Here are the three best 17th picks:
Danny Granger, 2005
Stands as one of Walsh’s best selections, with Granger dropping to the Pacers after rumors about knee problems. He is All-Star-caliber small forward with a career 18.4 scoring average.
Shawn Kemp, 1989
Despite his weight being an issue much of his career, the 6-10, 280-pound Kemp was All-Star center for Seattle and Cleveland across the 1990s before he ate himself out of league.
Jermaine O’Neal, 1996
Give credit on this one to Mark Warkentien, the Knicks current scout and GM candidate who nabbed O’Neal out of high school for the Blazers. The 6-11 big man, now with Boston, is finishing up a distinguished 15-year career.
Here are the three worst 17th picks:
Johnny Taylor, 1997
The small forward out of tiny Tennessee-Chattanooga was selected by the Magic. He played 54 games in three seasons, averaged 4.7 points, before going off to Europe and last played in 2009 in Bahrain.
Leo Rautins, 1983
The Syracuse star forward became the first Canadian-born player selected in the first round, taken by the 76ers. He lasted two seasons and 32 games, had preseason tryout with Knicks, before heading to Europe and now is a Raptors broadcaster. His son, Andy, is trying to reverse trend, a second-round Knicks pick.
Zarko Cabarkapa, 2003
Mike D’Antoni didn’t show much general-manger skills with the Suns, taking this 6-11 European bust who played from 2003-06. D’Antoni thought he would be an outside-shooting big man, but was 27.3 percent from 3-point land.
The good and bad
Here are the three best 27th picks:
Dennis Rodman, 1986
The Pistons grabbed the future Bad Boy in the second round in 1986 out of Southeastern Oklahoma State. Rodman won five rings — two with Detroit (1989-90) and three with Chicago (1996-98).
Kendrick Perkins, 2003
The Grizzlies took Perkins out of high school on the first round and immediately traded him to Boston for Troy Bell and Dahntay Jones. Now with the Thunder, Perkins won a ring with the Celtics in 2008.
Elden Campbell, 1990
The Lakers took the Clemson product in 1990, and he played 15 seasons, most in Los Angeles. He averaged 10.3 points and was the Lakers’ top scorer in the ’90s. He won a title in 2004 with the Pistons and played for the Nets in 2004-05.
The three worst 27th picks
Brian Evans, 1996
The Magic’s selection out of Indiana had a rep of a good shooter. Turned out to be a really nice guy, really bad shooter. In three non-descript NBA seasons, including time with the Nets, he never shot 40 percent.
Malcolm Mackey, 1993
The Suns wasted the final pick of the first round on the 6-foot-9 Georgia Tech product who played in 22 games, averaged 1.5 points and 1.1 rebounds.
Byron Houston, 1992
The Oklahoma State product played four seasons (3.9 ppg for Warriors, Sonics, Kings) after the Bulls took him with the final first-round pick and dealt him in preseason. It was his post-NBA life that gained him notoriety. Suffering from bipolar disorder, he was arrested for indecent exposure, registered as a sex offender and sentenced to four years.