4 NBA Draft Busts SAVING Their Careers This Season…
In the NBA there is arguably more pressure on the top picks in the draft than any other sport when it comes to the expectations of these young players to start performing at a high level quickly if you’re a top five pick or a lottery pick the expectation is
Obviously that you should prove to be one of the best players from that draft class and while everybody develops at their own rate the players do still need to perform at a certain point or else they’ll fall into the bust category today we’re going to be discussing four
Players in particular that have been viewed as busts for a while now that are actually starting to salvage their careers a bit this season after being completely written off previously this doesn’t mean that they’re starting to live up to the hype from when they got drafted necessarily but they are at
Least showing noticeable improvements and carving out roles for themselves on teams after completely flaming out previously before we start though it turns out a good amount of you watching right now aren’t even subscribed to the channel so if you enjoy the content consider hitting the Subscribe Button as
Not only does it help out a ton but I’d also very much appreciate it now with that being said let’s begin the first former draft bust that has been doing a really good job salvaging their career this season is Dante exom of the Dallas Mavericks exom was the fifth pick all
The way back in the 2014 NBA Draft so it’s been quite a long time since he’s been viewed as a promising young Prospect but he had actually completely flamed out of the league for a few years before making his return this season he was originally drafted by the Utah Jazz
Who thought they were getting a Lockdown Defender of a point guard with good size and promising playmaking Talent what they got instead was a player who could not shoot the basketball to save his life he struggled horribly with efficiency and decisionmaking and did still provide good defense but not good
Enough to justify the nothingness that he provided offensively it also really set him back when he tore his ACL in his second season causing him to miss that entire year so the combination made it very difficult for him to ever bounce back and find his footing in the league
Injuries were a common theme from there on out he played a few seasons in Cleveland after his time in Utah which didn’t really see any kind of improvement for him so for the last 2 years he’s actually been playing overseas in Spain and Serbia before
Deciding to try to give the NBA one more go the Mavericks picked him up hoping he could help sh up their poorest defense and honestly I’m not sure what happened in time overseas but exom has looked like a completely different player with more confidence than ever this season
With the Mavericks he’s become a crucial bench piece for them locking down on defense and scoring a career-high eight and 1 half points per game and he’s even shooting the ball ridiculously well making 56% of his shots and 48% of his threes which seemed like a miracle
Compared to what he was shooting earlier in his career of course he’s only shooting about two three-pointers per game and is only really spotting up on his looks but the fact that he’s reliably making teams pay when they leave him open has been making the lives
Of Luca donic and Kyrie Irving a lot easier when he’s been on the floor and the Mavericks are actually a whopping 11.2 points better per 100 possessions with him out on the court demonstrating how well he’s been playing and how well he’s been impacting the team the next
Draft bust that has been successfully turning his career around this season is Dennis Smith Jr of the Brooklyn Nets Smith Jr was the ninth pick by the Mavericks in the 2017 NBA draft which was a pretty hyped up class for the point guard position Smith was the most
Explosive athlete of the bunch and his ability to put pressure on the rim and jump out of the gym was obviously the reason that a lot of Scouts and analysts at the time saw Superstar potential in him but unfortunately that’s not the way things actually went down for his career
Dennis peaked as a rookie when he was putting up 15 points per game but like most young rookie guards he was terribly inefficient the issue of course was that he never really improved in that regard and his questionable shot selection his inability to convert consistently and struggles shooting the ball made teams
Less and less inclined to keep featuring him in a big role it also hurt that LCA donic came in the very next season and immediately became a superstar so the Mavericks were even less inclined to prioritize him Smith’s career has been hanging on for dear life over the last
Few season Seasons bouncing from the Knicks to the Pistons to the Trailblazers and then to the Hornets but now in Brooklyn he seems to have finally accepted that his days as a potential star are over and he has fully embraced becoming a specialist and that shifted mindset is saving his career Dennis is
Without exaggeration one of the best perimeter Defenders at the point of attack in the entire NBA this season ranking in the 98th percentile in the defensive EPM metric the Nets also give up 5.7 fewer points per 100 possessions with Smith on the court vers when’s on the bench and looking Beyond just
Statistics you can see in his tape how much he hounds opposing ball handlers and makes their lives hell not everyone can swallow their pride and commit to being a defensive specialist to stick around but because dsj did that he now actually has a bright long career ahead
Of him still the next former draft bust that is managing to save their sunken career this season is Chris Dunn of the Utah Jazz everything that we just went over with Dennis Smith Jr also applies almost directly to Chris Dunn Dunn was the fifth pick in the 2016 NBA draft
With the expectations of being a floor General point guard who could command an offense and lock down on defense and that two-way potential obviously intrigued the Timberwolves enough to select him that early on he may not have had the explosive athleticism that Dennis Smith Jr had but he was a
Big-time playmaker at provid in college yet his offensive game never really developed enough to justify the top five selection he would get traded to the Bulls after just one season in Minnesota and then after three seasons there where his role slowly diminished he went from Atlanta to Portland struggling to even
