Which rookies in basketball were not optimistic at first, but later turned out to be dark horses?

It is true that in the history of the NBA, there are too many players who started high but failed. They were at their peak when they debuted, and the first few seasons of their career were their peak seasons. Later, they got worse and worse, and finally became a marginal member of the team. However, some players did not play very well when they first entered the NBA, but later they played better and better, and became superstars. Their strength was a slap in the face, and Zhongyong was a late bloomer despite injuries.

Otto Porter

Porter was the No. 3 pick in 2013 by the Wizards. His body was not strong enough. He started playing as a substitute for the Wizards. At the beginning, Porter He didn't get many opportunities to show himself. He played 37 games in the first season of his career, all of which came as a substitute. He scored a total of 78 points. His shooting percentage was not very good, he couldn't grab rebounds, and he had no assist ability. But the Wizards did not give up on Porter. Porter is getting better and better as he plays. Starting from the third season of his career, he has gradually secured his starting position in the team. In recent years, Porter has scored, rebounds, assists, and steals every year. , blocks, field goal percentage, and three-point shooting percentage are all steadily improving. Porter, who has improved comprehensively, has also received a 100-million-yuan contract from the Wizards. The first two seasons of his career were parallel imports, but now Porter has already firmly established himself as the leader. hair.

Billups

Billups was the No. 3 overall pick in 1997 and played for 7 teams in his career. In the early days, Billups was once called a parallel import No. 3 pick. Abandoned by the Celtics, Raptors, Nuggets, and Timberwolves, he changed teams continuously in the early stages of his career, and his appearance was not guaranteed. At that time, he was already recognized as a parallel import. Fortunately, Billups made the playoffs with the Timberwolves. After losing the label of parallel import, Billups was later traded to the Pistons and proved himself again. Before winning the Finals MVP, Billups had not been selected to the All-Stars. He was also known as the most grassroots MVP. Billups was selected to the All-Stars 5 times in a row and was also selected to the Dream Team. It was a moment of glory. It can be said that Billups got better and better as he played in his career.

Jermaine O'Neal

O'Neal Jr. was the 17th rookie in 1996 and played for 7 teams in his career. He can be called a model of struggle, from a parallel rookie to winning a billion-dollar game. Contract, O'Neal's career was successful. O'Neal spent the early part of his career with the Trail Blazers, basically appearing as a substitute. In the third season of his career, he played 35 games and scored 90 points throughout the season. The total score in the first four seasons did not exceed 1,000 points. O'Neal Jr., who was traded to the Pacers, gained the team's trust and became the starter. He averaged 20.10 points per game. He was selected to the All-Star 6 times in a row with the Pacers and won the Pacers. The player's contract renewal at a sky-high price at that time was considered an initial success.

Let’s summarize these three for the time being. In the history of the NBA, there are many players who have counterattacked, including undrafted players, second-round picks, and players who did not participate in the draft. There are too many, like White Seder, Thomas Jr., Ben, Lowry, Jeremy Lin, etc., many familiar superstars have also been developed step by step.

For this, I have to mention Kawhi Leonard, who was promoted from the 15th pick to the MVP candidate.

In 2011, Leonard was selected by the Pacers with the 15th overall pick, and was then traded to the Spurs in exchange for George Hill. At that time, Popovich strongly disagreed with the deal. He said that he liked George Hill very much and even ranked ahead of GDP.

The draft report that year also showed that Leonard was still very rough in terms of shooting and ball-handling.

About shooting: About holding the ball:

Therefore, the report believes that Leonard has the potential to become a "very good" NBA player.

In the past few years, Leonard was indeed just a role player, with a status second only to GDP. In his third grade, he only averaged 12.8 points and 2 assists per game. On the offensive end, he is more focused on fixed-point shooting and baseline cuts. He is a 3D player. It will take until the 2015-16 season to truly develop his ball-holding ability.

In the 2016-17 season, Leonard became an MVP-level player. He averaged 25.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. In the playoffs, he averaged 27.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. Led the Spurs to the Western Conference Finals. In Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, the Spurs once led the Warriors by more than 20 points. If not for Pachulia's accidental collision injury in the third quarter, the Spurs and the Warriors would still have the strength to compete.

Lowry, the little steel cannon, was selected by the Grizzlies with the 24th pick in the first round of 2006. Joining the Grizzlies, the entire rookie season will be reimbursed. The next year, with the arrival of Conley, he had to still play the role of a backup. Lowry came to the Rockets in a trade in 2009. Lowry had not yet established himself. With the arrival of Dragic, Lowry was traded again and sent to the Toronto Raptors. After becoming an All-Star starter with the Raptors and DeRozan becoming the core of the Raptors backcourt, he received a three-year, $100 million contract.

