worth the money?

It's my opinion that top picks in the NBA draft are almost always wasted picks, and that a team is almost always better off trading down for lower picks or for free agents.

Here are the top ten picks in each NBA draft from 2000 to 2009. In italics are the ones that, in my opinion, have turned out to be worth the money that a top ten draft pick gets. Many of the others have turned out to be very good players, but I don't feel that they've had the kind of impact on the game that merits top ten money. The jury is still out on players picked in recent drafts, especially 2008 and 2009.

See where you agree or disagree.

Top Ten Draft Picks in the NBA, 2000 thru 2009

2000

1. Kenyon Martin, Cincinnati by New Jersey
2. Stromile Swift, LSU by Vancouver
3. Darius Miles, East St. Louis HS (Mo.) by L.A. Clippers
4. Marcus Fizer, Iowa State bt Chicago
5. Mike Miller, Florida by Orlando
6. DerMarr Johnson, Cincinnati by Atlanta
7. Chris Mihm, Texas by Chicago (to Cleveland)
8. Jamal Crawford, Michigan by Cleveland (to Chicago)
9. Joel Przybilla, Minnesota by Houston (to Milwaukee)
10. Keyon Dooling, Missouri by Orlando (to L.A. Clippers)


2001

1. Kwame Brown, Glynn Academy (Ga.) by Washington
2. Tyson Chandler, Dominguez HS (Calif.) by L.A. Clippers (to Chicago)
3. Pau Gasol, Spain by Atlanta (to Memphis)
4. Eddy Curry, Thornwood HS (Ill.) by Chicago
5. Jason Richardson, Michigan State by Golden State
6. Shane Battier, Duke by Memphis
7. Eddie Griffin, Seton Hall by New Jersey (to Houston)
8. DeSagana Diop, Oak Hill Academy (Va.) by Cleveland
9. Rodney White, UNC-Charlotte by Detroit
10. Joe Johnson, Arkansas by Boston


2002

1. Yao Ming, China by Houston
2. Jay Williams, Duke by Chicago
3. Mike Dunleavy, Duke by Golden State
4. Drew Gooden, Kansas by Memphis
5. Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Italy by Denver
6. Dajuan Wagner, Memphis by Cleveland
7. Nene Hilario, Brazil by New York (to Denver)
8. Chris Wilcox, Maryland by L.A. Clippers
9. Amare Stoudemire, Cypress Creek HS (Fla.) by Phoenix
10. Caron Butler, Connecticut by Miami


2003

1. LeBron James, St. Vincent-St. Mary HS (Ohio) by Cleveland
2. Darko Milicic, Serbia & Montenegro by Detroit
3. Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse by Denver
4. Chris Bosh, Georgia Tech by Toronto
5. Dwyane Wade, Marquette by Miami
6. Chris Kaman, Central Michigan by L.A. Clippers
7. Kirk Hinrich, Kansas by Chicago
8. T.J. Ford, Texas by Milwaukee
9. Mike Sweetney, Georgetown by New York
10. Jarvis Hayes, Georgia by Washington


2004

1. Dwight Howard, SW Atlanta Christian Aca. by Orlando
2. Emeka Okafor, Connecticut by Charlotte
3. Ben Gordon, Connecticut by Chicago
4. Shaun Livingston, Peoria HS (Illinois) by L.A. Clippers
5. Devin Harris, Wisconsin by Washington (to Dallas)
6. Josh Childress, Stanford by Atlanta
7. Luol Deng, Duke by Phoenix (to Chicago)
8. Rafael Araujo, BYU by Toronto
9. Andre Iguodala, Arizona by Philadelphia
10. Luke Jackson, Oregon by Cleveland


2005

1 Andrew Bogut, Utah by Milwaukee
2 Marvin Williams, North Carolina by Atlanta
3 Deron Williams, Illinois by Utah
4 Chris Paul, Wake Forest by New Orleans
5 Raymond Felton, North Carolina by Charlotte
6 Martell Webster, Seattle Prep HS by Portland
7 Charlie Villanueva, Connecticut by Toronto
8 Channing Frye, Arizona by New York
9 Ike Diogu, Arizona State by Golden State
10 Andrew Bynum, St. Joseph (NJ) HS by L.A. Lakers


2006

1 Andrea Bargnani, Italy by Toronto
2 LaMarcus Aldridge, Texas by Chicago
3 Adam Morrison, Gonzaga by Charlotte
4 Tyrus Thomas, Louisiana State by Portland
5 Shelden Williams, Duke by Atlanta
6 Brandon Roy, Washington by Minnesota
7 Randy Foye, Villanova by Boston
8 Rudy Gay, Connecticut by Houston
9 Patrick O'Bryant, Bradley by Golden State
10 Saer Sene, Senegal by Seattle


2007

1 Greg Oden, Ohio State by Portland
2 Kevin Durant, Texas by Seattle
3 Al Horford, Florida by Atlanta
4 Mike Conley Jr, Ohio State by Memphis
5 Jeff Green, Georgetown by Boston (traded to Seattle)
6 Yi Jianlian, China by Milwaukee
7 Corey Brewer, Florida by Minnesota
8 Brandan Wright, North Carolina by Charlotte (traded to Golden State)
9 Joakim Noah, Florida by Chicago
10 Spencer Hawes, Washington by Sacramento


2008

1 Derrick Rose, Memphis by Chicago
2 Michael Beasley, Kansas State by Miami
3 O.J. Mayo, USC by Minnesota (traded to Memphis)
4 Russell Westbrook, UCLA by Seattle
5 Kevin Love, UCLA by Memphis (traded to Minnesota)
6 Danilo Gallinari, Italy by New York
7 Eric Gordon, Indiana by L.A. Clippers
8 Joe Alexander, West Virginia by Milwaukee
9 D.J. Augustin, Texas by Charlotte
10 Brook Lopez, Stanford by New Jersey


2009

1 Blake Griffin, Oklahoma by L.A. Clippers
2 Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut by Memphis
3 James Harden, Arizona State by Oklahoma City
4 Tyreke Evans, Mempihs by Sacramento
5 Ricky Rubio, DKV Joventut (Spain) by Minnesota (from Washington)
6 Jonny Flynn, Syracuse by Minnesota
7 Stephen Curry, Davidson by Golden State
8 Jordan Hill, Arizona by New York
9 DeMar DeRozan, USC by Toronto
10 Brandon Jennings, Lottomatica Roma (Italy) by Milwaukee