Michael Beasley's buyout from the Suns is garnering plenty of attention today, but he's not the only former No. 2 overall pick in the news. We just passed along a report that 1999 No. 2 pick Mike Bibby will work out for the Spurs, and earlier today, Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors weighed the chances that Hasheem Thabeet, the second pick from 2009, will remain on his non-guaranteed contract with the Thunder. LaMarcus Aldridge spoke this weekend about trade rumors that have surrounded him for much of the summer. And Wolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders said Friday that the team isn't sure it will pick up Derrick Williams' 2014/15 option by this year's October 31st deadline.
It's just the latest during an offseason in which several former No. 2 overall picks have made headlines. Jason Kidd retired as a player and took over as coach of the Nets, while Marcus Camby, his teammate on the Knicks last year, was traded to the Raptors, arranged for a buyout, and signed with the Rockets. Even Kevin Durant, who's locked into a long-term deal, drew mention as the league decided to reimburse the Thunder for a portion of his contract.
Last month, I looked at the salaries for each No. 1 overall pick since 1996, and with so much noise surrounding the guys taken second, let's see how they stack up. Durant, naturally, is the highest-paid No. 2 pick, followed by three players making between $14MM and $15MM this season — Aldridge, Emeka Okafor and Tyson Chandler. Camby is the only former second overall pick making the minimum salary this year, but a half dozen who've come into the league since 1996 are without NBA playing contracts, and most of those six have been out of the league for some time. Steve Francis and Stromile Swift were back-to-back No. 2 picks who wound up in China about 10 years into their pro careers.
Here's the complete list of 2013/14 playing salaries for No. 2 overall picks since 1996:
- 2013: Victor Oladipo, $4,763,760
- 2012: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, $4,809,840
- 2011: Derrick Williams, $5,016,960
- 2010: Evan Turner, $6,679,867 — second highest-paid player on the Sixers, behind Thaddeus Young
- 2009: Hasheem Thabeet, $1,200,000 (Only $500K guaranteed)
- 2008: Michael Beasley, $4,670,000 (Reduced from $6MM per buyout agreement)
- 2007: Kevin Durant, $17,832,627
- 2006: LaMarcus Aldridge, $14,878,000
- 2005: Marvin Williams, $7,500,000
- 2004: Emeka Okafor, $14,487,500
- 2003: Darko Milicic, $0 — Likely retired from the NBA
- 2002: Jay Williams, $0 — Retired
- 2001: Tyson Chandler, $14,100,538
- 2000: Stromile Swift, $0 — Hasn't played in the NBA since 2008/09. Last played in China in 2009/10.
- 1999: Steve Francis, $0 — Hasn't played in the NBA since 2007/08. Last played in China in 2010/11.
- 1998: Mike Bibby, $0
- 1997: Keith Van Horn, $0 — Retired
- 1996: Marcus Camby, $1,399,507
ShamSports was used in the creation of this post.
those are some awful 2nd picks.. outside of durant and maybe aldridge