To get a superstar in the NBA Draft a team has to get lucky more than once. Not only does the team have to land the number one pick, but do it in a year when there is an obvious superstar to draft. The Detroit Pistons are hoping this is exactly what happened this year with Cade Cunningham.
Cunningham is a 6-foot-8 point guard who can score from all over, defend and has all of the intangibles to be a superstar in the NBA.
Cunningham has been compared to everyone from Penny Hardaway to Grant Hill, and it makes sense, as he has the size and skill set to be a similar talent.
The Cunningham hype train is real, but where does it stand compared to some of the other number one campaigns we’ve seen over recent years?
I went back to 2010 to rank every number one pick. These rankings are based on the prospects play entering the NBA and the amount of hype they received, not necessarily how their careers turned out.
So where does Cade Cunningham stand among recent number one picks?
NBA Draft: Ranking number one picks: 12-11
#12-Anthony Bennett, 2013
Anthony Bennett is known as one of the biggest draft busts of all time, so it’s not surprising to find him last on this list. Bennett came out in a year without a consensus number one but no one thought it would be him. He had no hype, and the pick was immediately questioned. This was the worst draft of the decade by far and it shows with Bennett as the top pick.
#11-Markelle Fultz, 2017
One of a couple Philadelphia entries on the list, Fultz was another questionable #1 pick, as many thought Lonzo Ball or Jayson Tatum should be the top choice. It turns out the Celtics knew what they were doing as they got by far the best of the three, as Lonzo Ball is just ok and Fultz has barely played and is trying to overcome an extremely broken shot on his second team. The Process, folks!