Premier talent enters the professional ranks every year through the NBA Draft, but not every high pick proves to be worth the selection.
That even applies to top prospects who went in the NBA Draft lottery.
Here are seven lottery picks from the past seven years who are already out of the NBA.
7. Jarrett Culver, Minnesota Timberwolves (No. 6, 2019 NBA Draft)
The 2019 NBA Draft was an interesting class, as it featured a generational talent in Zion Williamson, along with two consolation prizes in Ja Morant and R.J. Barrett. Beyond that, the class seemed rather middling, and there was much debate about who the first selections following those top three would be.
Having just led the Texas Tech Red Raiders to the NCAA Championship, Culver was one of the favorites to go fourth overall to the Los Angeles Lakers (who would go on to include their pick in the Anthony Davis trade).
Culver had averaged 18.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game, and was a quality backcourt defender at 6-foot-5, 195 pounds. The concern with Culver was that his shooting ability would limit him in the NBA, because while he had shot 46.1% from the floor, his 3-point clip was only 30.4% in 2018-2019, and to make matters worse, he shot just 70.7% from the free-throw line.
A player's free-throw percentage is typically a pretty good indicator of how effective a shooter he is; if a collegiate player has a low 3-point percentage but is hitting free throws at a good rate, that's a signal that his jump shot mechanics could be refined and he could become a quality outside shooter.
Unfortunately, those concerns have become a reality for Culver, and after being taken sixth overall by the Phoenix Suns (then immediately traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves), he started 35 of 63 games as a rookie, shooting just 29.9% from beyond the arc and an abysmal 46.2% from the free-throw line.
Things have only worsened for Culver since his rookie year, as his minutes dropped nearly 10 minutes per game in 2020-2021, and then he was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, where he played only 9.1 minutes in 37 games. He signed a two-way contract with the Atlanta Hawks and appeared in just 10 games. He is currently a member of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, which is the G League affiliate of the Houston Rockets
6. Josh Jackson, Phoenix Suns (No. 4, 2017 NBA Draft)
Starring at Kansas for one season, there were rumors of character concerns surrounding Josh Jackson, but the Phoenix Suns made him the fourth overall pick due to his excellent size, athleticism, and offensive potential.
As a rookie, he averaged 13.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game but was not the most efficient scorer. Still, his talent was evident, and given the rebuild that the Suns were in at the time, it looked like Jackson would be given the chance to develop.
However, neither his role nor his effectiveness increased in 2018-19, and the Suns decided to move on, dealing him to the Memphis Grizzlies, who immediately sent Jackson to the G League, signaling what they thought of his developmental progress. This is when things began to go downhill for Jackson, as he got into trouble multiple times as a member of the Grizzlies, including an arrest in May of 2019.
The Grizzlies did not re-sign Jackson, and he joined the Detroit Pistons in 2020-21. He started 25 of 62 games, averaging 25.2 minutes per night, and looking like very much the exact same player he was with the Suns. After his role decreased the following season, Jackson was dealt to the Sacramento Kings are part of the Marvin Bagley III trade, and appeared in just 12 games for the Kings.
He spent a month and a half with the Toronto Raptors during training camp prior to the 2022-23 season, but didn't find a team to play for during the most recent campaign. He did sign with Sacramento's G League affiliate, but lasted just four days.
And now, Jackson is being accused of some heinous acts that allegedly stemmed from an incident in February of 2022. It's unclear if NBA teams have been aware of the situation for the past year, but even if they weren't, it doesn't seem like the league has any more interest in seeing if they can squeeze the juice out of Jackson.
5. Georgios Papagiannis, Sacramento Kings (No. 13, 2016 NBA Draft)
In hindsight, the 2016 NBA Draft class looks pretty rough, so it's hard to blame the Suns (who traded him to the Kings later that night) for taking a swing here toward the bottom of the lottery. Georgios Papagiannas went pro in Greece when he was just 14 years old,
Almost no one expected Papagiannis to be a lottery pick, but the 7-foot-1, 240-pounder went 13th overall. He appeared in 22 NBA games as a rookie, averaging 5.6 points and 3.9 rebounds in 16.1 minutes.
However, he became an end-of-the-bench guy the following season, and the Kings moved on from him in February. He then latched on with the Portland Trail Blazers, but played only four minutes in one game.
Following the 2017-18 campaign, Pagagiannis decided to return to Greece and re-joined the team he had played for prior to declaring for the NBA Draft, and he is still having success in Europe to this day.
The Suns (or in reality, the Kings) took a chance on a player with elite size, and when there are so few legitimate seven-footers in the game today, that wasn't a terrible decision, even though it didn't end up working out.
4. Dragan Bender, Phoenix Suns (No. 4, 2016 NBA Draft)
The Suns seem to be coming up quite often on this list (and they aren't done yet!). Phoenix took Bender fourth overall in 2016 after he found much success in Croatia and Israel. He stood 7-foot, 225 pounds with an outside shooting game, which made him an ideal prospect for the modern NBA.
