What players were written off as busts, but eventually proved to be otherwise?

[RRR3]

Was wondering this. Furthermore, what players who are currently considered busts do you think could still become stars?

[305Baller]

Zach Randolph
George Muresan - not a star, but became productive.

[KyrieTheFuture]

Haven't watched enough years of NBA to know the first question but for the second I still have faith in Greg Oden

[ZenMaster]

Chauncey Billups

[305Baller]

Rip Hamilton

[RRR3]

Chauncey Billups
Good one :applause: I think remember he wasn't seen as a "Winning type" player (or something to that regard) early in his career

[TheReal Kendall]

I don't really know. Like guy above said though I'm hoping Greg Oden can come back strong

[Inferno]

Haven't watched enough years of NBA to know the first question but for the second I still have faith in Greg Oden

@bold: Yeah, I want to believe too. If the recent reports are right and he really has been rehabbing for 2+ years straight, I have some faith.


I also hope Beasley can prove himself too.

[RRR3]

Wasn't Dirk considered a bust at first?

[ZenMaster]

Steve Nash, I don't know much about what was expected of him, but I've never seen a player that took so long to start who became as good as he did. Steve Nash might have the best fundamentals of any player ever.

[tikay0]

John Wall's starting to put it all together.

[Rooster]

Steve Nash, I don't know much about what was expected of him, but I've never seen a player take that so long to start become as good as he did. Steve Nash might have the best fundamentals of any player ever.

He was not a bust though. At the very least before he came back to Phoenix, he was a good player. Though I never envision him winning MVPs, I expect him to be a decent NBA player when he led the Santa Clara upset of UCLA. I did not see the game but based on what Bruins staffs were saying, he was pretty good. Fundamentally, he's up there with the likes of Bird and Stockton.

[RRR3]

John Wall's starting to put it all together.
That's a good one, but it seemed to me people were pretty quick to call him a bust. Wonder how he'll do next year.

Steve Nash is another one. What about Tyson Chandler? He hasn't had a career you might expect from a player drafted so high, but he's managed to be pretty successful

[HurricaneKid]

Steve Nash wasn't even a lotto pick.

The correct answers are Tyson Chandler and Chauncey Billups.

[tikay0]

That's a good one, but it seemed to me people were pretty quick to call him a bust. Wonder how he'll do next year.

Steve Nash is another one. What about Tyson Chandler? He hasn't had a career you might expect from a player drafted so high, but he's managed to be pretty successful

Yeah, Chandler's a good choice, and Billups as well. Jermaine Oneal? :confusedshrug:

[Levity]

you cant really call him a bust, considering he was drafted in the 2nd round, but a lot of posters use to say dragic sucked and things along those lines. When he was finally given the reigns to a team, he proved hes a quality starting PG in this league.

[Rooster]

Good one :applause: I think remember he wasn't seen as a "Winning type" player (or something to that regard) early in his career

Celtics gave up on him too early and also Joe Johnson.

[RRR3]

Celtics gave up on him too early and also Joe Johnson.
And Al Jefferson. Damn Celtics could have been loaded

[JMT]

On ISH? Any lottery pick that didn't average 20/10 his first month in the league.

[Xiao Yao You]

The Glove

[G-train]

Evan Turner is a current one.

Billups definitely.

Brian Williams/Bison Dele.

Doesn't happen often.

[AlphaWolf24]

Lamar Odom

Jermaine Oneal ( wasn't a high pick...but was a HS star expected to help Portland)

Rik Smits

[VIP2000]

Corey Brewer?

[Scholar]

Gilbert Arenas... Up until he pulled a gun out in a locker room. :facepalm

[SCdac]

Hedo Turkoglu had a pretty average career initially (he sucked in his lone season with the Spurs), but he definitely stepped up with the Magic and averaged 20 ppg next to Dwights 21 ppg in 2008. Won most improved player too.

[andremiller07]

Mike Conley is probs the most recent

[edrick]

Danny Green.

[Mayweather]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOK0mVRPfdk

Does this count?

[G-train]

Mike Conley is probs the most recent

Yeah but anyone who considered him a bust was a total dumb ass.

[The Macho Man]

Gilbert Arenas... Up until he pulled a gun out in a locker room. :facepalm

I dont remember Gil ever being a bust. He was great until he fvked up his knees and lost his confidence. Guns wouldn't have been a problem if he was still scoring 30 a night. And he pulled a gun out on a god damn murderer, it was heroic.

[andremiller07]

Yeah but anyone who considered him a bust was a total dumb ass.
I agree

[Xiao Yao You]

I dont remember Gil ever being a bust. He was great until he fvked up his knees and lost his confidence. Guns wouldn't have been a problem if he was still scoring 30 a night. And he pulled a gun out on a god damn murderer, it was heroic.


