This is the newest and the best version of my comparison of the NBA drafts (the careers of NBA players). This time I took into account also the playoff “legacy”, so it is also the GOAT analysis.
The original version of this post featured calculations that were much more complicated. Among other things I used different multipliers for playoffs played in a different format, but the downside to this method was the fact that bigger multipliers for older playoffs overvalued players who had very good playoffs then AND undervalued players who had bad playoffs then. Lastly the draft/GOAT values of players drafted in 1976 or earlier were clearly overstated – only recently have I realised that in the season 1976-77 there were no individual turnovers, so the values of individual players in that season were not lowered because of their turnovers. For this very reason the current version of this post is based on the seasons from 1977-78 to 2018-19
After the end of the 2019 playoffs I decided to make whole new calculations, but the end effect is VERY similar. The main difference is the place of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the GOAT list – he fell from the 3rd place to the 8th place, mostly because he had awesome stats in the season 1976-77, especially in the 1977 playoffs (where I used a very big multiplier) and now that season is out of calculations (as I mentioned above).
All the statistical data I used I found on this site:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/
At this point I would like to thank Mike from the above site who in 2016 answered my plea for more precise NBA draft data by explaining to me how I could gather the required data in a very easy way. Mike explained to me that I can “filter by draft year for searches in the player season finder and can set the search for career stats”, with this example:
http://bkref.com/tiny/ifje3
Thank You Mike!
I used the values of NBA statistics that I calculated here:
How to compare NBA players comprehensively
Originally my analysis was based on the data for the seasons starting with the season 1976-77 up to the season 2017-18. I didn't care for the earlier years because in 1976 the NBA merged with the ABA and after that the NBA players' job became more difficult. Now I ignore also the season 1976-77 because then there were no individual turnovers, so the values of individual players in that season were not lowered because of their turnovers.
I did analyse the drafts before the 1977 draft (mostly because of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), but because I ignored some of the seasons (all the seasons prior to the season 1977-78) the values of those drafts are by definition not quite comparable to the draft 1977 and later drafts. Nevertheless, some of the players, most notably Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who was drafted in 1969, played so long and were so good that they were still quite comparable to the players drafted in 1977 or later.
I also analysed the careers of players who were never drafted in the NBA, mostly because of Moses Malone who HAS to be on any GOAT list. This time I also created a “No draft” class to point out the best undrafted players.
Comparing careers of NBA players is very difficult and controversial. Some players were playing great right from the start of their career and some other needed some time to start playing great. Some players were extremely durable and played a huge number of games and some other suffered serious injuries and played much less games. Some players ended their careers right after the peak of their careers when they were relatively young and some other played much more seasons end ended their careers when they were relatively old. Comparing all those players by the stats for their whole careers is definitely not correct. I tried to do it myself, but the results were always twisted – either players like Karl Malone were overvalued or players like Vince Carter were undervalued.
Another very important problem is the fact that some players are remembered better because they won more championship rings and some other players are frowned upon because “they were great players nut they didn't win a ring.” I hate this fetish (number of championship rings), but I decided to take into account, somehow, the NBA playoffs.
I decided to compare players according to the peeks of their careers. But what does the phrase “the career peak” really mean? The crucial question is this: what about players who had a few great years, then had a serious injury, the following two years were weak, but later seasons were great again? Obviously we have to ignore the weak years, so the “career peak” can be kind of chopped.
And what about very good seasons that were cut short because of injuries? Imagine 2 players who played 40 games in the regular season each – the first one played 40 games and then got injured and missed also the playoffs and the other one was recovering from an injury and missed the first 42 games of the regular season, but later played also in the playoffs. If the first player had a better per-game value then who was actually “better”?
I decided to be as precise as I could, but it meant that I had to do it the hard way. I had to take into account the fact that players had played different number of games (both regular season and playoff games) in different seasons. Moreover I decided to “punish” those players who had played too few games overall.
Originally I combined a particular regular season with corresponding playoffs (using a multiplier for playoff games), but this time I decided to analyse regular seasons separately from playoffs, so there is no need to use multipliers. It made all the calculations MUCH easier and more natural.
First let's analyse what kind of career in regular seasons is long enough to be the reference point for all the other careers. Originally I used 900 regular season games, but one case kept bothering me – Larry Bird. During his legendary career he played ONLY in 897 regular seasons games! His career was shortened by a back injury, but nobody doubts he was a GOAT level player. So, how could I choose a career peak of 900 games from 897 games? That would not be a career peak, but the whole career! For this very reason I decided to calculate a career peak based on 650 “best games”. This way Larry Bird gets a fair treatment as far as “career peak” is concerned.
The new career peak (650 games) is still quite long – it's almost 8 full regular seasons! Precisely it's 7 full regular seasons plus 76 games (only 6 games missed in 8 seasons). Please, notice that the same reference point can be reached by playing 65 regular season games in 10 different seasons, so my calculations are flexible.
A career peak of 650 regular seasons games is perfect (not too long and not too short), but a player who played less than 650 regular season games overall should be punished because his whole career was too short to be comparable to other careers. This punishment is imposed by dividing his total regular season value by 650 instead of his actual number of regular season games played (by less than 650).
Please, notice that the idea of “650 best regular season games” is a kind of simplification – I don't analyse every game, but I analyse stats from every season played by every player. It means that I only have total stats for particular seasons. The same goes for the idea of “best playoff games” described below.
As far as playoffs are concerned I do NOT analyse the number of rings because it’s a freaking misunderstanding (it’s totally unfair). I’ve read a perfect question that for me ended such discussions once and for all: “Was Luc Longley (3 rings) a better player than Patrick Ewing (0 rings)?” Surely not. I know Luc Longley was not a star and played with Michael Jordan, but this is a perfect example that NBA championships are all about teams, not individuals. Without a good team no NBA superstar will ever win a ring. Even with a good team he is not guaranteed to win a ring, because there are many good teams every year and the winning team can be only one. What’s worse there have been some super-teams that accumulated many GREAT players, which made it easier for them all to win a ring (or more rings) and more difficult for everybody else to win a ring (or more rings).
Also think about this: there are 30 NBA teams right now – if they were to win 1 title one after another then a player who wants to play on 1 team during his whole career would have to play for 30 (THIRTY !!!) seasons to be guaranteed to win a ring. Impossible. In reality there are many NBA teams that have NEVER won a single title! Being drafted by such a team should NOT be a “death sentence” as far as “player’s legacy” is concerned.
How about a reference point based on the number of playoff games, then? Well, this is a bitch. In 2019 playoffs there were exactly 82 games (164 “single-team” games), so the average number of playoff games per EVERY team was ONLY 5.47!!! It means that ON AVERAGE 8 such post-seasons would bring ONLY 44 playoff games for each team/player!!! How does it compare to the fact that Derek Fisher played in 259 playoff games and Tim Duncan in 251 playoff games? Obviously to play a lot of playoff games you have to be good yourself, but it's definitely not enough. You also have to be durable (to play many seasons) AND to constantly have good teammates and a good coach. It means that you have to play for a team that for a long time is not going through a rebuilding process. Good luck with that!
