Worst international players to play in the NBA

When the Toronto Raptors took center Rafael Araujo with the eighth overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft, he had “bust” written all over him. Araujo, who was already 24 years old by the time his NBA career began, just didn’t have enough room left to grow as a basketball player to justify his lofty draft status. The Brazilian-born player averaged just 2.8 points per game in three seasons in the NBA.

The 17th overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, some scouts compared center Zarko Cabarkapa to fellow Serbian NBA player Vlade Divac. These comparisons were misguided. Cabarkapa started just four games in four seasons for Suns and Warriors before a back injury ended his NBA career.

Born in Kano, Nigeria, center Yinka Dare played four seasons in the NBA for the Nets but was only able to average 2.1 points per game during that time, a disappointing total considering he was a first-round draft pick. Sadly, Dare died at the age of 31 in 2004 from a heart attack.

Debuting at the age of 29, point guard Sarunas Jasikevicius actually had a decent first year in the NBA, averaging 7.3 points and 3.0 assists per game for the Indiana Pacers. The problem was that Jasikevicius failed to build on his inaugural season. The Lithuanian-born guard played one more year in the NBA, struggled mightily and went back to playing pro ball in Europe.

The 12th pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, the Los Angeles Clippers had high expectations for Russian Yaroslav Korolev. Unfortunately for Clippers fans, Korolev failed miserably to live up to those expectations. He appeared in 34 forgettable games for the Clips before heading back home to Russia.

A second-round pick by the Knicks in 2003, making the jump to the NBA at the age of 18 proved to be a poor decision for Polish center Maciej Lampe. Lampe was out of the NBA entirely before his 21st birthday and only had a 3.4 points per game average to show for it.

Although he endeared himself to Lakers fans during his time Los Angeles, center D.J. Mbenga was never much of an NBA player. Mbenga averaged just 1.8 points for his career but did win two championships riding the Lakers' bench in 2009 and 2010.

Born in the Ukraine, Slava Medvedenko was a fixture on the Lakers' bench in the early 2000s. A power forward, Medvedenko was only able to average 5.3 points per game for his seven-year NBA career.

With Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh all on the board in the 2003 NBA Draft, the Detroit Pistons took Serbian center Darko Milicic with the second overall pick. In hindsight it seems crazy, but at the time, the pick was applauded. Milicic was expected to develop into a superstar but never came close. After 10 lackluster seasons with five different teams, Milicic’s NBA career came to an end at the age of 27.

In 145 career games in the NBA, French big man Jerome Moiso averaged just 2.7 points and 2.7 rebounds. Moiso played for six different teams during his tenure in the NBA.

Senegalese center Mamadou N’Diaye played a grand total of 69 games in the NBA before heading overseas. N’Diaye played for the Raptors, Mavericks, Hawks and Clippers, and averaged just 3.8 points per game for them.

After dominating the Big West Conference at the University of the Pacific, the Clippers selected Nigerian-born center Michael Olowokandi with the first overall pick in the 1998 NBA Draft. Although Olowokandi could hold his own on defense, the center never developed any sort of offensive game and was labeled a bust very early on in his NBA career. “The Kandi Man” never averaged more than 12.3 points in a season and is considered one of the worst first overall picks in draft history.

A center from France, Johan Petro bounced around the NBA over the course of his eight seasons. Petro’s best year came in 2008 with the Sonics when averaged six points and five rebounds per game. The seven-footer now plays for Cangrejeros de Santurce in Puerto Rico.

As a lottery pick, the Toronto Raptors thought they had found their center of the future when they drafted Aleksandar Radojevic in 1999. Instead, Radojevic turned out to be a total bust, playing a mere 15 total games in the NBA. He was born in Montenegro.

The 10th overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, center Saer Sene played a grand total of 47 games in the NBA. Born in Senegal, Sene averaged a mere 2.2 points per game for his career.

Although he has had a wildly successful career in Europe, Greek point guard Vassilis Spanoulis had a forgettable run in the NBA. Spanoulis played just one year for the Houston Rockets before deciding the NBA wasn’t the place for him. He averaged 2.7 points on 32 percent shooting in 31 games for the Rockets.

Standing at seven-foot-three, Connecticut center Hasheem Thabeet had NBA scouts drooling over his size and athleticism. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the talent to capitalize on his physical attributes. Born in Tanzania, Thabeet was selected by the Memphis Grizzlies with the second overall pick of the 2009 NBA draft but failed to develop into a viable NBA player. He never averaged more than 3.1 points per game in a season.

Although he did manage to play seven seasons in the NBA and receive fairly consistent playing time, center Jake Tsakalidis was never anything more than a bench player. Born in Georgia, Tsakalidis averaged just 4.8 points a night and left the NBA at age 27 to play in Europe.

Try saying Nikoloz Tskitishvili five times in a row as fast as you can. Not easy, is it? A seven-foot power forward from Georgia, the Denver Nuggets though they had nabbed the next Dirk Nowitzki with the fifth overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft. Instead, they drafted a player who would be out the NBA by 2006. Tskitishvili averaged a just 2.9 points per game over the course of his four years in the NBA.

Despite having pogo sticks for legs, former Wizards and Nuggets forward Jan Vesely just couldn’t figure out how to make it in the NBA. The sixth overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, Vesely was never able to average more than five points a night and was out of the NBA by the end of the 2014 season.

Croatian center Stojko Vrankovic was never able to make his mark in the NBA, as a he went back and forth between European leagues and the NBA for all of the 1990s. In 170 games in the NBA, Vrankovic averaged just 2.8 points a night.

Although he was constantly lighting the hoop up during practice for Phil Jackson’s Lakers, when game time rolled around guard Sasha Vujacic too often lost his shooting touch. The six-foot-seven Slovenian was able to win two championships with the Lakers but has never been able to capitalize on his talents. Vujacic, 32, is currently on the Knicks roster.

Bill Wennginton played 13 years in the NBA and won three championships as member of Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls. Still, Wennington was always a backup center at best and could never be relied upon heavily for extended periods of time during games. The seven-footer was born in Montreal.

A second-round draft pick in 2007, Lakers guard Sun Yue played a career total of 10 games in the NBA before packing his bags back home for China. Yue currently plays for the Beijing Ducks.

The first Chinese-born player ever to play in the NBA, Wang Zhizhi debuted in the NBA in 2001 with no shortage of hype. Unfortunately, Wang was nothing more than a run-of-the-mill backup center. The seven-footer averaged 4.4 points and 1.7 rebounds a night over the course of five seasons.