NBA Draft: Ranking the last 11 NBA Drafts by the #1 pick

#9-2016 Draft

The top three of this draft, Ben Simmons, Brandon Ingram, and Jaylen Brown, all have had very good NBA careers thus far. Simmons has had his struggles, that’s to be sure, but compared with anyone else in the conversation of going first overall he’s the best option.

With a solid top three, owning the first pick wasn’t actually that big of a deal. None of the players mentioned are a generational talent or even the first option on their team. Talent was found, but drafting first didn’t matter too much.

#8-2020 Draft

LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards will be very good players, and it’s too early to say with James Wiseman. However, with the exception of Jalen Smith at pick ten, Aaron Nesmith at 14, and Josh Green at pick 18, all of the top 21 picks have made some immediate positive impact on their team.

That’s not to say that Devin Vassell and Anthony Edwards are equally good talents, it just goes to show that there were plenty of good, solid options.  Picking first overall was honestly more about fit. If the Timberwolves didn’t have Karl-Anthony Towns and DeAngelo Russell, I think they would have taken Ball or Wiseman instead. If a team is drafting for fit, it’s a good indicator that the pick isn’t all that valuable.

#7-2018 Draft

No one now thinks that Dendre Ayton was the best option, and absolutely no one thinks Marvin Bagley was a good pick up by Sacramento, but it’s the Kings, so what did we expect?

Jaren Jackson Jr has been steadily improving, but Luka Doncic and Trae Young are clearly the two best players from the draft, the leaders of the “new generation” of NBA players. Had the Suns drafted better, this pick would rank higher.

The Suns, like the Wolves this past year, drafted for fit. They had Devin Booker, they needed a big man to offer support. They found a really good one, but again, drafting for fit shows the pick is less valuable.