The Best and The Worst

Today my installment of "The Best and The Worst" NBA draft picks of all-time from 5th to 1st overall reaches the 3rd position. The 4th pick that I posted yesterday as I said was very difficult, the 3rd on the other hand, I was able to breeze right through. Don't forget to vote on the side for the best 1st pick of all-time. We all know who is going to be the best number 3 pick for this one so I am going to write about my number 2 instead. Let's get to it!

THE 3RD OVERALL PICK

BEST

1. Michael Jordan 1984 Chicago

2. Dominique Wilkins 1982 Utah - After drafting Wilkins in the 1982 Draft, Utah had no choice but to trade him because of financial situations. They knew that they were going to run into this problem but didn't realize how bad they would get screwed if they traded him. The Atlanta Hawks jumped at the opportunity once they knew of Utah's problem with Wilkins, so they gave the Jazz the best trade offer that was on their table and won the rights to Wilkins which ended up being the best thing for the city of Atlanta. A nine-time NBA All-Star and the winner of two NBA Slam Dunk Contests, Wilkins registered 26,668 points and 7,169 rebounds in his NBA career. His career points total ranks him ninth in career scoring, and he is one of just 14 players to total 25,000 points or more for a career. He is one of four players to have had their jerseys retired by the Hawks.

3. Pete Maravich 1970 Atlanta

4. Kevin McHale 1980 Boston

5. Carmello Anthony 2003 Denver

WORST

1. Chris Washburn 1986 Golden State - One of the top 3 recruits in high school (John Williams and Danny Manning) Washburn went to N.C. State to form one of the best recruiting classes the Wolfpack had ever had. He entered the NBA draft after his sophomore season and was pick only behind Brad Daugherty and Len Bias. He played 72 games over two seasons (one and a half with the Warriors and part of another with the Atlanta Hawks), averaging 3.1 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. He is widely considered to be one of the biggest busts in NBA draft history. Sports Illustrated named him the second-biggest NBA draft bust in 2005. Washburn was banned from the NBA for life in June 1989 after failing three drug tests in three years. By the mid-1990s, Washburn was still trying to scrape together a basketball career in various minor professional leagues.

2. Rick Robey 1978 Indiana

3. Darius Miles 2000 LA Clippers

4. Dennis Hopson 1985 New Jersey

5. Christian Laettner 1992 Minnesota

Other notables that were drafted in the 3rd slot were:

Marques Johnson, Anfernee Hardaway, Billy Owens, Grant Hill, Chauncey Billips, Rodney McCray, Mike Dunleavy, and Adam Morrison.