Previously I used a reference point of 100 playoff games (with different multipliers for playoffs played in a different format), but this number still seemed a little too big. Now, when I don't use any multipliers this number would be definitely too big. Let me show you an example how a great career from our times would look in older times. Imagine a player drafted by a weak team (the numbers in brackets show how many playoff games the player played in a particular season):
1) the team improved significantly, but still missed the playoffs (0),
2) seed #8; lost 0-4 (4),
3) seed #5; lost 2-4 (6),
4) seed #4; won 4-3 and lost 1-4 (12),
5) seed #2; won 4-2, won 4-3 and lost 2-4 (19),
6) seed #1; won 4-2, won 4-2, won 4-2 and lost 2-4 (24),
7) seed #1; won 4-0, won 4-1, won 4-3 and won 4-2 (22),
8) seed #2; won 4-1, won 4-2 and lost 3-4 (18),
9) seed #4; won 4-2 and lost 2-4 (12),
10) seed #5; lost 3-4 (7),
11) seed #8; lost 2-4 (6),
12) the team went into re-building mode, missing the playoffs and the player retired.
This example is quite similar to the career of Dirk Nowitzki, except that Nowitzki played in more playoffs, but advanced to the conference finals one time less – he was eliminated in the conference finals there once and he got to the NBA finals twice, winning one ring. A dream career with one team without other superstars on the roster.
In the example above there are 83 playoff games from the best four playoffs (19+24+22+18). But the numbers of playoff games in the late 1970s and early 1980s (up to the 1983 playoffs) were much lower than today because there were only 12 playoff teams (6 per conference) and the top-2 teams in each conference were playing only from the second round (they had a bye in the first round). Moreover the first round (pairs 3-6 and 4-5) were played in the format of best of 3 (later it was best of 5 and now it's best of 7). The same example would look quite differently in those old times:
1) the team improved significantly, but still missed the playoffs (0),
2) missed playoffs (only 6 teams per Conference took part in playoffs),
3) seed #5; lost 1-2 (3),
4) seed #4; won 2-1 and lost 1-4 (8),
5) seed #2; bye, won 4-3 and lost 2-4 (13),
6) seed #1; bye, won 4-2, won 4-2 and lost 2-4 (18),
7) seed #1; bye, won 4-1, won 4-3 and won 4-2 (18),
8) seed #2; bye, won 4-2 and lost 3-4 (13),
9) seed #4; won 2-1 and lost 2-4 (9),
10) seed #5; lost 1-2 (3),
11) missed playoffs (only 6 teams per Conference took part in playoffs),
12) the team went into re-building mode, missing the playoffs and the player retired.
There would be only 62 playoff games from the best four playoffs (13+18+18+13), so the same great player in older times would accumulated much less playoff games. We have to also remember that some great playoffs (ended in rings) featured even smaller number of games. The most striking example is the ring won in 1983 by Moses Malone and his teammates in only 13 playoff games! Today as many playoff games can be played in the first two rounds of playoffs! Nevertheless, to treat players from older times fair I decided to set the reference point for playoffs at only 60 playoff games.
This number may seem a little too low from the point of view of our times, but it's not as bad as it may seem at first. Today to reach the reference point a player has to play in the second round of playoffs in around 6 seasons, for example win 4-2 and loss 0-4. It means that without any playoff surprises a player has to play in 6 seasons on a team that is seeded at least 4th – exactly as it was in the above example. With 15 teams in each conference this is much harder than it was in older times when there were only 11 or 12 teams per conference.
So the reference point of 60 playoff games is perfect (not too high and not too low), but a player who played less than 60 playoff games overall should be definitely punished because his whole playoff career was too short to be comparable to other playoff careers. This punishment is imposed by dividing his total playoff value by 60 instead of his actual number of playoff games played (by less than 60)
Obviously advancing all the way to the finals is better than being swept 0-4 in the second round of playoffs, but the reference point takes care of that too. When a player played more than 60 playoff games then my calculations are “picky” about his playoff performances – the more playoff games played the more chances to achieve some very good stats. For example Kobe Bryant's best playoffs (best per-game values for whole playoffs) amounting to 60 playoff games were greatly spaced in time (2009, 2001 and 2008). Please notice that he reached this reference point in his 3 best playoffs (ONLY in 3 playoffs). Obviously it was possible only because his teams as a whole were good enough to advance all the way to the finals. Usually players were not so lucky and they either played on some very good teams (that went deep into playoffs) when they were clearly past their peeks OR they never played on very good teams and had to fight very hard to even reach playoffs.
It's hard to quickly describe how I calculate the draft/GOAT value, so I will show it on an example. Interestingly the example of Dirk Nowitzki is again best – he had some ups and downs and great seasons/playoffs were mixed with weaker seasons/playoffs. He was drafted in 1988 and played in 21 regular seasons and 15 playoffs (1 ring). Let’s start with the regular season value:
1. Gather the data for the regular season (the link shows only the first sub-page for the 1998 draft, but you have to copy all the sub-pages to one txt/csv file; the data for Dirk Nowitzki is on the second sub-page):
http://bkref.com/tiny/G9Mp1
Please, notice the header of this search:
“Current search:
For single seasons; played in the NBA/BAA; in the regular season; from 1977-78 to 2018-19; drafted in 1998; sorted by descending Player”
2. Open the file in a spreadsheet and calculate the overall value. All the calculations are done without any rounding, but I show you values rounded to 1 decimal place to be easily readable. For Dirk Nowitzki it would be like this:
1998-99; 47 games; 329.6; 7.0;
1999-00; 82 games; 1447.1; 17.6;
2000-01; 82 games; 1903.5; 23.2;
2001-02; 76 games; 1899.4; 25.0;
2002-03; 80 games; 2119.6; 26.5;
2003-04; 77 games; 1762.7; 22.9;
2004-05; 78 games; 2091.2; 26.8;
2005-06; 81 games; 2130.7; 26.3;
2006-07; 78 games; 1958.7; 25.1;
2007-08; 77 games; 1842.6; 23.9;
2008-09; 81 games; 1944.9; 24.0;
2009-10; 81 games; 1947.4; 24.0;
2010-11; 73 games; 1626.3; 22.3;
2011-12; 62 games; 1229.2; 19.8;
2012-13; 53 games; 955.8; 18.0;
2013-14; 80 games; 1727.7; 21.6;
2014-15; 77 games; 1290.8; 16.8;
2015-16; 75 games; 1354.6; 18.1;
2016-17; 54 games; 799.0; 14.8;
2017-18; 77 games; 1068.0; 13.9;
2018-19; 51 games; 348.1; 6.8;
Save the file as a spreadsheet file (NOT csv/txt).
2. Copy all the data and paste it as values (without any formulas) and save it as a NEW file (not to lose any formulas for the future). You can also delete some already used columns to make the NEW file smaller.
