Best NBA Draft of All Time
- Thread starter GarnettFan4Life
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GarnettFan4Life
OZCT Supporter
GarnettFan4Life
OZCT Supporter
1984
1996
1985
2003
1987
- Top Players (Career Win Shares): Michael Jordan (214.0), John Stockton (207.7), Charles Barkley (177.2), Hakeem Olajuwon (162.8), Otis Thorpe (106.4), Sam Perkins (105.4), Kevin Willis (81.8), Michael Cage (74.4), Jerome Kersey (69.5), Alvin Robertson (52.1)
Similar to the 2003 draft, there's not much depth here. Only seven players from this class made it to an All-Star Game, and two of them—No. 9 pick Otis Thorpe and No. 11 pick Kevin Willis—went to just one each.
But the star power at the top of this class is second to none.
In NBA history, 20 players have accumulated at least 160 win shares, and four of them (20 percent) were drafted in 1984: Michael Jordan, John Stockton, Charles Barkley and Hakeem Olajuwon. Only two other classes (1960 and 1987) produced multiple members of this club, and 1984 is the only one with at least three such legends.
In their collective careers, Jordan, Stockton, Barkley and Olajuwon combined for 47 All-Star Games, 45 All-NBA teams, 23 All-Defensive teams, 10 scoring titles, nine assist titles, five steal titles, three rebound titles, three block titles, eight NBA championships and seven MVPs. Stockton is the career leader in both assists and steals, Olajuwon is the all-time blocks king and MJ is No. 3 in steals and No. 4 in points.
Every draft class has fingerprints throughout the pages of the NBA's history, but 1984 practically authored the record books.
1996
- Top Players (Career Win Shares): Kobe Bryant (172.7), Ray Allen (145.1), Steve Nash (129.7), Allen Iverson (99.0), Peja Stojakovic (82.6), Marcus Camby (81.6), Stephon Marbury (77.5), Shareef Abdur-Rahim (71.2), Zydrunas Ilgauskas (66.3), Jermaine O'Neal (66.0), Derek Fisher (62.3), Erick Dampier (52.7)
How does the all-time three-point leader, three different league MVPs and 10 picks with a combined total of 64 All-Star Games sound for a single draft class?
The perimeter specialist was Ray Allen, aka Jesus Shuttlesworth. The 10-time All-Star and two-time NBA champion made 2,973 triples in his 18-year career. He's probably going to get bypassed by Stephen Curry before all is said and done, but for now, he's more than 400 made three-pointers ahead of every other player.
Allen wasn't one of the three MVPs, though. Well, Ray Allen wasn't. Allen Iverson was the 2001 MVP in the first of his two consecutive seasons leading the NBA in both points and steals. "The Answer" was an 11-time All-Star who averaged 26.7 points per game in his career. The No. 1 pick in this draft was everything Philadelphia could have asked for and then some.
The No. 13 pick was also an MVP, although Kobe Bryant never played a game for the franchise that drafted him. Rather than dominating for the Charlotte Hornets, the 18-time All-Star and 2008 MVP led the Los Angeles Lakers to five titles. The two-time scoring champ is also third n the career points leaderboard.
But the two-time MVP in this bunch was No. 15 pick Steve Nash. Though he never even played in the NBA Finals, Nash won the 2005 and 2006 MVP awards and finished runner-up to Dirk Nowitzki in 2007. The leader of Phoenix's "seven seconds or less" offense led the league in assists five times, finishing his career with 10,335 dimes.
1985
- Top Players (Career Win Shares): Karl Malone (234.6), Patrick Ewing (126.4), Terry Porter (110.4), Detlef Schrempf (109.5), A.C. Green (99.5), Chris Mullin (93.1), Charles Oakley (89.7), Joe Dumars (86.2), Hot Rod Williams (70.5), Tyrone Corbin (56.5)
We can argue about the order, but it's almost indisputable that the four best draft classes in NBA history were 1984, 1985, 1996 and 2003. Each of those drafts produced at least one all-time great and had a lot of depth.
From 1985, the legendary player was the 13th pick, Karl Malone. Though the Mailman never won a title, this 14-time All-Star trails only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain on the NBA's career win shares leaderboard. Malone is also No. 2 in career points and No. 8 in rebounds. It's hard to fathom why he doesn't get more recognition when we argue about the greatest to ever play the game.
