The NBA Draft gives fans the chance to look at the stars of the future, but the showpiece event doesn’t always predict the future perfectly.
The NBA’s most successful franchises are built on their ability to make the right decisions in the draft, using all of the knowledge they can garner from tryouts and college careers to determine who the next LeBron James could be.
It seems set in stone that Duke freshman Cooper Flagg will be the first pick of the 2025 Draft, to the benefit of the Dallas Mavericks, but previous years have been less clear, leading to a history of missed opportunities and failed potential that have haunted NBA franchises.
Five top NBA Draft picks who failed to live up to expectations
Anthony Bennett
The 2013 Cleveland Cavaliers were just a year away from welcoming back LeBron James and adding Kevin Love to create a ‘big three’ alongside Kyrie Irving. Before this, though, they had the number one draft pick and took an unexpected risk.
Cleveland selected Canadian power forward Anthony Bennett as the first pick of a draft selection that included Victor Oladipo and an incredibly raw Giannis Antetokounmpo. The choice looked poor very early on as Bennett had to wait until his fifth NBA appearance to score a field goal.
In his four years in the league, he averaged just 4.4 points across the four franchises that took a chance on him, eventually moving away from the NBA to play in the G League. Most recently, Bennett was released by the Taiwanese team Formosa Dreamers.
Hasheem Thabeet
In a similar way to Victor Wembanyama, Hasheem Thabeet’s incredible size made him a prized asset in the 2009 NBA Draft.
Blake Griffin was the first overall pick, but the Memphis Grizzlies selected 7’3” Thabeet second in the hopes that he would become a dominant force in the paint at both ends of an NBA court.
Unfortunately, though, the Tanzanian failed to adapt to the top level, averaging just 2.2 points per game in his five seasons, alongside 2.7 rebounds. He has since returned to play basketball in Tanzania.
What’s most difficult about the Thabeet failure for the Grizzlies is that, just behind him in the draft order, two future MVPs in James Harden and Stephen Curry were waiting in the wings.
Greg Oden
Oden’s NBA career didn’t live up to expectations, but the reasons were more out of his control than the previous entrants on this list.
Picked ahead of future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant in the 2007 NBA Draft, the Portland Trail Blazers had plenty of faith in Oden, but before the center could even play, he suffered a knee injury that saw him miss the 2007/08 season.
Oden fractured his left patella in 2009 and then required surgery on his right knee a year later, making it three NBA seasons that he had missed the majority of.
Remarkably, it wasn’t until 2014 that Oden made his return to play an NBA game for the first time since 2009, now for the Miami Heat. He played 23 times for Miami that season in what was his last in the league, a chilling reminder of how damaging injuries can be for all involved.
Michael Olowokandi
Injuries also affected Michael Olowokandi’s NBA career, but the first overall pick in the 1998 draft was able to get nine years out of his time at the pinnacle of the sport.
Olowokandi was selected by the Los Angeles Clippers as yet another top center prospect. He showed promise, too, averaging 17 points and 11 rebounds at the back end of the 2001/02 season, but never kicked on due to a combination of bad injury luck and reported poor attitude.
In fact, iconic center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who coached Olowokandi at the Clippers, said to ESPN that he was “talented but uncoachable” as he could not take criticism.
Sam Bowie
Was Sam Bowie a bad player? No. Was he selected ahead of the greatest basketball player of all time? Unfortunately for his sake, he was.
The 1984 NBA Draft was stacked, with Hakeem “the Dream” Olajuwon selected first by the Houston Rockets. Next up was Bowie heading to the Portland Trail Blazers, before Michael Jordan was selected third by the Chicago Bulls.
Jordan would help the Bulls become one of the NBA’s most successful franchises in an unforgettable career, while Bowie was a solid center who averaged 10.9 points per game.
He was selected in the All-Rookie team in his debut season, but leg injuries prevented him from truly kicking on to a career worthy of his selection ahead of Jordan.