The NBA Draft is a place where not many teams have found success. Of course, it helps to sign a superstar like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or LeBron James, but that doesn’t happen every season.
Due to the subjective nature of the draft process, scouts often fail to notice important details. Several second-round choices have been more influential than first-round picks due to their intangible qualities, the system, or even the opportunity for improvement.
While the first-round choices usually attract more attention, the second-round has produced some of the league’s most successful players. In this piece, we will examine the three best players ever selected in the second round of the NBA Draft.
3. Draymond Green
In the history of the NBA, Draymond Green is regarded as one of the top second-round choices. In the 2012 NBA Draft, the Golden State Warriors selected him as the 35th overall selection. Green is a fantastic all-around player who excels both defensively and offensively.
He has been chosen to three NBA All-Star teams, five NBA All-Defensive teams, and earned the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award in 2016–17, and his club has won three NBA titles. Due in large part to Green’s one-of-a-kind blend of skills, the Warriors have been so successful over the last decade.
2. Dennis Rodman
Throughout the history of the NBA, Dennis Rodman has stood out as one of the most original players. In the 1986 NBA Draft, he was picked 27th overall by the Detroit Pistons. Rodman’s unrelenting work ethic and exceptional defensive skills made him an integral part of the Pistons’ championship teams in the late 1980s.
Five NBA titles later, he had also been honored seven times as a member of the league’s All-Defensive First Team. In addition to his seven NBA rebounding titles, Rodman won the award twice.
1. Nikola Jokic
Nikola Jokic is the most recent player to join the exclusive company of previous second-round choices in the NBA Draft. Denver Nuggets used the 41st selection in the 2014 NBA Draft to choose him. In a short amount of time, Jokic has established himself as a legitimate superstar and one of the league’s best big men.
As the NBA’s lowest draft selection ever to win MVP, he made history with his 2020-21 season. Jokic’s offensive and defensive strengths stem from his ability to score, distribute, and grab rebounds.
