How Many Lottery Picks From the Last 10 Years Are No Longer in the NBA?

From Greg Oden to Anthony Bennett, there are quite a few lottery picks from the last 10 years who are no longer playing in the NBA.

Anthony Bennett is drafted in 2013.
Getty

Image via Getty/Mike Stobe/Stringer

Anthony Bennett is drafted in 2013.

Just about all of the superstars in the NBA today are former NBA Draft lottery picks. From LeBron James (No. 1 to the Cavaliers in 2003) to Kevin Durant (No. 2 to the SuperSonics in 2007) to Russell Westbrook (No. 4 to the SuperSonics in 2008) to James Harden (No. 3 to the Thunder in 2009) to Steph Curry (No. 7 to the Warriors in 2009), most of the league’s major stars—minus Kawhi Leonard, who just missed being a lottery pick in 2011 when he went 15th overall to the Pacers before being traded to the Spurs—were taken with one of the top 14 picks in their respective drafts.

So it’s easy to see why teams like the Suns, Lakers, 76ers, Magic, and Timberwolves are excited about the NBA Draft lottery that’s set to take place on Tuesday night. If the ping-pong balls bounce the right way, one of those teams—or hell, all of those teams, depending on how strong you think the 2017 draft class is—could land a franchise player during the NBA Draft in June. Those teams have every reason in the world to feel a sense of optimism right now.

But just how optimistic should they be? The success rate for NBA lottery draft picks seems to change from year to year, depending on the draft class and who is picking at the top of the lottery. But to get a very general idea of how well lottery picks perform once they enter the league, we decided to take a look back at the last 10 drafts to see which lottery picks from the last 10 years are no longer in the NBA.

To their credit, most NBA teams appear to be doing surprisingly well when it comes to drafting because there aren’t that many lottery picks that have flamed out altogether over the last decade. But this lists proves that simply getting a lottery pick doesn’t necessarily guarantee success. These are the players that, for one reason or another, didn't last in the NBA.

2007:

Greg Oden.

Greg Oden
Drafted: No. 1 by the Trail Blazers
Career Stats: 8.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, 0.5 assists
Total Seasons Played: 3

Yi Jianlian
Drafted: No. 6 by the Bucks
Career Stats: 7.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 0.7 assists
Seasons Played: 5

Acie Law
Drafted: No. 11 by the Hawks
Career Stats: 3.9 points, 1.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists
Seasons Played: 4

Julian Wright
Drafted: No. 13 by the Hornets
Career Stats: 3.9 points, 2.3 rebounds, 0.8 assists
Seasons Played: 4

Al Thornton
Drafted: No. 14 by the Clippers
Career Stats: 11.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists
Seasons Played: 4

2008:

O.J. Mayo.

O.J. Mayo
Drafted: No. 3 by the Timberwolves
Career Stats: 13.8 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists
Seasons Played: 8

Joe Alexander
Drafted: No. 8 by the Bucks
Career Stats: 4.2 points, 1.8 rebounds, 0.7 assists
Seasons Played: 2

Jason Thompson
Drafted: No. 12 by the Kings
Career Stats: 8.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists
Seasons Played: 8

Anthony Randolph
Drafted: No. 14 by the Warriors
Career Stats: 7.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 0.7 assists
Seasons Played: 6

2009:

Hasheem Thabeet.

Hasheem Thabeet
Drafted: No. 2 by the Grizzlies
Career Stats: 2.2 points, 2.7 rebounds, 0.1 assists
Seasons Played: 5

Jonny Flynn
Drafted: No. 6 by the Timberwolves
Career Stats: 9.2 points, 1.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists
Seasons Played: 3

Terrence Williams
Drafted: No. 11 by the Nets
Career Stats: 7.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists
Seasons Played: 4

Tyler Hansbrough
Drafted: No. 13 by the Pacers
Career Stats: 6.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, 0.4 assists
Seasons Played: 7

Earl Clark
Drafted: No. 14 by the Suns
Career Stats: 4.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, 0.5 assists
Seasons Played: 6

2010:

Ekpe Udoh.

Ekpe Udoh
Drafted: No. 6 by the Warriors
Career Stats: 4.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, 0.7 assists
Seasons Played: 5

Xavier Henry
Drafted: No. 12 by the Grizzlies
Career Stats: 5.7 points, 1.9 rebounds, 0.6 assists
Seasons Played: 5

2011:

Jan Vesely.

Jan Vesely
Drafted: No. 6 by the Wizards
Career Stats: 3.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 0.6 assists
Seasons Played: 3

Jimmer Fredette
Drafted: No. 10 by the Bucks
Career Stats: 6.0 points, 1.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists
Seasons Played: 5

2012:

Kendall Marshall.

Kendall Marshall
Drafted: No. 13 by the Suns
Career Stats: 5.0 points, 1.6 rebounds, 4.9 assists
Seasons Played: 4

2013:

Anthony Bennett.

Anthony Bennett
Drafted: No. 1 by the Cavaliers
Career Stats: 4.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, 0.5 assists
Seasons Played: 4

2014:

Andrew Wiggins.

All players selected in the 2014 NBA Draft are still in the league.

2015:

Karl-Anthony Towns.

All players selected in the 2015 NBA Draft are still in the league.

2016:

Ben Simmons.

All players selected in the 2016 NBA Draft are still in the league.

Lottery Losses

NBA Draft lottery.

As you can see, 20 of the 140 lottery picks selected over the course of the last 10 years have seen their NBA careers come to an end. That means that about 14 percent of the players picked with the top 14 selections over the last decade are no longer playing for an NBA team. And while that number isn’t necessarily as high as we might have guessed, it does prove that "winning" the NBA Draft lottery is only going to be one part of the battle for the 14 teams who will gather to see where they will land in the lottery on Tuesday night. Good luck—you guys are going to need it.

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