had totaled 109.6 win shares, good for fifteenth among all first overall picks. He made two All-Star Games and one All-NBA team, all with the Clippers, and ranks fourth in Clippers franchise history in points scored.

Despite the longevity of his career, Brand never found the top of the pyramid in a league dominated by elite power forwards. He played in just 40 playoff games and only 12 in one season with the Clippers. A talented player who brought it every game for 17 seasons, Brand never made the impact that most of the players above him on this list did.