8 All-Stars Pacers painfully passed on in NBA Draft in last 20 years
By Joe Lyon
2. Kyle Lowry – took Shawne Williams
The 2006 NBA draft was an extremely weak one with many of the top picks not panning out with long-term NBA careers. Rudy Gay and Kyle Lowry are the only two players picked in the first round that are continuing to play in the NBA.
Now Lowry was picked with the 24th pick by Memphis. Lowry played multiple seasons in Memphis and then in Houston before his career really began to take off. In fact, Lowry is a bit of an outlier in that he didn’t make an All-Star team until he was on his third team and in his 11th season in the league. However, he would go on to make six All-Star teams and become an NBA champion with the Raptors.
Instead of Lowry? The Pacers took Shawne Williams. Do you remember him? If you don’t you aren’t an outlier, he only played with the Pacers for two seasons starting a grand total of six games. He never started more than 22 games in a season and was generally a nonmemorable NBA player in his time in the NBA.