3. Sort all the data according to players and their best seasons. For Dirk Nowitzki it would be like this:
2004-05; 78 games; 2091.2; 26.8;
2002-03; 80 games; 2119.6; 26.5;
2005-06; 81 games; 2130.7; 26.3;
2006-07; 78 games; 1958.7; 25.1;
2001-02; 76 games; 1899.4; 25.0;
2009-10; 81 games; 1947.4; 24.0;
2008-09; 81 games; 1944.9; 24.0;
2007-08; 77 games; 1842.6; 23.9;
2000-01; 82 games; 1903.5; 23.2;
2003-04; 77 games; 1762.7; 22.9;
2010-11; 73 games; 1626.3; 22.3;
2013-14; 80 games; 1727.7; 21.6;
2011-12; 62 games; 1229.2; 19.8;
2015-16; 75 games; 1354.6; 18.1;
2012-13; 53 games; 955.8; 18.0;
1999-00; 82 games; 1447.1; 17.6;
2014-15; 77 games; 1290.8; 16.8;
2016-17; 54 games; 799.0; 14.8;
2017-18; 77 games; 1068.0; 13.9;
1998-99; 47 games; 329.6; 7.0;
2018-19; 51 games; 348.1; 6.8;
3. Calculate the cumulative numbers of games and the cumulative total values. For Dirk Nowitzki it would be like this:
2004-05; 78 games; 2091.2; 26.8; 78 games; 2091.2;
2002-03; 80 games; 2119.6; 26.5; 158 games; 4210.8;
2005-06; 81 games; 2130.7; 26.3; 239 games; 6341.5;
2006-07; 78 games; 1958.7; 25.1; 317 games; 8300.1;
2001-02; 76 games; 1899.4; 25.0; 393 games; 10199.5;
2009-10; 81 games; 1947.4; 24.0; 474 games; 12146.9;
2008-09; 81 games; 1944.9; 24.0; 555 games; 14091.8;
2007-08; 77 games; 1842.6; 23.9; 632 games; 15934.4;
2000-01; 82 games; 1903.5; 23.2; 714 games; 17837.9;
The reference point of 650 regular season games was already reached, so all the remaining seasons are not important. However the reference point was buried somewhere in the middle of the 2000-01 season, so we have to make some additional calculations there – we have to calculate the cumulative value for exactly 650 games (NOT for 714 games). So, in the line that the cumulative number of games crossed 650 we have to LOWER the cumulative total value by the amount corresponding to the number of games ABOVE 650 games. In this case it would be 64 games (714-650), but first I have to show you the precise values in that season:
2000-01; 82 games; 1903.5; 23.2128; 714 games; 17837.854;
So, the additional calculation for this line would be:
(650 – 714) * 23.2128 = -1485.622
Now we can calculate the final regular season value:
(17837.854 – 1485.622) / 650 = 25.2 (precisely: 25.15728)
For Dirk Nowitzki the crucial line would look like this (values shown as rounded to 1 decimal place to be easily readable):
2000-01; 82 games; 1903.5; 23.2; 714 games; 17837.9;-64 games;-1485.6; 25.2;
This last value is the regular season value. Dirk Nowitzki reached the reference point of 650 regular season games with easy, but some weaker players had very short careers and never reached this reference point OR some good players have not reached this reference point YET, but they will likely reach it in the future. The calculations are the same for all the players below the reference point. Let’s see the example of the best regular season player form the 2017 draft – Donovan Mitchell (seasons already sorted according to his best regular seasons and cumulative values already calculated):
2018-19; 77 games; 1531.7; 19.9; 77 games; 1531.7;
2017-18; 78 games; 1377.1;17.4; 156 games; 2908.8;
Donovan Mitchell has not reached the reference point of 650 regular season games yet, so we have to “punish” him for this – the last total value is divided by 650 (instead of 156):
2908.8 / 650 = 4.5
There was no need to make any additional calculation (like in the example of Dirk Nowitzki), so the last line would look like this:
2017-18; 78 games; 1377.1;17.4; 156 games; 2908.8; -0 games; -0.0; 4.5;
This method is actually very natural because a relatively recent draft can’t be judged properly right now (the players from that draft played in too few games).
Back to Dirk Nowitzki. We already calculated his regular season value (25.2) and in a similar way we can calculate his playoff value, but with different reference point (60 playoff games). Dirk Nowitzki reached the reference point of 60 playoff games with ease, so his playoff value (28.3) was calculated in a “picky” way too:
2001-02; 8 games; 237.3; 29.7; 8 games; 237.3
2003-04; 5 games; 145.4; 29.1; 13 games; 382.7
2007-08; 5 games; 143.7; 28.7; 18 games; 526.4
2005-06; 23 games; 648.3; 28.2; 41 games; 1174.7
2008-09; 10 games; 280.0; 28.0; 51 games; 1454.7
2009-10; 6 games; 163.9; 27.3; 57 games; 1618.6
2002-03; 17 games; 454.1; 26.7; 74 games; 2072.6; -14 games; -373.9; 28.3
Please, notice that the calculations actually ignore the 2011 playoffs when Dirk Nowitzki won a ring! His per-game value in those playoffs was 25.3 (this value was actually next best on the list).
Some other players played much less playoff games than Dirk Nowitzki, so calculations for their playoff value can’t be “picky” because they have to take into account all or almost all of their playoff games, no matter how well or bad they played. From the players who actually reached the reference point of 60 playoff games the most extreme case if Andre Miller who played in 68 playoff games during 11 playoffs. The number of games in his playoffs were (from best to worst playoffs): 6, 5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 5, 6, 6, 5 and 11, so his deepest playoff run was also his weakest (only 3 games from that playoffs were taken into account). Most importantly his playoffs were VERY different from each other. In his best playoffs (2009) his per-game value was 19.6 and in his worst playoffs (2014) his per-game value was only 2.9. His playoff value ended up as 12.7. This example shows in a perfect way that “weak playoff players” are not overvalued by the relatively low reference point of 60 playoff games. Obviously in many cases it’s not their fault that their teams were not better.
Back to Dirk Nowitzki. As we already calculated, his regular season value was 25.2 and his playoff value was 28.3 (much higher). Now we have to combine, somehow, these separate results into one draft/GOAT value. Originally I wanted to calculate a simple average (divide the sum of these values by 2), but the case of two great teammates David Robinson and Tim Duncan made me change my mind. Their careers overlapped only in part, so their draft/GOAT values are quite independent. On average David Robinson was great in regular seasons (28.0) and weaker in playoffs (25.9) and Tim Duncan was weaker in regular seasons (24.1) and great in playoffs (28.7). If I calculated simple averages of these values David Robinson's draft/GOAT value would be 27.0 – higher than Tim Duncan's draft/GOAT value of 26.4. It wouldn't be right. For this very reason I decided to value playoffs more than regular seasons, but the crucial question was: “How much more shoud I value playoffs over regular seasons?” I decided that the importance of playoffs should be 50 % bigger than the importance of regular season (more would be an overkill). So, we have to calculate a weighted average, where the weight for playoffs is 50 % bigger than the weight for regular seasons. It can be achieved by weighs: 2 for the regular seasons and 3 for the playoffs:
2 + 50% * 2 = 2 + 1 = 3
The end calculations for the draft/GOAT value (with precise values where it was important) are:
for David Robinson: (28.044 * 2 + 25.892 * 3) / 5 = 26.8
for Tim Duncan: (24.1 * 2 + 28.7 * 3) / 5 = 26.9
These final values make much more sense to me, but David Robinson’s draft/GOAT value is still almost as high as Tim Duncan’s draft/GOAT value. Yes, David Robinson was THAT good. For Dirk Nowitzki the draft/GOAT value is calculated this way:
(25.2 * 2 + 28.3 * 3) / 5 = 27.1
My GOAT list of comparable NBA players is below.
