Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Draftees Who Remain On Their Original Teams

October 17th 2014 at 8:19pm CST by Eddie Scarito

There are many different philosophies on how to build a winning franchise. The latest trend seems to be teams clearing enough salary cap space to make a run at signing multiple star players away from other franchises in free agency. This approach has proven successful for the Heat, with Miami landing LeBron James and Chris Bosh back in 2010 to play alongside Dwyane Wade. The Heat taking the free agency path led to four straight NBA Finals appearances, with two of those trips resulting in championship banners being raised.

Another school of thought says that building through the draft is the path to success. It’s a bit more difficult to be successful in the draft since player evaluation is far from an exact science. With free agents there is a proven body of work to go by, though the salaries involved are much higher. But striking gold in the draft is an excellent way to build out a roster, as well as add some relatively inexpensive talent to the mix. The Thunder and the Spurs are a great example of this approach, with the bulk of each team’s core arriving via the NBA Draft.

Which teams have drafted the best over the last few years? That can be an extremely difficult question to answer, and opinions can vary based on perspective. One yard stick of success is how many draftees actually remain on teams’ rosters during the regular season. Here’s a look at how many players each team currently has on its preseason roster that were originally drafted by that franchise.

Note: Players that were traded on draft night and not with their original teams were not included on this list. There are some players, such as LeBron, who have returned to the team that originally drafted them after playing for other franchises. I’ve included them on this list as well, even though their service time for the drafting team was interrupted.

76ers (4):

  • Michael Carter-Williams (2013/First Round)
  • Joel Embiid (2014/First Round)
  • Jerami Grant (2014/Second Round)
  • K.J. McDaniels (2014/Second Round)

Bucks (7):

Bulls (7):

Cavaliers (6):

Celtics (5):

Clippers (4):

Grizzlies (2):

  • Jordan Adams (2014/First Round)
  • Mike Conley (2007/First Round)

Hawks (6):

Heat (1):

Hornets (6):

Jazz (6):

Kings (6):

Knicks (3):

Lakers (3):

Magic (4):

Mavericks (0):

Nets (2):

Nuggets (2):

Pacers (2):

Pelicans (3):

Pistons (7):

Raptors (4):

Rockets (4):

Spurs (6):

Suns (4):

  • Tyler Ennis (2014/First Round)
  • Alex Len (2013/First Round)
  • Markieff Morris (2011/First Round)
  • T.J. Warren (2014/First Round)

Thunder (8):

Timberwolves (6):

Trail Blazers (6):

Warriors (6):

Wizards (3):

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0
View Comments (0)