Thomas was selected by the Kings with the 60th pick in the second round of 2011. Thomas is only 1.75 meters tall. In the 2011-12 Kings season, Thomas was not part of the team's regular rotation at the beginning. The Kings head coach changed his mind to win, and Thomas got stable playing time, and he gradually got better and better. In 2014, he was traded first to the Suns and then to the Celtics. In the 2015-2016 season, Thomas secured the starting point guard position with the Celtics, and was selected to this year's Eastern Conference All-Star reserve team. He is known as The strongest on the surface is 175.

Gasol was selected by the Lakers with the 48th pick in the second round of 2007, but was not signed. In 2008, the Lakers sent Gasol's signing rights to the Grizzlies in a trade to get Gasol. Now Gasol is already the star of the Grizzlies and one of the All-Star centers with the strongest overall strength. He won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award in the 2012-13 season, and was selected to the All-Star Western Conference starting lineup and the NBA All-NBA First Team in 2015.

Thomas was the 60th overall pick in the 2011 draft and was later selected as an All-Star.

Jimmy Butler, the 30th overall pick in 2011, is an inspirational representative and was eventually selected as an All-Star.

I think we must first define parallel imports. My definition is those rookies who were very talented before entering the draft and were also drafted with high picks, but failed to play in the NBA, such as Bennet. Special, Kwame Brown, Mi Shuaiguo and so on. Players like Arenas, Thomas, Lowry, Ginobili, etc. cannot be included in the scope of this problem, because no one would expect them to play well.

If you choose according to this standard, there are actually not many.

1. Billups. After a rough and tumble early period, he finally found redemption with the Pistons.

2. Porter, the third overall pick in 2013, finished his first season and averaged less than three points per game. Everyone thought he would lose. Now he has become the Big Three and may be an All-Star in the future.

3. O'Brien counts as half. After all, as a high school student in the same class as Kobe, he was selected with the 17th overall pick, which shows his high talent (Kobe was only the 13th overall pick). The Trail Blazers were suppressed badly enough, and the Pacers immediately revived as soon as they arrived.

4. Embiid, this is due to injury, which is really worrying. Now it seems that he should not be in trouble, but his injury is still a big hidden danger, and it will be difficult to fully realize it.

There are many players who were not optimistic at the beginning of the NBA draft, but later made a world of their own through their own efforts. Today, let’s talk about those dark horses.

Antetokounmpo

Antetokounmpo was selected 15th overall by the Bucks in the first round of 2013. 2013 was recognized as a draft year, and the outside world did not have high expectations, especially since Antetokounmpo was still from the Greek second division, and did not receive much attention. At that time, Antetokounmpo's height, arm extension and other physical conditions were not outstanding.

I didn’t expect that such a humble young man at the time would now have the potential to become the number one player in the league! This is due to Kidd's training, comprehensive development, and can be qualified for any position on the field.

But because of his athletic ability, no one thought that if he entered the league, his height and arm span would be longer! The Bucks signed a four-year, $100 million contract to ensure that he becomes the absolute core of the Bucks in the next few years.

Arenas

From an underrated second-round pick to a league superstar, Arenas' story is definitely one of the most inspiring in NBA history.

In the 2001 draft, the Warriors selected Arenas with the second overall pick in the second round. In the first 40 games, Arenas was a substitute. This is a scary situation for an ambitious arena player! So Arenas started training.

Finally. Arenas waited for his chance. Arenas' outstanding performance on the court surprised everyone! In his rookie season, Arenas played 47 games and started 30 games. Averages per game: 10.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.5 steals. Since he was successfully selected as the "Rookie of the Year", Arenas has begun to improve rapidly.

In the 2005-06 season, Arenas averaged 29.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 2 steals per game. At this time, Arenas is already a famous superstar in the league! On December 1, 2006, when the Wizards went to Los Angeles to challenge the Lakers led by Kobe Bryant, Arenas broke out with abnormal data of 60 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists. That night, the spotlight didn't belong to Kobe, it only belonged to the "General" Arena!

Rodman

Rodman was one of the heroes who, together with Jordan and Pippen, established the Bulls dynasty and won three championships for the second time in a row. He was selected in the second round of the 1986 draft. At the time of the game, Rodman was only 27 years old. Rodman is known for his rebounding and excellent defense, and is known as the "rebounding king". Rodman's controversial actions also caught his attention both on and off the court.

Kawhi Leonard

Leonard was selected 15th overall by the Pacers in the first round of 2011, and was subsequently traded by the Spurs for Hill. , one of the co-suppliers was Bertans. During the transaction, Popovich was very reluctant and agreed under the persuasion of others. After all, George Hill is the old man's favorite player, and we can see that he is not optimistic about Leonard.

