Markelle Fultz and the five worst NBA No. 1 picks of all time

While he was rehabbing the injury, Philly traded him to Orlando, where he tore his ACL in Jan. 2021. He was a reliable backup guard for the Magic, but knee problems have limited him to playing only 40 percent of their games. 

It's hard to call Fultz a bust when he was betrayed by his own body, but it wasn't what the Sixers hoped for. The silver lining? The Fultz trade brought in the pick Philadelphia used to draft All-Star Tyrese Maxey.

4. LaRue Martin, 1972

Martin was the top pick in 1972 as a result of the battle between the ABA and the NBA. Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo was the clear top talent, but the Portland Trail Blazers were scared off by rumors he had an ABA deal. Or they simply refused to meet his contract demands. McAdoo went to the Buffalo Braves one pick later and was NBA MVP by his third season.

While Martin put up huge numbers in college (18.2 points, 15.9 rebounds), he did so for a terrible Loyola-Chicago team. The empty-calories stats didn't translate to the pros, where the young center averaged 4.4 points and 4.6 rebounds as a rookie. 

Martin's confidence was crushed and got worse when Portland drafted Bill Walton with the No. 1 pick in 1974. He never played in the NBA again after Portland traded him in 1976, finishing his 271-game career with averages of 5.3 points and 4.6 rebounds.

3. Greg Oden, 2007
 
Portland's whiff in the 2007 draft looks worse because of the players selected after Greg Oden: Kevin Durant, Al Horford and Mike Conley are still in the league 17 years later, and all might be headed for the Hall of Fame.

But Oden's promising career never got started. After missing half of his lone college season (where he and Conley reached the NCAA Tournament final) with a wrist injury, Oden missed his entire rookie season after having microfracture knee surgery.

He came back for his second season, but Oden later admitted he "pretty much became an alcoholic." Oden was turning it around in Year 3, averaging 11.1 points and 8.5 rebounds before breaking his kneecap in his 21st game. That was it for nearly four years before he returned to play 23 games for the 2013-2014 Miami Heat. Overall, the former No. 1 pick played only 105 NBA games.

2. Anthony Bennett, 2013

Bennett was a surprise No. 1 pick in 2013 by the Cleveland Cavaliers out of UNLV and immediately made Cleveland regret its selection. He missed the first 16 shots of his NBA career, not scoring until his fifth game, and not scoring in double digits until his 33rd NBA game.

Bennett averaged 4.2 points and 3.0 rebounds in his rookie season and then had offseason surgery to remove his tonsils and adenoids to relieve his sleep apnea and asthma, cited as the reason for his poor conditioning.

After the season, Cleveland traded Bennett along with the next season's No. 1 pick, Andrew Wiggins, to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Kevin Love. He was marginally better there, averaging 5.2 points, but Minnesota bought out his contract after the season. After two more brief NBA stops, Bennett was playing overseas by early 2017, just three-and-a-half years after going No. 1.

1. Gene "Squeaky" Melchiorre, 1951

"Squeaky" Melchiorre put the "bust" in "draft bust." The top pick of the Baltimore Bullets, Melchiorre was busted in a massive college point-shaving scandal three months after the 1951 draft. 

While attending Bradley, Melchiorre accepted bribes to "hold down scores" in two college games, then pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge. The judge in the case suspended Melchiorre's sentence, but NBA Commissioner Maurice Podoloff wasn't so lenient, banning him for life.