The Most Disappointing Draft Trio in NBA History

We witnessed one of the most anticipated NBA drafts in recent memory a little over six years ago, the 2019 draft. Leading up to the draft, three names were perceived as the headliners of the class. Those names were Murray State’s guard Ja Morant and Duke’s incredible duo of forward Zion Williamson and guard RJ Barrett. This trio is currently in their 6th season in the league and still hasn’t met the expectations. Let’s review each player’s career so far, and see where it went wrong.

RJ Barrett:

RJ Barrett was selected by the New York Knicks with the 3rd pick of the draft. New York was coming off of a miserable 17W-65L season and was hoping that Barrett would turn the franchise around. Unfortunately, in Barrett’s rookie year, the Knicks winning percentage only improved by 11%. In 56 games, Barrett put up 14.3 points per game and finished 8th in Rookie of the Year voting. 

In Barrett’s second year, the Knicks improved, but it wasn’t courtesy of Barrett. It was recently acquired forward, Julius Randle who stepped up and led New York to the playoffs. On his way to winning the Most Improved Player Award, Randle led the Knicks with 24.1 points per game. Meanwhile, Barrett, who was supposed to be a prolific scorer, became the Knicks’ 3rd option. In year 3, when Randle took a step back, Barrett was turned to, to be the star he was supposed to be. However, he failed to step up and the Knicks missed the playoffs. The following offseason, the Knicks signed guard Jalen Brunson. Brunson embraced the bright lights and emerged as a superstar in New York. Brunson’s breakout forced Barrett out of a starring role and made him a role-player. Between Barrett’s playing style requiring the ball and a high number of shots, and the Knicks having better players filling that role, Barrett’s departure from New York became inevitable. Sure enough, a month into Barrett’s 5th season, the Knicks traded RJ to the Toronto Raptors. 

So far, in 43 games with the Raptors, Barrett is averaging 3.6 points and 1.9 assists per game more than he did in New York. While RJ Barrett has been slightly more successful in Toronto, there’s no doubt that he failed to be the savior the Knicks had hoped he would be. It’s clear as day that RJ Barrett has not lived up to his predraft expectations.

Ja Morant:

With the second pick of the 2019 NBA draft, the Memphis Grizzlies selected Ja Morant. The Grizzlies were coming off of a mediocre 33W-49L season and were hoping that Morant would be the key to turning the team around. 

On a personal level, Morant’s rookie season was far more successful than Barrett’s, but the team’s winning percentage only increased by 5%. Morant was a great individual player and won the Rookie of the Year Award, but Memphis still failed to reach the playoffs. Year 2 was very similar, as Morant put up similar numbers and the Grizzlies finished in the 9 seed for consecutive seasons. 

In his third season, Ja Morant finally became the franchise-altering player the Grizzlies had drafted him to be. On his way to leading Memphis to a 56W-26L season and the 2nd seed in the Western Conference, Ja put up 27.4 points per game. Morant’s breakout season earned the young guard his first All-Star selection and the Most Improved Player Award. While the Grizzlies ultimately lost in the second round of the playoffs, a new sense of hope had arrived in Memphis. The following season started just as well, as Morant’s passing game fed off of his scoring game. Morant earned his second straight All-Star selection and was in the MVP conversation until he shot himself in the foot. In March, shortly before the playoffs, Morant was suspended for 8 games after an Instagram Live video showed him displaying a firearm in a nightclub in Denver. As a result, the Grizzlies lost their momentum and ended up losing in the first round of the playoffs, despite being the 2nd seed. Less than three months after the original incident, the two-time All-Star was filmed posing with a firearm in a car. This led to Morant being suspended for the first 25 games of the 2023-2024 season. 

With their best player sidelined, the Grizzlies won only 6 of their first 25 games. After Ja returned, the Grizzlies started to roll and won 5 of Morant’s first 8 games. However, in Morant’s 9th appearance, a game against the Toronto Raptors, disaster struck. Morant went down with a season-ending shoulder injury. Without Morant, Memphis finished the season with a 27W-55L record and missed the playoffs. 9 games into the current season, Ja Morant went down with a hamstring injury and has been inactive ever since.

There’s no doubt that Ja Morant is as talented as we had expected him to be. Nonetheless, the best ability is availability and whether it’s been getting himself suspended or failing to stay healthy, Ja Morant hasn’t been there when the Grizzlies have needed him. For a player who was supposed to uplift the franchise, a single playoff series victory in 5 years is incredibly disappointing. While he’s come closer than Barrett, it’s clear as day that Ja Morant has not lived up to his predraft expectations.

Zion Williamson:

During the 2018-2019 college basketball season, Zion Williamson was viewed as the next Lebron James. On his way to winning almost every possible award, Williamson put up 22.6 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. Unfortunately, Williamson’s historic season was cut short by a tragic knee sprain against North Carolina, due to a faulty Nike sneaker. Nonetheless, the New Orleans Pelicans still chose to select Zion with the very first pick of the 2019 NBA draft. New Orleans was coming off of a mediocre 33W-49L season, but now that they had drafted the second coming of Lebron James, everything was supposed to change.

Due to that same knee sprain, Williamson missed the first 48 games of his rookie year. By the time he returned, the Pelicans were already 19W-29L and out of contention. Nonetheless, Williamson looked great in the 24 games he managed to play before the season was cut short due to COVID-19. In only 24 games, Zion played so well that he ended up finishing 3rd in Rookie of the Year voting, despite missing two-thirds of the season. In those 24 games, New Orleans went 11W-13L, leading them to expect to have a much better 2020-2021 season. 

Unfortunately, Zion’s first full season was similar to Ja Morant’s rookie season. While Zion found personal success and earned his first All-Star selection, the Pelicans went 31W-41L and failed to reach the playoffs. New Orleans hoped that Zion’s success would translate to the entire team in the 2021-2022 season. Unfortunately, that was never put to the test, as  Williamson missed the entire season due to a foot injury that required surgery. For some reason that I’ll never understand, in July 2022, the Pelicans handed Zion a 5-year 197-million-dollar contract extension. At that point, Zion had played 85 games and missed 133 games due to various injuries. Since then, nothing has changed. New Orleans’ 2022-2023 season started well. Zion was playing well and the Pelicans got off to an 18W-10L start. However, in the Pelicans’ 29th game of the season, Zion sustained a season-ending hamstring injury. Without Zion, New Orleans only won 24 of their final 54 games and missed the playoffs. 

In the 2023-2024 season, Willaimson’s 5th season in the NBA, he finally played his first full season. Zion put up 22.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, which was enough to lead New Orleans to the playoffs. Zion was finally healthy, he had finally led the Pelicans to the playoffs, it was time for him to do what they had drafted him to do, to go on a legendary playoff run. Nonetheless, like clockwork, Zion hurt his hamstring and missed the playoffs. Without Zion, the Pelicans weren’t a playoff-level team and were swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round. Zion played well to start the current season, and the Pelicans started 3W-3L. However, since the 7th game of the season, Willaimson has been dealing with yet another hamstring injury. Ever since, Zion has missed all but 1 game and the Pelicans have fallen to 4W-10L.

As of now, in his career, Williamson has missed 4 games more than he’s played. As I mentioned regarding Morant, the best ability is availability, and Zion has consistently failed to be on the floor, especially when it matters most. Through a little over 5 seasons in the NBA, Williamson is yet to win a playoff series for the Pelicans. Because entering the draft, Zion was compared to Lebron, Zion has undoubtedly been a disappointment. It’s clear as day that Zion Williamson has not lived up to his predraft expectations.