All coming right out of college, how would you draft these centers?

[L.Kizzle]

Not talking about how their NBA careers panned out. I'm talkin about coming out of college, going into the draft. Who was supposed to be "The One" to enter the league? Anticipation of NBA career.

These were probably the highest touted centers to enter the NBA ever. All unanimous number 1 picks each respective season.

All in the draft at the same time, how do these ten guys get selected? 1-10.

1958 Wilt Chamberlain
1968 Elvin Hayes
1969 Lew Alcindor
1974 Bill Walton
1983 Ralph Sampson
1984 Akeem Olajuwon
1985 Patrick Ewing
1987 David Robinson
1992 Shaquille O'Neal
1997 Tim Duncan

[tontoz]

1 Kareem
2 Wilt
3 Shaq
4 Hakeem
5 Duncan

Hakeem was the best college player I ever saw, but Kareem, Wilt and Shaq were freaks.

After 5...whatevs.

Ewing was great but nobody knew he had a jumper in college. DRob had that naval commitment. I remember Sampson he was good but not like Hakeem.

In his last college season Hakeem averaged 17/13 shooting 67.5% and was a nightmare defensively. Literally nobody talked about Jordan possibly going number 1.

[L.Kizzle]

1 Kareem
2 Wilt
3 Shaq
4 Hakeem
5 Duncan

Hakeem was the best college player I ever saw, but Kareem, Wilt and Shaq freaks.

After 5...whatevs.
Really Duncan at 5?
I'd think someone like Ralph Sampson was highly touted going to the league. More so then Duncan.

[tontoz]

Really Duncan at 5?
I'd think someone like Ralph Sampson was highly touted going to the league. More so then Duncan.

Sampson liked playing on the perimeter too much for me. Dude was 7'4". He came across as soft to me. Living in MD I saw him quite a bit in college.

Duncan played like a big, averaging 21/15 his senior yr shooting 61%.

[L.Kizzle]

Sampson liked playing on the perimeter too much for me. Dude was 7'4". He came across as soft to me. Living in MD I saw him quite a bit in college.

Duncan played like a big, averaging 21/15 his senior yr shooting 61%.
Isn't that why everyone fell in love with him tho?
We're not talking bout hindsight We're talking bout 3 time college player of year Ralp Sampson.

[FKAri]

1 Kareem
2 Wilt
3 Shaq
4 Hakeem
5 Duncan

Hakeem was the best college player I ever saw, but Kareem, Wilt and Shaq were freaks.

After 5...whatevs.

Ewing was great but nobody knew he had a jumper in college. DRob had that naval commitment. I remember Sampson he was good but not like Hakeem.

In his last college season Hakeem averaged 17/13 shooting 67.5% and was a nightmare defensively. Literally nobody talked about Jordan possibly going number 1.


Sampsons going over Duncan I think. The potential upside is too high.

Though I think in today's world people would be scared of injury but that wasn't as big of a thought in people's minds back then. Nowadays if someone runs funny scouts get scared(see Myles Turner)

[tontoz]

Isn't that why everyone fell in love with him tho?
We're not talking bout hindsight We're talking bout 3 time college player of year Ralp Sampson.

19/11 his senior year. He just didn't impress me as much as Duncan and especially Hakeem.

I followed college ball a lot back then, not so much the past 20 years. But at 7'4" I want a guy to punish the other team inside. When they lost in the NCAA tourney to Chaminade lol it was one of the biggest upsets ever.

[L.Kizzle]

19/11 his senior year. He just didn't impress me as much as Duncan and especially Hakeem.

I followed college ball a lot back then, not so much the past 20 years. But at 7'4" I want a guy to punish the other team inside. When they lost in the NCAA tourney to Chaminade lol it was one of the biggest upsets ever.
Take on Walton and Hayes? Not sure if you were watching then.

[tontoz]

Take on Walton and Hayes? Not sure if you were watching then.

Before my time lol. I did watch Hayes on the bullets. He relied heavily on a fadeaway jumper which wasn't a very efficient shot. Didn't see Walton much even in the pros. He was on the other coast.

[1987_Lakers]

Hard to put them in order, but Kareem without a doubt goes #1.

[RRR3]

Hard to put them in order, but Kareem without a doubt goes #1.
Incoming coastalmarker meltdown

[1987_Lakers]

What about Greg Oden? The hype was real on him, I remember him getting alot of Bill Russell comparisons and got picked ahead of Durant.

[tontoz]

What about Greg Oden? The hype was real on him, I remember him getting alot of Bill Russell comparisons and got picked ahead of Durant.


I don't think he goes over any of those guys. There were red flags on him medically that were well known before the draft.

During the draft process people tend to overrate athletic testing and KDs combine was embarrassing.

[L.Kizzle]

What about Greg Oden? The hype was real on him, I remember him getting alot of Bill Russell comparisons and got picked ahead of Durant.
He was a big which is why he got picked over KD. He doesn't go in front of any of these bigs. Hell, Brad Daughtery was also a #1 pick center.

[coastalmarker99]

Incoming coastalmarker meltdown

I agree with everyone in this thread that Kareem goes number 1 over Wilt coming out right out of college.


As Kareem is the undisputed Goat of College basketball

[pandiani17]

19/11 his senior year. He just didn't impress me as much as Duncan and especially Hakeem.

I followed college ball a lot back then, not so much the past 20 years. But at 7'4" I want a guy to punish the other team inside. When they lost in the NCAA tourney to Chaminade lol it was one of the biggest upsets ever.

That happened in the pre-season Hawaii tournament, I think, not in the NCAA tournament.

[pandiani17]

What about Greg Oden? The hype was real on him, I remember him getting alot of Bill Russell comparisons and got picked ahead of Durant.

Actually, much of it was just that, hype. Greg Oden never dominated college ball the way the aforementioned players did.

[tontoz]

That happened in the pre-season Hawaii tournament, I think, not in the NCAA tournament.

Yep you are right.

[tontoz]

I just went back and looked at Kareem's college numbers. He stayed 4 years. His career averages were 26.4/15.5 shooting 64%.

:wtf:

[ralph_i_el]

Kareem has to be #1. Duncan probably second. Then Shaq imo

[L.Kizzle]

Kareem has to be #1. Duncan probably second. Then Shaq imo
Did Duncan even have more hype coming out of college than Bill Walton or Elvin Hayes or even Patrick Ewing?
I'm asking?

[tontoz]

Did Duncan even have more hype coming out of college than Bill Walton or Elvin Hayes or even Patrick Ewing?
I'm asking?

Hard to say. Duncan was always a quiet guy which somewhat discouraged hype. If I remember right he had a pretty disappointing end to his college career.

Ewing may have had a bit more hype simply because of the NY thing.