Worst NBA Draft Picks of All Time

It’s easy to point out the worst No. 1 overall picks in NBA history — even a casual sports fan knows when you’re the top pick, there are certain expectations. 

What takes a little more nuance is understanding exactly how bad certain No. 1 picks have been in regard to who was picked next — did you miss a Hall of Famer or a perennial All-Star? Or, getting even deeper into the weeds, did you need a shooting guard with your No. 7 pick and take a player who never did much while the guy at No. 8 is now an all-time great? 

Drafting is hard, and we can all cut teams slack for some misses — for example, anyone who says they wouldn’t have drafted Ralph Sampson No. 1 overall in 1983 is lying through their teeth. Some picks, though, are just historically bad, regardless of position. 

Here’s a look at the worst NBA Draft picks of all time. 

Born: March 16, 1999 (Tempe, Arizona)

High school: Sierra Canyon School (Chatsworth, California)

College: Duke

NBA draft: 2018, No. 2 overall, Sacramento Kings

It’s great that the Sacramento Kings ended the longest postseason drought in pro sports history at 16 years when they made the NBA Playoffs in 2023 — five years after they decided to go with do-nothing big man Marvin Bagley III at No. 2 overall. After all, he was one pick ahead of once-in-a-generation talent Luka Doncic, two picks ahead of NBA Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson and three picks ahead of two-time NBA All-Star Trae Young. 

Bagley, who was traded to the Detroit Pistons in 2022, missed 20 games as a rookie, 59 games in 2019-20, 39 games in 2020-21, 34 games in 2021-22 and 40 games in 2022-23. He’s also never played in the postseason. 

Born: Oct. 17, 1966 (Hyattsville, Maryland)

High school: DeMatha Catholic High School (Hyattsville, Maryland)

College: Duke

NBA draft: 1989, No. 2 overall, Los Angeles Clippers

Say what you will about Louisville power-forward Pervis Ellison as a bad pick at No. 1 overall in the 1989 NBA Draft — at least he played for the Sacramento Kings. Duke power-forward Danny Ferry was picked No. 2 overall by the Los Angeles Kings and refused to play for the Clippers, where he would’ve been a perfect fit. Instead, he went to play professionally in Italy for one season before returning to the U.S., where he played for the Cavaliers for a decade. 

Ferry won an NBA title in his final season with the San Antonio Spurs when he averaged a whopping 1.9 points, which wasn’t much above his career average.