NBA players that you thought could have been something but were busts

I know there are definitly alot,but the first name that comes to mind for me in Ron Mercer.
Ron seemed to have it all...size,skill and athlieticism(sp?).
But hes been pretty much a journeymen and is now injured.
I was excited when the Celtics picked him 6th? in 97 and thought he was gonna be similar to Reggie Lewis,well i was wrong...it happens :dunno:
Name some of your fav teams busts

Jerome Moiso.

BRYANT "BIG COUNTRY" REEVES. :lol:

Kwamie Brown

I would consider Brown a project. It'll take him some time to adjust. Sure he's no Lebron but i think in a few years, if he doesnt get injured alot, he'll be alright.

Bobby Hurley
Ed O'Bannon

BRYANT "BIG COUNTRY" REEVES. :lol:
He was not a bust, he was a very good player but the injuries destroyed his career

Toby Bailey.

I always thought he be a sure thing in the pros when he was at UCLA, he seemed to have everything.

I remember the chants of some team's fans at the draft (1996?) yelling "WE WANT ED" for Ed O'Bannon, and then booed when he wasn't picked by their team (it might have been Raptors fans when they picked Stoudamire, but I find that hard to beleive). I wonder what some of those people are doing today.

Eric Montross, Big Country (although injuries did play a big part) come to mind.

I bet Milwaukee thought Robert "Tractor" Traylor was gonna be something when they traded Dirk Nowitzki for him at the 1998 draft :lol .

Bobby Hurley

Bobby Hurley
But his talent didn't really hold him back, it was the bad car accident that he was in, after that it was down hill.

But his talent didn't really hold him back, it was the bad car accident that he was in, after that it was down hill.he was pretty mediocre from the start of his pro career, the accident was just the deathblow

edit: For some reason I thought the accident happened a few years into his playing days and not during his rookie year

Any Celtic draft pick of the last 15 years other than Pierce and Walker

Don't forget that trifecta they pulled in '01...

he was pretty mediocre from the start of his pro career, the accident was just the deathblow

edit: For some reason I thought the accident happened a few years into his playing days and not during his rookie year
And he was holding his own until the accident even if it was brief, in fact he would have been more like a Jason Williams but with more of pass first, shoot second mentality.

Bradely is who i think of. Toronto's pick! :shakehead

Any Celtic draft pick of the last 15 years other than Pierce and Walker

Don't forget that trifecta they pulled in '01...

The trifecta was Kedrick Brown,Joe Johnson and Joe FOrte right?
Of the 3 only Joe Johnson is good,cant believe they traded him in a package for 1/2 year of Rodney ROgers :shakehead
But i think they are starting to get it.....Tony Allen looks awesome,as does Al Jefferson(even Kendrick Perkins has a bit of upside IMO)

The trifecta was Kedrick Brown,Joe Johnson and Joe FOrte right?
Of the 3 only Joe Johnson is good,cant believe they traded him in a package for 1/2 year of Rodney ROgers :shakehead
But i think they are starting to get it.....Tony Allen looks awesome,as does Al Jefferson(even Kendrick Perkins has a bit of upside IMO)

Yeah, all of the three have been traded.
I love their rookies this year though. Big Al and Tony Allen are fun to watch, and give me some hope for the future(we just can't let Danny make any more "blockbuster" trades. I heard a Ricky Davis for Sprewell rumor last week that almost made me hang myself)

Bradely is who i think of. Toronto's pick! :shakehead
Damon Stoudamire isn't nearly as good as he was expected to be...

michael bradley... I saw potential in him.

Kwame Brown is not a bust, give him time.

Stacey King. Just imagine the Bulls of the 90s if he had panned out. He was amazing in college, too.

Stacey Rose. Just imagine the Bulls of the 90s if he had panned out. He was amazing in college, too.
Who? :dunno:

EDIT: Stacey King maybe?

Yep, that's him. Move along, folks, nothing to see here.

How about the UCLA Bruins team in the 90's? They were solid...

The O'Bannon brothers, Bailey etc... they were amazing and amounted to SHIZA

Jonathan Bender was a favourite of mine. I always thought he's be a superstar. He's nothing more than a good support player.

Mark Macon, or as Brent Musberger once called him the next Oscar Robertson.

:lol

I expected a bit more out of Acie Earl and I thought Othella Harrington would have been more than a role player

I thought Dajuan Wagner would be the next iverson.He hasn't panned out

Make that two!
He did score 100 points in HS.

lamar Odom

How about the UCLA Bruins team in the 90's? They were solid...

The O'Bannon brothers, Bailey etc... they were amazing and amounted to SHIZA

I knew Ed O was gonna bust. He wasn't even the best SF in the Pac 10 at the time, Lamond Murray was better (and I didn't even think Murray was going to be a good pro). Chris Mills was probably superior, too, because at least he had a pure shooting stroke to fall back on. I thought Ed was virtually identical to Donyell Marshall, but with less quickness.

