NBA Draft All-No. 1 Pick Team
LeBron James, Dime #48
Heavy is the crown worn by the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. With the 2010 Lottery drawing being held tomorrow, we’ll get one step closer to identifying the next name in the lineage — John Wall is the odds-on favorite, but things could change depending on who lands the top spot — of players expected to quickly change the fortunes of a franchise, eventually win championships, consistently sell tickets and in most cases make a near-seamless transition from amateur to professional life.
And it’s only fitting that, as teams are whittled away in this year’s NBA championship race, former No. 1 picks have been at the center of NBA attention. LeBron James dominated headlines for the past week as he exited the playoffs earlier than expected and is now looking at a free-agent summer. Dwight Howard, for better or worse, is the axis on which the Eastern Conference Finals will spin. Shaquille O’Neal is on the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated, about a month away from signing what might be his last NBA contract and wrapping up one of the most accomplished careers the League has ever seen.
It’s no surprise that the list of No. 1 picks is dominated by centers and power forwards — 24 of the last 30 top picks dating back to 1980 were primarily fours and fives — making it tough to put together a group that resembles an actual team, especially of active players. Still, here’s our (active) All-No. 1 Pick Squad:
G – Derrick Rose (Chicago, 2008)
G – LeBron James (Cleveland, 2003)
C – Dwight Howard (Orlando, 2004)
F – Tim Duncan (San Antonio, 1997)
F – Andrea Bargnani (Toronto, 2006)
Bench – Allen Iverson, Blake Griffin, Elton Brand, Andrew Bogut, Yao Ming, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenyon Martin
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May 17th, 2010 at 5:31 pm
Alex "robocop" murphy says:
Seriously?
You wouldn’t want Shaq as your starting center? Did you see his stats his rookie year?
or Akeem Olajuwan? All time leading shot blocker (as of record)? (who technically you can put down as PF since he starred along side with Ralph Samson as the original twin towers).
I’d take Shaq at C and Hakeem at PF over Duncan and Howard. I’d move AI to PG and take out Bargnani at the SF.
May 17th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
Barnyarnee says:
Bargnani? Really? lol I’m a die hard raps fan and even I find it hard to believe he would deserve to be in that company.
May 17th, 2010 at 5:35 pm
Banga says:
Maybe if you read the post carefully it says ACTIVE
May 17th, 2010 at 5:37 pm
Promoman says:
It’s a tossup as to whether Iverson should be considered among active #1 picks. Kenyon’s had a solid career but I don’t know about his being here on this list other than being an active #1 pick. Injuries were a factor with him but he hasn’t been an All-Star since Jason Kidd played with him.
May 17th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
dagwaller says:
Even though there’s only a few of you, I can’t believe the posters missed the fact that Blake Griffin is listed as an honorable mention! Haha he can’t even be considered active since he’s never played a game! Foolishness
May 17th, 2010 at 6:08 pm
LB says:
Blake Griffin hasent proven a thing in the NBA yet.
May 17th, 2010 at 6:30 pm
masterp says:
i´d move lebron to forward, replace bargnani with iverson and dwight with shaq.
May 17th, 2010 at 6:32 pm
Jeremiah Togstad says:
No love for my boy Greg Oden?
May 17th, 2010 at 6:36 pm
Promoman says:
I guess Blake made it since he played some summer league & preseason games until he fractured his knee.
May 17th, 2010 at 6:41 pm
Bizz says:
Is this list based on what these players are doing currently, or just the career achievements of each player on the list? The funny part about this is that technically you will only really be able to go back at most 20 years and pick from the pool of #1 picks. Amazing how Oden misses the list, Blake hasn’t played and makes the list. Joe Smith didn’t make the list (lmao), Poor Kwame Brown never made the list (Lmao)Michael Olowokandi isn’t active to even be eligible to miss the list (LMAO), and they moved LeBron to the 2 because they have only 1 guy in the last 30 odd years who even plays the 2 (Iverson). I’m pretty sure AI wants no part of this list because it results in him coming off the bench LMAOOOOOOO
May 17th, 2010 at 6:52 pm
Jeremiah Togstad says:
Dime, what’s with the ads in español? Is there a large spanish-speaking demographic among Dime readers?