The 50 best NBA players in the seasons from 1977-78 to 2018-19 (including players drafted before 1977):
1. Michael Jordan: 32.7
2. LeBron James: 32.5
3. Hakeem Olajuwon: 30.6
4. Larry Bird: 29.4
5. Kevin Durant: 29.0
6. Shaquille O'Neal: 28.6
7. Charles Barkley: 28.4
8. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 27.7
9. Magic Johnson: 27.6
10. Karl Malone: 27.5
11. Dirk Nowitzki: 27.1
12. Stephen Curry: 26.9
13. Tim Duncan: 26.9
14. James Harden: 26.8
15. David Robinson: 26.8
16. Kobe Bryant: 26.7
17. Moses Malone: 25.7
18. Russell Westbrook: 25.7
19. Kevin Garnett: 25.5
20. Chris Paul: 25.4
21. Dwyane Wade: 24.8
22. Patrick Ewing: 24.5
23. Clyde Drexler: 24.2
24. Allen Iverson: 23.5
25. Kevin McHale: 23.2
26. Alex English: 23.0
27. Kevin Johnson: 22.9
28. John Stockton: 22.9
29. Julius Erving: 22.8
30. Dwight Howard: 22.7
31. Isiah Thomas: 22.3
32. Scottie Pippen: 22.1
33. Carmelo Anthony: 21.9
34. Paul Pierce: 21.9
35. Pau Gasol: 21.9
36. Gary Payton: 21.8
37. Steve Nash: 21.6
38. George Gervin: 21.5
39. Reggie Miller: 21.4
40. Ray Allen: 21.4
41. Kawhi Leonard: 21.4
42. Shawn Marion: 21.2
43. Adrian Dantley: 21.2
44. Jason Kidd: 21.0
45. Chris Webber: 21.0
46. Vince Carter: 20.9
47. Amar'e Stoudemire: 20.9
48. Dominique Wilkins: 20.8
49. Paul George: 20.8
50. Shawn Kemp: 20.8
The list is perfect! And very interesting. Most notably Hakeem Olajuwon is clearly at the 3rd place (he is almost never in the GOAT discussions) and Larry Bird is clearly better than Magic Johnson (they are always compared to one another). I am glad that I finally found a way not to overrate Karl Malone, but he is still in the top 10. And I still think that he is usually criminally underrated.
This is the box-score for the game:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/199001270UTA.html
On the GOAT list above there are 2 players who have not reached the reference point of 650 regular season games: Kawhi Leonard (467 regular season games so far) and Paul George (604 regular season games so far). Until they reach the regular season reference point every single regular season game with a positive overall value (the value of a turnover is negative and the scoring efficiency can also be negative) will improve their draft/GOAT value. Kawhi Leonard's draft/GOAT value can increase this way more because he played fewer number of games. Interestingly both these players have already reached the playoff reference point.
On the GOAT list above there are 2 players who didn’t reached the reference point of 60 playoff games: George Gervin (57 playoff games) and Dominique Wilkins (56 playoff games).
Now we can analyse the drafts. I decided to add only the value of the top 15 players in a particular draft. Why? Because a total value of several mediocre players can overshadow a value of an all-star. It wouldn't be right.
I have to point out that 14 players were drafted twice and one player was drafted even three times! However only 4 such players were good enough to get into the top 15 in a particular draft: Randy Smith (drafted in 1970 and 1971), Harvey Catchings (drafted in 1973 and 1974), Mark Eaton (drafted in 1979 and 1982) and Arvydas Sabonis (drafted in 1985 and 1986). I counted their draft/GOAT value only for the last draft they were drafted in.
Please notice that by drafts I mean the NBA drafts – some players drafted before 1976 were drafted in the NBA but played in the ABA anyway. For example George Gervin was drafted in 1974, but he was playing in the ABA since 1972-73. He actually started to play in the NBA in the season 1976-77 after the ABA merged with the NBA.
The best NBA drafts (with players who played in the seasons from 1977-78 to 2018-19):
1. Draft 1984: 233.8
1. Michael Jordan (32.7), 2. Hakeem Olajuwon (30.6), 3. Charles Barkley (28.4), 4. John Stockton (22.9), 5. Sam Perkins (17.0), 6. Jerome Kersey (17.0), 7. Otis Thorpe (15.7), 8. Kevin Willis (15.2), 9. Jay Humphries (9.6), 10. Alvin Robertson (9.4), 11. Michael Cage (9.2), 12. Vern Fleming (8.4), 13. Sam Bowie (6.4), 14. Ron Anderson (6.0), 15. Jim Petersen (5.3)
2. Draft 1996: 231.1
1. Kobe Bryant (26.7), 2. Allen Iverson (23.5), 3. Steve Nash (21.6), 4. Ray Allen (21.4), 5. Peja Stojaković (17.3), 6. Jermaine O'Neal (16.9), 7. Antoine Walker (16.4), 8. Marcus Camby (15.0), 9. Zydrunas Ilgauskas (14.1), 10. Derek Fisher (12.2), 11. Kerry Kittles (11.0), 12. Stephon Marbury (10.7), 13. Erick Dampier (8.9), 14. Shareef Abdur-Rahim (8.0), 15. Malik Rose (7.5)
3. Draft 1985: 231.1
1. Karl Malone (27.5), 2. Patrick Ewing (24.5), 3. Terry Porter (20.4), 4. Detlef Schrempf (17.4), 5. Chris Mullin (17.1), 6. Joe Dumars (16.1), 7. Charles Oakley (15.9), 8. A.C. Green (14.6), 9. Xavier McDaniel (13.7), 10. Hot Rod Williams (13.0), 11. Tyrone Corbin (11.3), 12. Gerald Wilkins (11.2), 13. Mario Elie (10.7), 14. Michael Adams (9.0), 15. Spud Webb (8.7)
4. Draft 2003: 221.0
1. LeBron James (32.5), 2. Dwyane Wade (24.8), 3. Carmelo Anthony (21.9), 4. Chris Bosh (18.6), 5. David West (16.9), 6. Boris Diaw (13.6), 7. Kirk Hinrich (13.2), 8. Josh Howard (13.1), 9. Kyle Korver (11.9), 10. Mo Williams (10.8), 11. Leandro Barbosa (9.9), 12. Kendrick Perkins (9.7), 13. Nick Collison (8.3), 14. Zaza Pachulia (8.2), 15. Mickaël Piétrus (7.4)
5. Draft 1987: 207.3
1. David Robinson (26.8), 2. Kevin Johnson (22.9), 3. Scottie Pippen (22.1), 4. Reggie Miller (21.4), 5. Horace Grant (17.7), 6. Mark Jackson (15.5), 7. Derrick McKey (13.7), 8. Kenny Smith (13.2), 9. Reggie Lewis (11.1), 10. Armen Gilliam (8.7), 11. Olden Polynice (7.6), 12. Muggsy Bogues (7.4), 13. Ken Norman (6.6), 14. Reggie Williams (6.5), 15. Kevin Gamble (6.2)
The best draft – the draft 1984 suits my taste perfectly. Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley were all simply awesome! John Stockton was awesomely durable and he was a fantastic pass-first point guard. Jerome Kersey played a big role in a spectacular fast-break team Portland Trail Blazers AND he improved his stats significantly in the playoffs during the best 3 years of that team. Kevin Willis and Otis Thorpe were sooo TOUGH and sooo businesslike! They were all true professionals! The best NBA draft ever!
Some of you could argue that I should use more than 15 top players from every draft and then the 1996 draft would be the best. First of all I don’t think that taking into account so many players would be right. Yes, the depth of a draft is important, but should non-star players really decide on which draft was better? I don't think so.
Out of curiosity I made a detailed comparison of the top-5 drafts (up to the top-30 players). It turns out that the 1996 draft would never be the best! The depth of the 1985 draft was even bigger than the mythical depth of the 1996 draft. In fact even the 2003 draft had a bigger depth than the 1996 draft. The yellow colour points out the best out of 5 players/drafts, the blue colour shows the second out of 5 players/drafts (there are some ties) and the orange colour points out the third out of 5 players/drafts (there is one tie):
When I look at this picture I am sure that the depth of top-15 players is the perfect way to compare the NBA drafts, but the drafts whose values are very close to each other could be considered equal, for example the top 3 drafts.
