The 30 most painful NBA Draft pass-ups since 2000

NBA Draft Mistake #26: Milwaukee drafting Joe Alexander over Brook Lopez and Roy Hibbert.

Few people remember Joe Alexander, who was selected 8th overall in the 2008 NBA draft. Admittedly, I completely forgot about him as well, but it is easy to understand why. Of all of the players who made this list, Alexander has the distinction of playing the fewest games with his first team. That tells you all that you really need to know about his lackluster NBA career.

He played only 59 games with Milwaukee over two years. Actually, he didn’t play with the Bucks at all during his sophomore season after spending part of it in the NBA G-League. He was then moved to the Chicago Bulls, where he logged eight games before his career came to an early end. Generally, top-10 picks are guaranteed at least two seasons in the NBA, with most having their third-year options picked up. Alexander was the exception to the rule, and no other team even gave him a shot after a poor showing with Milwaukee.

As for who they passed over, Brook Lopez and Roy Hibbert—both multi-time All-Stars—were still on the board, as was Serge Ibaka. Missing out on all three hurts, but the silver lining is that they remained bad enough to pick 15th in 2012, allowing them to select Giannis Antetokounmpo. Just like they planned it.