NBA Draft - Worst #9 Picks Since 1980

Worst #9 Picks since 1980

Just missed the list...Eric Montross, Brad Sellers, Samaki Walker and Rodney White.

4.  Mike Sweetney, New York Knicks, 2003, from Georgetown (233 games, 6.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 0.6 apg) - Sweetney had two solid seasons in his 2nd and 3rd in the NBA, but weight issues cut short any of the potential and staying-power he had in the league.  After a disappointing 4th season, Sweetney was out of the league.  His selection proceeded Nick Collison and David West in 2003.

3.  Ike Diogu, Golden State Warriors, 2005, from Arizona State (225 games, 6.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 0.3 apg) - Diogu played for 6 teams in 7 seasons and made little impact for any of the six, despite a career FG% over 50%.   Diogu was selected one pick ahead of Andrew Bynum and 8 picks before Danny Granger in 2005.  The Warriors would have the 9th pick again the following season and with worse results...

2.  Ed O'Bannon, New Jersey Nets, 1995, from UCLA (128 games, 5.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 0.8 apg) - After a stellar college career and National Title with UCLA, big things were expected from O'Bannon when the Nets made him the 9th selection in 1995.  O'Bannon summed up his NBA journey..."It wasn't injury, it was confidence," O'Bannon said about his NBA career. "I missed shots, got pulled from games, it affected my defense, and I lost all my confidence."  O'Bannon was selected before more successful NBA players such as Kurt Thomas, Corliss Williamson and Theo Ratliff.

1.  Patrick O'Bryant, Golden State Warriors, 2006, from Bradley (90 games over 4 seasons, 2.1 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 0.4 bpg) - O'Bryant parlayed a surprising Sweet Sixteen run with Bradley into rising stock amongst NBA scouts, ending up the #9 selection by the Warriors.  Don Nelson's quote summarizes O'Bryant's plight very well..."I told him if he goes down to the D-League and isn't a dominant player, there should be red flags all over the place, and he should be the first to notice. He's not only not dominating, he's not playing very well. He's a long-term project. I really liked him the first week of training camp, but I assumed there would be great progress. [...] He hasn't gotten better one bit.  O'Bryant was selected before Rajon Rondo in 2006, but once again, Paul Millsap is the best interior player selected after #9 in 2006, but he lasted until #47 proving almost every other team wrong.