He was a 2nd round pick. How was he a bust?

[TheBigVeto]

Dirk.
From accusations of being a bust by racists to an Almighty MVP Dirkrules.

[Xover]

tyreke evans

i know he still has it

[annbafan]

tristan thompson and waiters from recent drafts. after the cavs picked them, a lot of people were saying that they should not have been chosen that high, but they turned out to be solid players and became better than certain players chosen before them.

[maybeshewill13]

John Wall's starting to put it all together.
Came in to say this.

[Beatlezz]

Check out this thread. Almost everyone who were written off as busts on this thread turned out to be a great/serviceable player and everyone who people thought would be a steal turned out to be scrubs. :roll:

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=83385


Deandre Jordan. He's being hyped as the next Dwight, but he isn't anywhere near as athletic as Howard. His athletic abiliy is closer to an Andrew Bynum/Chris Kaman type, but he doesn't have the natural feel for the game that any of those guys have.

Basically every year there is a player who is hyped up to be a star or a future allstar and turns out to be a bust or a just a role or bench player. What player who is getting getting alot of hype and being considered a Top 15 talent in the NBA draft that you think will be a bust. Here we go with my pick :

Nicolas Batum : People think he will be this atheletic freak(ex McGrady or Rudy Gay) with excellent size and skills. Well people i have watched him play and i am not impressed ! The atheleticism is there but i wouldnt put it at a young Mcgradys level. There are kids in North America that have his size and atheleticism and dont get much hype because they are not playing against unatheletic 16-19 year old european. Eventhough he is playing against soft competition, he still cant manage to dominate at that level. I just dont see him becoming a player like Rudy Gay or McGrady. I see a Stephen Jackson at best and i still doubt he can reach that level. I can be wrong since he is young but that is my pick.

Honarable Mentions(considered first rounders):Roy Hibbert,Danilo Gallinari,JaVale McGee

My Suprise Pick(Player considered a late first rounder to second rounder who can turnout to be a good starter in this league and have a solid carrer): Mario Chalmers,Joey Dorsey,Nathan Jawai,JR Giddens(yea not willing to give up on him)

Have to agree on Batum...all I've ever heard is potential, potential and potential. I say you throw in DeAndre Jordan as well for a possibility

My steals: Sean Singletary, DJ White and Devon Hardin

I honestly think that 90% of the people going pro this year have the potential to be busts. There really isn't any sure picks besides maybe Beasley.

The idiot that picks Roy Hibbert will be sorry. This guy has no intensity in his game and is often manhandled by players 5 inches shorter. I would rather have some of those D-League players that are playing for the Heat right now then this guy.

Another huge bust is Derrin Collison from UCLA. This kid is a poor man's Speed Claxton and has little upside if you ask me.

Kevin Love has a very low ceiling as well. At best he could be a 6th or 7th man averageing 12 point and 5 boards.


Sleeper pick is Anthony Randolf from LSU. He had a great freshman year on a bad team. He's a 6'11'' big man who can run the floor, shoot the three, and handle the rock. I have him slated to be a bigger more explosive version of Marion. Yes he's that good. (I watched him live at every LSU homegame last year)

A second round sleeper is Drew Neitzel. I think with a little help this kid could be pretty good too.

Top 4 potential busts for me are brook lopez, collison, deandre jordan, and hibbert

Eric Gordon. Nice range when he's open. Unfortunately, when teams figured out how to defend him, his FG% plummeted. Some of it you can chalk up to a wrist injury, but that was to his non-shooting hand. Not a good defender at the college level, and a tweener. Unless he's grown 2 inches in the last year, not 6-4 (we'll find out in June). 6-2 1/2 on a good day.

Can't blame him for going, as he's too good for college, but not even close to ready for the league. I wish we had a true developmental league = to a Spanish/Italian league, because it would be perfect for this guy. Too talented for his own good to develop handles in the college game, not good enough to develop them for a few years in the pro game (if ever).

[Locked_Up_Tonight]

Dirk was definitely thought of as a bust the first two years. And what made it sting more to the Dallas fans/media is the had the chance to get Paul Piercce. And when Pierce came out of the gates good, it made the Dirk pick look even worse.

[I<3NBA]

tyreke evans

i know he still has it
still has it in him to chuck you mean

[kshutts1]

The obvious ones like Chandler and Billups have already been stated. Ben Wallace is another one, but he was never really a "bust" in my mind considering he was not a lottery pick, nor did he have high expectations. Just a dude that came out of nowhere, was bench fodder for a while, then turned into the best defender of his generation.

