The 2014 college basketball season was one of the most highly anticipated of my lifetime.
The recruiting classes were absolutely stacked, headlined by Andrew Wiggins, a Canadian-born, athletic wing committed to Kansas, and Jabari Parker, expected to be the next great Duke basketball player that would bring Coach K back to the Final Four. Along with these two exceptional freshman were players like Marcus Smart, a sophomore point guard coming off a big season and who passed up on being a lottery pick to play another season at Oklahoma State University, and freshman Julius Randle, a powerful, high-leaping big man that had the potential to be both a dominant rebounder and scorer at the collegiate level. As it turned out, the college basketball season wasn’t as interesting as everyone was hoping it would be, and none of the big-name players made a championship run, instead handing the crown to a Shabazz Napier-led UConn team.
Regardless, the excitement for the NBA Draft was through the roof. Players with loads of potential stocked the draft board, and NBA GMs were salivating over the chance to take them. One such team was the Boston Celtics, who had made a strong effort to tank their way to the bottom of the league. For much of the season, Boston stood with the best odds to land the No. 1 pick until a late-season hot stretch toppled them to the sixth overall selection.
Ultimately, the winners of the 2014 draft sweepstakes were the Cleveland Cavaliers, who had just recently signed LeBron James to join superstar Kyrie Irving on what would become the NBA’s newest superteam. After picking consensus No. 1 pick Andrew Wiggins, the Cavs immediately swung him to the Timberwolves to acquire then double-double machine Kevin Love, who was coming off of a season where he averaged 26 points per game.
As exciting as the draft drama was, the players selected and traded for have had up-and-down careers, and not all of them have lived up to the hype. Let’s take a look at the crazy careers (so far) for the top three picks of the 2014 NBA Draft.
No. 1: Andrew Wiggins
Wiggins has had an interesting go of things. By the numbers, the early part of his career has been very successful and should bode well for his wallet when he hits free agency in just a few short weeks. He’s proven himself to be an elite scorer, averaging no fewer than 16.9 points per game in each of his four NBA seasons (and scoring over 20 in two of those), a trend he likely would’ve continued had he not been joined in Minnesota by superstars Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns. Outside of his scoring prowess, Wiggins has shown little ability to do much else. He isn’t a good passer or rebounder, and despite what scouts once predicted, his perimeter defense is extremely subpar, mostly due to his lackadaisical attitude.
No. 2: Jabari Parker
In the entire 2014 draft class, nobody intrigues me as much as Jabari Parker does. He’s had a really tough shake in Milwaukee––two major injuries, including a torn ACL in his rookie year, have severely stunted the Duke product’s growth. To make things worse for Parker, he’s been completely overshadowed and phased out of the offense by Giannis Antetokounmpo, Eric Bledsoe, and Kris Middleton, who lead an attack that took them to Game 7 against the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs last season. In 2017-18, Parker was held to just 24 minutes per game and started just 3 of his 31 contests. Despite this lack of exposure, I believe a lot of upside remains for Parker and that he’s a player to watch moving forward, especially if he leaves Milwaukee in the offseason. His scoring ability has flourished in his few healthy stretches, and he still has the frame and aggression to be a solid NBA rebounder.
No. 3: Joel Embiid
I have be honest––I burst out laughing when I found out that the Sixers picked Embiid third overall in this draft. The guy had serious health issues, and everyone knew he wasn’t going to be ready to play for multiple seasons. On top of that, there seemed to be some character flaws that came to fruition when he caused controversy with this simple tweet at Kim Kardashian.
Kanye isn’t a rapper you mess with. It's not because his toughness is intimidating, but more because he’s off his rocker. You don’t cross someone with dragon energy. Regardless, shooters shoot, and Joel took his shot, just like the Sixers did when they drafted him. As it turns out, I was wrong about both Embiid's character and talent, while remaining kind of right about his ability to stay healthy. Embiid has proven himself to be an All-NBA-level center if he’s healthy, averaging 22 points and 11 rebounds this season. His character has turned out to be nothing but a delight. He’s a media darling right now, Euro-stepping past gold diggers and lighting #NBATwitter on fire with his magic fingers.
(Headline photos––right to left––by Brent Burford, Adam Glantzman, and Brent Burford)
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