Previously we detailed the greatest players who didn't make the All-Rookie team. Now, for proof positive that a spot on the All-Rookie Team is far from a definitive indicator of future success, here are the 16 worst players to be given that designation
Editor's note: the list counts down from best to worst.
16) Eddie Griffin, Rockets, '01-'02
There was always something not quite right about Griffin, and his ultimate demise lends a tragic air to everything about his brief career. By all accounts, Griffin could have been the top pick in the 2002 Draft if he had dedicated himself fully to basketball. But there were other interests and distractions, chief amongst them alcohol, and that may have contributed to an altercation with a Seton Hall teammate that led to Griffin declaring for the NBA after his freshman year in 2001. Considered a little too raw, he fell to the #7 pick, and the Rockets started off the talented but enigmatic power forward playing limited minutes from the bench. An injury to aging veteran Kevin Willis opened a hole in the starting lineup for Griffin, who took full advantage, averaging 19.0 points and 10.5 rebounds in his first four games as a starter. He was named 2nd-Team All-Rookie in a strong class, that also included Tony Parker, Joe Johnson, Shane Battier, Jason Richardson, Pau Gasol, Andrei Kirilenko, and Richard Jefferson (whom the Rockets had originally selected, then traded to the Nets as part of a package for Griffin on draft day), but Griffin showed little-to-no improvement in his sophomore season. Acting erratically both on and off the court, he eventually entered rehab for alcoholism, causing him to miss the entire '03-'04 season. When he emerged from the Betty Ford Clinic supposedly sober and serious, but cut by the Rockets, Timberwolves general manager Kevin McHale saw an opportunity for an young, tarnished but eager new acolyte. But Griffin's woes just continued in Minnesota. Shortly after the '05-'06 season he was arrested for drunk driving when he smashed into another vehicle while watching pornography in his Escalade. By then a national punchline, Griffin was cut by the Timberwolves early in the '06-'07 season and months later the comedy quickly shifted to tragedy when he possibly committed suicide (or possibly was just too drunk to otherwise care) by crashing his car into an oncoming freight train, leaving him dead at the age of 25.
15) Travis Knight, Lakers, '96-'97
A classic case of a guy being seven feet tall in the '90s and parlaying that into an undeserved NBA career. Knight was a star at Connecticut but the Bulls renounced his draft rights after selecting him late in the first round. Scooped up by the Lakers, he had an admirable first season, even filling in some minutes starting at center when Shaquille O'Neal was injured. Despite finishing with just 4.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, Knight was named to the All-Rookie team alongside his former college teammate Ray Allen and his current pro teammate Kobe Bryant. Notable rookie centers that did not get that nod over Knight include Ben Wallace and Jermaine O'Neal. In a turn of events that still infuriates Celtics fans to this day, Knight was then signed to a huge contract by Rick Pitino, but lasted for just one year in Boston, averaging a paltry 6.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. He was traded back to the Lakers during the 1999 lockout season, and actually won a championship with them in 2000. After three quiet seasons with the Knicks, Knight retired in 2003 when his gigantic Pitino-granted contract finally expired.
14) Eric Montross, Celtics, '94-'95
Slow and loping even by NCAA standards, most experts saw Montross' NBA ceiling coming out of North Carolina (where he was considered the heart of the 1993 title team) as limited. But he was over seven feet tall, and this was the '90s, so he was selected ninth overall in 1994 by the Celtics (maybe having white guys on the front line worked so well for them in the '80s that they assumed it would work for them indefinitely?). It was a weird year for Boston, playing their final season in the Garden, steel reeling from the shocking death of Reggie Lewis, and anchored by a 36-year-old Dominique Wilkins. Montross was immediately handed the starting center job and handled himself well enough, finishing with 10 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. He was one of three centers named 2nd-Team All-Rookie that year, along with Washington's Juwan Howard and Philadelphia's Sharone Wright. But Montross was unsurprisingly dismantled by Shaquille O'Neal in a first round playoff series against Orlando, and fell apart in his second season with Boston. He was traded in 1996 to Dallas, and managed to last six more NBA seasons, basically as a warm seven-foot body.
