Which first overall pick had the least hype?
1) **Anthony Bennett – 2013 – Cleveland Cavaliers**
The 2013 draft class was pretty weak, but even then Bennett was projected as being 5-10 rather than first overall. People weren’t really expecting him to go first overall, notably Bill Simmons who had an interesting [reaction](https://twitter.com/clutchpointsapp/status/1328222061014044672?lang=en)
2) **LaRue Martin – 1972 – Portland Trailblazers**
The 1972 draft was a mess since teams were afraid that top prospect Bob McAdoo was heading to the ABA. Martin was a decent player on an abysmal Loyola team. The little buzz around him came from a major loss to Bill Walton and UCLA.
3) **Andrea Bargnani – 2006 – Toronto Raptors**
Bargnani put up mediocre stats in Europe but teams really were trying to find the next Dirk Nowitzki. Both Aldridge and Morrison were discussed as potential #1 overall picks.
4) **Chuck Share – 1950 – Boston Celtics**
Other than Paul Arizin who was going to be a territorial pick, the players with the most hype were guard Bob Cousy and forward Dick Schnittker. Most of the interest around stemmed from the fact that he was 6’11 making him the tallest player in the draft.
5) **Dwight Howard – 2004 – Orlando Magic**
A lot of people wanted Emeka Okafor who was more developed and had a great college career. Plus, he was an athletic high school kid coming in after a string of athletic high school kids who didn’t succeed like Kwame Brown, Eddy Curry or DeSagana Diop.
6) **Derrick Coleman – 1990 – New Jersey Nets**
This draft was seen as really weak because a lack of [impact](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/06/23/NBA-Draft-Lack-of-Impact-Players-Mark-the-1990-NBA-Draft/6415646113600/) players. Dennis Scott, Gary Payton, and Lionel Simmons all had a shot at going 1st. Coleman had a good career in college so I’m not so sure why teams were seemingly reluctant to take him.
by rahul_____raja
40 Comments
Anthony Bennett . As a die-hard college fan, I still remember seeing him get drafted and being shocked at how high he went. It never really made sense to me, but a lot of people were calling him a beast.
Also, the time period was right before NBA hoops had the social media platform it does now. I think that adds to a lot of the hype for these young guys
Probably Bennett. Michael Olowokandi should be on the list too.
hell no on Dwight, both he and Okafor were pretty well hyped.
Bennett HAS to be the least exciting #1 pick I’ve seen in my 20+ years following the league. I will never forget his quote in NBA 2k14 as a rookie was simply “Anthony Bennett: I Can Contribute”
He had basically none of the expectations of a usual #1 pick and failed to meet the lowest of low bars.
Joe Smith
It’s Bennett. When the reaction to him getting drafted was “WOAH” it says a lot
Dwight? Consensus (Naismith, Gatorade, Parade, etc) national player of the year Dwight? McDonald’s All American MVP Dwight? The man child with a chiselled 7 foot frame, crazy athleticism and untapped potential Dwight? That guy wasn’t hyped?
Ayton in recent years
As a Cavs fan the Bennett pick still hurts
I remember Ant got basically no hype, everyone was talking about us trading back.
Derrick Coleman was pretty well-hyped coming out of college.
Anthony Edwards had absolutely no hype. But that can be mostly put down to 2020 pandamic stuff I would guess. No one was really hyped in that draft
What’s Dwight doing on this list? Were you even old enough to remember what Dwight looked like in high school and what he was doing?
The 2006 draft was special because it was the first year where high schoolers couldn’t go to the pros, had they been allowed to the consensus top two picks would’ve been Oden then Durant, even in 2006.
Bill Simmons famous WOAH was the only brow raising reaction about Bennett as a number one pick lol
The Dwight disrespect
Why are you trying to act like you know how much hype Dick Schnittker was getting in 1950. People did have pretty high hopes for Coleman, even though he turned into an all-star he was seen by a lot of people as a guy that wasted his talent
1950 is incorrect, Chuck Share was very highly regarded at the time of the draft. Every team except the Knicks had him as the top player on their draft board.
Eddy Curry, athletic?
I remember Bargnani was pretty hyped and had a lot or expectations as being the next Dirk.
