10 Worst No. 1 Draft Picks in NBA History

#2 LaRue Martin 1972

LaRue Martin (Image Courtesy: HyperActivz)

Three of the biggest busts in NBA history have somehow all been drafted by the Trail Blazers. While the Oden and Sam Bowie picks can be excused due to injuries, the Martin pick was just horrible.

Martin shot to National attention when he outplayed Bill Walton in their college matchup, which apparently convinced the Blazers to pick him Number 1. As a rookie, Martin averaged 4.4 Points and 4.6 Rebounds.

He didn't show a great deal of improvement the following seasons and the Blazers would draft Walton in 1974, which all but ended any hopes Martin had of succeeding with the team. He was traded to Seattle in 1976, but retired before the season began.

All in all, Martin played just 4 years in the league and averaged 5.3 Points and 4.6 Rebounds. He was drafted ahead of Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo as well as Julius Erving, but Erving opted to join the ABA, so it probably wouldn't have worked out anyway.

#1 Anthony Bennett 2013

David Stern and Anthony Bennett

While LaRue takes the crown for most people, I'd say Anthony Bennett is the biggest bust in NBA history. Bennett had a decent year at college, but nobody including the man himself expected him to go Number 1 in 2013.

Some analysts even had Bennett out of the top 10, so the pick was really perplexing. Unsurprisingly, Bennett didn't even come close to meeting expectations. He averaged 4.2 Points and 3 Rebounds as a rookie and it took him 33 games to even hit double figures in points in a game.

He'd be traded to the Timberwolves the following year and after spending 2 more seasons in the NBA, Bennett was out of the league. His NBA averages thus far portray a sorry story, averaging 4.4 Points and 3.1 Rebounds. He's currently playing in the G-League and is hoping to get another shot in the NBA.

As for who the Cavs missed out on, Victor Oladipo went 2nd, C.J.McCollum went 10th, Giannis was 15th and Rudy Gobert ended up 27th. Considering the sheer amount of talent that was left in that draft, I'd pick Bennett to be the worst Number 1 draft pick of all time.