13) J.R. Bremer, Celtics, '02-'03
After averaging 24.6 points per game his senior year for St. Bonaventure, Bremer was considered a borderline second round pick in 2002 but didn't hear his name called on draft day. He impressed the Celtics enough in summer league to get a roster spot, and soon found himself thrust into the starting lineup at point guard when the incumbent Tony Delk was struggling. Bremer performed surprisingly well on a decent team, putting up 22 points and six assists in his first start, and finishing the season with 8.3 points and 2.6 assists per game. With no point guards deemed good enough for 1st-Team All-Rookie, Bremer joined Jay Williams on the second team. After he was sent back to the bench in the playoffs in favor of Delk, Bremer had to be excited to be traded to the Cavs in 2004 to return to his hometown and play with LeBron James. But Bremer lasted just 31 games in Cleveland before getting cut, and after playing in five more games with the Warriors his NBA career was over.
12) Courtney Alexander, Mavericks/Wizards, '00-'01
A star and leading scorer at Virginia, Alexander left the school to transfer to Fresno State after he was arrested for allegedly assaulting his then pregnant girlfriend. It was a mystery at the time whether Alexander had parted ways with Virginia amicably, or if he was forced out, but either way he recovered with two solid seasons under legendary coach Jerry Tarkanian at Fresno State, and was a lottery pick in the 2000 NBA Draft. Traded from the Magic to the Mavericks on draft day, Alexander, a combo guard, failed to find consistent minutes in a Dallas depth chart that featured veterans Steve Nash, Michael Finley, Howard Eisley, and Hubert Davis. But his fortunes changed after a trade deadline move to the Wizards. Playing closer to home (he grew up in Northern Virginia before attending UVA) on a roster that was bereft of scoring punch, Alexander was the second leading scorer for the Wizards down the stretch, averaging 17 points in 27 games. In a notoriously weak rookie class (which didn't feature a single player with multiple All-Star appearances), it was good enough to grab a 2nd-Team spot. His next season with Washington was far less successful, as he was edged out of playing time and sapped of confidence by a returning Michael Jordan. The Wizards were somehow still able to deal Alexander for a first round pick in 2003 to the Hornets, and after one quiet season in New Orleans, his NBA career was over.
11) Adam Morrison, Bobcats, '06-'07
A son of a coach, a former Gonzaga ball boy, and a long-time sufferer from diabetes, Morrison was a unique but ready-made star when he had his breakout junior year with the Bulldogs, winning the National Player of the Year award. Questions about his real value in the pros also followed him doggedly, cresting in an NCAA Tournament game against UCLA when Morrison fell to the ground in tears with time still left on the clock and the game still in the balance. But he was still considered a top prospect in a weak 2006 draft class, and was taken third overall by the Bobcats. Criticism immediately stirred that team general manager Michael Jordan was lazy with his scouting and just picking a popular player with big game college experience. Though Morrison did average 11.8 points per game in his rookie season, his 7.9 PER was one of the league's worst. As was expected in a weak draft class, it became a weak rookie class (though several players did eventually become All-Star level talent, including LaMarcus Aldridge and Kyle Lowry) and Morrison still got a spot on the All-Rookie team, falling just one vote short of the first team. A torn ACL cost him the entire '07-'08 season and he never really recovered, averaging 3.4 points in just 83 total games over the next two seasons. He did manage to win championship rings with the Lakers in 2009 and 2010 as a bench warmer (though he wasn't even on the postseason roster in 2009).
