Greatest 1,2,3 Draft Class

[slightly biased bias fan]

Given how talented the top three guys in the 2026 NBA Draft are perceived to be, I am curious what year had the best top 3 prospects in NBA draft history?

Just to reiterate, the question is not what draft had the best three players, but what draft had the best top three picks ever.

[Roy H.]

I might pick 1984, even with Sam Bowie having a disappointing career.

[Moranis]

Off the top of my head Im not sure how you can beat Hakeem, Bowie, and Jordan.  You get 2 top 10 players all time and while Bowie is considered a bust he did have a 10 year career. You had Perkins at 4 and Charles at 5.  Just amazing top of that draft. 

[Who]

Oscar Robertson and Jerry West were #1 and #2 picks in the same draft. Not sure who was #3.

Update: I looked it up. Darnell Imhoff. 12yr career. 22mpg. He was a borderline starter high end bench player. A big man.

[Who]

1981

#1 Mark Aguirre
#2 Zeke
#3 Buck Williams

I had no idea who was #3 but Buck is a strong 3rd guy. One of the best little men of all time in Zeke. One of the best SFs of the 1980s in Aguirre. One of the top PFs of the 1980s in Buck Williams (3 time all star, one time All NBA, 4 time all defense).

[Who]

1982

The year after had a great top 3 as well.

#1 James Worthy
#2 Terry Cummings
#3 Dominique Wilkins

Again among the best forwards of the 1980s. I'd rate Worthy & Nique over Aguirre. I'd rate TC over Buck.

I'd rate Zeke over all of them though.

[Donoghus]

'92 was another good one

Shaq
Alonzo Mourning
Christian Laettner (hey, he made an ASG)

[Donoghus]

It's too bad Darko mucked up '03

Lebron
Darko
Carmelo
Bosh
Wade

[Moranis]

Others in consideration

2021 - Cade, Green, Mobley (obviously early, but projecting those 3 have a chance to be really great - as an aside Barnes, Suggs, Giddey, Kuminga Wagner were the top 8 - not a miss, pretty amazing)
2003 - LeBron, Darko, Melo (not as good as 84)
1992 - Shaq, Mourning, Laettner (one of best college players ever and 2 great NBA centers)
1970 - Lanier, Rudy T, Maravich (much better 3rd player but not as good at top)
1960 - Oscar, West, Imhoff (2 of the best guards ever and a very good 3rd)
1959 - Boozer, Howell, Wilt (Boozer probably the best 3rd player on any of these trios)

2022, 2023 also looking pretty good to start their careers

[Who]

1994 was a good year.

#1 Glenn Robinson
#2 Jason Kidd
#3 Grant Hill

Kidd and Hill the headliners. Big Dog the 3rd man. Hill's injury problems knocks them off the best of the best in terms of career accomplishments. But talent wise, that is a dang good top 3.

[Who]

'92 was another good one

Shaq
Alonzo Mourning
Christian Laettner (hey, he made an ASG)

Ohh, I like that one.

Shaq & Zo is a fantastic top 2. Laettner is a solid 3rd guy. Shame he tore his achilles. Ended his career as a high end starter / 1 time All-Star. He might have made more ASGs if not for that achilles injury. He and Mutombo were very good together. Until Laettner starting pouting his 2nd year. Then achilles right after that. Time as a star / low level star over.

[Who]

I think last year's top 3 was very good and competitive with this year's 2026 crop.

#1 - Cooper Flagg
#2 - Dylan Harper
#3 - VJ Edgecombe

Cooper Flagg is a likely franchise player. Dylan Harper is an All-Star talent with franchise player potential. A big 6-5 guard or whatever he is. A ball-handling guard who can score and playmake as well as play strong D. He is a top prospect. He flies under the radar because he is overshadowed in San Antonio by Wemby & S Castle. If he was on another team, a typical lottery team, he'd be the star and be putting up big numbers. A 17-20ppg 5-7apg type stat line. And he is only getting started. VJ Edgecombe is an All-Star talent. Reminds me a lot of Oladipo.

I am not convinced the 2026 top 3 is any better than the 2025 top 3.

