Meet the 2016 NBA Draft: The Most Misunderstood Class Ever

Andy Hoops

Let's dissect the 2016 NBA draft class in detail...how did these players turn out? contact@tablerock.com  I make all kinds of long-form NBA content which include player stories, analysis, breakdowns, and historical topics. Make sure to leave a like and subscribe if you enjoyed this video! ► X: https://www.x.com/@andyhoopsyt ► TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andyhoopsyt ► Music:  Black Vortex by Kevin MacLeod Movement Proposition by Kevin MacLeod Pure Attitude by Kevin MacLeod Sardana by Kevin MacLeod Lightless Dawn by Kevin MacLeod Basic Implosion by Kevin MacLeod Bittersweet by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 (incompetech.com) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ► Sources: Stats and box-scores from Basketball-Reference.com, NBA.com, Statmuse.com, PBPstats.com #nba

Transcript

00:00With the first pick, the Philadelphia 76ers select Ben Simmons.

00:07There's no draft class in modern history as confusing as 2016.

00:11Because on one hand, it seemed like plenty of them were going to have long, highly impactful careers.

00:17You had Ben Simmons putting up near triple-double numbers, making three straight All-Star appearances

00:22and back-to-back first-team All-Defense, all before the age of 24.

00:26But then he crashed out faster than anyone could imagine.

00:29Then you had the second pick, Brandon Ingram, a perennial 20-point-per-game scorer,

00:34who got decimated by injuries, and he made such little impact on a larger NBA scale.

00:39Always good enough to root for, but never good enough to lead his team anywhere.

00:43He's the definition of the dynasty starts after you kind of player.

00:48Perhaps it's Jalen Brown who will likely end up as the best player of this class.

00:52Well, according to some analytics, some folks would oppose that claim.

00:56And considering Brad Stevens gave him up just like that, he's also had quite the strange career arc,

01:02getting sent off after the best individual season of his career.

01:06It's a perplexing class filled with busts and B-tier All-Stars who were once labeled as the most overpaid

01:12players in the league.

01:13So it leads me to wonder, what legacy will this class truly leave behind?

01:18But due to the surprising depth of this class, could it be redeemed by the much later picks down the

01:23board?

01:24Let's take a detailed look.

01:35As we all know, the first pick, Ben Simmons, definitely had the most legendary crash-out of any star in

01:40history.

01:41But his career was off to a shaky start before it even began.

01:45He sat out what was supposed to be his entire rookie season due to a preseason fracture of his foot.

01:50It was a Jones fracture, one of the most debilitating foot injuries a guy as tall as him could get.

01:56So right out the gates, having the first pick of the class be out his entire first year was not

02:01a good sign.

02:02For Simmons, this was only the start of a long list of severe injuries and a level of mental weakness

02:08that became a burden to overcome.

02:10It was mostly back injuries that permanently crippled his career, but also the fact that he could never fix his

02:15shooting form.

02:16Something that fans would always mock him for.

02:24So by the time he got traded to Brooklyn, he was already a shell of his former self, with nothing

02:29new to add to his game as he slowly faded away into irrelevance.

02:34The second pick, Brandon Ingram, as I mentioned, I can't think of another player who's as consistent of a 20

02:39-point-per-game scorer as he is,

02:41but at the same time had such little influence across the NBA landscape.

02:45Actually, I can. Zach Levine, who played just one playoff series in over a decade.

02:51Ingram, however, played in three playoff series in his first 10 seasons, which is better, but not by much, considering

02:58he was useless and injured in two of them.

03:00While his injuries were never as severe as Simmons, he gets perpetually injured in what seems like every year on

03:06every part of his body.

03:07Like, he's the small forward version of Anthony Davis.

03:10The fact that he stayed healthy for an entire season in Toronto was a miracle in itself.

03:15Well, until the postseason began, where he got injured again.

03:18There's a reason the Pelicans could never get anything going with him and Zion on the roster,

03:23because they'd both get hurt at the worst possible time, and could never maintain a long period of success when

03:28they can't even suit up.