Kwame Brown didn't put it all together, ever, but he was a serviceable player for 2 seasons.

[rustycage]

Gallinari was supposed to be a bust:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy-MwAa1rsg
He turned out to be more like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vSyvnMhs4o

[nothinbutnet]

LOL @ joshdavidson. Kevin Love, 12/5? I feel sorry for the person that drafts Roy Hibbert? Yikes.

[andremiller07]

still has it in him to chuck you mean
47.8% FG% is chucking lol...watch some Kings games than talk

[bagelred]

Greg Oden is not a bust. He's injured. If he was 100% healthy, he would be far from a bust.

Hmmmm.....well Jordan Hill was a complete bust at first, but now his stock is alot higher now.

JJ Redick?

OJ Mayo?

[knickballer]

I think people have misconceptions on what a bust is. A second round pick like Gilbert Arenas was never a bust because there's no expectations on him. Top picks in the first 10-15 picks usually get the bust labels.

Some picks:
Tyson Chandler, Galinari, Dirk, Reddick, Noah, Rubio. Those are some on the top of my head.

[knickballer]

Greg Oden is not a bust. He's injured. If he was 100% healthy, he would be far from a bust.

Hmmmm.....well Jordan Hill was a complete bust at first, but now his stock is alot higher now.

JJ Redick?

OJ Mayo?

Jordan Hill is still a bust. He's a role player at best. OJ Mayo had success early on and is a good but not great.

Reddick is a good example though. Great college success, high draft pick(people thought he was a major reach), struggled early on but developed into a solid player and one of the more underated players in the league.

[xfactor99]

Mike Dunleavy was one of the most trashed players in the league when he was with GSW, then got traded to Indiana and turned out to be a decent player

Deron Williams had a pretty bad rookie year

Earl Clark was supposed to be the next Shawn Marion then was about to wash out the league, but caught on this season with the Lakers

[phoenix_bladen]

I think there's argument that even tracy mcgrady and marcus camby were considered busts earlier on in their careers.

it wasn't until t-mac went to orlando that he truly became a dominate force.

Camby started showing sparks when he went to the knicks but was injury prone. He became a much more reliable and effective player on the nuggets.

I remember in t-mac's first season he had regrets whether he made the right choice to skip college and come straight from HS because he was benched and inconsistent and wasn't getting any playing time.

Camby was considered a bust while he was in Toronto.

[phoenix_bladen]

Gilbert Arenas... Up until he pulled a gun out in a locker room. :facepalm

the guy was drafted in the 2nd round how the hell is that a bust? in fact he over achieved as a player and much more

ur an idiot

[Scholar]

The guy was drafted in the 2nd round. How the hell is that a bust? In fact, he overachieved as a player and much more.

You're an idiot.


Corrections made in red.


Anyway, yeah, my bad. I was just thinking about the fact that when he started playing really well in Golden State, people were saying it was a fluke. Then he started dropping nearly 30 ppg in Washington and suddenly everyone was on his jock.

A bust doesn't simply imply Draft stock. I'd argue that someone can be deemed a 'bust' after being given a lot of minutes and not showing true potential in their role on the team. Arenas became a starter during his rookie year, and IIRC, some people truly thought it was a mistake.

[BoutPractice]

Just because someone didn't produce in their first season doesn't mean they were considered busts, especially if they came straight out of HS... that's revisionist history.

[Sarcastic]

Gallinari was supposed to be a bust:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy-MwAa1rsg
He turned out to be more like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vSyvnMhs4o


Gallinari is still a bust. He was sold to Knick fans as the next Dirk Nowitzki. They wasted the #6 pick of the draft on him.

[LosBulls]

Joakim Noah.

[Purch]

Kwame Brown...

People used to consider him a scrub.. but years later they consider him a super scrub

[toneloc103]

He was not a bust though. At the very least before he came back to Phoenix, he was a good player. Though I never envision him winning MVPs, I expect him to be a decent NBA player when he led the Santa Clara upset of UCLA. I did not see the game but based on what Bruins staffs were saying, he was pretty good. Fundamentally, he's up there with the likes of Bird and Stockton.

he most certainly was a bust intially. Look at his stats for the first three years...

[toneloc103]

Lamar Odom

Jermaine Oneal ( wasn't a high pick...but was a HS star expected to help Portland)




Draft: Portland Trail Blazers, 1st round (17th pick, 17th overall), 1996 NBA Draft

ummmm..

[Rooster]

he most certainly was a bust intially. Look at his stats for the first three years...


