10 Worst No. 1 Draft Picks in NBA History

#8. Kent Benson 1977

Kent Benson

After 4 solid years in College at Indiana, Kent Benson was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1977. Benson came to a franchise that had lost Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975 and was in desperate need of a new superstar.

In his very first game, he ended up having an altercation, ironically with Jabbar, which left him with a broken jaw. He ended his rookie season averaging 7.7 Points and 4.3 Rebounds. It didn't get much better as the years went by, and Benson finished his career averaging 9.1 Points and 5.7 Rebounds.

What we've seen over time is that teams which got rid of Benson ended up getting better. The Bucks traded him away to the Pistons for Bob Lanier in 1980 and reached multiple Eastern Conference Finals in the coming years. The Pistons then traded him away in 1986 for Adrian Dantley and had their most successful spell as a franchise.

The Bucks missed out on Hall of Famer Bernard King in the 1977 draft, who would have given the franchise a much-needed boost.

#7. Bill McGill 1962

Bill McGill

Bill McGill was an absolute beast in college, as he averaged 38.8 Points which led the nation in scoring and it was also the 2nd highest scoring average in college basketball history. This led to the Chicago Zephyrs picking him First in the 1962 NBA draft and it ended up becoming an unmitigated disaster.

McGill was shipped out of Chicago after his rookie season, and by 1965 he was out of the league. McGill would play in the ABA for 2 seasons, after which he was out of professional basketball altogether and by the time the 70s came around, McGill was on the streets.

His NBA career averages were 10.2 Points and 3.9 Rebounds. Three Hall of Famers were drafted after McGill, as Zelmo Beaty went 3rd, John Havlicek went 7th and Chet Walker would go 12th.