The picture above is a good example that my way of calculating the draft/GOAT values has some very deep repercussions. According to the draft/GOAT value Derek Fisher (12.2) was a little better than Stephon Marbury (10.7) and much better than Shareef Abdur-Rahim (8.0). Now, please take look at the career comparison of these three players:
http://bkref.com/tiny/B1B2m
Obviously it’s not the regular season that is most important for the draft/GOAT value. Derek Fisher value was calculated in an extremely “picky” way, but the other two players were doubly “hurt” – they played some playoff games when they were already past their peak AND they didn’t even reach the reference point of 60 playoff games. Obviously Shareef Abdur-Rahim was much more hurt because he played in only 6 playoff games.
There is another curious example screaming from the picture above: Kevin Johnson (22.9) is ahead of Scottie Pippen (22.1) in the 1987 draft. I do remember Kevin Johnson, but from his later career. I had no idea how good he was in his early career. Below there is comparison of seasons with their best playoffs – Kevin Johnson’s second season (playoffs 1989) vs. Scottie Pippen’s fourth season (playoffs 1991).
http://bkref.com/tiny/pSd6L
Yes, Scottie Pippen won a ring in the 1991 playoffs, but together with Michael Jordan and Horace Grant. On the other hand Kevin Johnson in the 1989 playoffs played with Tom Chambers (whose value was MUCH lower than the value of Michael Jordan) and Jeff Hornacek (whose value was similar to the value to Horace Grant). This example shows, again, that rings are won by teams, not lone superstars. Yes a lone superstar can drag his team to playoffs, maybe even to some surprises in playoffs, but to win a ring a superstar needs a very good team overall (team that completes his own abilities). Not to mention what teams need non-superstar players like Kevin Johnson and Scottie Pippen to win a ring.
The remaining NBA drafts are:
6. Draft 1999: 205.4
1. Shawn Marion (21.2), 2. Manu Ginóbili (18.2), 3. Lamar Odom (17.4), 4. Baron Davis (17.2), 5. Richard Hamilton (16.7), 6. Jason Terry (16.6), 7. Metta World Peace (14.8), 8. Andre Miller (14.3), 9. Elton Brand (14.3), 10. Andrei Kirilenko (11.9), 11. James Posey (10.4), 12. Wally Szczerbiak (10.0), 13. Corey Maggette (8.1), 14. Steve Francis (7.3), 15. Jeff Foster (7.2)
7. Draft 1981: 205.0
1. Isiah Thomas (22.3), 2. Larry Nance (20.3), 3. Tom Chambers (18.8), 4. Mark Aguirre (18.6), 5. Buck Williams (16.9), 6. Rolando Blackman (16.0), 7. Danny Ainge (14.9), 8. Eddie Johnson (14.0), 9. Alton Lister (10.6), 10. Danny Schayes (10.5), 11. Orlando Woolridge (9.7), 12. Kelly Tripucka (9.1), 13. Jay Vincent (8.5), 14. Herb Williams (7.6), 15. Darnell Valentine (7.1)
8. Draft 1998: 199.9
1. Dirk Nowitzki (27.1), 2. Paul Pierce (21.9), 3. Vince Carter (20.9), 4. Rashard Lewis (17.3), 5. Mike Bibby (16.9), 6. Antawn Jamison (15.0), 7. Larry Hughes (10.8), 8. Jason Williams (10.2), 9. Al Harrington (9.4), 10. Rafer Alston (9.3), 11. Cuttino Mobley (8.8), 12. Bonzi Wells (8.5), 13. Matt Harpring (8.3), 14. Raef LaFrentz (8.0), 15. Nazr Mohammed (7.6)
9. Draft 1977: 198.6
1. Jack Sikma (19.3), 2. Marques Johnson (18.9), 3. Walter Davis (18.5), 4. Norm Nixon (16.8), 5. Cedric Maxwell (15.7), 6. Robert Reid (14.6), 7. Bernard King (13.5), 8. James Edwards (11.3), 9. Greg Ballard (10.9), 10. Rickey Green (10.9), 11. Tree Rollins (10.5), 12. Otis Birdsong (10.1), 13. Ray Williams (9.6), 14. Eddie Johnson (9.4), 15. Brad Davis (8.5)
10. Draft 2009: 193.6
1. Stephen Curry (26.9), 2. James Harden (26.8), 3. Blake Griffin (19.1), 4. DeMar DeRozan (17.3), 5. Jeff Teague (14.6), 6. Jrue Holiday (11.8), 7. Danny Green (11.1), 8. Taj Gibson (10.1), 9. DeMarre Carroll (9.4), 10. Darren Collison (9.1), 11. Ty Lawson (9.0), 12. Patty Mills (8.4), 13. Patrick Beverley (6.8), 14. Brandon Jennings (6.6), 15. Tyreke Evans (6.4)
11. Draft 1983: 193.5
1. Clyde Drexler (24.2), 2. Byron Scott (16.3), 3. Derek Harper (15.8), 4. Doc Rivers (15.5), 5. Dale Ellis (14.4), 6. Thurl Bailey (13.8), 7. Jeff Malone (13.4), 8. Rodney McCray (12.4), 9. Ralph Sampson (11.7), 10. Craig Ehlo (10.7), 11. Sedale Threatt (10.7), 12. Antoine Carr (9.7), 13. Mark West (9.6), 14. John Paxson (8.5), 15. Randy Wittman (6.6)
12. Draft 2008: 192.1
1. Russell Westbrook (25.7), 2. Kevin Love (18.9), 3. Serge Ibaka (15.3), 4. DeAndre Jordan (14.7), 5. Derrick Rose (14.4), 6. George Hill (13.4), 7. Roy Hibbert (12.3), 8. Brook Lopez (11.9), 9. Eric Gordon (11.4), 10. Nicolas Batum (10.3), 11. Mario Chalmers (10.0), 12. Goran Dragić (9.8), 13. Courtney Lee (8.3), 14. Ryan Anderson (7.9), 15. Danilo Gallinari (7.7)
13. Draft 2001: 189.8
1. Pau Gasol (21.9), 2. Tony Parker (18.1), 3. Joe Johnson (17.5), 4. Zach Randolph (17.3), 5. Richard Jefferson (15.8), 6. Tyson Chandler (13.2), 7. Jason Richardson (12.9), 8. Mehmet Okur (12.0), 9. Gilbert Arenas (10.8), 10. Shane Battier (10.8), 11. Gerald Wallace (9.1), 12. Brendan Haywood (8.5), 13. Samuel Dalembert (7.5), 14. Vladimir Radmanović (7.4), 15. Jamaal Tinsley (6.9)
14. Draft 2004: 184.3