Based on what expectations? He was drafted as the 15th pick as college player. Usually expectations for that pick is at very least a decent player. No one expected him to be all Star or winning MVP. He was playing behind Jason Kidd and he was not healthy for the most part on his 3rd as well as his fourth season. Expectation is not high for Nash unlike for example Marbury.

[Locked_Up_Tonight]

Steve Nash was thought of as a bust for Dallas after they traded for him. He (and Dirk) had a miserable couple of years. Steve Nash tells the story of his dad and his brother were watching him play in Dallas. During the game, they started booing Steve Nash. Nash looked up into the stands and saw his brother laughing his @ss off at the fans doing that to Nash. Nash says that is when he knew he could turn it around.

But Nash was miserable for the first little bit.

[rustycage]

Gallinari is still a bust. He was sold to Knick fans as the next Dirk Nowitzki. They wasted the #6 pick of the draft on him.

Sure, he was the bust of the draft... :facepalm

6 Danilo Gallinari
7 Eric Gordon S
8 Joe Alexander
9 D. J. Augustin
10 Brook Lopez
11 Jerryd Bayless
12 Jason Thompson
13 Brandon Rush
14 Anthony Randolph
15 Robin Lopez
16 Marreese Speights
17 Roy Hibbert
18 JaVale McGee
19 J. J. Hickson
20 Alexis Ajin

[boozehound]

Chauncey Billups
good choice. the other good choice is tyson chandler. Curry was considered more promising after a year or two on the bulls.

[boozehound]

Just because someone didn't produce in their first season doesn't mean they were considered busts, especially if they came straight out of HS... that's revisionist history.
right. But players like billups and chandler were considered busts without revision.

[thesage]

Josh Smith. I remember that announcer calling him a bust on the loud speaker the day he was drafted.

He shortly proved him wrong.

[Element]

Jeff Green, anyone? He had a tough start to the season but had a very nice stretch to close it out and carried that type of play into the postseason as well (20 ppg @ 58 TS% in the PO)

[tontoz]

Wasn't Dirk considered a bust at first?


Dirk and Nash. Nellie talked them up big and when they didn't play well they were called busts by some on the Dallas media. I remember someone posting an article from a Dallas writer back then. Dude was slamming Nellie.

I guess Boston saw Joe Johnson as a bust. They dumped him quickly.

[tontoz]

Gallo is definitely not a bust. I would guess that he is better than most guys that have been picked at 6.

[ukballer]

Austin Rivers and Pelicans fans will sure as hell hope he can be part of this thread in a few years time.

[ihatetimthomas]

Jordan Hill is still a bust. He's a role player at best. OJ Mayo had success early on and is a good but not great.

Reddick is a good example though. Great college success, high draft pick(people thought he was a major reach), struggled early on but developed into a solid player and one of the more underated players in the league.

How is a 8th pick who turns into a solid rotational player even considered a bust? Do you know how many players don't make it, even at the 8th pick? Did anyone consider him to become a star in the league?

[knickballer]

How is a 8th pick who turns into a solid rotational player even considered a bust? Do you know how many players don't make it, even at the 8th pick? Did anyone consider him to become a star in the league?

I'm sorry but Jordan Hill is a below average player at best. First, he can't even stay healthy for the whole season or he can barely find the rotation for the season. Second, what's his best season looking like again? 6.7ppg, 5.7rpb in 16mpg?

At the 8th overall you should be expecting to pick up a good player, not a franchise player though. A player who can be valued as a starter for your team for years to come. If the draft is redone at this point he'd obviously go nowhere near #8.

I don't know if anyone expected him to be a star but I know nobody envisioned him being a often injured bench player for the most part(I expected more from him as a Knicks fan). Not to mention we(knicks fans) were anticipating getting Curry, Rubio or even Jennings(BJ sucks anways) so it was kinda like a WTF moment.

[TheMarkMadsen]

Jermaine O Neal

[RedBlackAttack]

Danny Green.
I don't think a guy picked in the middle of the second round can be considered a bust for not having an immediate impact in the league. The vast majority of second-rounders never make it in the league.

OJ Mayo is a pretty good call.

How about Jamal Crawford? 8th overall pick in the 2000 draft, bounced around the league a bit, but has made a nice career for himself.

[FireDavidKahn]

Zach Randolph
George Muresan - not a star, but became productive.
Museran was a second round pick:rolleyes:

[JimmyMcAdocious]

Honestly don't see how anyone drafted outside the lottery can be considered a bust. Late lottery - 20's, I except a role player. After that, I just hope the guy can stick on the team.

Say 1-10 is bust territory, for me, and it really depends on the draft. Some exceptions, of course. Like the heavily hyped who falls a in draft a little or the guy who gets drafted late only because of stuff like other pro contracts.