03:30Ingram is without question a great player, but his career arc is a travesty.

03:36Jalen Brown was the third pick, and as much as he was praised for most of his Celtics tenure,

03:40I'm also well aware of the flack he's gotten leading up to the trade that sent him away.

03:45Right at the time he reached the peak of his prime, the Celtics didn't feel like he was worth it

03:49in the long run.

03:50They felt like he wasn't worth the $70 million per year extension he was seeking,

03:54which is, you know, reasonable to be skeptical of.

03:57The opinions of him are quite divided, and it's not just the media.

04:01Judging from the talks within other teams' front offices, nobody valued him as high as the money he commanded.

04:06But here's the thing.

04:08At the moment I'm making this video, there really isn't any other player who has as good of a claim

04:13to be the best player of this class than Jalen Brown.

04:16His resume, you know, in terms of personal accolades, team accomplishments, pure box score numbers,

04:21it's hard to put any player of this class ahead of him.

04:28That's why this class is confusing.

04:30Because even the supposed best player of this class got tossed aside by the team that drafted him.

04:36We have our first major bust at number 4, Dragon Bender.

04:41Not too long ago, when I made my video about every failed Wemby in NBA history,

04:45I conveniently left out Bender because, honestly, I even forgot he existed.

04:49However, he was for sure a 7-foot unicorn.

04:52His draft day comparison was Kristaps Porzingis,

04:55with some scouts projecting his ball handling and passing skills to be far superior than Porzingis himself.

05:00Yet, there were two things where Porzingis had a substantial advantage in,

05:04and those two things helped him carve out a long, fruitful NBA career,

05:08while Dragon Bender was dead on arrival.

05:11Porzingis' athleticism and shooting ability, both of which Bender severely lacked.

05:16It's weird, isn't it?

05:17You'd expect a perimeter-oriented 7-footer to be at least somewhat athletic,

05:21but Bender was clearly outmatched by much faster and stronger bigs in the NBA,

05:25to the point where none of his good qualities even mattered.

05:29I think the problem was, his skills were more similar to that of a small forward,

05:33not an actual center, and he played much smaller than his actual height.

05:37The Suns were also deep at the wings and needed Bender to play like a big man, which he couldn't.

05:42Dude was one of the worst rebounders in history for a 7-footer.

05:45A career 20-minute-per-game player, but fewer than 4 rebounds a game.

05:50Bender lasted just barely over 3 seasons before his departure from the league.

05:55The 5th pick, Chris Dunn, had one of the more intriguing career paths.

05:59At one point, I remember how high the praise was during his time in Chicago.

06:03In his first 4 years, he had a strong start to his career,

06:07but he hit a nasty streak of injuries that caused him to miss the majority of 3 straight seasons.

06:12It wasn't until he got to the Clippers where he found his place in the NBA once again

06:16as a tough, stoic, defensive-minded point guard.

06:22For a guy who went through so many years of rehab,

06:25he could have very well fell out of the league in that span.

06:27But his career lasting so long is evident of his sheer motivation to return to the court, which he did.

06:33The 6th pick, Buddy Heald.

06:36Remember his whole age controversy back then?

06:38Well, apparently he turned 24 years old 2 months into his rookie season.

06:42And if you come in at this age, you have to be a polished player right out the gates.

06:46Yes. And luckily, he was.

06:49Heald was an explosive 3-point shooter,

06:52and overall just a very good scorer from every area on the court,

06:55which made him valuable for a team like the Kings,

06:58who benefited from anyone who showed a semblance of talent,

07:01especially when they drafted so many other busts around this time.

07:05Buddy Heald was a bright spot,

07:07and there were a couple years where he was top 5 in the league in 3-point attempts per game.

07:11His strength was catching the ball off screens and letting it rip.

07:15Buddy's pretty much the stereotypical high stats on a bad team player.

07:19He was always part of losing teams and didn't make the playoffs until the age of 31.

