Today’s Sports Stat: June 20, 2019
TODAY’s SPORTSTAT-June 20, 2019
Overall #1 draft picks in NBA usually don’t stay with team that drafts them
The 2019 NBA draft is tonight (Thursday, June 20), so here’s a tidbit that you may find interesting…
I’m not ready to pin the tag of “Nostradamus” on myself or give myself a new nickname… “Tappradamus,” but here’s something I came across recently. It was written in one of my “Stats on Tapp” blogs almost seven years ago, dated June 28, 2012:
“It appears that Kentucky’s Anthony Davis will be the first overall pick in tonight’s NBA draft, taken by the New Orleans Hornets. Before Hornets fans get too excited and think that they will have a front-row seat to watching Davis develop into an NBA star and then retire as a Hornet, the reality is that not all number one overall picks stay with the team that drafted them.”
I wasn’t going out on a limb, per se, especially considering that many overall #1 draft choices in the NBA tend to leave the team that drafted them, but there are a handful of number ones who stayed with their draft team their entire careers. With his impending trade to the Lakers from the Pelicans, it appears that Anthony Davis will fulfill my prophesy and will not stay his entire career with the New Orleans franchise.
From 1950 to 2009, there were 60 NBA drafts and 60 different overall first picks in the draft. Of those 60, only nine players (15%) who were the number one pick in the draft stayed with that team that drafted them their entire career. Even if you look at the nine number one selections from 2010-18, three of the nine have already moved on to a different team than the one that drafted them, and one player, Andrew Wiggins, was drafted by the Cleveland Cavs in 2014 and was traded two months later to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a swap that brought Kevin Love to the Cavs.
Here is a look at the nine overall #1 draft picks in the NBA Draft from 1950-2009 who played their entire careers with the team that drafted them.
1958: Elgin Baylor, Minnesota/L.A. Lakers
1972: LaRue Martin, Portland
1973: Doug Collins, Philadelphia
1979: Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers
1982: James Worthy, Los Angeles Lakers
1986: Brad Daugherty, Cleveland
1987: David Robinson, San Antonio
1997: Tim Duncan, San Antonio
2002: Yao Ming, Houston
For the record, John Wall was the number one selection in the NBA draft in 2010 by the Washington Bullets and he is still a member of that team. The last four number one overall choices in the draft are all still with the team (as of the 2018-19 season) that drafted them… 2015-Karl-Anthony Towns, 2016-Ben Simmons, 2017-Markelle Fultz, 2018-Deandre Ayton.
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp
Today’s Sports Stat: June 18, 2018
“And with the 17th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, the Milwaukee Bucks select…”
Will NBA Commissioner Adam Silver make this statement this coming Thursday at the NBA Draft or will the Bucks trade that pick? And, if they keep the 17th pick, who will they choose?
Let’s take a look at the Bucks history in the draft and a little history with players who were chosen with the 17th pick. Here’s “10 Things You May Not Know About the Bucks Draft History.”
- There have been nine players originally drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks who went on to play 800 of more career games in the league: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1560), Dirk Nowitzki (1471), Alex English (1193), Alton Lister (953), Stephon Marbury (846), Eric Snow (846), Bobby Dandridge (839), Julius Erving (836) and Fred Roberts (818).
- Of the 263 players drafted by the Bucks in their history, 37 (14%) played 500 or more career games in the NBA.
- Since 2000, seven players drafted by the Bucks have a career points per game average of six points or less: Jimmer Fredette (6.0), Jason Collier (5.6), Thon Maker (4.4), Joe Alexander (4.2), Marcus Haislip (3.5), Rashad Vaughn (3.0), D.J. Wilson (1.0).
- Since 2000, the Bucks second round selection has more career points than the Bucks first round selection from nine of those 19 seasons.
- Thirty-two Bucks draft picks have amassed 5,000 or more career points; 12 of those 32 were not selected in the first round.
- The Bucks have previously selected a player with the 17th pick four times: Bob Greacen in 1969, Collis Jones in 1971, Rashad Vaughn in 2015 and D.J. Wilson last season. Greacen tallied 111 career points in 43 career games; Jones never played a game in the league; Vaughn played in 139 games scoring 423 points; Wilson had 21 points in 22 games last season.
- The 17th pick in the draft with the most career games is Don Nelson with 1053 career games. The 17th pick with the highest career points per game is Richie Guerin (17.3). The 17th pick with the highest career rebounds per game is Shawn Kemp (8.4). The 17th pick with the highest career assists per game is Jrue Holiday (6.3).
- Four first-round picks by the Milwaukee Bucks ended up playing less than 100 career games in the NBA: Gary Freeman (selected in 1970, 52 career games); Joe Alexander (selected in 2008, 67 career games); Marcus Haislip (selected in 2002, 89 career games); and Russ Lee (selected in 1972, 97 career games).
- Eleven players originally drafted by the Bucks have gone on to score 10,000 or more points in the league: Jabbar, Nowitzki, English, Erving, Marbury, Dandridge, Glenn Robinson, Marques Johnson, Michael Redd, Sidney Moncrief and Vin Baker. Nowitzki, Erving and Marbury never suited up for the Bucks; English played only two seasons with the team; Baker played four seasons with the Bucks. The rest: Jabbar (6 seasons with the Bucks), Johnson (7), Robinson (8), Dandridge (9), Moncrief (10), Redd (11).
- Of the 60 players drafted in the 2017 Draft, 31 ended up playing in 40 or more games last season; 29 played in less than 40. Only 10 of the 60 averaged 10 or more points for the season… only seven averaged five or more rebounds per games for the campaign… and only three averaged four or more assists per game in the 2017-18 season.
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp
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