The Worst Draft Mistakes In Brooklyn Nets History

The Brooklyn Nets have been a member of the NBA since the ABA/NBA merger in 1976. Their first official season in existence in the NBA was the 1976-77 season. After selling the rights to Julius Erving to the 76ers, The Nets had to start from scratch as an NBA franchise right out of the gate. Who would be their next star? Who could possibly lead them to their first NBA championship? Well, 46 seasons later, through new management and personnel, the Brooklyn Nets are still trying to answer that question.

In order to be in a 46-year championship drought, there had to have been more than a few mistakes along the way. There were also great decisions that led to near championships in 2002 and 2003 but far more mistakes and letdowns in team history. Today, we will go through the mistakes the Nets organization has made through the NBA Draft over the years. These moves could have possibly led to more than one championship in team history instead of years and years of misery. 

These are the worst mistakes in Brooklyn Nets’ history.

Mike O’Koren (1980 NBA Draft) – 6th Overall Pick

Better Available Picks: Kiki Vandeweghe – 11th Overall Pick

The first time that the Nets missed a draft pick came in their 4th year as an organization. The Nets selected 6’7’’ small forward Mike O’Koren out of North Carolina. O’Koren performed well over the first two seasons with the Nets and averaged over 11.0 PPG in both 1981 and 1982. However, instead of taking a 3rd year leap, O’Koren fell off a cliff battling injuries throughout the rest of his career. He would play 9 total seasons with the Nets from 1981 through 1988 and 1 season with the Bullets in 1987. O’Koren finished his career with averages of 8.2 PPG and 3.4 RPG.

Looming just 5 picks later was Kiki Vandeweghe. Kiki Vandeweghe would go on to become a key member of the run-and-gun Denver Nuggets of the 80s that featured Alex English and Dan Issel. For 7 straight seasons from 1982 through 1988, Vandeweghe was a consistent 20.0 PPG scorer and a back-to-back All-Star in 1983 and 1984. Would the move have helped them win a title? Most likely not, but they certainly could have used Vandeweghe’s stellar production over this time.

Dennis Hopson (1987 NBA Draft) – 3rd Overall Pick

Better Available Pick: Scottie Pippen – 5th Overall Pick

The 1987 NBA Draft was filled with NBA talent. The one draft move could have changed NBA history if the Nets has chose to take a chance on Scottie Pippen this year. Instead, They chose to go with Dennis Hopson out of Ohio State. Hopson would play the first 3 seasons of his career in New Jersey with the Nets and peak at 15.8 PPG in 1990. After his time in New Jersey was done, Hopson was stuck on the bench in Chicago and Sacramento before retiring in 1992. Hopson went on to play several years of basketball overseas after his NBA career was through.

Just 5 picks later, the Seattle SuperSonics drafted Scottie Pippen. Now, Seattle would end up trading Pippen to the Bulls for Olden Polynice, and the rest is history. Maybe the Nets don’t pull the trigger on that trade if they select him at No. 3. Regardless of Jerry Krause’s relentless pursuit of the star, maybe the Nets hold onto him. Pippen would go on to win 6 NBA championships alongside Michael Jordan with the Bulls and would go down as the best No. 2 option in the history of basketball. The Nets could have easily used a championship cornerstone at this time, considering the selections they had coming up.

Chris Morris (1988 NBA Draft) – 4th Overall Pick

Better Available Pick: Mitch Richmond – 5th Overall Pick

The year just after missing out on Pippen, the Nets missed out on one of the best all-around scorers of the 1990s, Mitch Richmond. The Nets decided on Chris Morris, a 6’8’’ guard/forward out of Auburn University. Morris got off to a great start with the Nets, even being selected to the All-Rookie Team in 1989. He would play 7 seasons with the Nets and averaged 13.3 PPG and 5.7 RPG during his time there. The last 4 seasons of his career played out in obscurity with the Jazz and Phoenix from 1996 through 1999.

Richmond would be selected by the Golden State Warriors with the 5th pick. His addition formed one of the most exciting trios of the early 90s, Run TMC with Chris Mullin and Tim Hardaway. After his time with the Warriors was done, Richmond went on a 6-year tear between 1993 and 1998 that saw him selected to 6 straight All-Star Games. He was a consistent 21.0 PPG scorer from his rookie year through 1998 and averaged 22.0 PPG or better 7 times. Richmond on the Nets would have been allowed to tap into his polished offensive game earlier, and had it been alongside Pippen, it would have made for a championship contender.

Derrick Coleman (1990 NBA Draft) – 1st Overall Pick

Better Available Pick: Gary Payton – 2nd Overall Pick

At first glance, this doesn’t come off as much of a mistake. Derrick Coleman was an extremely skilled stretch power forward that could score at will. He was the NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 1991 and an All-Star in 1994. Coleman could give his team 20.0 PPG and 11.0 RPG at his peak. The thing is, his peak only lasted 2 years. By the end of his Nets tenure in 1995, it was clear to many that Coleman simply stopped putting any effort into basketball. He gained an enormous amount of weight, and his game fell off because of it.