07:23But if you look at how the first round of this draft played out,

07:26Buddy was honestly one of the better picks.

07:29Anyway, the next pick at number 7 was Jamal Murray.

07:33The 2026 campaign saw Murray make his first-ever All-Star team, an All-NBA selection.

07:39Before that, though, Murray had the notorious distinction of being the highest-paid non-All-Star player ever.

07:44The truth is, when he signed a 4-year, $208 million maximum extension years ago,

07:50it was considered a bad deal.

07:52A superstar-level salary for an often-injured fringe All-Star.

07:56Much of it was due to his reputation as a playoff riser during their 2023 run to the championship.

08:09However, since then, Murray's playoff performances became very spotty and inconsistent.

08:14But with all that being said, he's still a top 5, probably top 3 player of this class,

08:19despite the fewer individual accolades and the polarizing perception of his career.

08:25Unfortunately, the 8th pick of the draft was clearly bad from the start.

08:29Marquise Chris.

08:31Acquired by Phoenix on draft night, Chris represented yet another bust for the Suns after Dragon Bender.

08:37Actually, they had a string of busts across several years,

08:40which marked a tumultuous time for the Suns' rebuilding process.

08:43And Chris became a mere drop in the vast ocean of misery.

08:48The Suns took him due to his insane potential.

08:51Dude was a 6'9", 240-pound freak of nature who can run down the court like a gazelle.

08:56So his potential was almost solely tied to his otherworldly athletic ability.

09:00But you know the deal with guys like this.

09:02The moment they step foot in the NBA, their so-called elite athleticism isn't special anymore.

09:08And compounded by his lack of actual basketball skills,

09:11the dude was such a raw prospect with no understanding of the NBA game.

09:14The Suns gave up on him after two years, and the rest of the league agreed with their assessment.

09:20He fell out of the NBA by the age of 24.

09:23The Suns basically got two major busts from this class.

09:27The 9th pick, Jakob Pertl.

09:29One of the better lottery picks, and he peaked later in his career when he joined the San Antonio Spurs.

09:35Pertl is a unique player.

09:36It's rare to find a legit 7-footer who built a career off his hustle and energy.

09:41These kind of players are usually relegated to the bench, but he was a legit starter for many years.

09:46Yet, when he signed a 4-year, $100 million extension,

09:50this should have been a good deal for a starting caliber center.

09:54But Pertl's skills were quite limited.

09:56It was an optimistic contract for a player of his caliber.

10:00At the 10th pick, the great Thawne Maker.

10:04There might never be a player with as unique of an NBA journey as Maker,

10:08but it's his intriguing repertoire of skills that made him truly a marvel of a prospect.

10:13Being a lanky 7-footer and having your entire game based around facing up on the perimeter

10:18while simultaneously being a huge threat defensively,

10:21he was supposed to develop into a player similar to Kristaps Porzingis.

10:25Yet, even by his standards, Maker was an absolute weakling and avoided contact like the plague.

10:31Dude had no idea how to play in the paint whatsoever,

10:34and those perimeter skills became useless when his flashy handles were not practical at the NBA level.

10:43The Bucks figured that out fairly quickly, and by the age of 23, he was out.

10:48The 11th pick, Demontis Sabonis.

10:51I might get some criticism for my opinion on Sabonis,

10:54but here's the thing.

10:56He's a great player, but I've never seen a player whose impact on the game

10:59looks so much worse than his actual box score numbers.

11:03Like, if you just look at his numbers, they're insane.

11:06The dude led the league in rebounding multiple times.

11:08He scored very efficiently and racked up assists like crazy

11:11to the tune of near triple-doubled numbers.

11:19People used to call him Baby Jokic.

11:21However, watching him play is a different story.

11:25Much of his assists come from dribble handoffs.

11:27Much of his scoring comes from very easy baskets near the rim.

11:31But in situations where he needs to do more, Sabonis cannot.