10) Zeljko Rebraca, Pistons, '01-'02
After starting his pro career in 1990 in his native Serbia and then getting drafted by the Sonics in 1994, it would take seven more years for Rebraca to reach the NBA. By then he was 28 years old with an entire decade of pro experience under his belt, and his draft rights had been traded three times, ultimately ending up with the Pistons. Though he spent his entire rookie season backing up Ben Wallace, Rebraca made the most of his limited playing time, often rapidly racking up stats despite usually logging less than 20 minutes in games. He especially capitalized on some late season opportunities to start while Wallace was resting for the playoffs, including an 18 point, 13 rebound performance against Atlanta. After his designation as 2nd-Team All-Rookie, Rebraca was used much more sparingly in the postseason as the Pistons tightened the rotation and Wallace played close to 48 minutes per night. His second season was about as decent as his rookie campaign, but in 2004 he was part of the massive trade that brought Rasheed Wallace to Detroit (Rebraca would eventually earn a championship ring for his contributions to the team). He remained a bench presence in later stops with the Hawks and Clippers, but was forced to effectively retire in 2005 after an irregular heartbeat was discovered, necessitating surgery.
9) Marcus Williams, Nets, '06-'07
It's no coincidence the '06-'07 draft class repeatedly shows up on this list. Not only was it was just plain bad, but multiple ties in the voting led to an unprecedented 13 players being named All-Rookie, as opposed to the typical 10. The final spot on the 2nd-Team was a three-way tie between Rajon Rondo, Walter Herrmann, and Williams, a former Connecticut star point guard who finished the season with 6.8 points and 3.3 assists per game for New Jersey. Those would prove to be career highs, and after three-plus seasons with the Nets, Warriors, and Grizzlies, he has since played in Puerto Rico, Russia, China, and Spain. Before his disappointing NBA career, he was part of the disappointing '05-'06 Huskies team that was defined by a shocking NCAA Tournament loss to George Mason in the Elite Eight, and by Williams and teammate A.J. Price getting kicked off the team (both were later reinstated) for attempting to steal laptops from classmates.
8) MarShon Brooks, Nets, '11-'12
It's hard to overstate just how moribund the Nets were in the years between Jason Kidd's 2008 departure via trade, and their move to Brooklyn in 2012. With the team constantly mired at the bottom of the standings, regularly rotating head coaches, and perpetually attempting new rebuilds, it was a perfect opportunity for otherwise middling NBA talents to pick up some short spurts of major playing time. Enter MarShon Brooks. A late bloomer, he was lightly recruited out of high school and barely played in his first two seasons at Providence before blossoming into a scoring monster as an upperclassmen. He was drafted late in the first round by Boston in 2011, then traded immediately to New Jersey. Starting at shooting guard for a talent deficient Nets team that seemed to be just playing off the cuff in the strike-shortened season once Brook Lopez was lost with an injury, Brooks was regularly unleashed to shoot at will. He responded by scoring 20+ points in nine different games, almost all of which were losses, and was named 2nd-Team All-Rookie. With free agent acquisition Joe Johnson added to the lineup in '12-'13, Brooks' scoring output was basically cut in one third, and he never saw serious playing time in subsequent stops with the Celtics, Warriors, and Lakers. After playing several seasons overseas, including a star turn in China, he got a second chance in 2018, signing a 10-day contract with the Grizzlies and impressing them so much (he averaged 20.1 points per game in seven games) that they signed him to a multi-year deal.
7) Mark Macon, Nuggets, '91-'92
After missing the playoffs in 1991 for the first time in nine years, the Nuggets had high expectations for a quick turnaround. They entered the 1991 NBA Draft with the fourth and eighth picks, thanks to a trade of their star point guard Micheal Adams. This allowed them to take a bit of a risk with that fourth pick, selecting the talented but raw Dikembe Mutombo, so they went with a supposed sure thing at #8, with Macon. A former Mr. Basketball in Michigan and a star combo guard at Temple, Macon was a prolific scorer at the NCAA level, but his shoot-first-ask-questions-later style didn't translate well in the NBA. Granted, the Nuggets needed some offense with Adams gone, but Macon was shockingly inefficient, shooting just 37.5% from the field as he amassed 10.6 points per game. That was good enough to be named 2nd-Team All-Rookie (Mutombo, meanwhile, finished second in Rookie of the Year voting behind Larry Johnson), but didn't portend great things for the Nuggets or Macon's future. That rookie scoring total turned out to be easily a career high for him, as he was phased out of the Denver back court rotation in favor of Bryant Stith, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, and Robert Pack. Out of the league completely by 1996, Macon played some in Italy, and some with the Florida Beach Dogs of the CBA before clawing his way back to the NBA in 1998, appearing in seven games with the Pistons before moving on to a career in Turkey.
