With the Portland Trail Blazers set to pick at No. 25 overall in the 2019 NBA Draft, now is the perfect time to revisit the best players ever taken at 25.
While Portland Trail Blazers fans scour the internet looking at draft prospect profiles and possible moves to immediately make the Blazers better with the No. 25 overall selection in this year’s draft, now seemed a great time to turn our eyes towards the past instead of the future.
Instead of looking for what might be, how about we take a moment to examine what has been?
Well, after taking the time to conduct a little research the answer becomes quite clear. Simply because there just haven’t been many successful NBA players picked at No. 25. In 1988, the NBA expanded to include the Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets, bringing the total number of teams in the league to 25.
Since then, only seven players have gone on to garner more than ten Win Shares in the NBA. That’s right, in the 30 years since the league first expanded to 25 teams, only seven players drafted at No. 25 have successfully met that embarrassingly low bar. For reference, even the perpetual laughing-stock of the league Kyle Singler has surpassed ten career Win Shares. Whoever the Portland Trail Blazers select this year, let’s just say history isn’t exactly on their side.
Not to douse your high expectations as a fan however, because there is a sliver of hope. Although there have been plenty of bad apples in the 30 years of No. 25 picks, some have turned out to be quite ripe.
We’ll spend the next few slides revisiting their successful (and in some cases, still ongoing) careers. But first, let’s give a quick shout out to some of the lesser known, yet still productive former No. 25 picks.
Honorable Mentions: Carlos Delfino, Corie Blount, Reggie Bullock