The Charlotte Hornets may not have landed the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, and therefore the chance to select generational prospect Victor Wembanyama, but landing the second overall pick is not a bad consolation prize. The Hornets now get their pick from the rest of the draft class, with names like Scoot Henderson, Brandon Miller and Amen Thompson expected to be in play.
NBA draft history suggests that having the second pick is far from a walk in the park. Some of the greatest players in NBA history have been selected second: Bill Russell, Kevin Durant, Jerry West and Jason Kidd, to name a few. On the other hand, though, some of the biggest draft busts have also come from the second slot, and much more so than picking No. 1.
Draft Bust Honorable Mentions
Let’s take a few moments to walk through some of those disaster scenarios. When have teams absolutely whiffed with the second-most valuable pick in the NBA Draft? It happens more than you might think, and the list had to be cut down from a large starting group. We’re starting our evaluation period with the introduction of the NBA Draft Lottery, often referred to as the “modern draft era,” which was instituted in 1985.
From that group, we made our list of the biggest busts at the No. 2 pick. Honorable mentions to Jay Williams (non-basketball injury effectively ended his career), Len Bias (died of a cocaine overdose two days after he was drafted), James Wiseman (we’ll give him one more chance to become something), Michael Beasley and Danny Ferry (decent careers but certainly not stars). We therefore begin our countdown at No. 7, going back to the year 2010.
Draft Bust No. 7: Evan Turner, 2010
Evan Turner was a phenom before he entered the NBA Draft. He was one of the most decorated high school players in the country, then was a first-team All-American in his final year at Ohio State and the National college player of the year. 6’6″ with the ball-handling and passing abilities of a guard sounded like the formula for a future star.
That’s what the Philadelphia 76ers thought, drafting him at No. 2 overall just behind Kentucky point guard John Wall. Early on he showed his versatility in a bench role, but developed into a full-time starter for the Sixers in his third season, averaging 13.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists.
Unfortunately, things started to slip from there. He never became anything more than a low-end starter, but signed a lucrative contract extension in the boom of 2016 that caused him to be radioactive in the trade market on top of failing to deliver on his potential.
Turner had his moments, and he did make it 10 years in the league, but he never became anything close to a star. He was a high-turnover, upright defender who couldn’t shoot; there wasn’t much of a place for him in the league.
Just Missed: Derrick Favors at No. 3 was a solid NBA player for a long time, and DeMarcus Cousins at No. 5 was a multi-time All-Star. Still, the true sweet spot of the draft was at picks No. 9 and 10, when the Utah Jazz took Gordon Hayward and the Indiana Pacers selected Paul George.
Hornets this Draft: Zero, Zilch, Zip, Nada. The Charlotte Bobcats sent their first-round pick in 2010 to Denver so they could draft Alexis Ajinça in 2008. Their second was in the hands of Phoenix as part of the deal that sent Jason Richardson to Phoenix and brought back Raja Bell and Boris Diaw.
Draft Bust No. 6: Jabari Parker, 2014
If Evan Turner was well-known in high school, Jabari Parker was a phenom, winning four straight state championships at Simeon Academy in Chicago. He went on to be a first-team All-American his freshman season at Duke, and unsurprisingly went No. 2 in the 2014 NBA Draft to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Parker was doing just fine as a rookie, averaging 12.3 points per game in 25 games as a starter for the Milwaukee Bucks, before he tore his ACL in a mid-December game. He made it back just 11 months later but had an up-and-down sophomore campaign as he recovered. It was in his third season that he truly took took off, averaging 20.1 points per game. Then disaster struck again, with another ACL tear in the same knee in February of 2017.
Parker kept battling back, but the lack of athleticism and lost development time was too much for him to overcome. He never developed enough as a shooter or defender to make up for it, and he ended up being passed around the league as he faded into the role of a bench player. He was waived midway through the 2021-22 season and that was it for his NBA career.
Just Missed: The Milwaukee Bucks can’t be dinged for Parker getting hurt, but even at his best he wasn’t going to be as good as the player who went next: Joel Embiid. Marcus Smart, Aaron Gordon and Julius Randle also went in the Top 10. Much later in the draft, two-time MVP Nikola Jokic went 41st, but every team missed on him.
