The last few seasons have been rough for 76ers fans, to say the least. After a couple of early playoff exits in the first round in 2008, 2009, and 2011, they finally reached the second round in 2012 after defeating a Rose-less Bulls squad. Not only did they exceed expectations in the playoffs, they pushed a powerful Celtics squad to the brink in 7 hard fought games. Even though they failed to reach the conference finals, the Sixers showed that they had a promising roster with a few great pieces in Andre Iguodala and Jrue Holiday.
Apparently, that success wasn’t enough for management as Iguodala was traded away in the four team deal that brought in Andrew Bynum. We all know how disastrous that proved. In fact, things were so abysmal last season that the Sixers even brought in well-known draft bust Kwame Brown. Don’t get me wrong, anyone who is entering a 13th professional season shouldn’t be normally described as a bust, but then again, most professionals aren’t Kwame Brown. He has put up pedestrian numbers in his 12 seasons, but none of those results justify using the number one overall pick on him.
The average NBA career lasts about 4 seasons. Just look at any draft history and you can see that for every Kwame Brown who plays for 13 seasons, there are 10 Andre Hutsons who don’t even see a minute of NBA action. Based on that information alone, you’re probably wondering how Kwame can be considered a bust.
Well for starters, he was the 1st pick of his draft. It takes special talents and potential to be selected number one overall and this spot is given to potential franchise saving players. Since Kwame was selected first in 2001, some other first overall picks include all stars Yao Ming, LeBron James, Derrick Rose, John Wall, Blake Griffin, Kyrie Irving, and Dwight Howard. Even trying to compare Kwame Brown to any of these guys will get you laughed out of the room. Obviously not every first pick becomes great, but Kwame has been pretty terrible, even by bust standards.
The Wizards also missed out on numerous other talents available in the draft, including Tyson Chandler, Pau Gasol and Zach Randolph at Kwame's position alone. Joe Johnson, Tony Parker, Richard Jefferson, Jason Richardson, Gerald Wallace and even Gilbert Arenas were also drafted in 2001. Nothing makes a team feel worse than missing out on premier talents in the draft.
Brown averaged around 7 points and 5 rebounds a game, as a starting center! You need to be able to get more than 5 boards a game if you’re planning on being a star center in the NBA. However, Washington saw “potential” after he somehow posted 30 points and 19 rebounds against the Sacramento Kings in a random March 2004 game. It was an incredibly fluky game and makes you wonder if he stole Shaquille O’Neal’s talents Space Jam style that evening (I’m 99% convinced that he did). Washington offered Kwame a 5 year, $30 million offer, which he obviously had to reject. I bet he wishes he could have that one back. Instead, he was traded to the Lakers in the Caron Butler trade in 2004. After spending 3 mediocre years with LA, he was included in the Pau Gasol trade to Memphis.
Kwame then spent the next 3 years in stints with the Pistons, Bobcats, Warriors and Bucks before settling on a 2 year deal with the Sixers. Aren’t we so blessed to have a roster space used up for this guy? Anyway, Kwame is a solid veteran piece who can put on a uniform and help secure those ping pong balls in June.
By: Dan Goggin
Follow us on Twitter: @BroadStBeat
The average NBA career lasts about 4 seasons. Just look at any draft history and you can see that for every Kwame Brown who plays for 13 seasons, there are 10 Andre Hutsons who don’t even see a minute of NBA action. Based on that information alone, you’re probably wondering how Kwame can be considered a bust.
Well for starters, he was the 1st pick of his draft. It takes special talents and potential to be selected number one overall and this spot is given to potential franchise saving players. Since Kwame was selected first in 2001, some other first overall picks include all stars Yao Ming, LeBron James, Derrick Rose, John Wall, Blake Griffin, Kyrie Irving, and Dwight Howard. Even trying to compare Kwame Brown to any of these guys will get you laughed out of the room. Obviously not every first pick becomes great, but Kwame has been pretty terrible, even by bust standards.
The Wizards also missed out on numerous other talents available in the draft, including Tyson Chandler, Pau Gasol and Zach Randolph at Kwame's position alone. Joe Johnson, Tony Parker, Richard Jefferson, Jason Richardson, Gerald Wallace and even Gilbert Arenas were also drafted in 2001. Nothing makes a team feel worse than missing out on premier talents in the draft.
Brown averaged around 7 points and 5 rebounds a game, as a starting center! You need to be able to get more than 5 boards a game if you’re planning on being a star center in the NBA. However, Washington saw “potential” after he somehow posted 30 points and 19 rebounds against the Sacramento Kings in a random March 2004 game. It was an incredibly fluky game and makes you wonder if he stole Shaquille O’Neal’s talents Space Jam style that evening (I’m 99% convinced that he did). Washington offered Kwame a 5 year, $30 million offer, which he obviously had to reject. I bet he wishes he could have that one back. Instead, he was traded to the Lakers in the Caron Butler trade in 2004. After spending 3 mediocre years with LA, he was included in the Pau Gasol trade to Memphis.
Kwame then spent the next 3 years in stints with the Pistons, Bobcats, Warriors and Bucks before settling on a 2 year deal with the Sixers. Aren’t we so blessed to have a roster space used up for this guy? Anyway, Kwame is a solid veteran piece who can put on a uniform and help secure those ping pong balls in June.
By: Dan Goggin
Follow us on Twitter: @BroadStBeat
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