6) Sharone Wright, 76ers, '94-'95
It's easy to make fun of team's draft picks in retrospect, but sometimes you just have to acknowledge situations like the Sixers faced in 1994, holding the sixth pick in a decidedly five-player draft. Those five players at the top were Glenn Robinson, Donyell Marshall, Juwan Howard, Jason Kidd, and Grant Hill. Maybe Philly could have reached for Jalen Rose (considered a risky prospect due to his "tweener" size) or raw prospect Yinka Dare or local product Eddie Jones, but they went with the safest pick in Wright. His Clemson career was hardly inspiring, but he certainly had the body and pedigree of a solid NBA power forward, a guy who could easily be anticipated averaging a consistent 15 points and 10 rebounds night-in-and-night-out. Though Wright's rookie season was inconsistent, it was promising, and he was named 2nd-Team All-Rookie for his 11.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. But if there's one thing Philadelphia fans won't stand for, it's athletes perceived as soft, and his tentative playing style lent the nickname "Charmin'" by his second season. It was immediately obvious that Wright wasn't going to make impetuous Philly fans forget about the recently departed Charles Barkley, so the team rashly traded him to Toronto at the 1996 deadline. After getting off to a decent start with the Raptors, he had his career abruptly ended in 1997 due to a broken collarbone suffered in a car accident.
5) Jonny Flynn, Timberwolves, '09-'10
Possessing four first round picks, including #5 and #6, Timberwolves president David Kahn entered the 2009 NBA Draft eager to shake the franchise's reputation for poor personnel decisions that had been cultivated by his predecessor, Kevin McHale. Point guard was the biggest position of need for the Timberwolves and also the deepest position in the class, so it should have been a slam dunk. But instead of selecting future All-Stars Stephen Curry, Jrue Holiday, or Jeff Teague, Kahn went with Ricky Rubio at #5, even though the Spanish star had explicitly stated that he wouldn't play in Minnesota, and then reached for Flynn at #6. He also drafted a third point guard, Ty Lawson, for good measure with the 18th pick. With Rubio opting to stay in Spain as expected, and Lawson traded to Denver for a future pick, that left Flynn as the default point guard of the future. His rookie season was decent, with 13.5 points per game, enough to get him named 2nd-Team All-Rookie. But things fell apart quickly from there, as a surprise hip surgery in the summer of 2010 left Flynn sapped of the athleticism that allowed him to paper over the issues with his game, like his turnover problems and inability to understand the nuances of the triangle offense. When Rubio finally relented and joined the team in 2011, Flynn was unceremoniously dumped on the Rockets. After getting cut by the Rockets, Blazers, and Pistons, he eventually did become an All-Star, albeit for the Melbourne Tigers of the Australian National Basketball League.
4) Walter Herrmann, Bobcats, '06-'07
Already 27 when he came to the NBA from Spain in 2006, signing as an un-drafted free agent with the Bobcats, Herrmann became an unlikely star in Charlotte late in his rookie campaign. Like many foreign-born players of his era, Herrmann already years of professional experience under his belt by the he reached the NBA, starting in his native Argentina (with whom he also won a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics) before moving on to the top Spanish league. Though he played only sparingly early on, Charlotte fans took a shining to the man they lovingly nicknamed "Fabio" for his flowing, blonde hair. With freakishly large hands (he was also nicknamed "The Claw") that led to a unique style of play making, Herrmann eventually broke into the starting lineup in late March, and in his final 12 games averaged 19.6 points. Despite the late season scoring burst and 2nd-Team All-Rookie designation, the Argentine power forward was returned to the bench at the start of the '07-'08 season as the Bobcats experimented with essentially starting two centers, Emeka Okafor and Primoz Brezec. Charlotte then traded Herrmann (and Brezec) to Detroit in December of 2007 for the veteran Nazr Mohammed. He saw even less playing time with the Pistons, as the team was in its final throes of contending with Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace, and Richard Hamilton. Unsigned in 2009, Herrmann returned to Spain, inking a four-year deal with Saski Baskonia, and has not returned to the NBA since.