May 17th, 2010 at 7:03 pm
K Dizzle says:
My ALLTIME #1 Picks team aka Team Lakers
PG – Magic Johnson
SG – Elgin Baylor
SF – James Worthy
PF – Shaquille O’Neal
C – Kareem Abdul Jabbar
that is all
May 17th, 2010 at 7:36 pm
datdood says:
joe smith – solid pick warriors.
May 17th, 2010 at 8:22 pm
me says:
how does olajuwon, best center ever, not make this list? man time musst have dulled memories something terrible. Notice everyone always talks about bowie being picked over jordan, but no one mentions olajuwon. that’s because you can’t really make a clearcut argument for either.
May 17th, 2010 at 8:33 pm
"Tha Boddy" Lotto Inc says:
Wow DIME you really dropped the ball if your doing a number 1 picks ever based on players still active then Iverson crushes Rose,Brand beats Bargnani and “The Big Last Contract” Shaq Dominates D-Howard
May 17th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
gilford22 says:
It says ACTIVE, not ALL-TIME.
May 17th, 2010 at 9:02 pm
Bizz says:
It is based on active players, but the bigger question is, is this list based on active players and what they are doing as of today, or over the course of their career, and if it’s based on today and this past season, the list is accurate.
May 17th, 2010 at 9:46 pm
Celts Fan says:
It’s CLEARLY about how they are right now, otherwise there’s no way Shaq and AI don’t laugh Dwight and Andrea right off the list. Come on now. Dwight would need to keep up what he’s doing for another decade and win a few chips to even think of starting the conversation of who’s better between him and Shaq. He will never be as good as Shaq was…
May 17th, 2010 at 10:29 pm
MBE18 says:
Rose over Iverson? COME ON!!!
May 17th, 2010 at 11:38 pm
sh!tfaced says:
C – Olowokandi
F – Kwame
F – Joe Smith
F – Pervis Ellison
C – Joe Barry Carroll
Honorable Mention: Kenyon, Oden, Brand.
May 17th, 2010 at 11:45 pm
Ian says:
shitfaced
your honorable mentions dont suck
dizzle
nice team
ill borrow your first three players but kick out your pf and center for duncan and robinson
May 18th, 2010 at 3:49 am
sh!tfaced says:
Ian
for a first pick they do…. at least for a season or two…
May 18th, 2010 at 4:48 am
flegman says:
dwight over The Superman?! wtf?! What the funk?!?!
Blake Griffin, Brand, rtofl…. that is lame.
and the ACTIVE constraint is pretty lame, too, since Shaq is the last of his year, Gelnn Robinson retired, Iverson retired, Webber retired… not too many options.
and Bogut over Bargnani, for sure.
May 18th, 2010 at 10:15 am
JAY says:
@ #18 Celts fan.
I’m not too sure if they mean “how they are right now”. Brand sucks, AI is arguably not in the league anymore, and Yao didn’t play this year.
Dime needs to clarify.
May 18th, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Quedas says:
OF COURSE they mean how they are right now… are you itching for a fight or just mind-numbingly stupid? Dime doesn’t need to clarify anything… Only a fucking idiot would think this list is based on all-time achievement. Seriously, this must be the dumbest dime comment thread ever…
May 18th, 2010 at 6:28 pm
heavypoetry says:
This is what u said of Shaq: “wrapping up one of the most accomplished careers the League has ever seen” and then u follow that up with putting him on the bench??? AI on the bench? Scoring titles, MVP’s, and Rose and Howard both get starting spots over these 2??? This belongs on the SNL “Really???” segment…