Taken with the No. 2 overall selection was Gary Payton. The Glove went on to become one of the best point guards in NBA history and an absolute menace on the defensive side of the ball. He was the first point guard to ever win the Defensive Player of the Year award in 1996 and led the SuperSonics to the NBA Finals with Shawn Kemp the same season. For 9 straight seasons from 1995 through 2003, Payton averaged at least 19.0 PPG and 7.0 APG with the SuperSonics and earned 9 All-Star selections. This move would have given the Nets a trio to build around Payton, Richmond, and Scottie Pippen. If you ask me, that would have been a recipe for an NBA championship.

Kerry Kittles (1996 NBA Draft) – 8th Overall Pick

Better Available Pick: Kobe Bryant – 13th Overall Pick

To be fair, this is a pick that is completely regarded as a mistake due to hindsight. Kerry Kittles was one of the best players in the country when he came out of Villanova in 1996. He was widely considered to be on the same level as Ray Allen and Allen Iverson coming out of college, and a lottery pick was seen as a nice choice. He also helped the Nets reach 2 NBA Finals in his career in both 2002 and 2003. However, one of the players that defeated him in those NBA Finals was lurking below in the Draft and ended up being one of the best players to ever walk the earth.

The Nets chose to go with Kittles, a proven star at a high level, as opposed to a high school kid coming out of Pennsylvania named Kobe Bryant. Winning was the only option for Bryant as he went from that young and inexperienced kid to a global NBA icon. Bryant would win 5 championships with the Lakers and 2 Finals MVP awards. Along with his 1 MVP award, Bryant also has the most All-Defensive selections by a guard in NBA history. Bryant could have been the piece that put the Nets over the top in the 2000s, and maybe we are talking about them as one of the best dynasties ever.

Tim Thomas – (1997 NBA Draft) – 7th Overall Pick

Better Overall Pick: Tracy McGrady – 9th Overall Pick

Not only could the Nets have had a dominant trio in the early 90s, but they could have had a dominant duo in the latter part of the decade as well. The Nets selected Tim Thomas with the 7th overall pick in 1997, and he would never play a minute for them in the NBA. Thomas was traded to the 76ers in the deal that brought Keith Van Horn and Lucious Harris to the Nets. At his peak, Thomas averaged 15.8PPG and hauled in 4.8 RPG for the Knicks. Right below Thomas was a superbly-talented superstar in the making that would have changed things immensely for the Nets franchise.

With the 9th overall pick, the Toronto Raptors selected Tracy McGrady. Now McGrady wouldn’t ascend to superstar status until after he left Toronto in 2000-01. From there, McGrady would make 7 straight All-Star games with the Magic and Rockets. He won back-to-back scoring titles in 2003 and 2004 while having his team in constant playoff contention. Injuries and failures to get out of the first round of the playoffs hampered his career for the most part. If he had been selected by the Nets and played with Kobe Bryant, things could have gone down much differently.

Derrick Favors (2010 NBA Draft) – 3rd Overall Pick

Better Available Picks: DeMarcus Cousins – 5th Overall Pick

The final draft mistake in Nets history came from the 2010 NBA Draft. The Nets decided they needed a big man and decided on Derrick Favors out of Georgia Tech. Favors would appear in just 56 games for the Nets before being shipped to Utah in a deal that sent Deron Williams back to Brooklyn. The deal would pay off a bit, with Williams earning an All-Star bid in his first full season with the team. However, very little overall team success came with it.

Sitting just below Favors at No. 5 was the game’s best big man at his peak. DeMarcus Cousins became a statistical nightmare for opposing teams during his peak with the Kins. He averaged 27.0 PPG and 11.8 RPG in his best days with the Kings and earned 4 All-Star appearances overall. He would eventually succumb to Achilles injuries that derailed his career, but his peak was beyond special. Also lying in wait was Paul George at No. 10. We watched as a young George went toe-to-toe with the LeBron James-led Miami Heat during the early 2010s. His talent on both sides of the ball is undeniable and would have been an immense boost to the Nets’ playoff chances during this time.

Would These Picks Have Landed The Nets An NBA Championship?

Much like every team has during its history, the Brooklyn Nets have missed out on a lot of talent in their NBA Draft picks. First of all, there is no doubt that the Nets would have had a solid championship window in the late 80s and early 90s. Of course, this is assuming that these players they missed still became the players they are known as today with the Nets. A trio of Gary Payton, Mitch Richmond, and Scottie Pippen could have done some serious damage in the 90s, even being able to compete with Jordan’s Bulls and perhaps be even better.

They also missed out on continuing that championship runs as the previous one came to an end. Kobe Bryant became championship-driven during his career and one of the greatest players ever. If they had paired him with Tracy McGrady the following season and slid T-Mac to small forward, they could have been a dynasty. A duo of McGrady and Bryant is virtually unstoppable offensively and still a serious threat on defense. After adding Jason Kidd in 2003, this Nets team could have been the team of the 2000s rather than the Lakers. Moving forward, the Nets have a lot of work to do to still build a championship franchise. Now it is about hitting in the NBA Draft and building around their already established talent. 

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