Interesting topic.
I thought Donyell Marshall would have had a bigger career. I felt he was a tweener going in and would struggle defensively, even though he got that head-scratching BE Defensive POY. He blooked a lot of shots but many came from behind as his man blew by him. I didn't get to see him play much in the NBA, but I think he defensive liabilities kept him on the bench early on. He did flourish once he filled out and was teamed with the wide body Carl Malone in Utah.
I guess I might add Emeka to this list based on how high he went and how much of an advocate that he should get drafted high. I knew that he would struggle offensively based on how mechanical he was on that end of the floor. I figured that he wouldn't be able to score on that one-step spin and bank shot he perfected his last year at UConn. He had not post moves to speak of. What surprised me most was I thought he'd be a more dominant defensive post presence with that shot blocking of his. His defensive game simply didn't translate as I had thought. I didn't expect dominance, but thought he'd be a regular name when talking about the top NBA defenders. Maybe a new change of scenery will do him good.
I guess I don't have many more I can come up with. I tend not to take for granted just about any player becoming an NBA star. As much as one wouldn't think, it really is a very different game in the NBA. Some players simply can't handle the physical and athletic challenges. What makes it hard to predict is you see great athletes, great shooters, and even high BBIQ players fail at this level. Conversely you see some players that would seem to be over-matched athletically and physically excel. It almost comes down to being able to do at least one thing exceptionally. You can be a star by being a dominating rebounder and post defender. You can dominate by being a big time shot maker (Pierce), or play maker (Nash), or shooter (Ray or Reggie). If you end an average player at most aspects of the game, you'll either end up a role player or even out of the league as teams reload with the next group of "potential" impact players who turn out to be just average.
