FanHouse SummerofAnswers

This offseason, NBA FanHouse will address important questions about the league. It will be a Summer of Answers. First up: the biggest draft busts of the decade.

The 2001 NBA Draft was pretty weak in terms of legitimate ballers who would be found contributing meaningful minutes for seasons to come. Sure, '01 gave us Tony Parker and Gilbert Arenas, but they went 28th and 31st overall respectively. Lottery picks that year were far from household names: Eddy Curry, Eddie Griffin, DeSagana Diop, and Rodney White were all selected in the top 10. But all of that doesn't make that year's number one overall selection, Kwame Brown, any less of a bust.

Before we lay out the evidence of Kwame's career suckitude, let's admit that he had quite a bit working against him coming into the league, shall we? He was the first player ever drafted number one overall directly out of high school (KG was taken fifth in '95), and to go along with that he had the pressure of being Michael Jordan's first draft pick as an executive of the Washington Wizards. Considering that Kwame turned out to have the mental toughness of a certain cake he destroyed one fateful night in Hermosa Beach, this was clearly going to be too much stress for the youngster to handle.

This offseason, NBA FanHouse will address important questions about the league. It will be a Summer of Answers. First up: the biggest draft busts of the decade.

Joe Dumars is widely recognized as one of the top executives in the NBA, and while the Pistons have been unable to get over the hump since 2004, he's done an enviable job setting up his team to remain in contention through the draft, snatching up guys like Tayshaun Prince (2003), Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson (2005) and Rodney Stuckey and Arron Afflalo (2007) after lottery teams had passed them over.

Of course, Dumars didn't always have such a deft hand at the draft -- and I'm not just talking about a certain Serbian center who went second overall in 2004. In 2000, Dumars selected hometown hero Mateen Cleaves 14th overall out of Michigan State, passing on the likes of Hedo Turkoglu, Desmond Mason, Quentin Richardson, Morris Peterson, DeShawn Stevenson, Marko Jaric, Eduardo Najera, Eddie House and (this one hurts the most) Michael Redd.

It didn't take long for Dumars to realize his mistake (Cleaves was dealt to Sacramento after one season), and as a consolation prize he was rewarded with another lottery pick. Unfortunately, he committed an even bigger blunder by taking Rodney White ninth overall. Rodney who? Exactly.

This offseason, NBA FanHouse will address important questions about the league. It will be a Summer of Answers. First up: the biggest draft busts of the decade.

Unless you're a fan of the Toronto Raptors or a huge NBA Draft nerd follower, you may have read that headline and thought, "who's Rafael Araujo? Never heard of him." That was my initial thought anyway, and that, my friends, is exactly why Mr. Araujo comes in at number four on our Biggest Busts of the '00s list.

When you look back at the 2004 draft, everyone taken in the first seven picks before Araujo turned out to be productive NBA (or Euroleague) players. Well, except for Shaun Livingston who had the gruesome knee injury two seasons ago. But that's no biggie, right? The talent level could have simply dropped off after that point, and Araujo could have been the first on a long list of disappointments who just happened to be drafted eighth overall. Unfortunately for him (and the Raptors), this was a very deep draft.

Players selected after Rafael (pronounced "HA-f-eye-ell" if you believe NBA.com) include Al Jefferson, Josh Smith, J.R. Smith, Kevin Martin, Sasha Vujacic, Beno Udrih, Anderson Varejao, Pape Sow ... just seeing if you were still paying attention. The point is this: when a player is selected with the number eight pick, with this much talent still on the board, and his career averages over three seasons are under three points and three rebounds a game, I don't know if "bust" is a strong enough word to describe his NBA status.

This offseason, NBA FanHouse will address important questions about the league. It will be a Summer of Answers. First up: the biggest draft busts of the decade.

Skita, née Nikoloz Tskitishvili, went #5 to Denver in 2002. As a product of the massive Euro hype which followed the strong entries of Peja Stojakovic, Dirk Nowitzki and Pau Gasol into the league, Skita gave journalists like Chad Ford night tremors of excitement. The big man who could step outside and stroke was not quite the holy grail of Europe, if only because there were plenty young Dirks out there. Skita, a 7-foot 19-year-old, fit the mold like Jello.

Skita, of course, was terrible. He received ample opportunity on an awful Denver team -- 16 minutes a night in 81 games. He did almost nothing in those minutes, scoring less than 9 points per 36 minutes on 29% shooting, with less than 5 rebounds per 36 added in ... despite often being the tallest fellow in uniform. Skita's woeful rookie year dried up much future opportunity in Denver, and the knight was shipped to Golden State midway into his third season. His greatest achievement since might be a glorious, infamous carriage ride through Central Park with Andris Biedrins and Zarko Cabarkapa.

Lucky for Denver, Skita's disastrous career was overshadowed by a certain Serbian who came out the following year. And though the bad pick helped (by way of continuing the team's suckage) earn Carmelo Anthony's services in 2003, it remains a rather dour memory for fans of the Nuggets and beautiful basketball. Imagine Amare Stoudemire in baby blue, galloping with Kenyon Martin and Andre Miller. That's beside the point, though. We will never forget you, Skita.

This offseason, NBA FanHouse will address important questions about the league. It will be a Summer of Answers. First up: the biggest draft bust of the decade.

