Draft History: Billy King

The 2015 NBA draft is less than two months away, and for teams that aren’t still participating in the NBA playoffs, the focus is on using that event to build toward a better future. The exact draft order won’t be known until the May 19th lottery, when the simple bounce of a ping-pong ball can alter the fate of a franchise. Of course, having one of the top selections in any draft doesn’t guarantee that a team will snag a future All-Star. Team executives and scouts still have the difficult task of making the correct call with their picks.

With this in mind we at Hoops Rumors will be taking a look back at the draft history of the primary basketball executive for each NBA team. Their names, reputations, and possibly employment will be on the line as a result of the decisions to come on June 25th, and we’ll be examining what they’ve done in previous years in charge of a club’s front office. Note that many of them have played other sorts of roles within a team’s executive structure, but this won’t take that into account. We’ll continue onward with a look back at the calls made by former Sixers and current Nets GM Billy King…

Sixers (May 1998-December 2007)

1998 Draft

• No. 8 Overall — Larry Hughes: 727 games, 14.1 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 3.1 APG. .406/.309/.757.
• No. 37 Overall — Casey Shaw: 9 games, 0.2 PPG, 0.3 RPG, 0.0 APG. .125/.000/.000.

Notable players passed over: Dirk Nowitzki (No. 9), Paul Pierce (No. 10), and Al Harrington (No. 25).

1999 Draft

• No first-rounder. Pick No. 19 (Quincy Lewis) owned by Jazz.
• No. 47 Overall — Todd MacCulloch: 223 games, 6.1 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 0.8 BPG. .541/.000/.642.

Notable players available at draft slot or passed over: Andrei Kirilenko (No. 24) and Manu Ginobili (No. 57).

2000 Draft

• No. 20 Overall — Speedy Claxton: 334 games, 9.3 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 4.3 APG. .409/.193/.762.

Notable players passed over: Morris Peterson (No. 21), Eduardo Najera (No. 38), and Michael Redd (No. 43).

2001 Draft

• No. 26 Overall — Samuel Dalembert: 886 games, 7.7 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 1.7 BPG. .521/.083/.706.
• No. 37 Overall — Damone Brown: 39 games, 2.8 PPG, 1.3 RPG, 0.5 APG. .336/.286/.667.
• No. 57 Overall — Alvin Jones: 23 games, 1.1 PPG, 1.6 RPG, 0.1 APG. .400/.000/.500.

Notable players passed over: Tony Parker (No. 28) and Gilbert Arenas (No. 31).

2002 Draft

• *Traded No. 16 overall pick (Jiri Welsch) to Warriors for 2004 second-rounder (Viktor Sanikidze) and a 2005 first round pick (Joey Graham).

Notable players passed over: John Salmons (No. 26), Carlos Boozer (No. 35) and Luis Scola (No. 56).

2003 Draft

• No first-rounder. Pick No. 20 (Dahntay Jones) owned by the Celtics.
• No. 41 Overall — Willie Green*: 731 games, 8.3 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 1.4 APG. .425/.346/.765.

*Acquired in a trade with the Thunder (Sonics) in exchange for the No. 50 overall pick (Paccelis Morlende).

Notable players passed over: Boris Diaw (No. 21), Kendrick Perkins (No. 27), and Kyle Korver (No. 51).

2004 Draft

• No. 9 Overall — Andre Iguodala: 835 games, 14.0 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 4.7 APG. .461/.333/.717.

Notable players passed over: Al Jefferson (No. 15), Josh Smith (No. 17), J.R. Smith (No. 18), Jameer Nelson (No. 20), Kevin Martin (No. 26), and Trevor Ariza (No. 43).

2005 Draft

• No first-rounder. Pick No. 16 (Joey Graham) owned by Raptors.
• No. 45 Overall — Lou Williams: 634 games, 11.9 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 2.9 APG. .416/.341/.816.
• No. 60 Overall — Alex Acker*: 30 games, 2.7 PPG, 1.0 RPG, 0.5 APG. .370/.320/.500.

*Acquired in a trade with the Jazz in exchange for 2008 second-rounder (Ante Tomic).

Notable players available at draft slot or passed over: Danny Granger (No. 17), Gerald Green (No. 18), David Lee (No. 30), Monta Ellis (No. 40), and Marcin Gortat (No. 57).

2006 Draft

• No. 16 Overall — Rodney Carney*: 299 games, 5.9 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 0.4 APG. .422/.338/.704.

*Acquired from the Bulls along with cash and a 2007 second-rounder in exchange for the No. 13 overall pick (Thabo Sefolosha).

Notable players passed over: Sefolosha (No. 13), Rajon Rondo (No. 21), Kyle Lowry (No. 24), and Paul Millsap (No. 47).

2007 Draft

• No. 12 Overall — Thaddeus Young: 592 games, 13.8 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 1.5 APG. .495/.323/.693.
• No. 20 Overall — Jason Smith*: 413 games, 6.4 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 0.8 APG. .462/.300/.782.
• No. 42 Overall — Derrick Byars**: 2 games, 5.0 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 0.5 APG. .273/.000/1.000.
• No. 55 Overall — Herbert Hill***: No NBA regular season appearances.

*Acquired from the Heat for the No. 21 pick (Daequan Cook), a 2009 second round pick (Nick Calathes), and cash.

**Acquired from the Trail Blazers along with cash in exchange for the No. 30 overall selection (Petteri Koponen).

***Acquired from the Jazz in exchange for the No. 38 overall pick (Kyrylo Fesenko).

Notable players passed over: Arron Afflalo (No. 27) and Josh McRoberts (No. 37).

Nets (July 2010-Present)

2011 Draft

• No. 25 Overall — MarShon Brooks*: 164 games, 7.7 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 1.4 APG. .442/.326/.748.
• No. 36 Overall — Jordan Williams: 43 games, 4.6 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 0.3 APG. .507/.000/.652.

*Acquired from Celtics in return for No. 27 overall pick (JaJuan Johnson) and a 2014 second-rounder (Russ Smith).

Notable players passed over: Jimmy Butler (No. 30), Chandler Parsons (No. 38), and Isaiah Thomas (No. 60).

2012 Draft

• No first rounder. No. 6 overall pick (Damian Lillard) went to Blazers as part of Gerald Wallace trade.
• No. 57 Overall — Ilkan Karaman: No NBA regular season appearances.
  

Notable players available at draft spot or passed over: Lillard (No. 6), Andre Drummond (No. 9), Draymond Green (No. 35), and Khris Middleton (No. 39).

2013 Draft

• No. 22 Overall — Mason Plumlee: 152 games, 8.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 0.9 APG. .606/.000/.545.

Notable player(s) passed over: Rudy Gobert (No. 27).

2014 Draft

• No first rounder. No. 17 overall pick (James Young) was included in the trade with the Celtics that brought Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn.
• No. 44 Overall — Markel Brown*: 47 games, 4.6 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 0.8 APG. .362/.266/.825.
• No. 59 Overall  — Xavier Thames**: No NBA regular season appearances.
• No. 60 Overall — Cory Jefferson***: 50 games, 3.7 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 0.3 APG. .449/.133/.574.

*Acquired from Timberwolves in exchange for cash.

**Acquired from Raptors in exchange for cash.

***Acquired from Sixers in exchange for cash.

Notable players available at draft spot or passed over: Young (No. 17), Rodney Hood (No. 23), Shabazz Napier (No. 24), K.J. McDaniels (No. 32), and Jordan Clarkson (No. 46).