Glenn Robinson
Dick Schnittker
DICK SCHNITTKER
**DICK SCHNITTKER**
#**DICK SCHNITTKER**
The Warriors drafted Joe Smith long ago.
Olawakandi
Was Andrew Bogut hyped up?
David Stern is fucking awesome in that first clip, taking a long-ass pause before announcing the Bennett pick and egging on the crowd to boo him more. I miss that dude. The NBA was so much better when he was in charge.
03 was definately meh, don’t Think anyone was playing attention there
Bennett is definitely number but Primo Pasta was a bust from the second his name was called
Absolutely nobody was excited about that pick
Kenyon Martin in 2000: Am I a joke to you?
Theres no way you have Dwight HOward on this list over Kenyon Martin.
He was a good player, but the 2000 draft was just awful and everyone knew it
I see the article, but I’m not sure Coleman belongs on this list. He may not have been Duncan/Anthony Davis level, but I recollect him being a pretty coveted pick. Definitely no less hyped than Bogut/Kenyon Martin/Olowakandi.
The 2013 Draft was complete and utter garbage so I don’t blame Cleveland too much here. The best player taken in the top 10 ended up being CJ McCollum who was taken 10th and was never in consideration for being the top pick. Oladipo may have ended up being the best in the top 10 had injuries not derailed his career. Cleveland wasn’t wow’d by anyone in the top picks, nor should they have been, and took a swing and miss on Bennett.
The best players in the first round ended up being Giannis and Gobert, both foreign players that were not on the top of the board for almost anyone. Giannis was playing in the Greek 2nd Division at the time averaging under 10 points per game.
The best player taken in the second round ended up being Mike Muscala. That’s how little depth there was. Seth Curry, Robert Covington and Mathew Dellavedova were notable undrafted players, all of whom ended up being better than anyone in the second round and a lot of the first round as well.
Michael Olowakandi out of the University of Pacific . I was right down the highway from where he played and there wasn’t much hype there either.
Anthony Edwards is an honorable mention. Pandemic shortened year meant most people didn’t watch him, a lot of people wanted Lamelo #1, and seemingly everything coming out about him was negative
> DeSagana Diop
Diop is one of the best examples of being picked based on size alone. This is a quote from his High School Coach in the book The Jump about Sebastian Telfair:
> “DeSagna got $2.69 million for his fourth year alone,” Smith said. “He had them all fooled; they all thought he was the next Shaq. Two years before DeSagana was drafted, he couldn’t make a left-handed layup. He had no upper-body strength and didn’t run the floor well. He didn’t even average 10 points a game for me as a senior. He beat the system.
Picked by the Cavs as the 8th pick. Crazy how he was scouted by NBA scouts and drafted that high.
https://books.google.com/books?id=z4f0h3lrgXoC&pg=PA119&lpg=PA119&dq=DeSagana+Diop+high+school+coach+couldn%27t+make+a+layup&source=bl&ots=6qHHLV0tGS&sig=ACfU3U09qvutiImXN47-wJTvWssCFoyTfw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiy-uKD1cr8AhXSHjQIHe5RBfEQ6AF6BAgwEAM#v=onepage&q=DeSagana%20Diop%20high%20school%20coach%20couldn't%20make%20a%20layup&f=false
Bennett draft was a bad draft overall . Would it have been better if they took Nerlens Noel for example ? Not a lot of good choices
I don’t have anything nice to say, so I’m just gonna keep quiet. Lol.
Andrew bogut?
Brad Daughtery – 1986 – Cleveland. He was a solid NBA player for years but not a super exciting player by any means.
I remember Ayton was pretty low hyped as well. There was a lot of talk of others going before him, and I think the general reaction from commentators was shock that he got drafted in the position he did. It was a few years ago, but that one comes to mind
What was the hype around Kwame Brown like? For anyone who really remembers that draft, I was a little young.
He was ranked 6 in his recruiting class, came right out of high school so I’d imagine him going #1 was a pretty big surprise. Feels a little like an Anthony Bennet situation, although obviously he managed a pretty long career as a backup.
EDIT: Looking back at NBADraft scouting report he was rated 10/10 in Athleticism, Size, Quickness, and Potential and his pro comparison was KG (lol). So obviously he was pretty hyped by some at least