WHAT HAPPENED to the 10 Players Drafted Before Domantas Sabonis?

WHAT HAPPENED to the 10 Players Drafted Before Domantas Sabonis?

Back in 2016 damont sabonis was taken 11th overall in the NBA draft and fast forward to today he’s become one of the best big men in the league who epitomizes the skill set of a modern big man averaging almost 20 points 13 rebounds and almost eight assists while

Shooting almost 60% from the field and 37.5% from three the multiple time Allstar has proved he can do almost everything on the court that being said how come he wasn’t taken early and this question becomes even more valid once we consider the underwhelming careers of many players selected before

Him with that said let’s take a look at the 10 players drafted before damont sabonis and see where they are now welcome to sports for let’s get into it the first pick of the 2016 NBA draft Ben Simmons has experienced a career of highs and lows after being out for the

Entire season he was drafted Ben came back in one Rookie of the Year with Philly also having team success alongside Joel embiid and as he continued to ascend as a rising star in the league he wouldn’t be without controversy because see Ben Simmons could not shoot to save his life and he

Also proved to have a bad attitude about it Ben soon became a locker room Menace at Philly after securing a big contract and would proceed to request the trade eventually seeing himself on the Brooklyn Nets since then it’s become obvious that Simmons does not love basketball and after securing a 5year

$177 million deal he no longer had motivation to play his hardest and win games after his trade to Brooklyn he would often times claim sorry excuses like back soreness and not even play which is also precisely why he’s become one of the most hated NBA players since

Securing a deal in 2019 it’s no secret his output has decreased almost every single season and last season with the Nets in 42 games he averaged seven points just over six rebounds and six assists and despite still having the physical tools and ability to become a good NBA player it’s

All up to Ben Simmons himself to make it happen I guess we’ll just have to wait and see as for the second pick of the 2016 draft things were much more smooth sailing for Brandon Ingram’s career and despite a somewhat slow start with the young Lakers team early

Bi was soon moved to the Pelicans in the Anthony Davis deal and this proved to be the exact change of scenery required to propel him to the next level although Ingram showed signs of a good three-level scorer with the Lakers averaging 19 points and shooting almost

50% from the field in his third season his move to the Pelicans saw his points per game number jump to almost 24 points in The Following Season also improving his three-point shooting dramatically since then he’s become become the Cornerstone of the Pelicans franchise and their most reliable player also

Developing other areas of his game like his passing now the next step for Ingram and the Pelicans is finding more player success as well as making sure Zion sticks to his diet as for the third pick Jaylen Brown after being selected by the Boston Celtics his career trajectory looked

Quite similar to that of Ingram in his first couple years with Boston he showed great signs of a two-way guard still with untapped potential and by his fourth season with Boston he averaged almost 20 points and six rebounds while shooting over 48% from the field and 38%

From three not to mention the Boston Celtics team seem to be a contending Team every season with the Celtics drafting Tatum in the 2017 draft creating a great young Duo although there was a lot of talk around the NBA claiming the pair of Jason Tatum and

Jaylen Brown would not work due to them both being bold dominant players but in the 2021 22 season season they would finally make it to the NBA finals after coming close multiple times despite losing to the Warriors in six this gave hope the pair could potentially win a

Championship in the near future as they now continue to hunt for their first chip with the Celtics anyways this season so far has seen a slight decline in some statistics for Jaylen Brown however it’s only natural considering the new additions of porzingis and Drew holiday over the offseason and now this

Boston team seems like they’re the only ones that can stop themselves from winning a championship in the next few years as for the fourth pick of the 2016 NBA draft Dragon Bender coming out of the Israeli Premier League became the highest pick player in this draft that

Is currently out of the NBA selected by the Phoenix Suns Bender quickly became probably the biggest bus of the draft Cen as are stretch forward with good defensive versatility Bender proved to be basically none of this meeting up to none of his prior expectations his defensive impact was limited from the

Jump with the athleticism and size of the NBA seemingly being too much for Bender to handle and after just three seasons with the Suns they finally gave up on him before short stins on the box and warriors only to move back to makabi Tel Aviv in the 2020 2021 season Once

Seen as a future Euro star Bender added himself to a list of high European draft picks that proved a disappoint similarly to the first pick Ben Simmons Chris D has also embarked on a career of highs and lows drafted by the Timberwolves with a fifth overall pick dun was seen

As a great two-way guard with good size who could also playmake and although he proved to be great defensively early his offense wasn’t as great this saw the Timberwolves trade him after just his rookie season where he landed himself on the Chicago Bulls with a bigger role with the bulls he also greatly

Increased his offensive out output and shooting splits and in his second season in the league he averaged 13.4 points six assists and 4.3 rebounds shooting 43% from the field and 32% from three as well as getting two steals per game although still not a stand out offensive

Talent Dunn was the dog kind of player that could do it all on the basketball court and that any team would benefit from having on their team that being said after just two more seasons with the bulls and failing to improve a of his game like his shooting he was traded

