Ranking The Last 10 Third Overall NBA Draft Picks

10.Jahlil Okafor, 2015, Philadelphia 76ers

At the time in 2015, the Duke center was actually in the conversation to be the No. 1 overall pick after leading the Blue Devils to a title, but he fell to Philadelphia and his career has been a major disappointment.

Okafor never fully seemed like he enjoyed playing basketball and got into a lot of off-the-court issues that included two street fights.

He was named to the NBA All-Rookie team after averaging 17.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game but that would be the best season he'd have.

After just 103 games with the Sixers, Okafor was traded to the Brooklyn Nets and received limited playing time in 26 games.

Okafor signed with the New Orleans Pelicans in 2018 and has averaged 8.0 points in 89 games.

9.Derrick Favors, 2010, New Jersey Nets

Favors hasn't lived up to the hype of a No. 3 draft pick but he has had a very solid career, averaging 11.4 points and 7.4 rebounds in 683 games.

Drafted by New Jersey, Favors was traded to the Utah Jazz after just 56 games in the Deron Williams trade but he ended up spending nine years with the Jazz before being traded to New Orleans in 2019.

Favors has been the definition of a solid big-man that is a reliable rebounder and has had one of the better careers in a relatively weak 2010 draft class.

At 29, Favors could still have some solid years remaining in the league.

8.Enes Kanter, 2011, Utah Jazz

Kanter has had a very serviceable and outspoken nine-year career so far, but he wasn't worth the No. 3 pick, being drafted over the likes of Kemba Walker, Klay Thompson and Kawhi Leonard.

Defensively, Kanter has struggled but has been a solid offensive threat, averaging 11.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game in his career.

After spending 3.5 years in Utah, he was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder where he spent 2.5 seasons before getting traded to the New York Knicks in the Carmelo Anthony trade.

Since then, Kanter has bounced around, playing a year-and-a-half in New York before demanding a trade, was sent to the Portland Trail Blazers and then signed with the Boston Celtics last offseason.

Kanter is most known for being a political activist and his struggles with his home country of Turkey.

7.Otto Porter Jr., 2013, Washington Wizards

Porter has had an up-and-down career so far, playing very well when healthy, but the problem is he has struggled with injuries.

Porter broke out in his third year in the league with the Wizards and in the 2016-17 season, he was the most efficient scorer in the NBA among 115 players with at least 800 possessions, according to ESPN's Real Plus-Minus, a player's estimated on-court impact on team performance.

The Wizards matched the Brooklyn Nets' four-year, $106 million contract offer sheet in 2017 but two years into the deal, Porter was traded to the Chicago Bulls.

Since 2018, Porter has played in a mere 29 games while dealing with a left foot injury.

He averaged a career-best 17.5 points in 32.8 minutes played his first year with the Bulls but with one-year remaining on his deal, he'll have to prove he can stay healthy.

6.R.J. Barrett, 2019, New York Knicks

Barrett just finished his rookie year and is the most recent No. 3 pick, so it's still early to determine if he should be higher or lower on this list.

But he showed a lot of promise in year one.

The former Duke standout averaged 14.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 56 games, while starting 55, and had a career-high 27 points in March before the season was paused.

The Knicks have a lot of work to do before getting back to any type of playoff contention but they're expecting Barrett to be a huge part in helping the rebuild that has been taking place for over a decade.

5.Jaylen Brown, 2016, Boston Celtics

Brown has slowly gotten better each season in his four-year career and is in the midst of a breakout year in which he averaged 20.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game during the regular season.

Before the season, Brown signed a four-year, $115 million contract extension.

In the Celtic's first-round playoff matchup versus the Philadelphia 76ers, Brown averaged 21.5 points in four games.

Brown hasn't been asked to be "the guy" during his time in Boston with the Celtics being such a deep team, but he has definitely proven that he and Jayson Tatum (see below) are one of the best one-two punches in the league.

4.Bradley Beal, 2012, Washington Wizards

Drafted one spot after Michael Kidd-Gilchrist in 2012, seeing the success of Beal can be tough for Hornets fans.

Unfortunately, for Beal, the Wizards haven't had much success, making the playoffs just four times in his eight-year career and never advancing past the second round in that time.

However, Beal has averaged 21.0 points, 6.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds in his career and is coming off a career-best year, averaging 30.5 points per game, ranking second in the league.

Not having his co-star John Wall play for the last two years, Beal has become one of the best shooting guards in the league but just hasn't had the talent around him to succeed. He has been an all-star the last two years.

He has lived up to the hype of the third overall pick.

3.Joel Embiid, 2014, Philadelphia 76ers

Embiid has to be one of the league's most polarizing and vocal players currently in the league but after years of going through "The Process" in Philadelphia, Embiid and the 76ers have failed to find success in the playoffs and his time might be coming to an end with the team that drafted him.

After missing the first two years of his career with a foot injury, Embiid immediately proved why he was the third overall pick and has been a three-time all-star and named twice to the All-NBA second-team and All-Defensive second-team.

Embiid's best season came in 2018-19 when he played a career-high 64 games and averaged 27.5 points, 13.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists.

In 209 games and starts, Embiid has averaged 23.9 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.8 blocks per game.

However, Embiid's style of play has struggled to mesh with Philadelphia's other star, Ben Simmons and the team has failed to advance past the second-round of the playoffs.

The team might have to decide which player is the best option for it's future.

2.Jayson Tatum, 2017, Boston Celtics

Tatum is quickly becoming one of the league's best players and is probably the best player of the 2017 draft class already.

Still playing on his rookie deal, Tatum was named an all-star for the first time this season and averaged a career-best 23.4 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.

Tatum has helped guide Boston to the playoffs in each of his first three years in the league and is coming off a first-round sweep versus Philadelphia where he averaged an impressive 27.0 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.

Tatum has also been one of the league's top defenders and is slowly approaching superstar status if he continues this upward trajectory.

1.Luka Doncic, 2018, Dallas Mavericks

Just two years into his career, Doncic has the chance to be one of the greatest No. 3 picks ever, besides Michael Jordan, of course.

In his first two seasons in the league, the Mavericks forward is already approaching superstar potential, coming off his first all-star appearance and likely an All-NBA team selection.

Doncic averaged 28.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 8.8 assists in the regular season this year and clinched his first playoff berth with the Mavericks.

In December, Doncic surpassed the record for the most consecutive games (19) with at least 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists since the ABA-NBA merger in 1976.

In Dallas' first-round series versus the Los Angeles Clippers, Doncic scored the most points ever (42) in an NBA playoff debut, and then became the youngest player ever to have a 40-point triple-double in the NBA playoffs.

Doncic also hit an incredible game-winning buzzer-beater to tie the series in game four.

Doncic looks like he will be the future of the NBA if he isn't already.