1. Dwight Howard (22.7), 2. Josh Smith (16.5), 3. Luol Deng (15.8), 4. Andre Iguodala (15.8), 5. Trevor Ariza (14.5), 6. J.R. Smith (13.2), 7. Jameer Nelson (11.7), 8. Al Jefferson (10.6), 9. Devin Harris (10.0), 10. Ben Gordon (9.9), 11. Tony Allen (9.1), 12. Anderson Varejao (9.0), 13. Kevin Martin (8.7), 14. Shaun Livingston (8.6), 15. Delonte West (8.1)
15. Draft 1982: 181.1
1. Dominique Wilkins (20.8), 2. Terry Cummings (20.7), 3. James Worthy (20.6), 4. Ricky Pierce (14.7), 5. Fat Lever (14.6), 6. Paul Pressey (14.5), 7. Mark Eaton (12.2), 8. Sleepy Floyd (11.1), 9. Craig Hodges (9.0), 10. Rod Higgins (7.3), 11. LaSalle Thompson (7.2), 12. Terry Teagle (7.2), 13. Cliff Levingston (7.2), 14. Trent Tucker (7.1), 15. Mike Sanders (7.0)
16. Draft 1979: 178.6
1. Magic Johnson (27.6), 2. Sidney Moncrief (17.7), 3. Bill Laimbeer (17.5), 4. Calvin Natt (13.5), 5. Bill Cartwright (13.2), 6. Vinnie Johnson (12.4), 7. James Donaldson (11.1), 8. Johnny Moore (10.4), 9. Jim Paxson (9.9), 10. Cliff Robinson (8.4), 11. Allen Leavell (8.2), 12. Kyle Macy (7.9), 13. Dave Greenwood (7.8), 14. Clint Richardson (6.6), 15. Reggie King (6.2)
17. Draft 2005: 176.3
1. Chris Paul (25.4), 2. Deron Williams (20.1), 3. Marcin Gortat (12.5), 4. Andrew Bogut (11.7), 5. Lou Williams (11.6), 6. Andrew Bynum (11.2), 7. Monta Ellis (11.2), 8. David Lee (9.8), 9. Raymond Felton (9.8), 10. Brandon Bass (9.4), 11. Ersan Ilyasova (9.3), 12. Danny Granger (9.3), 13. Channing Frye (8.7), 14. Marvin Williams (8.6), 15. Jarrett Jack (7.9)
18. Draft 2007: 176.1
1. Kevin Durant (29.0), 2. Marc Gasol (19.0), 3. Al Horford (18.7), 4. Mike Conley (16.1), 5. Joakim Noah (14.8), 6. Thaddeus Young (11.3), 7. Jeff Green (10.5), 8. Marco Belinelli (8.7), 9. Glen Davis (8.0), 10. Tiago Splitter (6.9), 11. Carl Landry (6.8), 12. Rodney Stuckey (6.8), 13. Corey Brewer (6.7), 14. Spencer Hawes (6.4), 15. Arron Afflalo (6.3)
19. Draft 1993: 175.6
1. Chris Webber (21.0), 2. Anfernee Hardaway (18.8), 3. Sam Cassell (16.7), 4. Nick Van Exel (15.2), 5. Allan Houston (14.8), 6. Jamal Mashburn (12.7), 7. Bryon Russell (11.7), 8. Rodney Rogers (9.9), 9. Vin Baker (9.4), 10. George Lynch (8.7), 11. Ervin Johnson (8.5), 12. Isaiah Rider (7.3), 13. Lindsey Hunter (7.1), 14. Shawn Bradley (7.1), 15. Lucious Harris (6.6)
20. Draft 1995: 174.5
1. Kevin Garnett (25.5), 2. Rasheed Wallace (17.2), 3. Michael Finley (17.1), 4. Jerry Stackhouse (13.5), 5. Antonio McDyess (12.8), 6. Damon Stoudamire (11.7), 7. Eric Snow (10.4), 8. Kurt Thomas (10.1), 9. Brent Barry (10.0), 10. Joe Smith (9.3), 11. Greg Ostertag (8.2), 12. Corliss Williamson (7.8), 13. Travis Best (7.8), 14. Theo Ratliff (7.7), 15. Eric Williams (5.6)
21. Draft “No draft”: 174.4
1. Moses Malone (25.7), 2. Ben Wallace (16.5), 3. John Starks (14.2), 4. Avery Johnson (13.6), 5. Brad Miller (11.7), 6. David Wesley (11.6), 7. Udonis Haslem (10.4), 8. Raja Bell (9.9), 9. Mark Olberding (9.6), 10. Wesley Matthews (9.4), 11. Chris Andersen (8.7), 12. Darrell Armstrong (8.5), 13. José Calderón (8.3), 14. Chris Childs (8.1), 15. Bruce Bowen (8.1)
22. Draft 1988: 174.1
1. Hersey Hawkins (17.0), 2. Rik Smits (15.6), 3. Dan Majerle (15.5), 4. Rod Strickland (14.7), 5. Anthony Mason (14.1), 6. Danny Manning (12.2), 7. Mitch Richmond (11.9), 8. Charles Smith (10.4), 9. Vernon Maxwell (10.1), 10. Chris Morris (9.4), 11. Brian Shaw (9.2), 12. Grant Long (9.1), 13. Vinny Del Negro (8.8), 14. Willie Anderson (8.5), 15. Rony Seikaly (7.5)
23. Draft 1992: 173.4
1. Shaquille O'Neal (28.6), 2. Alonzo Mourning (18.9), 3. Latrell Sprewell (16.2), 4. Robert Horry (14.5), 5. P.J. Brown (12.6), 6. Doug Christie (12.3), 7. Christian Laettner (10.7), 8. Jim Jackson (10.6), 9. Anthony Peeler (8.1), 10. Tom Gugliotta (7.3), 11. Walt Williams (6.9), 12. Clarence Weatherspoon (6.8), 13. LaPhonso Ellis (6.7), 14. Jon Barry (6.5), 15. Oliver Miller (6.5)
24. Draft 1989: 172.6
1. Shawn Kemp (20.8), 2. Tim Hardaway (17.0), 3. Vlade Divac (16.7), 4. Mookie Blaylock (15.3), 5. Glen Rice (15.1), 6. Sean Elliott (14.0), 7. Clifford Robinson (13.8), 8. Nick Anderson (12.6), 9. B.J. Armstrong (10.4), 10. Blue Edwards (6.6), 11. Sherman Douglas (6.6), 12. J.R. Reid (6.2), 13. Danny Ferry (6.2), 14. Dana Barros (5.9), 15. George McCloud (5.5)
25. Draft 2011: 170.5
1. Kawhi Leonard (21.4), 2. Kyrie Irving (19.4), 3. Klay Thompson (18.3), 4. Jimmy Butler (15.4), 5. Tristan Thompson (11.3), 6. Jonas Valančiunas (10.6), 7. Isaiah Thomas (10.0), 8. Kemba Walker (9.1), 9. Enes Kanter (9.1), 10. Reggie Jackson (9.0), 11. Tobias Harris (8.1), 12. Marcus Morris (8.0), 13. Iman Shumpert (7.1), 14. Markieff Morris (6.9), 15. Nikola Mirotić (6.9)
26. Draft 1978: 168.6
1. Larry Bird (29.4), 2. Maurice Cheeks (17.9), 3. Mychal Thompson (15.0), 4. Michael Cooper (13.6), 5. Mike Mitchell (12.3), 6. Wayne Cooper (9.7), 7. Dave Corzine (9.5), 8. Reggie Theus (9.2), 9. Gerald Henderson (9.2), 10. Micheal Ray Richardson (8.5), 11. Purvis Short (7.8), 12. Mike Evans (6.9), 13. John Long (6.6), 14. Terry Tyler (6.5), 15. Clemon Johnson (6.4)
27. Draft 1986: 166.1
