On Thursday, fans of the New York Knicks once again had their hopes thwarted while watching the NBA Draft Lottery. They have had little luck when involved, and that didn’t change this year as two teams jumped them which will have them picking eighth. According to Tankathon, they had a 75.6 percent chance of picking in the top-seven.

While eighth doesn’t sound bad, it would probably surprise you to know that nobody drafted at that spot has made an All-Star team since Vin Baker who was selected in 1993.

There’s been a few players who went on to have strong careers that were selected eighth since 2000, but there have also been a lot of disappointments.

Panned out

  • 2006 - Rudy Gay

Recently completing his 14th NBA season, Gay averaged at least 20 points per game twice and has scored 16,187 points in his career.

  • 2000 - Jamal Crawford

Along with Lou Williams, Crawford is the only other to have been named Sixth Man of the Year three times. He is 54th all-time with 19,419 career points and eighth with 2,221 made three-pointers.

Solid, but not spectacular

  • 2013 - Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

Still just 27 years old, Caldwell-Pope has averaged 11.6 points and 3.2 rebounds in 29.2 minutes per game through his first seven seasons.

  • 2012 - Terrence Ross

Ross was probably the closest to also being included in the panned out group as he has become one of the better sixth men in the league while with the Magic.

  • 2011 - Brandon Knight

Injuries unfortunately have started to derail Knight’s career as he played at a borderline All-Star level not too long ago in 2015-16 (averages of 19.6 points and 5.1 assists).

  • 2010 - Al-Farouq Aminu

Aminu has never been a top option on offense, but he has been in the starting lineup in 431 of his career 688 games.

  • 2005 - Channing Frye

Playing 13 seasons in the NBA, Frye was a key piece off the bench on the Cavaliers during their 2016 postseason run that resulted in a championship.

  • 2003 - T.J. Ford

Ford would have had a good chance to make the panned out grouping had back ailments not limited him to 429 games and last appearing in NBA action at the age of 28.

Busts

  • 2014 - Nik Stauskas

Stauskas didn’t play in the league in 2019-20 and for a guy who isn’t known for his defensive prowess whatsoever, career marks of a 38.9 field goal percentage and 35.3 percent from downtown aren’t going to cut it.

  • 2008 - Joe Alexander

If you blinked, you may have missed Alexander’s career in the NBA which spanned just 67 games (59 of which came in his rookie year). 24/7 Sports named his as the Bucks’ worst draft pick this century.

  • 2004 - Rafael Araujo

When a 6-11 center shoots just 40.5 percent from the field in 139 career games, well let’s just say Araujo definitely didn’t pan out.

  • 2001 - DeSagana Diop

While Diop’s 601 games in the NBA are more than the combined total of the three previously mentioned players, he averaged a grand total of two points per contest.

Maybe not a bust, but not very impactful

  • 2016 - Marquese Chriss

He’s started in 147 of his 256 games, but Chriss has yet to develop a reliable three-point shot, and the Suns were quick to give him away after just two seasons.

  • 2015 - Stanley Johnson

Johnson was given a chance to be a near full-time starter for Detroit in 2017-18, but he played just 150 total minutes for the Raptors this season.

  • 2009 - Jordan Hill

The Knicks traded Hill just 24 games into his rookie season, and he was out of the league by the age of 29. There would be no argument if you believe him or Stanley Johnson should be in the bust category.

  • 2007 - Brandan Wright

Wright did play 10 seasons in the NBA but struggled to remain healthy (played 428 games in 10 years) and never averaged 20 minutes per outing in a season.

  • 2002 - Chris Wilcox

In 2006-07 and 2007-08, Wilcox did combine to average 13.4 points and 7.4 rebounds, but he never averaged more than 8.6 points in any other season.

Jury is still out

  • 2019 - Jaxson Hayes

It was a fairly productive rookie year for Hayes who averaged 7.4 points (with a 67.2 field goal percentage) and 4.0 rebounds in 64 contests.

  • 2018 - Collin Sexton

While he’s still got work to do, Sexton showed improvement in his sophomore season averaging 20.8 points but had a not-so-great 1.2 assist-to-turnover ratio.

  • 2017 - Frank Ntilikina

While he’s got All-Defensive potential, he’s yet to establish himself on the offensive end (career 36.6 field goal, 31.1 three-point percentage through three seasons).
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