Speaking of great big men who never got a ring, No. 1 pick Patrick Ewing had one heck of a career too. He put up at least 20 points per game in each of his first 13 seasons in the league. And from 1990 to 1997, he averaged at least 22 points and 10 rebounds per game for eight consecutive years.
In the depth department, eight players drafted in 1985 went on to accumulate at least 86 win shares. Considering there have only been 125 such players, eight from one draft class is mighty impressive. In fact, this is the only draft with more than six players who provided at least that much return on investment.
However, along with Malone and Ewing, Terry Porter, Detlef Schrempf, Chris Mullin and Charles Oakley never won a title. While A.C. Green got three rings, he was, at best, the fourth-most important player on those rosters. Though this class is a little deeper than our top two, the collective number of championships among top players was too noteworthy to ignore.
2003
- Top Players (Career Win Shares): LeBron James (219.4), Dwyane Wade (118.3), Chris Bosh (106.0), Carmelo Anthony (100.7), David West (85.9), Kyle Korver (68.7), Kirk Hinrich (52.5), Boris Diaw (51.6), Zaza Pachulia (50.3)
As far as depth is concerned, 2003 doesn't hold a candle to our top three drafts. In 1985, the seventh-best player drafted was Charles Oakley (89.7 career win shares). In 1984, it was Kevin Willis (81.8). And in 1996, it was Stephon Marbury (77.5). Here it's Kirk Hinrich, who was never named an All-Star and who produced at least 25 fewer win shares than each of Oakley, Willis and Marbury.
It doesn't get much better from there with just 10 players who amassed more than 40 career win shares and just five who were All-Stars multiple times. Moreover, the No. 2 pick from this class (Darko Milicic) turned out to be one of the biggest busts in draft history.
But 2003 made up for that lack of depth by providing NBA fans with four of the best players of the past two decades.
No. 1 pick LeBron James, No. 3 pick Carmelo Anthony, No. 4 pick Chris Bosh and No. 5 pick Dwyane Wade have been selected to a combined 47 All-Star Games and 29 All-NBA teams. Three of the four (James, Wade and Bosh) teamed up to win the 2012 and 2013 titles. All four could/should be first-ballot Hall of Famers when they become eligible.
1987
- Top Players (Career Win Shares): David Robinson (178.7), Reggie Miller (174.4), Scottie Pippen (125.1), Horace Grant (118.2), Kevin Johnson (92.8), Mark Jackson (91.8), Derrick McKey (61.8), Armen Gilliam (58.1), Muggsy Bogues (54.0)
The 1987 NBA draft produced a lot of talented players, and the coaches and general managers at the top of the draft did a great job of evaluating that potential. Ten of the top 12 picks would accumulate at least 46 career win shares. The only ones who fell short of that mark were No. 3 pick Dennis Hopson (7.1) and No. 4 pick Reggie Williams (26.0).
This ended up being the only draft in the 1980s in which the team with the No. 1 pick actually selected the best player. The San Antonio Spurs took "The Admiral" David Robinson, who was named to an All-NBA team in 10 of his 14 seasons and won the 1995 MVP award. One of the best shot-blockers of all time, Robinson helped steer the Spurs to two NBA titles.
Not far behind Robinson in value added, No. 11 pick Reggie Miller also played all of his games for the franchise that drafted him. It's only a matter of time before Stephen Curry moves ahead of Miller on the list of made three-pointers, but he's currently No. 2 with 2,560 of them in his 18-year career with Indiana.
The supporting cast for Michael Jordan's first three championships also came from this draft class. Chicago drafted Horace Grant at No. 10 and acquired Scottie Pippen from Seattle hours after he was selected fifth overall. Within six years, they each had three rings.
Outside the top 12, two other great picks from this draft were No. 18 Mark Jackson and No. 22 Reggie Lewis. The former is one of just five players with at least 10,000 career assists. The latter averaged better than 20 points per game in back-to-back seasons before dying on a practice court at the age of 27.
GarnettFan4Life
OZCT Supporter
I'm so torn between 1984 and 1996!
The players that were drafted in 84 were on the USA Dream Team, influenced generations of players to come after them and are subjects all the 90's cards that are popular right now. The 96 draft with Iverson influenced culture, Ray Allen with the all-time 3 point lead for a while and of course Kobe.
Gotta go with 84 I think
The players that were drafted in 84 were on the USA Dream Team, influenced generations of players to come after them and are subjects all the 90's cards that are popular right now. The 96 draft with Iverson influenced culture, Ray Allen with the all-time 3 point lead for a while and of course Kobe.
Gotta go with 84 I think
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