2 pick to the Bobcats for No. 25 was in the second round back in 1986, so few expected that a player picked so late would have the impact that Price managed to have.Price was thought by many to be too small, and too slow to have success at the NBA level, but the doubters were quickly proven wrong when Price got to Cleveland.Along with Brad Daugherty, Price turned the Cavaliers into an Eastern Conference powerhouse in the late '80s and early '90s.Price was a four-time all-star, and a three time All-NBA performer, even making the first team in 1993. Seriously, though, based on whatever little footage ESPN showed of the first-rounders, almost all of them will need at least a year to be even considered a good player.I believe that during the regular season thread Seth and I had a discussion comparing the NBA and NFL drafts. That picked turned into Frank Williams out of Illinois who accomplished nothing of note in his four NBA seasons.The 1996 NBA draft is largely considered to be one of the most deep classes in history.Most experts rank it with the 1984, and 2003 draft classes as among the best classes of all time as it produced players such as.The two star guards were chosen back to back with the fourth and fifth selections overall. However, the deal would end up going down as one of the most important in the history of North American sports.Not to mention on the same night in 1956, Auberbach drafted Tom Heinsohn and K.C. June 24, 2004: Traded Viktor Khryapa to the Portland Trail Blazers for Eddie Gill. The combination of proven veterans getting dealt, teams moving up to take unproven rookies, and of course  the dreaded "future considerations", make every deal that takes place on draft day one that will be of particular interest for fans everywhere for years to come.Looking back on it today, it may be tough to figure out just what some teams were thinking when they pulled off these head scratching draft day deals that changed the course of.The 2012 NBA draft will no doubt feature plenty more draft day trades for us to examine for years to come, when the festivities begin a week from today in Madison Square Garden.But for now with this year's NBA season officially over, and the 2012 draft on the horizon, let's examine some of the most lopsided deals that took place on draft day in league history.Over the course of his career that spanned nearly 1,300 NBA games, Charles Oakley was consistently one of the toughest and most physical power forwards in the league.Oakley was a one-time NBA All-Star, and averaged nearly a double-double over the course of his time in the NBA, which he split between five teams.One of those teams however, was not the Cleveland Cavaliers, despite the fact that the Cavs selected Oakley with the 9th overall pick in the 1985 NBA draft.On draft day, Cleveland sent Oakley to the Bulls for Ennis Whatley and Keith Lee.Oakley would go on to receive All-Rookie honors in 1986 while playing along side Michael Jordan, before eventually being traded to the Knicks and becoming a focal point of their success in the 1990s along side Patrick Ewing.Whatley on the other hand averaged only 5.6 PPG over his 10-year NBA career, and Lee lasted only three seasons in the NBA with the Cavs and Nets in the mid-1980s.Donald Sterling has made dozens of horrible personnel choices during his reign as the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, but in 2001, he and the rest of the Clipper front office pulled off a rare draft day win when they picked up Elton Brand from the Chicago Bulls for Tyson Chandler and Brian Skinner.While the trade has certainly looked more even as the years have gone on, there is still no comparing the numbers of Chandler to those of Brand since they both came into the league.Chandler over the last two seasons has been both a starter on an NBA championship team, and the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year, but he still has averaged only 8.6 points, and nine rebounds since his career started.

21 overall pick in the 2006 draft.With that pick the Suns selected Rajon Rondo out of Kentucky, and then promptly traded him away to Boston for more cash, and 2007 first-round pick.On the Suns, Rondo could have been a great change of pace guard off the bench, while learning the tricks of the trade from one of the greatest point guards of all time in Steve Nash.Instead, he went to Boston, where Rondo figured it all out on his own, and became one of the NBA's best point guards anyway, all the while helping the Celtics win the NBA championship in 2008.Today, Rondo has surpassed the rest of his "Big Three" teammates and is now the Celtics most prized possession.But at least the Suns got that 2007 first-round pick out of the whole spiel right? It would remain the highest influx of international players selected in the modern NBA draft era until the.After the completion of the regular season.These players not selected in the draft have played at least one game in the NBA.Nationality indicates the player's national team or representative nationality.

It is then made worse as in the case of some of those foreign players where the NBA team that drafts them chooses to let them play overseas for another year.

I … Guys are drafted for potential, not for need.The NBA draft has become more like the MLB or NHL drafts and less like the NFL draft in the past decade. Good Luck. Choose one to start playing: