"Enormous busts andwho support them..." (November 29, 1997)

"With the St. Louis Rams cutting ofLawrence Phillips, it brought to mind William Bedford who was drafted by the Pistons. He toowas a talent (at least in college), who was drafted high and fell far. I wondered if there were others who were touted talent and had troubled careers. I can think of a few, most start and end with theClippers, but that is why I love them. They are that zany, mad cap franchise without any direction. This is the same team who drafted Joe Wolf in the first round (mid first, around 15th). They also drafted LeRon Ellis. Who you may ask? He played at Kentucky and when the sanctions hit, hetransferred to Syracuse. He was drafted with the 20th pick or so, without any real collegedistinction except he is almost seven feet and played along side Coleman and Owens with theOrangemen. The Clips draft this chump and he bombs as bad as Bo Kimble (who I will get to later). The Clips drafted Ellis instead of filling their need at center. They could have had StanleyRoberts who was drafted next by Orlando. The Clips the next year trade for Roberts, but give uptheir best post player in Charles Smith (before Pat Riley destroyed his game and confidence byplaying him at small forward and before his knees became near arthritic, he was a 20 ppg guy). Guess what?! Roberts after a decent season got fat, got injured and was shipped out for StojkoVrankovic. Another chump. Lesson learned? Stay away from the Clippers as your favorite team. It is almost like swallowing knives, except people will pay to watch a knife swallower. Who elsedid the Clippers blow a pick on? Bo Kimble. The biggest Clipper bust. He was a super star in college. He was part of the storied Loyola-Maramount connection with Hank Gathers (the greatestcollege player ever! Long live Hank!). With Hank and Bo together, and under Paul Westhead's running offense, Bo became a scoring sensation. After Hank's death, Bo took it upon himself tolead Loyola to the NCAA tournament. Bo distinguished himself there and placed himself highlyin the draft. The Clippers needed a shooting guard and Bo fit the bill. He was a star in L.A. anda damn good college player. The Clips drafted him and it was down hill from there. He lost hisshooting touch. He could not put the ball on the floor. He could not create his own shot. Hisscoring in college came from that crazy running game. He played small forward in college andat six feet five inches, he could not match up against opposing small forwards and was too slow to defend two guards. He was shipped to the Knicks a couple of years later and could not hack itthere as well. Last I heard, he was playing in the CBA. Some would argue that Benoit Benjaminwas a bust. I disagree. He was one of my favorite players. For his years on the Clippers, he playedwell. He averaged 13-16 ppg and 7-8 boards a game as well 2 blocks. Not bad. Sure with the second pick, you expect superstar, but those are stats that are not dissimilar to Rick Smits, whowas a high pick at center, who people once considered an underachiever. When the Clips shippedBen's extremely large body out of town to Seattle, the fans cheers, I did not. Who was to placecenter? Who was to take the place as whipping boy? I soon found out it was Charles Smith on bothaccount. Damn, was Charles Smith smooth as a Clipper. He was Mr. Smooth. But I digress. Iwonder if I could go on expel the virtues of the Clipper draft record, I could but I will not. They did draft Charles Smith, Danny Manning, Ken Norman, Reggie Williams and Danny Ferry (and parlayed the latter two into in 3 picks and Ron Harper). One more thing before I go, the Bulls Ithink have the greatest selection of power forward busts in the history of the NBA. In order, StaceyKing, Jeff Saunders, Mark Randall, Byron Houston, , Corey Blount, Jason Caffey, Dicky Simpkinsand Travis Knight. Ok, King was serviceable for a couple of years and was traded for a productiveLuc Longley, but he was the sixth pick overall. The best player chosen by the Bulls that year wasBJ Armstrong. Saunders was chosen that year as well, but he's well, I don't know. He's just gone. Mark Randall. Never choose a white guy from Kansas. I have no idea where he is now. I see himpop up in the NBA every once and a while, last time with Minnesota. Byron Houston. Traded forRodney McCray. McCray was terrible. He never did live up to his expectations as a veteran leader. Corey Blount. Never did anything. Now 3rd stringer on the Lakers. Caffey has potential but theBulls did pass over Michael Finley (funny, because they were looking for a swing man to back upMike and Scottie). Caffey does look like a real player. Simpkins is gone. Never showing anythinglike he did in college. He's just a big body. Travis Knight. Who knew?! Was cut before he evenplayed a game. The Bulls didn't want to sign him to a three year guaranteed contract. In hindsight,stupid, because he's a good player and would fit nicely into their triangle offense which requirescenters and power forwards to play outside and on the wing. Knight can knock down the 15 footer. I guess this proves that Krause and co. really have no idea what they are doing with the draft. Theydid draft Keith Booth this year. Keith Booth. Did he do anything at Maryland? They should havetaken Charles O'Bannon from UCLA or Jacques Vaughan from Kansas. Both fit a need. Besides,Chuck O can run and jump with the best of them in the NBA. Sure the Bulls have drafted low inrecent years, but I still can make fun of them. Imagine how good they'd be if they actually draftedwell in recent years. Krause did draft Kukoc in the second round though and do have the rights tosome other European star, who might be coming over next year.