1. Jeff Hornacek (17.9), 2. Brad Daugherty (15.3), 3. Mark Price (15.1), 4. Ron Harper (14.3), 5. Dennis Rodman (13.8), 6. Chuck Person (11.8), 7. Arvydas Sabonis (11.1), 8. Nate McMillan (11.0), 9. John Salley (10.7), 10. Kevin Duckworth (10.4), 11. Dell Curry (8.2), 12. Johnny Newman (7.8), 13. Roy Tarpley (7.4), 14. David Wingate (5.6), 15. Johnny Dawkins (5.6)
28. Draft 1997: 163.6
1. Tim Duncan (26.9), 2. Chauncey Billups (19.8), 3. Tracy McGrady (18.9), 4. Stephen Jackson (13.8), 5. Tim Thomas (12.1), 6. Antonio Daniels (10.7), 7. Keith Van Horn (10.5), 8. Bobby Jackson (8.8), 9. Austin Croshere (7.5), 10. Anthony Johnson (7.0), 11. Tony Battie (6.7), 12. Derek Anderson (5.8), 13. Anthony Parker (5.5), 14. Brevin Knight (4.9), 15. Alvin Williams (4.9)
29. Draft 2002: 156.9
1. Amar'e Stoudemire (20.9), 2. Carlos Boozer (18.9), 3. Tayshaun Prince (14.5), 4. Nene Hilário (13.1), 5. Caron Butler (13.0), 6. Yao Ming (11.2), 7. Drew Gooden (11.1), 8. Matt Barnes (10.6), 9. Luis Scola (9.0), 10. Mike Dunleavy (8.5), 11. John Salmons (6.8), 12. Nenad Krstić (5.5), 13. Ronald Murray (5.2), 14. Rasual Butler (4.6), 15. Jared Jeffries (4.1)
30. Draft 1994: 154.5
1. Jason Kidd (21.0), 2. Eddie Jones (16.3), 3. Grant Hill (13.4), 4. Jalen Rose (13.3), 5. Glenn Robinson (11.8), 6. Aaron McKie (10.9), 7. Brian Grant (10.6), 8. Donyell Marshall (9.3), 9. Juwan Howard (9.1), 10. Charlie Ward (8.7), 11. Wesley Person (7.4), 12. Voshon Lenard (7.1), 13. Howard Eisley (6.6), 14. Lamond Murray (5.2), 15. Eric Piatkowski (3.8)
31. Draft 2006: 150.0
1. LaMarcus Aldridge (20.6), 2. Kyle Lowry (18.6), 3. Paul Millsap (18.4), 4. Rajon Rondo (18.3), 5. J.J. Redick (12.6), 6. Rudy Gay (9.4), 7. P.J. Tucker (8.2), 8. Thabo Sefolosha (7.7), 9. Brandon Roy (5.7), 10. Ronnie Brewer (5.5), 11. Jordan Farmar (5.4), 12. Randy Foye (5.3), 13. Andrea Bargnani (5.2), 14. Daniel Gibson (5.0), 15. Shannon Brown (4.2)
32. Draft 1990: 148.8
1. Gary Payton (21.8), 2. Derrick Coleman (15.2), 3. Toni Kukoč (13.4), 4. Elden Campbell (13.2), 5. Antonio Davis (12.8), 6. Cedric Ceballos (10.4), 7. Tyrone Hill (10.0), 8. Dennis Scott (9.1), 9. Kendall Gill (8.6), 10. Dee Brown (7.6), 11. Terry Mills (5.8), 12. Loy Vaught (5.7), 13. Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (5.6), 14. Felton Spencer (5.0), 15. Bimbo Coles (4.7)
33. Draft 1980: 148.5
1. Kevin McHale (23.2), 2. Kiki Vandeweghe (16.7), 3. Andrew Toney (12.1), 4. Rick Mahorn (11.2), 5. Mike Gminski (10.3), 6. Darrell Griffith (10.0), 7. Kurt Rambis (9.1), 8. Joe Barry Carroll (9.1), 9. Bill Hanzlik (8.1), 10. Larry Smith (7.5), 11. Rory Sparrow (7.1), 12. Jeff Ruland (6.9), 13. Mike Woodson (6.4), 14. Larry Drew (5.5), 15. Darwin Cook (5.3)
34. Draft 1976: 147.7
1. Alex English (23.0), 2. Adrian Dantley (21.2), 3. Robert Parish (20.1), 4. Dennis Johnson (17.8), 5. Lonnie Shelton (11.1), 6. John Lucas (8.7), 7. Johnny Davis (7.3), 8. Quinn Buckner (6.7), 9. Mike Dunleavy (6.5), 10. Mitch Kupchak (5.8), 11. Bob Wilkerson (5.1), 12. Larry Wright (4.4), 13. Wally Walker (4.0), 14. Armond Hill (2.9), 15. Paul Griffin (2.9)
35. Draft 1991: 143.8
1. Dikembe Mutombo (19.2), 2. Steve Smith (16.3), 3. Larry Johnson (15.0), 4. Dale Davis (12.7), 5. Rick Fox (11.3), 6. Terrell Brandon (10.4), 7. Kenny Anderson (9.5), 8. Stacey Augmon (8.2), 9. Luc Longley (7.8), 10. Greg Anthony (6.9), 11. Billy Owens (6.3), 12. Bison Dele (6.2), 13. Chris Gatling (5.5), 14. Bobby Phills (4.6), 15. Eric Murdock (4.1)
36. Draft 1974: 142.3
1. George Gervin (21.5), 2. Jamaal Wilkes (15.7), 3. Maurice Lucas (14.4), 4. Bobby Jones (14.3), 5. Scott Wedman (11.2), 6. Truck Robinson (10.9), 7. Brian Winters (8.6), 8. John Drew (7.9), 9. Mickey Johnson (7.9), 10. Tom Henderson (7.6), 11. Bill Walton (5.4), 12. Billy Knight (5.0), 13. Tom McMillen (4.3), 14. Campy Russell (4.1), 15. Phil Smith (3.5)
37. Draft 1975: 138.1
1. Gus Williams (19.3), 2. Darryl Dawkins (14.6), 3. Alvan Adams (14.6), 4. Dan Roundfield (13.2), 5. Junior Bridgeman (10.2), 6. World B. Free (9.4), 7. Lionel Hollins (8.6), 8. Marvin Webster (8.5), 9. Rich Kelley (8.2), 10. David Thompson (8.1), 11. Kevin Grevey (8.0), 12. Ricky Sobers (5.8), 13. Joe Meriweather (3.3), 14. Bill Robinzine (3.3), 15. Joe Bryant (3.2)
38. Draft 2010: 136.4
1. Paul George (20.8), 2. John Wall (15.1), 3. Lance Stephenson (9.6), 4. Al-Farouq Aminu (9.4), 5. Eric Bledsoe (9.3), 6. Evan Turner (9.3), 7. Gordon Hayward (9.1), 8. Derrick Favors (8.7), 9. DeMarcus Cousins (8.0), 10. Greg Monroe (7.6), 11. Avery Bradley (7.3), 12. Patrick Patterson (6.8), 13. Hassan Whiteside (5.8), 14. Ed Davis (5.4), 15. Greivis Vásquez (4.2)
39. Draft 2012: 132.5
1. Damian Lillard (18.9), 2. Draymond Green (17.3), 3. Bradley Beal (13.5), 4. Anthony Davis (11.6), 5. Harrison Barnes (10.8), 6. Khris Middleton (10.6), 7. Jae Crowder (9.3), 8. Andre Drummond (7.3), 9. Maurice Harkless (5.6), 10. Mike Scott (5.2), 11. Terrence Ross (5.1), 12. Austin Rivers (4.8), 13. Will Barton (4.5), 14. Dion Waiters (4.2), 15. Terrence Jones (3.9)
40. Draft 2000: 114.8
1. Kenyon Martin (15.5), 2. Hedo Türkoglu (13.2), 3. Jamal Crawford (13.1), 4. Mike Miller (10.0), 5. Michael Redd (8.6), 6. Quentin Richardson (7.3), 7. Jamaal Magloire (7.1), 8. Morris Peterson (6.7), 9. Desmond Mason (6.0), 10. Keyon Dooling (5.3), 11. Eddie House (5.2), 12. Eduardo Nájera (5.1), 13. DeShawn Stevenson (5.0), 14. Stromile Swift (3.5), 15. Speedy Claxton (3.4)