Phoenix gave Bender some pretty decent minutes over three seasons in hopes that he would be able to figure things out. He certainly flashed legitimate talent, but struggled to put it all together on a consistent basis.
During his rookie year, he shot just 35.4% from the field but eventually improved that to a respectable 44.7% in 2018-2019. Unfortunately, that was the season that he shot a career-worst 21.8% from beyond the arc, and also maintained his 2.0 fouls per game despite player 7.2 fewer minutes than the season before.
This inconsistency led to the Suns declining Bender's fourth-year rookie option, and he signed with the Milwaukee Bucks during the 2019 offseason. After appearing in just seven games for Milwaukee, he was waived in February of 2020 and then signed a 10-day contract with the Golden State Warriors, and he actually had one of, if not the best stretch of his career, averaging 9.0 points and 5.9 rebounds in 21.7 minutes over nine contests.
That would be the final NBA action of Bender's career, as following the COVID-19-shortened season, he returned to Israel, and is currently playing in Spain.
3. Thon Maker, Milwaukee Bucks (No. 10, 2016 NBA Draft)
Thon Maker presented a very interesting case when he entered the draft in 2016. Born in South Sudan, Maker moved to Australia at the age of 14, and then to the United States for his high school career, and played himself into a five-star recruitment ranking.
However, Maker never attended college, and entered the NBA Draft straight out of high school, a process that involved graduating in 2015 and then staying in high school for a gap year, which enabled him to be eligible for the draft at 19 years old, though there were rumors that he was actually a few years older than his claimed age.
Having experienced the rapid rise of another foreign player in Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks took a swing with Maker, making him the 10th overall pick. He was an excellent athlete for his size, standing 7-foot, 221 pounds with the potential to be a very effective modern big.
That potential never materialized, however, and Maker was shipped off to the Detroit Pistons midway through his third year. Despite having more opportunities with the rebuilding Pistsons, Maker was unable to develop, and he last stepped on an NBA court with the Cleveland Cavaliers back in 2020-2021, where he averaged just 9.5 minutes across eight games.
Since then, Maker has played in Israel, the G League, and is currently in China.
2. Marquese Chriss, Phoenix Suns (No. 8, 2016 NBA Draft)
The last Sun on this list, Marquese Chriss averaged 13.7 points and 5.4 rebounds during his lone year at Washington, showing good athletic ability and outside shooting potential in his 6-foot-9, 225-pound frame.
A highly-touted prospect, Phoenix was happy to snag him eighth overall, and he started 75 games as a rookie, averaging 9.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. He didn't take the next step in 2017-18, however, and the following offseason, he was dealt to the Houston Rockets.
Chriss barely played for Houston, logging just 6.5 minutes per game over 16 matches before being dealt to the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he performed fairly well off the bench. His performance in Cleveland earned him a deal with the Golden State Warriors, and despite being cut and re-signed, averaged a career-high 9.3 points and 6.2 rebounds in 20.3 minutes. He returned to the Warriors the following season, but unfortunately suffered a broken leg in his second game that cost him the rest of the campaign.
The next offseason, Chriss was dealt to the San Antonio Spurs, who released him shortly after. He then signed with the Portland Trail Blazers but was then cut. He spent the 2021-22 campaign with the Dallas Mavericks, playing 10.2 minutes per night over 34 games off the bench. During the 2022 offseason, he was traded to the Rockets for the second time, and then three months later, was dealt the Oklahoma City Thunder, who waived him less than one month later.
That's where Chriss's career stands at this point, he's still just 26 years old, but was never able to truly tap into his potential, or even show that he was headed in that direction.
1. Denzel Valentine, Chicago Bulls (No. 14, 2016 NBA Draft)
Denzel Valentine played at Michigan State for four seasons, where he found a lot of success with the Spartans, both individually and as a part of a consistent NCAA championship contender. As a senior, he averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 7.8 assists per game, while shooting 46.2% from the field and an incredible 44.4% from beyond the arc (at 7.5 attempts per game). At 6-foot-5, 220 pounds, he had excellent size for a guard,
The Chicago Bulls made him the 14th overall pick, and despite a quiet rookie season, he took a step forward in 2017-18, starting 37 games and averaging 27.2 minutes per night, while scoring 10.2 points on 38.6% three-point shooting.
Unfortunately, Valentine missed all of 2018-19 with an ankle injury, which really hampered his development. His role decreased in 2019-20 and he was unable to grow it in 2020-21.
The Bulls decided not to bring him back, and Valentine signed with Cleveland, where he averaged 9.3 minutes per game across 22 games before being involved in the trade that got the Cavs Rajon Rondo. The Lakers immediately waived Valentine, and he then signed a 10-day contract with the Utah Jazz, appearing in two games.
That was the last time that Valentine played on an NBA court, as since then he's spent time with the Boston Celtics' G League affiliate, and most recently signed in Australia for the upcoming season.
