Generational Prospects

[fpliii]

Which guys were hyped, prior to being drafted, as once-in-a-generation talents? By the strictest definition possible, I'd say (whatever that might be for you). Remember, this is based strictly on sentiment at the time/hype, not looking at guys in retrospect.

Here's the current list:

Generational Prospects

[code]1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959 - Wilt Chamberlain (agreed upon in 1955)
1960 - Oscar Robertson
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965 - Bill Bradley (?)
1966
1967
1968
1969 - Lew Alcindor
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974 - Bill Walton
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979 - Magic Johnson (?)
1980
1981
1982
1983 - Ralph Sampson
1984 - Hakeem Olajuwon (?)
1985 - Patrick Ewing
1986
1987 - David Robinson
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992 - Shaquille O’Neal
1993 - Chris Webber (?)
1994
1995
1996
1997 - Tim Duncan
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003 - LeBron James
2004
2005
2006
2007 - Greg Oden ; Kevin Durant (?)
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012 - Anthony Davis (?)
2013
2014
2015[/code]

Other Players Named:

[code]1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958 - Elgin Baylor (?) (first drafted in 1956)
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964 - Connie Hawkins (?)
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970 - Pete Maravich (?)
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975 - David Thompson (?)
1976
1977
1978 - Larry Bird (?)
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988 - Danny Manning (?) ; Len Bias (?)
1989
1990 - Derrick Coleman (?)
1991 - Kenny Anderson (?)
1992
1993 - Penny Haradaway (?)
1994 - Glenn Robinson (?) ; Jason Kidd (?) ; Grant Hill (?)
1995 - Kevin Garnett (?)
1996
1997
1998
1999 - Lamar Odom (?)
2000
2001
2002 - Yao Ming (?) ; Jay Williams (?)
2003 - Darko Milicic (?) ; Carmelo Anthony (?)
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008 - Derrick Rose (?) ; Michael Beasley (?) ; OJ Mayo (?)
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013 - Andrew Wiggins (?) ; Joel Embiid (?)
2014
2015 - Karl-Anthony Towns (?)[/code]

[RightToCensor]

I'd say Joel Embiid, but the back problem coming out of Kansas hurt his hype. He did start getting mad praise after one workout where she showcased his limberness, jumpshot, and footwork. That praise again died down when he had surgery on his foot.

[RightToCensor]

Yao Ming is one guy you have missing

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap...ween-2000-2014

[fpliii]

Yao Ming is one guy you have missing

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap...ween-2000-2014

That's a good list. I'll add him.

I'll also add KD provisionally.

[RightToCensor]

I'd add Magic Johnson and Chris Webber

[fpliii]

I'd add Magic Johnson and Chris Webber

My issue with Magic, is that I've seen it said before that they didn't expect him to turn the franchise around (I saw the quote in Zander Hollander's annual pre-season guide). I can add him provisionally.

Webber? I can't answer honestly since that draft was very early in my days following the league. I'll add him provisionally too.

[Levity]

KAT?

a mobile big man, that can score in the paint, stretch the floor, beautifully find the open man (either face up or back to the basket), and anchor the D.

EDIT: actually, maybe he doesnt qualify, since he wasnt all that hyped til the end of the college season. However, talent wise, i think he should be considered

[Cleverness]

All 6'10"+ players except LeBron

Maybe add Jason Kidd to that list? He was pretty hyped, but not sure anyone called him once-in-a-generation

[FKAri]

Hakeem?

[JimmyMcAdocious]

There's a difference between potential franchise player and getting that generational tag.

LeBron was hyped as a generational prospect. Oden was. Yao was. Durant was. Want to say Davis, too. Other than those guys, not sure I would consider anyone else in the new millennium. Perhaps Darko and/or Melo? Maybe Jay Williams. I would put those three above Beasley, Embiid, Rose, etc.

[outbreak]

If you want to look at it in a strict sense you can only pick one player for each generation. So you can't have things like Davis and Embiid because they are the same generation. Also lots of drafts seem to have hyped big men. I'd pick Davis for this era though because the hype on him was that he wasn't your traditional big.

[outbreak]

There's a difference between potential franchise player and getting that generational tag.

LeBron was hyped as a generational prospect. Oden was. Yao was. Durant was. Want to say Davis, too. Other than those guys, not sure I would consider anyone else in the new millennium. Perhaps Darko and/or Melo? Maybe Jay Williams. I would put those three above Beasley, Embiid, Rose, etc.

Agree with this, some people are taking generational in a different way to what i would. I'd maybe add Shaq and Ewing.

[WillC]

Joel Embiid? No. No way. Sure, people were excited about him, but if you're going to include him then you may as well include Kwame Brown and dozens of other players. Likewise, I wouldn't include Michael Beasley. And no, I'm not just saying this with the benefit of hindsight. After all, I love your inclusion of Ralph Sampson, who I came here to suggest.

I'd remove Kevin Durant. People like to think that the Blazers made a bad choice taking Oden over him, but I bet 99% of GMs would have done the same. Oden was far superior in terms of hype/expectations at the time.

The other player I'd probably remove is Yao Ming. There were so many question marks about him. Then again, there was a lot of hype. But I'd say that Darko Milicic had just as much hype as Ming. Both were huge uncertainties.

I see no problem whatsoever with Magic's inclusion. Sadly, although Bird was highly rated, many thought he'd struggle due to lack of athleticism. How wrong they were.

Likewise, no need for a question mark next to David Robinson. He was a generational prospect.

Finally, I'd add Oscar Robertson. No question about it.

[Milbuck]

KAT?

a mobile big man, that can score in the paint, stretch the floor, beautifully find the open man (either face up or back to the basket), and anchor the D.

EDIT: actually, maybe he doesnt qualify, since he wasnt all that hyped til the end of the college season. However, talent wise, i think he should be considered

KAT to me is one of those typical "hype him up for the sake of hyping him up" type prospects that we see every other year, with guys like Chad Ford talking up their "unique skill-sets" and how "we've never seen something quite like this". He's a tremendous prospect but I don't think he's on the level of truly elite big man prospects like Davis, Embiid, Oden, etc. He's clearly a level below imo. Even in hindsight, not counting draft-time hype, I really don't see what makes him such a crazy prospect. He can handle it and shoot it, and he's pretty athletic, but none of those skills are at the level where it really screams all-time great...a la Dirk as a shooter, D-Rob as an athlete, KG with his guard-like skills, etc. And also he looks kinda awkward pretty often and doesn't have the same fluidity/natural feel in the post that made prospects like Embiid so intriguing.

This draft in general to me wasn't anything super special, but it got an unsual amount of hype.

[JimmyMcAdocious]

Maybe Kenny Anderson? He's pretty easily one of the most hyped high school players of all time, great career at GT, drafted #2. Not sure what scouts were thinking about him around draft time tho. But I know in high school he's up there with the LeBron, Big O, Ewing, McMillen, KG and Oden in terms of potential and expectations.