I've been pretty good at is spotting potential busts at SG and SF. It's not anything in particular, it's just that certain players I'll watch and think that they lack, "oomph."

I guess the best way to describe "oomph" is the ability of a player to become practically unguardable when his game is on. I think that's a critical thing to have for a starting SG or SF in the NBA, and O'Bannon never had it. He scored in college on a lot of shots that he simply was never going to get against NBA defense.

I kind of had the same feeling about Toby Bailey, actually; I had absolutely no doubt that NBA defenders would totally lock that guy down. There was no way that guy had the explosiveness you need to get by quick guards, and he wasn't enough of a pure shooter to become a Reggie Miller.

The only guy from those teams who I thought had a real shot at a meaningful career was Tyus Edney, who had the quicks and ballhandling skills to contribute as a backup PG.

Yeah, all of the three have been traded.
I love their rookies this year though. Big Al and Tony Allen are fun to watch, and give me some hope for the future(we just can't let Danny make any more "blockbuster" trades. I heard a Ricky Davis for Sprewell rumor last week that almost made me hang myself)

Davis for Sprewell rumor :shakehead that would be god awful(although if Sprewell is not retained that clears the books of about 6$ per for the next 3-4 years)......
I would not be opposed to trading Paul Pierce(id rather have someone like Corey Maggette saving more then 5$ a year for the next 4 years or so,maybe even Micheal Redd)then using $ saved from Pierce and expiring contracts of Payton,Micheal Stewart,Tom Gugliotta and Rick Fox(over15$mil) and landing an All Star Big Man down low

And although Raef Lafrentz is grossly overpaid he fits in well in the East because he doesnt have to bang down low too much and his outside shot is better then i thought it was

J.R. Reid from North Carolina....
Billy Owens from Syracuse.....

lamar Odom

:dunno: Odom is an all star type player

Make that two!
He did score 100 points in HS.

Who?

J.R. Reid from North Carolina....
Billy Owens from Syracuse.....

Wow J.R. Reid.....i think his 15 minutes of fame was the Elbow he caught AC Green w/ that either ended or threatened to end Greens Iron Man Streak :teach:

Does Kenny Anderson rank as a bust, it's gotta be close at least.

Darko Milicic :joker:

Does Kenny Anderson rank as a bust, it's gotta be close at least.I think Kenny's had a decent career. He was a lottery pick, but he didn't crap his pants like a Chris Washburn or Joe Barry Carroll.

Originally posted by Dr Love Darko Milicic :joker: Talk about a guy on his way to being a bust, not that many of us Americans thought he would ever amount to anything. They (Detroit) passed on Carmelo, but it all worked out fine last year...

Although I didn't think he was going to be all-world, I thought that Cherokee Parks was going to be more productive than he ended up being. Same with Travis Mays - anyone remember him?

Does Kenny Anderson rank as a bust, it's gotta be close at least.

I dunno, he had some pretty decent years, and a long career. Most busts aren't still around 14 years after being drafted.

Though I guess with so many people calling him the greatest player ever to come out of NYC (apparently they never heard of that Alcindor guy), the expectations were pretty high, and he only turned out to be about average.

I think Kenny's had a decent career. He was a lottery pick, but he didn't crap his pants like a Chris Washburn or Joe Barry Carroll.


Joe Barry Carroll averaged 17.7 points a game for ten seasons, while he still is a bum, he is no more one than Kenny Anderson.

I dunno, he had some pretty decent years, and a long career. Most busts aren't still around 14 years after being drafted.

Though I guess with so many people calling him the greatest player ever to come out of NYC (apparently they never heard of that Alcindor guy), the expectations were pretty high, and he only turned out to be about average.
He was touted as the next great point guard, when the Nets drafted him with the 2nd pick in the draft all of New York area got excited, he was considered a no-miss superstar out here.

Who?
DaJuan Wagner.

Bobby Hurley


He was one of the best NCAA basketball players ever.

I believe he still has the assists record for NCAA.

He just didn't have an NBA body so it was never going to work for him. He also had a bad car accident which set him back quite a bit.

A few players that I really thought would dominate in the NBA were Ed O'Bannon, Larry Johnson, William Avery, Chris Porter, Bobby Hurley, Terrence Morris and Steve Logan. Many of them were hobbled by injuries but guys like Morris and Logan just never seemed to find a bit in the NBA. The original LJ was a surefire Hall of Famer if injuries didn't hurt his game...

Michael Olowokandi
Bryant Reeves
Antionio Daniels
Kwame Brown
Shareef Abdur-Rahim

Big Country was a huge bust, no exuses for that fat peice of ****.