41. Draft 2013: 96.8
1. Giannis Antetokounmpo (14.2), 2. CJ McCollum (11.4), 3. Steven Adams (9.1), 4. Rudy Gobert (8.4), 5. Dennis Schröder (7.6), 6. Otto Porter (7.1), 7. Victor Oladipo (6.3), 8. Mason Plumlee (6.1), 9. Kelly Olynyk (5.7), 10. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (3.9), 11. Andre Roberson (3.6), 12. Allen Crabbe (3.5), 13. Tim Hardaway (3.4), 14. Michael Carter-Williams (3.3), 15. Gorgui Dieng (3.3)
42. Draft 1970: 90.1
1. Dan Issel (16.1), 2. Bob Lanier (12.1), 3. Billy Paultz (8.4), 4. John Johnson (8.3), 5. Tiny Archibald (7.9), 6. Calvin Murphy (7.7), 7. Sam Lacey (6.4), 8. George Johnson (4.8), 9. Dave Cowens (4.0), 10. Gar Heard (3.8), 11. Coby Dietrick (3.3), 12. Rudy Tomjanovich (2.4), 13. Charlie Scott (1.9), 14. Pete Maravich (1.7), 15. Dennis Awtrey (1.1)
43. Draft 1972: 84.3
1. Julius Erving (22.8), 2. Bob McAdoo (12.6), 3. Paul Westphal (9.8), 4. Steve Hawes (5.8), 5. Don Buse (5.8), 6. James Silas (5.7), 7. Chris Ford (5.1), 8. Henry Bibby (4.4), 9. Kevin Porter (3.0), 10. John Gianelli (1.9), 11. Brian Taylor (1.9), 12. Dave Twardzik (1.8), 13. Ollie Johnson (1.5), 14. Ralph Simpson (1.3), 15. Jim Price (0.9)
44. Draft 2014: 73.4
1. Clint Capela (10.1), 2. Nikola Jokić (8.4), 3. Marcus Smart (7.1), 4. Joel Embiid (6.6), 5. Rodney Hood (5.2), 6. Andrew Wiggins (4.4), 7. Gary Harris (4.3), 8. Jerami Grant (3.9), 9. Dario Šarić (3.8), 10. Aaron Gordon (3.6), 11. Jordan Clarkson (3.5), 12. Jusuf Nurkić (3.2), 13. Kyle Anderson (3.2), 14. Julius Randle (3.1), 15. Jabari Parker (3.0)
45. Draft 1973: 67.7
1. Caldwell Jones (13.1), 2. Larry Kenon (8.1), 3. M.L. Carr (5.4), 4. Jim Chones (4.8), 5. George McGinnis (4.7), 6. Mike Bantom (4.4), 7. Swen Nater (4.4), 8. Kermit Washington (3.9), 9. Dwight Jones (3.6), 10. Allan Bristow (3.5), 11. Mike Green (3.2), 12. Doug Collins (3.1), 13. John Williamson (2.3), 14. Jim Brewer (1.8), 15. Kevin Kunnert (1.5)
46. Draft 1971: 61.1
1. Artis Gilmore (13.8), 2. Fred Brown (9.5), 3. Tom Owens (5.2), 4. Spencer Haywood (5.0), 5. Mike Gale (4.1), 6. Randy Smith (4.1), 7. Charles Johnson (2.9), 8. Mike Newlin (2.9), 9. Dave Robisch (2.9), 10. Darnell Hillman (2.2), 11. Austin Carr (1.9), 12. Larry Steele (1.7), 13. Sidney Wicks (1.6), 14. Clifford Ray (1.6), 15. Jim Cleamons (1.6)
47. Draft 2015: 56.4
1. Terry Rozier (7.2), 2. Karl-Anthony Towns (6.0), 3. Myles Turner (5.2), 4. Norman Powell (4.3), 5. Kevon Looney (4.1), 6. Josh Richardson (3.6), 7. Larry Nance (3.3), 8. D'Angelo Russell (3.2), 9. Montrezl Harrell (3.1), 10. Justise Winslow (3.0), 11. Devin Booker (2.9), 12. Kelly Oubre (2.9), 13. Pat Connaughton (2.6), 14. Delon Wright (2.6), 15. Frank Kaminsky (2.3)
48. Draft 1969: 51.3
1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (27.7), 2. Bob Dandridge (9.8), 3. Steve Mix (6.9), 4. Bingo Smith (1.3), 5. Jo Jo White (1.3), 6. Butch Beard (1.2), 7. Mack Calvin (1.1), 8. Lucius Allen (0.8), 9. Norm Van Lier (0.6), 10. Wil Jones (0.3), 11. Willie Norwood (0.3), 12. Steve Kuberski (0.0), 13. Willie Wise (0.0)
49. Draft 2016: 47.9
1. Pascal Siakam (6.9), 2. Jaylen Brown (6.4), 3. Ben Simmons (6.1), 4. Jamal Murray (4.8), 5. Malcolm Brogdon (3.7), 6. Domantas Sabonis (3.0), 7. Jakob Pöltl (2.6), 8. Caris LeVert (2.1), 9. Buddy Hield (2.1), 10. Taurean Waller-Prince (2.0), 11. Malik Beasley (1.8), 12. Thon Maker (1.8), 13. Dejounte Murray (1.7), 14. Brandon Ingram (1.5), 15. Patrick McCaw (1.4)
50. Draft 2017: 29.9
1. Jayson Tatum (6.0), 2. Donovan Mitchell (4.7), 3. Zach Collins (2.2), 4. Jarrett Allen (1.9), 5. Jordan Bell (1.8), 6. Derrick White (1.6), 7. OG Anunoby (1.4), 8. Kyle Kuzma (1.4), 9. John Collins (1.4), 10. De'Aaron Fox (1.4), 11. Luke Kennard (1.3), 12. Monte Morris (1.3), 13. Lauri Markkanen (1.3), 14. Bam Adebayo (1.2), 15. Sterling Brown (1.1)
51. Draft 1968: 28.3
1. Elvin Hayes (15.5), 2. Wes Unseld (9.4), 3. Ron Boone (2.4), 4. Don Chaney (0.4), 5. Chuck Williams (0.3), 6. Jim Eakins (0.1), 7. Tom Boerwinkle (0.1), 8. Zaid Abdul-Aziz (0.0)
52. Draft 2018: 10.2
1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (1.5), 2. Luka Dončić (0.9), 3. Trae Young (0.9), 4. Landry Shamet (0.9), 5. Deandre Ayton (0.8), 6. Collin Sexton (0.6), 7. Rodions Kurucs (0.6), 8. Marvin Bagley (0.6), 9. Mikal Bridges (0.5), 10. Mitchell Robinson (0.5), 11. Jaren Jackson (0.5), 12. Kevin Huerter (0.5), 13. Kevin Knox (0.5), 14. Miles Bridges (0.4), 15. Jalen Brunson (0.4)
53. Draft 1964: 4.5
1. Paul Silas (4.5)
54. Draft 1967: 4.0
1. Earl Monroe (1.6), 2. Louie Dampier (1.2), 3. Phil Jackson (0.6), 4. Walt Frazier (0.5), 5. Dale Schlueter (0.0)
55. Draft 1965: 4.0
1. Rick Barry (2.8), 2. Gail Goodrich (1.2)
56. Draft 1966: 2.7
1. Lou Hudson (1.5), 2. Dave Bing (0.5), 3. Dick Snyder (0.5), 4. Cazzie Russell (0.2)
57. Draft 1962: 0.7
1. John Havlicek (0.7)
Obviously the drafts before 1977 are undervalued by definition (less season taken into account for players drafted before 1977), but even then some of these drafts are quite high on the list.
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