The No. 2 pick in the NBA Draft is a highly coveted one each year. But the last 10 years have shown us that it’s not always the luckiest spot.
The 2025 NBA Draft is just a little over a week away. Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper are the unanimous first and second overall picks in this year’s draft. While Flagg’s arrival in Dallas is merely a formality, the same can’t be said for Harper.
The San Antonio Spurs have the second overall pick in this year’s draft. But they are fielding calls to trade the pick.
The Philadelphia 76ers are among the teams looking to trade up in the draft. And so are the Brooklyn Nets, although they’re unlikely to offer the Spurs the package they’re looking for.
The Spurs are also linked to a possible Kevin Durant trade. So it’s very likely they won’t have the second overall pick come draft night. But if recent history is anything to go by, that might be a good thing.
Over the last 10 years, the #2 overall pick has been used to select some great prospects. But those have mostly failed to develop into reliable star players, for one reason or another.
D’Angelo Russell’s career started out strong. After a brief stint with the Los Angeles Lakers, Russell found himself taking on a star role with the Brooklyn Nets, even earning an All-Star nomination in 2019.
Since then, Russell has bounced around the league, going from team to team. What became evident is that Russell is a decent, albeit inconsistent, player in the regular season.
It is the playoff stage that makes Russell somewhat of a disappointment. His scoring and shooting numbers go down drastically in the playoffs, which, combined with his poor defense, make him downright unplayable.
Russell was expected to be a consistent All-Star-level player. But he has settled into a rotation role in the league. While players like Kristaps Porzingis and Devin Booker, who were picked after him, have become stars in the NBA.
Brandon Ingram hasn’t had a bad career in the NBA. Much like D’Angelo Russell, he spent a few years on the Lakers before finding success on another team.
Ingram was paired with Zion Williamson on the New Orleans Pelicans, where he even earned an All-Star nomination.
The pair didn’t find any success, never even making it past the first round of the NBA playoffs. Add to that his injury history, and Ingram has quickly been reduced to a role player in the NBA.
Now on the Raptors, Ingram has very little time to build back the momentum he squandered. While players like Jaylen Brown and Domantas Sabonis have established themselves as All-Star mainstays in the league.
Completing the trifecta of Lakers’ mistakes with the #2 overall pick, Lonzo Ball was hyped up to be the next great Lakers star by Magic Johnson.
However, he failed to get off to a good start in LA. Despite playing with LeBron James for a season, Ball failed to improve. Eventually, he was traded to the Pelicans as part of the Anthony Davis trade.
After two decent seasons with the Pelicans, Lonzo signed with the Chicago Bulls. He looked like he was finally developing into the player he was meant to be, but that’s when disaster struck.
A serious injury kept Ball sidelined for over two whole NBA seasons. And when he made his return last year, he showed the Bulls that he can still play at a high level, but he needed to be handled with care.
Whereas several other stars picked after him, like Jayson Tatum, Bam Adebayo, Donovan Mitchell, and Lauri Markkanen, have become established All-Star and All-NBA caliber players.
Marvin Bagley III is one of the two players on this list who are contenders for the crown of worst #2 pick of all time. After a brilliant college stint where he won ACC Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year in the same season, he entered the NBA with great anticipation.
Sacramento Kings executive Peja Stojakovic lobbied for Bagley III ahead of fellow Balkan standout Luka Doncic, Trae Young, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
While he had a strong rookie season, earning All-Rookie honors, Bagley’s career has been on a sharp decline since then.
Currently on the Memphis Grizzlies, Bagley III barely features, playing about eight minutes a game. While his aforementioned classmates are competing for NBA championships and other prestigious accolades.
Ja Morant is one of the few selections on this list who lived up to his potential as a player. While Zion Williamson earned a lot of hype in the 2019 NBA Draft, Morant was the one who quickly ascended up the ranks.
Morant established himself as one to watch after he won Rookie of the Year and Most Improved Player in consecutive years. Add to that multiple All-Star nominations, and fans might question why Morant is even on this list.