3) Juan Carlos Navarro, Grizzlies, '07-'08
One of the great one-and-done careers in NBA history, Navarro sandwiched that one season with the Grizzlies in between a pair of decade-plus stints with FC Barcelona. His pro career started at age 17 in 1997 in his native Spain, and Navarro quickly caught the eye of NBA scouts. But by the time he declared for the NBA in 2002, he was coming off a series of injuries that tanked his stock and he fell to the Wizards in the second round. Five years later, with his draft rights traded to Memphis, Navarro decided to finally make a go of it in the NBA, joining his old friend and national teammate Pau Gasol. He played in all 82 games, averaged 10.9 points mostly on long range shooting, and was named 2nd-Team All-Rookie. But when Gasol was traded mid-season to the Lakers, Navarro's interest in the NBA waned. While the Grizzlies focused on a push for veteran free agent Allen Iverson in the summer of 2008, Navarro chose to re-sign with Barcelona and hasn't returned to the NBA since. His accolades in his native country are undeniable, with one Spanish League MVP award, one Euroleague MVP award, three Spanish League Finals MVP awards, and two Euroleague championships. He has also earned two silver medals and one bronze medal at the Olympics as a member of the Spanish national team.
2) Jay Williams, Bulls, '02-'03
Williams wasn't wearing a helmet, wasn't allowed to ride motorcycles per his Bulls contract, and wasn't even licensed to drive one in the state of Illinois. Yet he chose to get on one anyway on one fateful night, perhaps owing to the perceived invincibility of youth. It reduced a promising pro career to a one-and-done proposition. After winning the Wooden Award at Duke, Williams seemed like a sure bet when the Bulls drafted him second overall in 2002. Fearless, smart, and an underrated shooter, his' lack of size and strength was an occasional deterrent during his rookie year, but at other times he thrived, showing flashes of future brilliance, including a 26 point, 13 assist performance in a win over the Nets. Though he seemed to hit the rookie wall down the stretch, Williams still put together enough to be named 2nd-Team All-Rookie. Then that summer he set out on his fateful motorcycle ride, which ended with a shattered pelvis, a severed nerve in his leg, and a torn ACL. There was no guarantee he would ever walk again, let alone play basketball, and the Bulls waived their once potential star (they could have voided his contract due to the violation, but chose to essentially give him a three million dollar severance package). Williams did recover strongly enough to join summer league and training camp with the Nets in 2006, but didn't make the final roster and all subsequent attempts at a comeback have fallen short.
1) Jorge Garbajosa, Raptors, '06-'07
A senior member of the "Golden Age" of Spanish players to emerge on the scene in the late '90s and early '00s, the then 28-year-old Garbajosa already had 12 years of professional experience when he signed with the Raptors in 2006. With a reliable long range jumper, high basketball IQ, and surprisingly deft defensive presence, Garbajosa was a revelation for Toronto in '06-'07, winning out a starting spot over fellow rookie and top overall pick Andrea Bargnani (who was eight years his junior) at small forward, and finishing the season with 8.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Garbajosa was named Rookie of the Month for December of 2006, and 1st-Team All-Rookie in an admittedly weak year for neophytes. But a broken leg in a March game against the Celtics required surgery and forced Garbajosa to miss the playoffs. After a second surgery was then needed in December of 2007, he missed all but eight games of the '07-'08 season. The Raptors were still interested in bringing Garbajosa back for '08-'09, but when he defied the team by participating in the 2008 Olympics they bought out his contract. Though Garbajosa had a few more successful years playing in Europe, he was never able to fully recover from that leg injury and retired in 2012.