Get playing time last season he was actually not on a team until the Jazz signed him to a 10-day contract Midway through the year and he impressed enough for them to convert it to a multi-year deal that has helped him get back on track in Utah he like dsj has basically fully
Bought into becoming a specialist who locks up on defense without being asked to do that much offensively but what makes him successful even in this reduced role is that he has improved as a shooter even if it’s on much smaller volume his shooting is about 48% from
The field and 39% from three now which are both pretty solid numbers for a guard and his smothering defense has garnered some calls for him to make the all def defense team this season and finally the last draft bust that has been salvaging their once lost career
This season is Jonathan Isaac of the Orlando Magic surprise surprise the trend all video long has been with players establishing themselves as Elite defenders in order to make it back and Jonathan Isaac keeps that Trend going Isaac was of course drafted because of his Elite defensive potential being
Taken sixth overall in the 2017 NBA draft but the reason why he was trending towards bust territory was simply because he couldn’t stay on the court Isaac tore his ACL in 2020 and then faced setback after setback that forced him to missed two entire seasons in a
Row plus over half of last season before finally returning to the court for 11 games before then being shut down again due to injury whether his body would allow him to continue his basketball career was a legitimate question and if it did I don’t think anyone anticipated
Him picking right back up as an absolute absolutely Elite defensive Talent this season he’s played 44 games and in those games the magic defense has been other worldly with him on the court allowing a ridiculous 10.1 fewer points per 100 possessions with him out there players also shoot a ridiculous 7.6% worse than
Usual with Isaac as their primary Defender which ranks amongst the best in the entire NBA he’s still not developed enough offensively to justify being a top six pick from back then but as someone playing 15 minutes per game Off the Bench he’s a big reason why the
Magic are a top five ranked defense this year and with that being said that’s all I have for you today make sure to like the video subscribe to the channel and comment down below what you think about the Resurgence of all these former draft busts thanks for watching and I’ll see
You all next time
In this video we discuss four NBA Draft busts that have been starting to turn their careers around for the better in the 2024 season! Dante Exum, Jonathan Isaac and more discussed
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23 Comments
Jonathan Isaac was never a bust
A young bust with a resurgence? That’s just called a career in development. You are not a bust until your career is over or nearly over. Dumb ass video. Very symbolic of the modern Idiocracy. Human intelligence, or lack thereof, is so pathetic that there should be an IQ test to have social media.
Deni avdija is having amazing season. He always was a lockdown defender and this season he's also shooting 40% from 3 and scoring 5 more points per game then last season. Show some respect!!!
I think the problem with this list is that two things can be true at the same time they can be salvaging their careers, but they're still going to be busts
Davion Mitchell is definitely performing well this year
Going to the Euro league transformed Dante Exum.
He was under one of the best coaches in the world at Partizan where they run like a 100 set offences. His teams went deep in playoffs in a league where it is harder to score.
Because of this he came back with much higher bball IQ, is more secure with the ball, has greater confidence and a reliable perimeter shot.
As the gap between the US and the EU shrinks I hope more young prospects go and mature their game in other leagues like Dante
Not always, but many "busts" were just drafted too young. I think if some of these guys played 4 years in a good college program they would have a better NBA career.
Issac was never a bust he just hasn’t been healthy which to me doesn’t mean you’re a bust. Also DSJ is still a bust. His defense is amazing but he still has no consistent offense and at best it looks like he’ll be a defensive guard off your bench.
Genuine question: why would anyone want to be drafted 1st?
If you don't live up to expectations you are labelled a bust, but if you go say 20-60 and you ball out your considered a steal.
To me I wouldn't want that pressure to perform based mostly off hype/potential.
I would rather be the quite overachiever, because if you draft me at 30 and I'm a role player then im what you expected, but if I'm jimmy 🪣 then I'm not just good I'm also better then advertised.
But on the other hand if I get made like I'm LBJ if i am that, great. Im just equal to my prodicted value, but if I don't end up an all star people are gonna call you a bust when you might be like maybe still top 10 in your class
Your…take…not…mine
Dante has always been a good defender. One of the few who did good on prime Harden. The timing of his injuries were always the problem. When TJ Warren dislocated Dante's shoulder, in terms of timing, was the worst one. The Jazz were a regular playoff team now and when Dante came back, he was never afford the time to learn his craft. Quin Snyder kept him on a short leash and would bench him after one mistake. All those lost years to injuries.. like dayum
send prayers for jonathan isaac, dante exam and the others for they cant bust anymore 😞
Love the content
Isaac a bust? 😂
Wait but everyone keeps telling me the narrative is that players don’t play defense at all😂😂
isaac wasnt a bust he was js plagued with injuries
Jonatha. Issac is a lion amongst sheep. You know if you know.
What happened to Exum in Europe? Proper coaching, that's all.
James Wiseman for sure a bust
Too bad Killian Hayes is not on this list.
Killian Hayes will be the next player to be featured in a video similar to this 😂
Um Jonathan Isaac is averaging 6 ppg, 4 rpg, and 1/2 an assists, and he basically spent the prior 3 seasons injured. injuries are often part of being a bust, just ask Greg Oden. He's still a bust my friend, and a $17M/season bust at that!
I liked the video. But you were very structured on Exum and then much less on the other 3. Why?