1. Marvin Williams
Just one year after missing with their sixth overall pick by taking Josh Childress the Atlanta Hawks selected Marvin Williams out of the University of North Carolina with the 2nd overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft. Williams, a 6’8 power forward, has had a pretty solid NBA career, however, he hasn’t justified being selected second overall.
Marvin Williams has now played 14 seasons in the NBA and may still be going. He began his career with the Atlanta Hawks where he played his first seven seasons. During those seasons, he averaged 11.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. These are really solid numbers… for a role player, however, not so great numbers for your second overall pick.
What makes the Marvin Williams pick even worse is some of the big names that were taken in that draft. It’s headlined by future Hall of Fame point guards Deron Williams and Chris Paul that were taken with the third and fourth overall selections, directly after Marvin Williams.
Looking back now, part of the reason Marvin Williams went ahead of Deron Williams and Chris Paul was because he was younger and he had more team success in college. However, this was clearly a huge oversight on the Atlanta Hawks part.