To the Hawks for the 2020 21 season however after this move a series of ankle and knee injuries saw him play just four games with the Hawks and lingering issues continue to a plague d as he moved to the Blazers and then Utah now in the Utah Jazz D has played most

Of the Season thus far and he’s playing limited Bene minutes but he still making his presence felt on all areas and despite the ups and downs hopefully dun can maintain good health and become a great role player in time to come as for the sixth pick of the 2016

NBA draft buddy heeld solidified himself as a top three-point shooter in the league not long after entering the NBA however thus far he’s not proven to be too much more than that originally selected by New Orleans after a decent rookie season with the Pelicans he was moved to the Kings and wouldn’t take

Long for Buddy to show his ridiculous three-point shooting especially with catch and shoot threes in his first three seasons with Sacramento he show over 43% from three and he peaked offensively in his third season where he averaged over 20 points however other than three-point shooting buddy didn’t

Excel in any other aspect seemingly not having the motivation to improve his overall ability the years that followed saw a decline in overall offensive output for buddy heeld also seeing him soon move to Indiana in a sabonis hir and trade although buddy continued to play his role shooting great from three

And also staying healthy his lack of Versatility became more obvious as time went on and this season so far has seen him play more limited minutes despite still doing his thing although still a good player as a 31-year-old we’ve likely seen the peak of Buddy held already picked up by the Denver Nuggets

Seventh overall Jamal Murray is one of the few players in this draft to win an NBA championship Jamal quickly established himself as a promising point guard in his rookie season showing potential of a good all round player and it was his sophomore season where he truly broke

Out averaging almost 17 points on 45% from the field and almost 37% from three over his first few seasons he continued to improve playing an integral role in the young nuggets Squad that was full of potential even making it to the Western Conference Finals in 2020 that being

Said a tragic ACL tear during the 2020 21 season sidelined him for an indefinite amount of time but everyone knew a long recovery was coming anyways fast forward to the 2022 23 season was when Jamal Murray finally returned to the nuggets and he had a Redemption season like no other averaging 20 points

Per game on impressive shooting and contributing as a second option on a first seed nuggets team behind ni yic and when the 2023 playoffs came the Denver Nuggets took things to the next level they proceeded to send home the Minnesota Tim Wars then the Phoenix Suns then the Lakers and finally the Miami

Heat in the NBA Finals all while losing five games in total although Murray was good in the regular season his playoff performances were even better averaging 25 points six rebounds and five assists and shooting over 40% from three in the 19 games he played in the playoffs from

Missing an entire season due to a grueling injury to winning an NBA championship in The Following season is a feat achieved by very few as for the eighth pick mares Chris he is also out of the NBA after seeing stin on five different teams in six seasons after two average Seasons as a

Forward with the struggling Phoenix Suns he moved to the Rockets Cavs Warriors and Mavericks in just four season Seasons although he did have one decent season in the league with the Warriors averaging over nine points and almost 55% from the field in the following year a broken leg early in the season would

See him miss most of the Season entirety the ninth pick yaker purle drafted by the Raptors he began his career with promise as a decent big man but not much more after two seasons with the Raptors he was moved to the Spurs seeing him develop from a bench big man

To a starting big man his time of the Spurs also saw his peak in career statistically where in the 2021-22 season he averaged over 13 points on almost 62% from the field and over nine rebounds and after another season with the Spurs he would see himself on the

Raptors once again joining the team that drafted him seven years ago a role playing big man and nothing more Perle was still embarked on a decent NBA career thus far as for the 10th overall p of the draft th maker he was seen as a gifted basketball Talent especially on the

Defensive end however this proved to be the furthest from the truth and after N9 years on six teams the NBA eventually gave up on him with his exact strength proving to be a weakness having come straight out of high school to the NBA NBA Scouts got one thing wrong although

He was seen as a great rim protector and versatile Defender he proved to get dominated on the NBA level as a Defender and rim protector proving to simply be too weak for the NBA as for offensively he also struggled unable to finish in the paint consistently even as a

Seven-footer as time went on although showing some signs of improvement he simply couldn’t improve quick enough seeing him at the NBA by the 2020 21 season where he’s now playing in China as we know after Thon maker was selected at 10th overall he would be to Monto sabona selected 11th overall by

The Orlando Magic and quickly traded to the OKC Thunder and after one season with the Thunder he will be traded to the Pacers in a move involving Paul George and he would show improvements in almost every year ever since now when the Sacramento Kings he’s become a top

Big man in the league and a multiple time Allstar and there’s no doubt his mind is now set on achieving more playoff success thanks for watching sports feia see you in the next video

Now a Star with the Sacramento Kings, back in the 2016 NBA Draft, he was selected 11th overall. With the Top 10 Picks of the draft consisting of multiple players we see as BUSTS today.

So why wasn’t he selected earlier? And what happened to the players drafted before him?

#2016nbadraft #NBAdraft #Sacramentokings

email us- sportsphere23@gmail.com