His troubles off the court have done a lot of damage to his career. Morant’s illicit social media activity landed him in hot water twice in the 2022-23 NBA season.
This year was somewhat of a return to form. But his celebration antics towards the end of the season seem to suggest that Morant still hasn’t learned his lesson and will likely get into trouble again.
James Wiseman is the other player on this list competing with Marvin Bagley III for the dishonor of the worst #2 overall pick of all time.
While Steve Kerr dismissed landing Anthony Edwards in the 2020 NBA Draft, the Golden State Warriors still had other options they could go with.
The Warriors chose Wiseman because he could be the star-level center they always wanted. But in doing so, they selected one of the most disappointing NBA prospects in recent memory.
Today, James Wiseman is out of the NBA, with little hope of ever returning. While players in his draft class like Tyrese Haliburton, Tyrese Maxey, and LaMelo Ball are proving that the Warriors could have drafted the perfect successor to Stephen Curry had they been more careful.
Jalen Green hasn’t played poorly since entering the NBA. But he hasn’t been the star-level standout the Houston Rockets expected when they selected him in the 2021 NBA Draft.
Green’s biggest issue is his scoring efficiency and his inconsistency. But after a few years of struggling, Green looked like he had figured it out this season, helping the Rockets earn the second overall seed with a 52-win season.
In the playoffs, Green looked terrible, dropping some genuinely poor performances as the Rockets lost to the Warriors in the first round.
Green’s future with the Rockets is uncertain, as the team looks to land Kevin Durant. But the Rockets will look back at the 2021 NBA Draft and wish they drafted Scottie Barnes or Jalen Suggs instead.
Unlike many players on this list, Chet Holmgren seems to be breaking this curse of the second overall pick.
But when the Oklahoma City Thunder first drafted him, things were looking bleak. Ahead of his debut season, Chet suffered a season-ending injury that delayed his NBA career by a year.
When he did start playing for the Thunder, he made quite an impact, helping the Thunder earn the first seed in the Western Conference while competing neck-and-neck with Victor Wembanyama for Rookie of the Year.
This season, despite a lengthy absence due to injury, Chet has played very well. And while his struggles in the NBA Finals are discouraging, Holmgren has the chance to make a big impact for the Thunder en route to winning an NBA championship.
Brandon Miller had the unfortunate role of being the player picked after Victor Wembanyama. And while that took a lot of attention away from him, he has done well for himself.
Now, Miller’s career average of 18.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.7 assists is quite strong, he hasn’t quite developed at the pace the Hornets would have hoped.
Part of that is due to his injury concerns, as Miller only played 27 games this past season. He still has a lot of time left to prove himself.
As things stand, compared to players like Ausar Thompson and Amen Thompson, Miller has gone under the radar.
Alexandre Sarr very nearly wasn’t on this list. When the Atlanta Hawks surprisingly won the NBA Draft Lottery, Sarr was the front-runner to go first overall in the NBA Draft.
However, Sarr communicated to Hawks officials that he would return to France for another year if they picked him, as he didn’t want to play for their team.
Instead, the Hawks drafted Zaccharie Risacher, and Sarr went to the Washington Wizards. Sarr was by no means a rookie standout, but played well enough to finish fourth in the race for Rookie of the Year behind Stephon Castle, Risacher, and Jaylen Wells.
The reason he is on this list is his pre-draft activity. If Sarr was willing to dictate terms to an NBA team before even making it to the league, that could be a sign of him being a problem case in the years to come.
Rarely in a draft class do you get two sure-fire successes. But the 2025 NBA Draft presents just that opportunity.
Dylan Harper has the potential to enter the NBA as the second overall pick and reverse 10 years of bad luck with some incredible play and living up to his potential.
As things stand, Harper could end up on several different teams. But hopefully, wherever he goes, he becomes the star he can be, as the NBA is in desperate need of exciting, young talent.
As the NBA Draft is just over a week away, NBA Analysis Network put together their first mock draft. On top of that, we also projected where every second-round pick would go. Stay tuned to the site for more excellent NBA Draft coverage in the coming days.
