The NBA draft is a day away! The 2025 edition is of particular interest with a major star at the top like Cooper Flagg. History, though, actually shows that there are stars available virtually every year, even if they aren’t always revealed yet on draft night.

But for every Nikola Jokic picked at 41, Jalen Brunson at 33, Giannis Antetokounmpo at 15 or Tyrese Haliburton at 12, there are numerous others who fail to live up to expectations on draft night – even at the very top.

With all of that in mind, we took a look back at the last 10 years and broke down the best and worst selections we’ve seen at each of the first 10 picks.

No. 1 overall

Best pick: Paolo Banchero to the Magic (2022)
Wemby was a no-brainer. Everyone knew he was the pick.

Worst pick: Markelle Fultz to the 76ers (2017)
It’s not just that they could have had Jayson Tatum…

No. 2 overall

Best pick: Chet Holmgren to the Thunder (2022)
The second pick has seen a lot of mistakes in the last decade…

Worst pick: Lonzo Ball to the Lakers (2017)
There have been worse players picked at this spot…

No. 3 overall

Best pick: Jayson Tatum to the Celtics (2017)
The Sixers and Lakers blew the 2017 draft, and the Celtics aced it.

Worst pick: Jahlil Okafor to the 76ers (2015)
Are you noticing a pattern?

No. 4 overall

Best pick: Amen Thompson to the Rockets (2023)
It’s still a bit early to say definitively if…

Worst pick: Josh Jackson to the Suns (2017)
Truth be told, this looked like a great pick…

The article continues with further analysis on the best and worst draft picks for positions 5 through 10.