11:35His offensive bag is surprisingly very limited, and his defense is worse.

11:40But it's his very selective shot selection that makes his scoring look better than it actually is.

11:45With that said, he's still a multiple-time all-star.

11:48He's still one of the best players of this class,

11:50and for sure a phenomenal pick at number 11.

11:53The number 12 pick, however, wasn't much of a star, but a dedicated role player.

11:58Torian Prince was basically drafted with the intention to be a supporting player for the Hawks.

12:02A complimentary 3 and D wing player who fulfilled that role nicely even as his career progressed along.

12:09Yorgos Papayanis, the 13th pick.

12:11Yeah, he played 39 games before going back to the EuroLeague.

12:15Dude was a huge center, but with slow foot speed and no redeeming qualities besides his size,

12:20there was no place for him in the league during a 3-point heavy and pick-and-roll dominant era.

12:24He couldn't guard the most standard plays every team would run.

12:28The 14th pick was Denzel Valentine.

12:41Yeah, I'm sure this is the first thing everyone thinks of him when his name comes up,

12:45and it's the perfect summary of his career.

12:47A player who thought he was much better than he actually is.

12:51A few months after this horrendous shot, the Bulls renounced his rights in free agency,

12:55and he only appeared in one more season before permanently exiting the league.

12:59Those were the 14 picks in the lottery, and honestly, it wasn't that bad.

13:04Of course, you had a couple of underachievers at the top,

13:07but about half the players became quality pieces for their respective teams.

13:12Still, for many of these guys, their expectations were supposed to be higher than what they actually achieved.

13:17Especially for players as talented as Simmons or Ingram or Sabonis,

13:21who had not left a huge mark on the postseason landscape.

13:24And the rest of the first round followed the same pattern.

13:27The 19th pick Malik Beasley and the 20th pick Karras Levert.

13:32Both were once considered as high-value, high-quality role players

13:35with desirable skills that should keep him in the league for a long time.

13:39Yet, Levert's game hit a wall.

13:41Karras Levert's pass in the forecourt. Kicked off.

13:45That reputation of being a versatile scorer and playmaker he was viewed as,

13:49he wasn't as good as his numbers indicated.

13:51The idea of Levert is better than the actual player himself.

13:56When he transitioned into a bench player,

13:59some believed he could play the role of a 6'7 Lou Williams,

14:02one of the most productive bench players of all time.

14:05That was a long shot.

14:07Of course, we all know what happened to Malik Beasley.

14:10Sources tell me the U.S. District Attorney's Office

14:13is investigating Detroit Pistons guard Malik Beasley on allegations of gambling.

14:18It's such a shame because it looked like he found a new life in Detroit,

14:22all for it to come crashing down.

14:25However, with all the disappointment and the lack of sustained success

14:28through the first 20 picks,

14:29it surprisingly gets much better starting in the late first round and early second round.

14:34The 27th pick was Pascal Siakam.

14:37A phenomenal player who well exceeded his draft position.

14:40Even back in Toronto, he was such a major catalyst to the Raptors championship

14:44and used what he learned to ignite several consecutive years of being the first option on his team.

14:49Even after a trade to Indiana,

14:51Siakam has proven to be able to slot in and fit within any roster, any offense.

14:56The biggest steal of the first round by far.

14:59Then, there's the 29th pick, Dejounte Murray.

15:02Murray, also a great steal.

15:04He started off as a Greg Popovich protégé.

15:07And following Kawhi's departure, Murray quickly became a defensive stud

15:11and eventually a triple-double machine as he got the chance to be the lead ball handler.

15:16However, history won't be kind to Murray.

15:18He might be remembered more for his time on the Hawks,

15:21where the team had the ambition to pair him in the backcourt with Trey Young

15:25because Murray supposedly had the defensive tact to cover for Trey's biggest flaw.

15:30In reality, the team's offense ran much better when one of them was on the bench

15:34because you had two supremely heavy ball-dominant players not benefiting from each other.

