1947

Original pick: Clifton McNeeley (did not play)

This selection has got to be very high on the list of the worst picks in the history of professional basketball. I mean, you have four future Hall of Famers and six future all-stars, and you end up selecting someone that ended up not playing a single minute for you. Granted, 58% of the players selected ended up not playing at all, if that makes it any better.

Now that I'm done with my rant, let's talk about why Gallatin deserves the first overall pick. He ended up becoming a Hall of Famer and had the most all-star selections (seven) and Win Shares (78.4) of anyone in this class. He also is the only player in this draft to have averaged a double-double throughout his career, with 13 PPG, and 11.9 RPG. And if all of that wasn't enough, he did this while shooting at a 40% clip, which was third in the draft. The league average throughout Gallatin's career was 37%. The only thing that would hold him back would be the fact that he never got that ring.

Original pick: Glen Selbo (3.2 PPG, 1.8 APG, -0.2 WS throughout career)

This is another bad pick. I don't know how else to put it. It was certainly an upgrade from the first selection, but, once again, to have a pick where you could take four future Hall of Famers and then walk out with a player that barely played, and was a negative when he did play, has to be somewhat demoralizing. Props to Glen for actually going out there and playing though.

The gap between Gallatin and Pollard is microscopic. Despite only playing seven seasons, Pollard racked up many accolades. He is a Hall of Famer, made four All-NBA/BAA teams (along with four all-stars), and, most importantly, gathered five rings. Pollard was a great defender, but after his rookie season, he collected just 1.5 OWS. That means Pollard had little to no offensive impact outside of his rookie season, where he had nearly four times what he had his other six years, with 5.3 OWS.

Original pick: Bulbs Ehlers (8.1 PPG, 1.8 APG, 3 WS throughout career)

I'm not going to bash the C's too much for this pick, and not just because they're my team. Like I've said in the previous two selections, you obviously could've walked out with a future Hall of Famer, but if you were to tell me that I'd have the third pick in the draft and select a better player than both the first and second picks, I'd be happy 100% of the time. Again, not an amazing selection or anywhere near it, but it wasn't terrible. (Still pretty bad though)

Andy Phillip might just be my favorite player in this class. I like guys that have a unique style of play. And, at the time, Andy met that description quite well. He led the league in APG three times in a row, breaking the previous record each time. In addition to being an amazing facilitator, he played great defense, having the most DWS of anyone in this class. Mr. Phillip also holds a lot of accolades. He is in the Hall of Fame, is a five-time all-star, two-time All-NBA, and got his well-deserved ring. What prevents him from being higher is that he wasn't as good a scorer or rebounder as either of the guys above him are.

Original pick: Walt Dropo (did not play)

This is yet another bad pick. There is not much more to say that I haven't already said on this page. So I'll leave it at that.

Despite missing two years of his prime ('51 and '52, when he was 23-25) due to military service, Braun ended up becoming one of the only players in Professional Basketball history to be undrafted and make it to the Hall of Fame. He also was a five-time all-star, two-time All-BAA/NBA, and NBA champion. Braun also had the second most WS out of this group, with 64.3. He would be higher if, as mentioned above, he had played those two seasons. His defense was also not extraordinary, so that played a role in the placement.

Original pick: Dick Holub (10.5 PPG, 0.8 APG, 4.2 WS throughout career)

This was statistically the best selection of the top 18 picks. Interpret that how you want to.

The accolades don't tell the whole story about Red. They aren't bad, (two-time all-star, NBA Champ) but he was much better than that. He could score, he could defend, he could rebound, and he even averaged 2 APG over his career, which was a rarity for a big back then. Red also shot pretty efficiently (37% when the league average was 35.5%). He did just about everything at a high level. If I had to say a hole in his game, it would probably be the rebounding. 6.6 per game when you're one of the tallest people on the court is not great. But that is a flawed stat, as it wasn't counted for the first three years of his career. He also is not in the HOF, unlike the guys above him.

Original pick: Chink Crossin (4.7 PPG, 1.5 APG, 3.7 WS throughout career)

Bro, the fact that this was the third-best pick out of the whole first two rounds says something about how much we have improved as a league in selecting. Sure, you still have the occasional busts, and you still have the Sacramento Kings, but generally, the NBA has evolved in the selecting department.

There is a significant dropoff between Rocha and Calhoun. I don't think you could say he was exceptional at any one thing, but he did everything decently. He played good defense, he could rebound, and he could facilitate (especially towards the end of his career). His shooting was iffy. He was a good shooter for his first two years, but then something fell apart. His FG+ was 111 in his second season (very good), and then dropped down to 97, which is slightly below average, and then fell again to just 86.

Original pick: Jack Underman (did not play)

Another wasted pick.

Hoffman had a wild rookie year, winning ROTY and getting a ring while averaging 10.5 PPG on great shooting, (123 FG+/34.8%) but ultimately, his heart condition got the better of him. He missed two seasons because of it and faced pretty heavy regression after his first two seasons. He was always a great scorer, averaging over 10 PPG for his career, which was somewhat of a rarity back then and was very close to the top 10 in PPG in the 1950 season, with 14.4. He just could never reach the level he was at in his rookie season ever again.

Original pick: Paul Huston (3.6 PPG, 0.6 APG, 1.2 WS throughout career)

I've given up on talking about these garbage picks.

Chick had a very short career, just three years, but was very accomplished over that short period. He won the championship in his first season and collected 13.2 WS over his career, which is an average of 4.4 per year. It's hard to stay in the league much longer than three years when you are 33 as a rookie. He was a great scorer and shot well from the field, averaging 10.4 on 32.1% shooting for his career (league average was 31.7%).

Original pick: Dick O'Keefe (5.2 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 1.7 WS throughout career)

The description of this original selection is in his name.

Barksdale also had a short career but made the most of it. He averaged 11, 8, and 2 over his career and was also selected to an all-star game. There are many positives about this man's career, including how he made it to the HOF (as a contributor, as he was the first African American ever in the NCAA👏) So how'd he end up this low? Well, his defense wasn't great and he wasn't an amazing shooter. If you compare his shooting numbers to the other people in this class, they are great, but when you compare them with people that played the same time as him, they aren't.

Original pick: Larry Killick (did not play)

😭

Another very short career. This time, just two years. Hargis's rookie season was outstanding, averaging 10.7 on amazing shooting (40.5%, 119 FG+) and playing great defense. His next year, though, he played less than half the games he did in his rookie year and everything took a drop. His defense dropped, his scoring dropped, his assist numbers dropped, and his shooting dropped (still good, but not at the same level; 37.8%, 106 FG+.) But his rookie season was just that good. Even if he only played another less than half a season. Even if he would never reach that level again, he still should've been a first-round pick.