Hornets this Draft: This was the first draft for the reborn Charlotte “Hornets” but that’s the only reason it’s memorable. Charlotte took Indiana big Noah Vonleh with the ninth pick. Later in the round, they used the 26th pick on P.J. Hairston, an intriguing wing who never developed.
Draft Bust No. 5: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, 2012
The 2012 Kentucky Wildcats were absolutely loaded. Anthony Davis led the way as the 2012 National Player of the Year, while Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was a Second Team All-American and two other Wildcats, Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb, were All-SEC players. Kentucky lost just twice all season and won the NCAA Tournament.
Six players from that team were drafted that year, with four going in the First Round. Davis led the way at No. 1, but Kidd-Gilchrist was right there at No. 2 for the Charlotte Bobcats. He made an early impact, putting up multiple 25 point, 12 rebound games and was named a Second-Team All-Rookie.
Unfortunately, things fizzled from there. Kidd-Gilchrist was n excellent defender and rebounder but never put things together on the offensive end. Multiple leg injuries took him off the court and likely stunted his development, but it doesn’t seem like even a healthy Kidd-Gilchrist would have developed the requisite skill to be anything more than a defensive specialist. He spent eight seasons in Charlotte and another handful of games with the Dallas Mavericks before retiring in 2020.
Just Missed: Bradley Beal went one pick later, and Damian Lillard just a few picks after that. Much later on, Draymond Green was the epitome of the player the Hornets wished they had taken at No. 2.
Hornets this Draft: Uh, moving on…
Draft Bust No. 4: Derrick Williams, 2011
The presence of Derrick Williams on this list gives us a three-year stretch of busts at pick No. 2, and in a way it’s a six-way run. 2009 is yet to come, 2014 was already on the list, and in 2013 Victor Oladipo was hardly a superstar and certainly not for the team that chose him. What a painful run at the No. 2 pick.
Derrick Williams wasn’t supposed to be on a list like that, as he looked like a can’t-miss prospect. He blew up as a sophomore at Arizona, averaging 19.5 points and leading the nation in true-shooting percentage. The 6’8″ forward was a two-way force and was a First-team All-American who led his team to the Elite Eight. Size, athleticism, skill, defense, team success – it was all there.
The Minnesota Timberwolves took Williams ready for him to be a franchise-changer. Not only did he fail to hit that lofty target, he failed to hit any target at all. He made it just over two seasons with the Timberwolves before they moved him to Sacramento for a role player (Luc Mbah a Moute). For such an efficient college player he couldn’t seem to score in the NBA.
Williams bounced around the benches of a few teams over the next few seasons, but his NBA career was over. To his credit he has found success overseas since leaving the NBA in 2018, but he fell hard and fast from being the No. 2 pick.
Just Missed: It was a big-heavy top of the draft after Kyrie Irving at No. 1 overall in 2011, with Enes Kanter, Tristan Thompson and Jonas Valanciunas all carving out long careers but never making an All-Star Game between them. The real stars came a few picks later, with Kemba Walker (9), Klay Thompson (11), Kawhi Leonard (15) and Jimmy Butler (30) all multi-time All-Stars picked later in the round.
Hornets this Draft: 2011 was a happy draft for Charlotte, as they drafted Connecticut hero Kemba Walker after he led the Huskies to the National title. He would play 605 games for Charlotte, scoring over 12,000 points and making three All-Star Games. They also traded for No. 7 pick Bismack Biyombo, who had a less starry career.
Draft Bust No. 3: Marvin Bagley III, 2018
Often a draft bust enters the league and everyone respects them to excel, with that player’s failure a surprise to everyone around them. On this list, that translates to a bunch of players everyone ranked at the top of the draft and those teams seemed smart to take second overall.
Marvin Bagley III represents a different archetype, as numerous voices were decrying the pick as soon as it was made. Bagley was a really good college player at Duke, but the problems with his NBA profile seemed clear: he was a defensive 4 and offensive 5, with a short wingspan that hurt his rim protection and a poor outside shot.