15:39Perhaps more of the blame should go to the coaching,

15:42but it wasn't the perfect fit they initially imagined.

15:45That was followed by injuries that wiped away the rest of Murray's prime.

15:48You can add him to the long list of fringe All-Stars in this class

15:51who never played many high-pressure playoff games,

15:54so his career is hard to evaluate.

16:00A solid starting center for his entire career

16:03and a valuable contributor on many playoff teams.

16:06He's a good representative of this entire class

16:08because he had a slow start, he worked his way into the rotation, and found his niche.

16:13Zubats has always played within his role without doing too much.

16:16All the way at the 36th pick of the class

16:19was the man who won Rookie of the Year, Malcolm Brogdon.

16:23Well, technically, Ben Simmons also won Rookie of the Year,

16:26but it was the year after because he missed his entire first year.

16:30Brogdon was the actual Rookie of the Year

16:31as he became the lowest draft pick to win the award in over 50 years.

16:40The funny thing is, his numbers weren't even that good,

16:44but it proves how much of a slow start this entire class had.

16:47If somebody like Brogdon could win Rookie of the Year

16:50by averaging 10 points and 4 assists

16:52and coming off the bench for most of the season,

16:54that's impressive but kind of sad at the same time.

16:58Two picks later at number 38,

17:00who can forget the three-time champion himself, Patrick McCaw.

17:04He's the first and only player in history

17:06who won three straight championships

17:08across two different teams in his first three years in the league,

17:11so he's worth a mention just because of that.

17:14But individually, he didn't have a big impact,

17:17especially in the playoffs where he was barely part of the rotation.

17:20George Niang at the 50th pick.

17:23When you get 9 seasons and over 500 games played at this draft spot,

17:27it's a success.

17:29Niang spent most of his career as a sniper,

17:31an elite three-point shooter who worked hard enough

17:33to maintain a roster spot for so many years.

17:36With all those notable selections in the draft,

17:39what made this class truly unique?

17:41The unorthodox number of undrafted players

17:43who made a significant impact.

17:46Fred Van Vliet is the biggest one.

17:48Whenever you go undrafted as a short, stubby point guard

17:51who nobody thought had the tools to excel in the sport

17:53and you prove him wrong,

17:55Van Vliet crushed the critics,

17:57and he became an all-star as an undrafted player,

17:59which has only been done a handful of times in history.

18:02It's not just him, however.

18:05This pool of undrafted players also featured Gary Payton II,

18:08the tallest 6'2 player you've ever seen

18:11and a very important piece to the Warriors' championship run in 2022.

18:22Former slam dunk champion Derek Jones Jr. also went undrafted this year,

18:27and much like Payton,

18:28he found a late career resurgence as a hyper-athletic off-ball slasher.

18:32Bryn Forbes, he was most notable for his time on the Spurs

18:35as a key player during the DeMar DeRozan era,

18:38but he also played a role in Milwaukee's 2021 championship.

18:43Dorian Finney-Smith, an elite 3&D player

18:46most known for his time in Dallas with Luka.

18:48And last but certainly not least, Alex Caruso,

18:52multiple-time champion and all-NBA defender.

18:55That's six, yes, you heard that right,

18:57six undrafted players from a single class

18:59who all made massive contributions in the NBA,

19:02which honestly, that's unheard of.

19:04You usually see just one or two undrafted guys from a single year,

19:07but six?

19:08That's insane.

19:10Overall, what's the general consensus of this class?

19:14Well, the depth was much, much better than most other drafts,

19:17but for the top-end stars, it's a hit or miss.

19:20Many of them had strange career paths

19:22that make us think they won't leave much of a legacy,

19:25even if they saw success individually.

19:27Let me know your thoughts in the comment section.

19:29What do you think the 2016 draft class will be remembered for?

19:33Anyway, that's all, folks.

19:35Thank you all so much for watching.

19:36I hope you all enjoyed the video.

19:38And of course, as always, I'll see you next time.

19:41Peace.

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