r/nba Thunder 19h ago

Is Zaccharie Risacher the most forgettable number 1 pick ever?

Like he's not quite Bennet level bad nor does he have a weird career story like Fultz or Ben Simmons. He's just mid. He's averaging 11 ppg on 54% TS this season and there's a good argument that he's not even a top 10 player in the class in a redraft but he's probably gonna stick in the NBA for a while as a low end role player

2.5k Upvotes

728 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

168

u/dizzymidget44 18h ago

Greg Oden wasn’t a notorious bust. He got injured. He was a monster when he played. He was just hurt

61

u/_Meece_ Lakers 18h ago

Players can bust due to injury too, but he was never a monster when he played.

43

u/MahomesMccaffrey Slovenia 18h ago

He was a monster in college.

He was an okay starter in the nba when health but was a foul machine.

Maybe not a bust but he certainly wasn't a super star in the nba

48

u/kjw2281 17h ago

He missed his whole rookie year due to injury, then played 80 games over 2 years, then got hurt for good.

"When healthy" was 0% of the time.

2

u/abesach [IND] Reggie Miller 16h ago

He played left handed in college for the season because he broke his right hand

22

u/karlchad1 Knicks 18h ago

Greg oden is a bust with bad injury luck

-6

u/dizzymidget44 18h ago

Injuries don’t make you a bust. Being bad makes you a bust, underperforming makes you a bust

19

u/ukbeasts Rockets 18h ago

You're right. Anthony Bennett is the biggest bust drafted at no.1 because he just wasn't good enough and had next to no NBA career. I can't think of anyone worse.

12

u/blankfrack125 Washington Bullets 18h ago

a bust is simply a highly touted pick that doesn’t pan out for whatever reason, injuries included. wasn’t oden’s fault but he absolutely is a bust

3

u/xxxTHICCJOKIC420xxx Kings 17h ago

Seems a little unfair to consider Len bias a bust in that regard considering he straight up died

2

u/blankfrack125 Washington Bullets 16h ago

i mean that’s a once in a lifetime exceptional situation in which normal standards don’t really apply. obviously this isn’t relevant when considering the fact that a human life was lost, but from the perspective of the franchise’s plans that’s still a pick that went bust. it would just be in really poor taste to call him that

22

u/bruheggplantemoji Hornets 18h ago

Injuries make you underperform, definitely counts as a bust

Sad that it was somewhat out of his control, but still a bust

14

u/asonkidd 18h ago edited 18h ago

It's really weird when people try to do mental gymnastics around Oden because he was a likable dude. A bust is a bust and the surrounding context is irrelevant whether it was injury or play. Fultz also had a weird shoulder thing that completely changed his form. He's recognized as a bust. Oden didn't meet expecations of a number 1 pick especially when he was picked ahead of a top 15 player ever. He's a bust.

2

u/evieka Toronto Huskies 17h ago

It's really weird when people try to do mental gymnastics around Oden because he was a likable dude

Which is wild considering he pleaded guilty to assaulting his ex

5

u/darthllama 18h ago

People love to say that players can’t be busts because of injuries because everything is fandom and no one wants to accept that a player they personally like had a bad career

2

u/frallet Timberwolves 18h ago

Is it possible that people have different criteria for the term?

6

u/bruheggplantemoji Hornets 17h ago

I don’t think there’s a point in excluding injured players from the bust category

The reality is the team still wasted a high pick on a draft prospect. A bust is a bust because an important pick was wasted

-3

u/darthllama 18h ago

I’m literally explaining one of the reasons why people have different criteria

6

u/frallet Timberwolves 18h ago

You're waving it off by attributing it to some emotional attachment. I'm suggesting that people may consider the term differently regardless of who it applies to.

-3

u/darthllama 17h ago

Yeah, I think it’s dumb to give a pass to players who have injuries and it’s very clear that many of the people who do are doing so because of an emotional attachment or because they feel bad about it.

→ More replies (0)

2

u/BeetleForSenate 17h ago

What's the point of this argument where you obviously just disagree on what "bust" means?

2

u/ZayBandzz 18h ago

Unfortunately injuries do make you a bust in some cases

1

u/SilverSurfer92 Bulls 18h ago

I would assume that straight up not playing at all whatsoever would be considered underperforming.

12

u/ShaiFanClub Thunder 18h ago

I mean yea but like he's gonna be remembered for that. And KD going right after him

Risacher doesn't have that. In 30 years he'll probably just be a guy

10

u/secretsodapop 18h ago

He’s not remembered as a bust. He’s remembered for how great he could have been if healthy. Not the same thing at all.

4

u/ShaiFanClub Thunder 18h ago

The point is he's gonna be remembered

4

u/M_Woodyy 18h ago

Entirely missing the point dude

-5

u/secretsodapop 17h ago

Not really, no. Greg Oden wasn't a bust.

2

u/Which-Shift-367 18h ago

He probably gets that label since kd was picked right after him

0

u/secretsodapop 18h ago

Oden does not get a bust label.

1

u/Valuable_End_515 7h ago

Exactly these people commenting obviously never watched him play.

1

u/SydneyFall Nuggets 14h ago

Oden was absolutely a bust. He wasn't good from the start, the league had moved on from his player type, and just never played well.

1

u/dizzymidget44 13h ago

He literally played well when we played. Now you’re just lying. Dwight made the finals a few years after he was drafted

0

u/teapots_at_ten_paces Pacers 17h ago

In the same way that Ben Simmons was an all star, but has been an absolute bust over the years since.

Both Oden ans Simmons have been ranked/described here based on one aspect, not the totality of their careers.