The new millennium has brought no shortage of pitiful draft selections. We limited our selections to the top-10 overall in each draft class, and took into account the quality of the players left on the board (but ruled out odd non-basketball injures -- Jay Williams, Dajuan Wagner and the like). We start with those draft choices not quite terrible enough to make the top ... err, bottom five.

Marvin Williams, Atlanta. The rubbery forward went #2 in a draft which featured two max contract point guard, Deron Williams and Chris Paul. Williams has become some version of the projection his potential screamed of, but he'll never catch up to Deron or CP. Painfully bad choice by the Hawks, all things considered.

Adam Morrison, Charlotte and Shelden Williams, Atlanta. It's a little early to write off class of '06 products, sure, but consensus rates the Ammo and Shel picks as ... awful. With Brandon Roy, Rudy Gay and Vladimir Veremeenko all on the board, the Cats and Hawks have little excuse.

Marcus Fizer, Chicago. The 2000 draft was historically bad, but Fizer at #4 still stinks. Mike Miller went one choice later, and decent players who are, you know, still in the league -- Joel Pryzbilla, Hedo Turkoglu -- went later.

Luke Jackson, Cleveland. Hmm, Jackson seems conspicuous in his absence from this summer's '04 revival madness. Luke earns his spot among the top busts of the Oughts based on those taken after him -- Andris Biedrins, Al Jefferson, Josh Smith, Kevin Martin. Think LeBron could use any of those guys?

With any list, there are tough choices to be made. In compiling our NBA Cornerstones countdown, we were forced to cut many worthy players. To make the Summer of Answers go down easier, we will now explain how and why some of these omissions occurred.

Kevin Garnett: For starters, KG is one of my favorite players in the league, no question. Why did we leave him off the list? Quite simply, I don't think anyone--and that includes you, feisty readers--knows how to make Garnett the center of a system or functional roster. Granted, Kevin McHale is incompetent, but Danny Ainge piling superstars atop him isn't a solution. That's called a lucky shortcut, and it's kind of the opposite of "building a team."

Garnett is a fantastic talent, but he's getting on in years, has taken one big shot in his career, and just doesn't lend himself to easy answers. While it's become a Simmons-fueled cliche to call KG "the league's greatest second banana," Garnett seems to make the most sense as an upgraded Shawn Marion, or the rightful heir to Scottie Pippen. If you don't believe me, look no further than the patchwork Wolves team that made the Western Finals. It worked only because there were two ballsy vets around to step in and take charge.

Dirk Nowitzki: This one is a lot easier. This past spring had a major effect on the way I view Dirk. His MVP was great and all, but the Warriors series exposed a lot of Nowitzki's weaknesses. My selection of Melo galled a lot of readers; I know that Anthony has his problems, but he's younger, and when it comes to offense, has an iron will where Dirk is fickle. It's also worth noting that Nowitzki has now been the centerpiece of two very different teams--neither of which suffered for a lack of depth--and both have lacked that final step of determination. In fact, he was at his best when Dallas was a more balanced Big Three team. Alongside Steve Nash and Michael Finley, Dirk could put in work without being asked to do it all.

The Summer of Answers takes on every NBA question you've ever wanted to ask ... such as, "Which player would you build a franchise around?"

How many athletes can genuinely shut down the sports world in a second's time? Kobe Bryant has done it twice -- when he dropped 81 points on Toronto two winters ago and when he dropped a trade demand on the Lakers this June. You might as well change his middle name to Lovehimorhatehim; ballhog taunts and ever-clever rape 'jokes' will follow him til his jersey hangs. But really, is there any question Kobe is the best player in the universe? In a mass league-wide draft, would any team pass up Kobe at #1?

The Summer of Answers takes on every NBA question you've ever wanted to ask ... such as, "Which player would you build a franchise around?"

It's a no-brainer that LeBron James would end up on this list. Hell, it's probably a no-brainer that he'd be in the top two or three. The question is, though, how much can we still see the King as tantalizing potential? Will he get better, or are we closing in on the final product? LeBron is the stem cell research of franchise-building; his value depends on how much real basketball matter can be wrung out of him.

The Summer of Answers takes on every NBA question you've ever wanted to ask ... such as, "Which player would you build a franchise around?"

We've seen countless young players wilt under the pressure of being labeled "the next Michael Jordan." Grant Hill couldn't live up to it, Vince Carter has left fans wanting and Harold Miner (remember "Baby Jordan?") never deserved it in the first place. Some people think LeBron is worthy, though that doesn't quite fit as he's in the middle of creating his own legacy. To me, the one player who most resembles a modern-day MJ is Dwyane Wade.

It sounds trite and cliche, but he's simply a winner. He took an unheralded Marquette team to the Final Four in college and led the Heat to the second-round of the playoffs as a rookie. Once Shaq was on board, it took just two more tries to win a title, becoming the first of the celebrated class of 2003 to win a title (in the non-Darko division, at least).

The Summer of Answers takes on every NBA question you've ever wanted to ask ... such as, "Which player would you build a franchise around?"

You could make a 'Tim Duncan for MVP' case every season this decade. (He has two such trophies.) Not only has The Big Fundamental made the playoffs every season of his career, he's been the Spurs' best player on both ends of the floor every single campaign. Ten seasons of hard work, four rings, three Finals MVPs. This dude craps gold. But, as you may have heard... he's kind-of a dork. Dorks don't sell merchandise, unfortunately. But does it matter?