Drafting in the lottery is no guarantee of success and drafting late in the first round is no guarantee of failure. A quick look at the NBA Draft over the past decade shows that drafting smart can lead to bargains at the bottom of the first round, where the Nets have two picks at #22 and #23, or even the second round, where the Nets have one pick, at #54.
Here is a list of players who were available at #22 and beyond, with all-Rookie team members in bold. Players who were drafted and then spent time in Europe are starred:
1996
--Derek Fisher
--Jeff McInnis
--Malik Rose
--Travis Knight
1997
--Bobby Jackson
--Anthony Johnson
--Marc Jackson*
--Stephen Jackson*
--Marc Blount
1998
--Brian Skinner
--Al Harrington
--Nazr Mohammed
--Ruben Patterson
--Rashard Lewis
--Rafer Alston
--Cuttino Mobley
1999
--Kenny Thomas
--Devean George
--Andrei Kirilenko*
--Lee Nailon
--Gordan Giricek*
--Francisco Elson
--Todd MacCulloch
--Manu Ginobili*
2000
--DeShawn Stevenson
--Jake Tsakilidis
--Primoz Brezec
--Marko Jaric*
--Eddie House
--Eduardo Najera
--Michael Redd
2001
--Gerald Wallace
--Samuel Dalembert
--Jamaal Tinsley
--Tony Parker
--Gilbert Arenas
--Mehmet Okur*
--Jarron Collins
2002
--Tayshaun Prince
--Nenad Krstic*
--Dan Gadzuric
--Carlos Boozer
--Ronald Murray
--Darius Songaila
--Rasual Butler
2003
--Brian Cook
--Leandro Barbosa
--Josh Howard
--Luke Walton
--Steve Blake
--Zaza Pachulia
--Matt Bonner
--Mo Williams
--James Jones
--Kyle Korver
2004
--Delonte West
--Kevin Martin
--Sasha Vujacic
--Beno Udrih
--David Harrison
--Anderson Varejao
--Chris Duhon
--Trevor Ariza
2005
--Salim Stoudamire
--Ryan Gomes