I laughed when they drafted fat boy, and I laughed at the new conference when he signed that huge check for $60 Million, he ruined the Grizzlies in Vancouver.

Darko Milicic :joker:

Give me one reason he's a bust. Im not a Pistons fan. Milicic hasnt been coached well enough! He has tons and tons of potential. Brown is a veteran coach who prefers veterans. Picking Milicic was ironic because everyone knew he was a project and will take some time. He could have taken Anthony if needed scoring.
All in all, Milicic has all the tools to be amazing. Lack of coaching has lead to these assumptions. He will fit SUPER in a team like Charlotte or Toronto where we need talented big men.

Michael Olowokandi
Bryant Reeves
Antionio Daniels
Kwame Brown
Shareef Abdur-Rahim

Abdur-Rahim? Bust? Are you on crack?

He is simply a ' GOOD ' player who never played for a good team.

This thread was made for Ed O'Bannon.

DeSagana Diop.

Juwon Howard. Show a lot of promise in his first few years. I thought he was going to be the second coming of the Mailman, but he just fizzled out.

Antoine Jamison. He overshadowed Carter while at UNC, but never really became the star that I thought he would.

Oh and monster bertuzzi, I hope you were joking about Olowokandi. The guy had only played ball for two years before he was drafted. The NBA is not the place to hone your skills. Bibby should have gone first that year.

Here's a good read on Ed O'Bannon for people who don't know who he is. Link (http://espn.go.com/ncb/s/2000/1221/966195.html)

John Wallace, Scotty Thurman, Donald Williams, Harold Dean, Curtis Staples, Jimmy King, Conrad McCrae,...

Give me one reason he's a bust.
It was a joke.

Benoit Benjamin on the other hand...

Tim Thomas

Has all the natural talent in the world, but has never put it together. Ask any Knick fan how fed up they are with him.

A few players that I really thought would dominate in the NBA were Ed O'Bannon, Larry Johnson, William Avery, Chris Porter, Bobby Hurley, Terrence Morris and Steve Logan. Many of them were hobbled by injuries but guys like Morris and Logan just never seemed to find a bit in the NBA. The original LJ was a surefire Hall of Famer if injuries didn't hurt his game...

Johnson was dominate in Charlotte and ur right he would have been a HOFer for sure.He was still rather popular with his TV roles. Remember "Grand Mamma"

Correct me if I'm wrong, but couldn't you just say 'every player drafted under/by Larry Brown'? I have yet to see a young player develop under him. (Note: Iverson was drafted before he was in Philly).

Juwon Howard. Show a lot of promise in his first few years. I thought he was going to be the second coming of the Mailman, but he just fizzled out.

Antoine Jamison. He overshadowed Carter while at UNC, but never really became the star that I thought he would.

I would have to disagree this guy has had multiple 50 point games and is a star just not a superstar

Johnson was dominate in Charlotte and ur right he would have been a HOFer for sure.He was still rather popular with his TV roles. Remember "Grand Mamma"
Oh, he was definitely dominant in Charlotte... the guy put up 22 points, 10.5 boards and 4.5 assists a game back in 1992. It was just really disappointing to see injuries take their tole and end his career. He was ridiculously good in the Tarkanian days with UNLV...

theres much better canidates then say Antawn JAmison/Shareef Abdur Rahim/even Juwan Howard......
Ed O'Bannon is a really good example, how about Yinka Dare remember him :lol

Larry Johnson IMO was one of the most dangerous forwards in the game before he got hurt(personally i think he just didnt want to play anymore and lays around in a pool of money while surrounded by high class hoes)

Any Celtic draft pick of the last 15 years other than Pierce and Walker

Don't forget that trifecta they pulled in '01...

I'll take AL Jefferson and Kedric Perkins on my team any day..2 future studs in Boston

Jay Williams. Sucks that he got injured after 1 year; he could have been something special.

Ed O'Bannon is a really good example, how about Yinka Dare remember him :lol

Hmmm the other person who thought that stiff was going to be anything in the NBA was Willis Reed who drafted him and only God knows why. When we drafted him not one Net fan I knew thought it was a good pick, everybody knew he would sucked......minus Willis Reed.

I would have to disagree this guy has had multiple 50 point games and is a star just not a superstar

That's why I said "the star I thought he would"

Jerome Moiso. :shakehead

It always seems he doesn't want to play, there's an obvious lack of motivation and desire, in spite of what he says. :banghead:

Not a bust at all, but to be honest, Christian Laettner was a disappointment. He was taken #3 overall, and was one of the best NCAA players, certainly of the last 20 years. He's had a solid NBA career...but hasn't lived up to the hype of his days at Duke.