8 Stars the Portland Trail Blazers missed drafting by a single pick

4. Michael Jordan - 1984

Trail Blazers pick: Sam Bowie, No. 2

Other pick: Michael Jordan, No. 3 (Chicago Bulls)

The Trail Blazers already had Clyde Drexler and Jim Paxson, so Michael Jordan didn't make sense from a positional fit standpoint. But their reluctance to take the best player available certainly backfired. To make matters worse, Thompson and Drexler wanted the front office to draft MJ and thought they "would dominate the league for the next 15 years."

Bowie is widely considered one of the worst draft picks in sports history. But in his defense, he did last a decade in the league and averaged a serviceable 10.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game despite an injury-laden career. His label as an all-time bust has more to do with the fact that the Bulls selected arguably the greatest player of all time just one pick later.

The Athletic, along with most of the world, has Jordan ranked as the No. 1 player in the history of the NBA. In his fifteen-year career, Jordan averaged 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game on 50/33/84 shooting splits. MJ is best known for his competitiveness, elite athleticism, and ability to make big-time shots during crunch time.

However, an underappreciated aspect of his game is his defense. Jordan averaged 2.3 steals and almost a block per game. He was an elite on-ball defender and made nine All-Defensive First Team appearances.

MJ was a six-time NBA champion, six-time NBA Finals MVP, five-time NBA MVP, 14-time NBA All-Star, ten-time All-NBA First Team, and the list goes on (and could have somehow been even longer had it not been for his multiple retirements). He even defeated the Monstars in Space Jam. There's nothing more Jordan could have done to cement his legacy as an all-time great.