Bagley was certainly still supposed to be really good, but not No. 2 pick good – certainly not in a draft where Luka Doncic went a pick later. In hindsight, it seems inexplicable that the Sacramento Kings could take Bagley over Doncic; the problem is that at the time many were saying that too!
That reality is part of Bagley’s ranking on this list is because the Kings took him second overall despite all of the reasons not to. In his five seasons in the league Bagley has been a reasonably efficient interior scorer, a bad shooter, a terrible passer and a poor defender. That’s a major disappointment from the No. 2 pick.
Just Missed: Obviously, the Kings missed on Luka Doncic, who went third overall. The problem is that they also missed on Jaren Jackson Jr., Trae Young, Wendell Carter Jr., Mikal Bridges, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Michael Porter Jr., Kevin Huerter, Mitchell Robinson, Robert Williams III, Jalen Brunson…
Hornets this Draft: The NBA history books record that the Charlotte Hornets selected Shai-Gilgeous Alexander with the 11th pick; unfortunately for Queen City, they agreed to trade that pick to the LA Clippers for the 12th pick and a pair of seconds. They used the pick on Miles Bridges, a move that seems unfortunate on multiple levels now. They did use a second on Devonte’ Graham, who played well to start his career and earned the Hornets back a first-round pick in trade.
Draft Bust No. 2: Darko Milicic, 2003
If you thought the list of players the Sacramento Kings missed on drafting by taking Marvin Bagley III in 2018, hold on to your horses. By taking Darko Milicic in 2003, the Detroit Pistons missed on a number of Hall of Fame players who could have turned them from a one-time title winner into a dynasty.
Detroit shouldn’t have ever had a pick that high as a perennial contender, but a trade with the Vancouver Grizzlies dropped the top-1 protected pick right into their laps when it landed at No. 2. The 7-foot Serbian center looked like a long-time tower in the middle for the Pistons, but ultimately he proved to be something of a relic of a fading era.
Milicic was buried on a Pistons team that would go on to win the title that season, but even so, he wasn’t even able to carve out a small rotation role. He was a good defender, but his offensive game never developed, and after the Pistons gave up on him he bounced around the league for eight more seasons, a reserve center who occasionally found himself starting but never doing much to matter.
Just Missed: Buckle up. After LeBron James went first overall, the Pistons were still in line for a generational superstar. Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade were the next three picks. Those three players combined for 34 All-Star appearances.
Hornets this Draft: The 2003 NBA Draft was one of two to occur without an NBA team in Charlotte, in between the Hornets moving to New Orleans and the Bobcats getting their start.
Draft Bust No. 1: Hasheem Thabeet, 2009
We come to the No. 1 player on our list, and again land in a legendary draft class. The Memphis Grizzlies landed the second pick in the 2009 NBA Draft and set their sights on a 7’3″ shot-blocking monster from the University of Connecticut, Tanzanian center Hasheem Thabeet. The National Defensive Player of the Year as a junior in college, his combination of size, length and proven defensive ability combined to make him a highly-coveted prospect.
There was no period of wondering for the Grizzlies and the league whether Thabeet was going to be a bust; he seemed to display it right from the jump. He was probably the worst offensive player in the league as a rookie and somehow got worse, and despite his shot-blocking ability was unable to earn minutes.
The Grizzlies sent him to the G-League multiple times during his first two seasons, which was unheard of for a player drafted that highly. He ended up as a throw-in player in a trade by just his second season, and again a year later. He made it just five seasons on an NBA roster, averaging 2.2 points and 10.5 minutes per game for his career. That 10.5 minutes per game is the fewest of any second-round pick in the lottery era.
Just Missed: Future Hall-of-Fame guard James Harden went just one pick later than Thabeet in 2009, and top-15 player of all time Stephen Curry was the seventh pick. Future All-Stars DeMar DeRozan and Jrue Holiday also went later in the first round.
Hornets this Draft: Charlotte took an NBA “son” with the 12th pick, selecting Gerald Henderson Jr. out of Duke; he would play 391 games for Charlotte in a mostly unremarkable career. They also selected Derrick Brown in the second round, who played just 171 games in a short NBA career, and finally shooting guard Robert Vaden, who never played a single game of NBA basketball.