As fans across the New York Metro area reflect upon last week's draft, fans of the Knicks and Nets can be forgiven for thinking back to some of the epic failures that have been picked by both teams. Certainly, there is a hope on both sides of the Hudson River that the half-dozen players picked by the Knicks and Nets this year don't turn out like these five:
Kenny Walker, fifth overall pick, New York Knicks, 1986 Draft: Sky Walker was supposed to be the high-flying small forward and second option to help Patrick Ewing and the Knicks to a championship. But after averaging just over 10 points per game, displaying little of the scoring acumen that made him a star at University of Kentucky, he found himself less and less a part of New York's plans. By the time the Knicks did reach the NBA Finals, Walker was a reserve for the Washington Bullets. Drafted after Walker in 1986: Ron Harper, Dell Curry, Mark Price.
Yinka Dare, 14th overall pick, New Jersey Nets, 1994 Draft: With the idea that he could be a poor man's Dikembe Mutombo, New Jersey selected the 7-foot-1 Dare. But Dare simply never developed, shooting an astoundingly-poor 39.6 percent from the field, and totaling four assists -- four! -- in 1,002 career minutes played. Drafted after Dare in 1994: Aaron McKie, Wesley Person, Voshon Leonard.
Frederic Weis, 15th overall pick, New York Knicks, 1999 Draft: When you are best known for being posterized by Vince Carter, having a bad back and never playing a minute for the team that drafted you ... you're a bad pick. Drafted right after Weis? St. John's own Ron Artest. Yes, he'd have added drama -- but the Knicks had plenty of that anyway. What they lacked last decade was talent.
Ed O'Bannon, ninth overall pick, New Jersey Nets, 1995 Draft: O'Bannon was supposed to be a cornerstone player at the wing but couldn't crack 30 percent shooting from 3-point range while failing generally to score -- his career PPG average was just 5.0. Meanwhile, New Jersey missed out on Michael Finley, Kurt Thomas and Theo Ratliff.
Jordan Hill, eighth overall pick, New York Knicks, 2009 Draft: This one is going to hurt for a while. Hill is already an ex-Knick, while the team, desperately in need of a point guard, missed out on Brandon Jennings, Darren Collison, Jrue Holliday, even Eric Maynor. What makes it worse is that due to Isiah-based malpractice, the Knicks had no 2010 first round pick. In other words, they blew their only lottery chance over two miserable on-court seasons.
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