NBA’s Biggest Draft Lottery Losers

The NBA draft is just three days away. And while the NBA draft may only produce about a dozen or so solid NBA players per year, it is notorious for being loaded with talent at the top of the draft. Teams that win the lottery and select in the top three usually have the chance to add a difference maker to their team that can help to make them significantly more competitive the following year.

But as Billy Bob Thornton says in "Bad Santa," "They can't all be winners, kid."

With that in mind, let's take a look back at some of the worst draft picks since the NBA started using the lottery format in 1985.

Worst 1st Pick: Kwame Brown (2001)

Career stats: 7.0 points per game, 5.6 rebounds, .7 blocks

Drafted by the Washington Wizards and then team president Michael Jordan in 2001, Kwame Brown is the definition of a draft day bust. The first player ever drafted number one overall straight out of high school, Brown has disappointed teammates, coaches, and fans alike for nearly a decade now.

Averaging double figure points just in one season of his eight year NBA career, Brown's career 7.0 points per game average is the lowest scoring average of any first overall draft pick in NBA history.

Brown has made a career of wearing out his welcome wherever he plays. Things got so bad during his tenure in Washington that the Wizards played a video before the start of a game in which Gilbert Arenas instructed the fans not to boo Brown when he entered the game.

Career "highlight": Was once nearly arrested for throwing a 2x2 foot chocolate cake at a fan posing for a picture with teammate Ronny Turiaf.

Worst 2nd Pick: Darko Milicic (2003)

Career stats: 5.5 points per game, 4.2 rebounds, 1.2 blocks

Used primarily as a human victory cigar during his rookie season in 2004 while the other Pistons were grinding out the franchise's first NBA title in 14 years, Darko was touted as a project by team president Joe Dumars.

Six seasons later, we are still waiting to see any signs of life from Darko.

He's started less than 100 games in his career, has yet to average more than 8 points per game for an entire season, and found himself as a backup center on a 24-win Memphis Grizzlies team this season.

What makes the Darko pick even worse is that the Pistons passed on Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh to select Milicic second overall. All three have gone on to be NBA All-Stars and Olympic gold medalists.

Hey, at least he's got a ring.

Career "highlight": Once ripped his jersey in half in a fit of rage over a foul call.

Worst 3rd overall pick: Adam Morrison (2006)

Career Stats: 8.7 points per game, 2.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists

Michael Jordan strikes again. While there may still be plenty of time left in Morrison's career to prove me wrong about making him the worst third overall pick in the lottery era, he's got a lot of work to do.

After an okay rookie campaign in which he scored 11.8 points per game and earned a place on the all-rookie second team, Morrison's career has taken a drastic turn for the worse. He missed all of the 2007-08 season after tearing his ACL in a preseason game.

Morrison was shipped out of Charlotte midway through this his third NBA season, where he spent the remainder of the year buried deep on the Lakers bench, failing to be made active for any of the Lakers' 23 playoff games.

And unless the Lakers let Trevor Ariza get away in free agency and Phil Jackson falls out of love with Luke Walton, Morrison doesn't figure to be in the plans for the Los Angeles Lakers any time soon.

Hey, at least he's got a ring.

Career "highlight": This commercial for NBA Live '07 where he promises to make players cry when he gets to the NBA.

Worst 4th Pick: Marcus Fizer (2000)

Career Stats: 9.6 points per game, 4.6 rebounds

Fizer was named First Team All-American in 2000 while playing for Iowa State and was selected fourth overall by the Chicago Bulls in the 2000 draft.

In 2006, he was named the MVP ... of the D-League.

Fizer played in just 289 games during his disappointing five-year NBA career. Unable to catch on with any NBA teams for anything more than a 10-day contract despite his D-League success, Fizer packed his bags and headed overseas to finish out his playing days.

Career "highlight": Has over 30 tatoos, highlighted by a giant question mark on his neck that pretty much sums up his entire NBA career.

Worst 5th Pick: Nikoloz Tskitishvili (2002)

Career Stats: 2.9 points per game, 1.9 rebounds

Tskitishvili may just be the greatest "workout player" of all-time. He so impressed the Suns in a pre-draft workout that the decided to select him fifth overall. Later in his career, he impressed the Timberwolves during a summer workout and signed with the team as a free agent. He was waived after five games.

Career "highlight": Has the dubious distinction of being the worst foreign born NBA lottery pick of all-time.

Worst 6th pick: Robert "Tractor" Traylor (1998)

Career stats: 4.8 points per game, 3.7 rebounds

As if his career stats weren't enough to put "Tractor" on this list, his bust status is multiplied by the fact that he was traded on draft night for future hall of famer and MVP Dirk Nowitzki. Traylor lasted seven unimpressive seasons in the NBA before finally eating himself out of the league in 2005.

Career "highlight": Was at the center of the University of Michigan scandal that caused the school to forfeit games and made them ineligible for postseason play for two seasons.

Worst 7th pick: Roy Tarpley (1986)

Career stats: 12.6 points per game, 10 rebounds

Averaging a double-double for his career should make him exempt for this list. Hell, he even won the Sixth Man of the Year Award in 1988.

No, it's not his on the court play that lands Tarpley on this list. He's the worst seventh overall pick in the lottery era because of what he did off the court. Tarpley was given a lifetime ban not once, but twice for repeatedly violating the league's substance abuse policy.

Career "highlight": Successfully sued the Dallas Mavericks for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by not reinstating him to their roster once he was treated for his addiction.

Worst 8th overall pick: Bo Kimble (1990)

Career stats: 5.5 points per game, 1.5 rebounds

Appearing in just 105 games in his NBA career, Kimble is on the long list of disappointing high draft picks for the Los Angeles Clippers. After averaging 33 points per game in his senior season at Loyola Marymount, Kimble was thought to be a can't-miss prospect heading into the draft. As it turns out, missing was about the only thing Bo was capable of, shooting just 38% from the field over his NBA career, compared to a career 48% in college.

Career "highlight": Collected over $5 million from the New York Knicks over a four-year span despite playing only nine games for the team.

Worst 9th overall pick: Rodney White (2001)

Career stats: 7.2 points per game, 2.2 rebounds, 1.1 assists

Joe Dumars strikes again. Dumars said after the draft that he was so confident in White's ability that he would have taken him with the first overall pick if he had it. White lasted just four seasons in the NBA, played for three different teams, and started just 21 games in his career. White would continue his journeyman career overseas, where he played for six teams in four years before finally retiring in 2008.

Career "highlight": Was part of the trade the sent Allen Iverson to the Denver Nuggets.

Worst 10th overall pick: Luke Jackson (2004)

The Cavs had a chance to select Al Jefferson or Josh Smith with this pick in '04; instead they opted to try to surround LeBron James with a shooter. What they got was a player who would play in just 73 NBA games during his four-year career and make just 32 threes in that span.

Career "highlight": Played in the 2009 D-League All-Star Game.