The NBA Draft is largely a matter of luck, but some executives are better at it than others.
In modern times, Sam PrestiFor example, he has had an impressive track record, having three consecutive MVPs in the draft, but how does he compare to other legendary general managers when it comes to selecting star players?
To find out, we followed the must-read Basketball Reference and looked at the draft records of past NBA executives. As expected, Red Auerbach He ended up with nine All-NBA selections, which is a by-product of his basketball acumen as well as the players he drafted over the course of 34 offseasons.
(For this exercise, we assigned players based on their final draft rights, not their first selection. For example, Kobe Bryant count Jerry WestStrictly speaking, the Hornets didn’t select him.
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All-NBA Players: 9 (Bill Russell, Dave Cowens, JoJo White, John Havlicek, Kevin McHale, Larry Bird, Paul Westphal, Sam Jones, Tommy Heinsohn)
All-NBA Selections: 49
draft: 34
All-NBA players by draft: 0.26
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All-NBA Players: 7 (Chris Webber, Dirk Nowitzki, Latrell Sprewell, Marques Johnson, Mitch Richmond, Sidney Moncrief, Tim Hardaway)
All-NBA Selections: 36
draft: twenty five
All-NBA players by draft: 0.28
Malcolm Emmons – USA TODAY Network.
All-NBA Players: 5 (Dick Maguire, Dolph Shays, Harry Gallatin, Richie Guerin, Willis Reed)
All-NBA Selections: twenty three
draft: 16
All-NBA players by draft: 0.31
All-NBA Players: 5 (Andy Phillips, Bob Cousy, Jim Pollard, Larry Faust, Ralph Beard)
All-NBA Selections: twenty two
draft: 4
All-NBA players by draft: 1.25
All-NBA Players: 5 (Alex English, Brad Daugherty, Julius Erving, Kevin Johnson, Mark Price)
All-NBA Selections: 20
draft: 18
All-NBA players by draft: 0.28
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All-NBA Players: 5 (Amar’e Stoudemire, Steve Nash, Joe Johnson, DeMar DeRozan, Ben Simmons)
All-NBA Selections: 18
draft: twenty one
All-NBA players by draft: 0.24
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All-NBA Players: 5 (Jean Hsu, Jack George, Larry Costello, Tom Gola, Wilt Chamberlain)
All-NBA Selections: 15
draft: 11
All-NBA players by draft: 0.45
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All-NBA Players: 4 (Domantas Sabonis, James Harden, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook)
All-NBA Selections: 29
draft: 18
All-NBA players by draft: 0.22
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All-NBA Players: 4 (Anfernee Hardaway, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, World B. Free)
All-NBA Selections: 29
draft: twenty three
All-NBA players by draft: 0.17
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All-NBA Players: 4 (Eddie Jones, James Worthy, Kobe Bryant, Kyle Lowry)
All-NBA Selections: 19
draft: twenty four
All-NBA players by draft: 0.17
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All-NBA Players: 4 (Gary Payton, Jermaine O’Neal, Shawn Kemp, Zach Randolph)
All-NBA Selections: 16
draft: 18
All-NBA players by draft: 0.22
All-NBA Players: 4 (Bob McAdoo, Randy Smith, Spencer Haywood, Walt Frazier)
All-NBA Selections: 13
draft: 16
All-NBA players by draft: 0.25
All-NBA Players: 4 (Clyde Lovellette, Dick Garmaker, Slater Martin, Vern Mikkelsen)
All-NBA Selections: 11
draft: 6
All-NBA players by draft: 0.67
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All-NBA Players: 4 (Elton Brand, Metta World Peace, Scottie Pippen, Tyson Chandler)
All-NBA Selections: 10
draft: 19
All-NBA players by draft: 0.21
David Wu
All-NBA Players: 4 (Dale Ellis, Detlef Schrempf, Jamal Mashburn, Jason Kidd)
All-NBA Selections: 9
draft: 17
All-NBA players by draft: 0.24
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All-NBA Players: 4 (Rajon Rondo, Al Jefferson, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown)
All-NBA Selections: 7
draft: twenty one
All-NBA players by draft: 0.19
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All-NBA Players: 3 (Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker)
All-NBA Selections: twenty one
draft: 9
All-NBA players by draft: 0.33
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All-NBA Players: 3 (Oscar Robertson, Bob Love, Jerry Lucas)
All-NBA Selections: 17
draft: 12
All-NBA players by draft: 0.25
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All-NBA Players: 3 (Kevin Love, Kevin Garnett, Stephon Marbury)
All-NBA Selections: 13
draft: 14
All-NBA players by draft: 0.21
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All-NBA Players: 3 (David Robinson, Baron Davis, Alvin Robertson)
All-NBA Selections: 12
draft: twenty two
All-NBA players by draft: 0.14
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All-NBA Players: 3 (Isaiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Dennis Rodman)
All-NBA Selections: 10
draft: 15
All-NBA players by draft: 0.20
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All-NBA Players: 3 (Ray Allen, Blake Griffin, Vin Baker)
All-NBA Selections: 9
draft: 8
All-NBA players by draft: 0.38
AP Photo/Jack Plunkett
All-NBA Players: 3 (Brandon Roy, Sam Cassell, LaMarcus Aldridge)
All-NBA Selections: 8
draft: 5
All-NBA players by draft: 0.60
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All-NBA Players: 3 (Tiny Archibald, Phil Ford, Otis Birdsong)
All-NBA Selections: 7
draft: 16
All-NBA players by draft: 0.19
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All-NBA Players: 3 (DeMarcus Cousins, Isaiah Thomas, Predrag Stojakovic)
All-NBA Selections: 4
draft: 20
All-NBA players by draft: 0.15
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All-NBA Players: 3 (Bradley Beal, John Wall, Michael Redd)
All-NBA Selections: 3
draft: 27
All-NBA players by draft: 0.11