But I didn’t expect that he has transformed from a responsible defender into an offensive and defensive superstar. At the beginning, no one could see that he had such great potential! The turning point was probably the losing penalty in the 2013 final. After dormant for a season, he got FMVP the following summer. Leonard ended his rookie contract in the summer of 2015. He signed a five-year superstar contract of 94.34 million with the Spurs, which completely established his core position in the post-Duncan era.

Curry

Curry is the superstar in today's league. He won the regular season MVP in 15 and 16 years. At that time, Curry was even more popular than James. Such a superstar must be very popular in the draft. A lot of teams definitely want him. In fact, he is not.

The most important thing in the NBA draft is talent, and talent is physical fitness. At that time, Curry's physical fitness was not good, his body was too thin, and his shot selection was not good. Most scouts don't like him.

Curry's scouting report has many shortcomings: not a true point guard, poor shot selection, poor defense, limited ceiling, mediocre athletic ability, short arm extension, prone to injury.

In the eyes of scouts that year, Curry's level was lower than the NBA average. Now Curry slaps these scouts with his performance. Curry conquered the league with his performance. He went from a rookie to a superstar. He is the best example of a counterattack in the NBA.

Who else do you think can successfully counterattack and become a superstar?

Too many, Ginobili, Billups, Bogut, etc.! The most typical Ginobili, the 60th pick selected by the Spurs in the second round, the last one in the list. He has been with the Spurs since then, the best sixth man, snake-like breakthrough, demon sword king, helping the Spurs win many championships.

He is fully capable of being a starter for a team, but has always been the sixth man, one of the important combinations of GDP! Pampas Eagle! Almost invincible under the rules of the international arena, he also helped Argentina defeat the United States team to win the Olympic championship! If the rookie did not perform well, the one who gets the most slap in the face is none other than this old boy from the Mediterranean!

The word "sure" in your title bothered me for a long time, but I still can't complain about it

There are many people who call it a dark horse. Let's talk about it briefly. For example, there are (indifferent) Order):

1. Stockton, at the beginning, still received a lot of contempt because of his physical fitness and being short and thin. Needless to say, his later achievements were simply Dashuai Zhang in terms of assists and steals;

2. Nowitzki, at that time, white forwards with outside shooting were still not favored. Nowitzki was He only gained attention due to his stable shooting and continuous improvement;

3. Curry can be considered one of them. He also had many injuries in the early stage and seemed fragile

In this way, the above Several of them are typical examples of white players or white-leaning players who are not favored. There are also Korver and Nash. In fact, many black people are not favored

4. Butler, who started as a defensive player as a role player, is now simply outperforming the two top picks (Towns and Scarf) as the boss or spirit of the team Leader Bar

5. Leonard, the team's starting position was Bowen, and the result was excellent offensively and defensively... If you don't count the injuries this year, there is no doubt that the top three small forwards in recent years

6. Paul George started out similar to the above facial paralysis situation. Because the boss was injured and replaced him, he performed well and became a star player. The boss Granger almost faded out of the league from then on...

7 McGrady can also be considered one

The above lists a bunch of players who started out as defensive players (T-Mac can barely be counted). There are many low-ranking players who have performed at the top level (Butler above is also considered)

8. Thomas must be counted as one. Last season was amazing. The 60th pick (the last one), awesome

9. Arenas, agent No. 0, versus Kobe Bryant

10. Chasing dreams, amazing defensive performance, champion The defensive pillar of the Warriors

End

I think Curry is one of them. As the No. 7 pick in 2009, Curry seemed to be a high pick, but the Warriors who selected Curry Questioned after the draft. In 2009, the teams with picks 3-6 selected all guards, but no team chose Curry, especially the other guards the Timberwolves selected with the 5th and 6th picks. I guess I feel regretful now. .

The scouting report at the time was also very unfavorable to Curry, even though Curry averaged 28.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game in his junior season. The scouting report said that his athletic ability and physical fitness are not up to the NBA level, he does not have the ability to finish the offense at the basket, he has no potential to tap, he cannot adapt to NBA confrontation, he cannot control the team's offense, and he will not succeed. Excellent athlete. There are only a few advantages - good shooting ability and ability to run without the ball.

Curry slapped those doubters in the face during his rookie season, averaging 17.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game. He can not only finish the offense at the basket, but also control the team. Later, he got higher step by step. In his career, he has won 2 regular season MVPs, 3 championships, 6 All-Stars, 1 scoring champion, and 1 steal. Recently, his total number of three-pointers has surpassed Reggie Miller. Exclusively ranked second in history. Curry, who is 32 years old today, is still averaging 27.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game. He is the most successful No. 7 pick in NBA history, and his legend continues!