[Who]

1970 - Lanier, Rudy T, Maravich (much better 3rd player but not as good at top)

That is a nice one!

Bob Lanier - never made an All-NBA team despite finishing 3rd for MVP one year and 4th for MVP another year because the guys that finished ahead of him both years had 2 centers among them. Kareem and McAdoo (when he was center for Buffalo) in 1974. Kareem and Walton in 1976. And Maravich was 3rd for MVP in 1976. So this draft class had two top 4 guys for the 1976 MVP.

Lanier is under-rated for player in an era with so many great centers. The start of his career having Wilt, Kareem, Willis Reed, Dave Cowens, Wes Unseld. Then later Bill Walton, Bob McAdoo and later again Moses Malone.

Lanier was steadily a top 10 player in the league throughout his prime (8 time All-Star) and was still an All-Star level guy in Milwaukee (only made 1 ASG there due to lower minutes).

Maravich is the make or break guy here. How you rate him. Does one regard him as one of the top guards of his generation / ever? Or does one regard him as a highly skilled but inefficient player who never won because he cared more about showing off / putting up stats than he did about winning? If you are in the first camp, this trio deserves to be up among the best. If you are in the second camp, you rule out the trio. I have more of a negative bias against Maravich.

Rudy T is a nice skilled big forward. 5 time all star. 20ppg 8rpg type PF. Could shoot from 20 feet. Put the ball on the floor, drive. Pass the ball. Could post. Highly efficient. A highly skilled offensive PF. More like a stretch PF before people used that phrase.

[Who]

1959 - Boozer, Howell, Wilt (Boozer probably the best 3rd player on any of these trios)

I am not that familiar with Bob Boozer. I know of him more because of the end of his career when he played 1 season in Milwaukee as a backup PF when Milwaukee won the title. Oscar and Kareem. That team. Oscar and Kareem both talk highly of him. Say he was a big part of why their bench was so strong.

1 All-Star game. Made it putting up stats on bad Chicago teams. That was the era before they got good with Van Lier, Sloan, Bob Love, Chet Walker in the 1970s. The Boozer era was where Chicago sucked.

He was on the Knicks before that. Then 14ppg 8rpg. Also when the Knicks were struggling badly.

Boozer was on Cincinnati before that. Jack Twyman, Oscar, Wayne Embry. Solid teams. Two years of 14ppg 11rpg. Probably the 4th best player on those teams (40-45 win teams). Then CIN traded Boozer and had their strongest years of the Oscar Robertson era in the mid 60s.

Played a year on the Lakers with E Baylor and J West. 12ppg 7rpg. In his prime. Only 24mpg on the Lakers. Rudy LaRusso and Leroy Ellis ahead of him as big men.

Then lost him to Chicago in the expansion draft. Oh, LAL traded Dick Barnett to NY to get Boozer. Barnett was a very good player for the Knicks. Starter on that 1st title with W Reed and W Frazier. Man, those 60s Lakers teams had some great guards. A young Gail Goodrich who had to leave to get opportunity elsewhere. Archie Clark. Dick Barnett. 3 All-Stars. All behind Baylor and West. Maybe others too. Those Lakers teams had lots of offensive talent.

A lot of losing in Boozer's career. Played on a lot of bad teams where he could inflate his numbers. Only 1 ASG. 15ppg 8rpg career averages quality starter for 11 years. I suppose you could compare him to Laettner in the Zo / Shaq draft class.



Bailey Howell a solid 20ppg 10rpg PF. Skilled. Played on terrible DET teams where he couldn't lead the team. Worked out better in BOS as a 4th guy behind B Russell, Hondo, Sam Jones. More of an All-Star level player than an All-NBA guy (1 2nd team All-NBA selection for career).

Wilt is awesome but I don't know that the #2 (B Howell) and #3 (B Boozer) guys are that strong relative to others.

[slightly biased bias fan]

If Ben Simmons & his career had not petered out so suddenly, then the 2016 draft could have been an interesting top 3.

Ben Simmons
Brandon Ingram
Jaylen Brown