Top 10 Best Second-Round NBA Draft Picks Of The Modern Era

The first round of the 2025 NBA Draft is officially in the rear-view mirror. But that doesn’t mean that teams can’t find value. In 1989, the NBA adopted its current two-round NBA Draft format, and since then, teams have routinely discovered big-time talent in the second round, including multiple future Hall of Famers.

In this list, we’ll count down the top 10 second-round draft picks of the modern era.

The second round of the NBA Draft is often seen as a place where teams trade picks or take flyers on players they don’t expect much from.

But since the league switched to its current two-round format in 1989, the second round has produced numerous all-stars as well as a handful of Hall of Famers.

In this list, we’re counting down the top 10 NBA Draft second-round picks of the modern era.

10) Clifford Robinson

The Portland Trail Blazers used the 36th pick in the second round of the 1989 draft to select Clifford Robinson, a forward out of UConn.

Affectionately referred to as “Uncle Cliffy,” Robinson helped the Blazers to the NBA Finals in both 1990 and 1992.

He played in a Blazers-record 461 consecutive games to start his career and was named an NBA All-Star in 1994. Robinson also won an NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in 1993 and was twice named second-team All-Defense.

Sadly, Robinson passed away in 2020 at the age of 53 after a battle with Lymphoma.

Honorable Mentions: DeAndre Jordan, Michael Redd, Carlos Boozer, Goran Dragic.

9) Rashard Lewis

With the third pick in the second round of the 1998 NBA Draft, the Seattle SuperSonics selected high schooler Rashard Lewis.

Lewis, like Robinson, was a 6-foot-10 forward who was comfortable stepping out and shooting the ball from deep. He became an All-Star for the Sonics in the 2004-05 season, then played an integral role for the Orlando Magic when they reached the NBA Finals in 2009, yet again making the All-Star Game that season.

Lewis went on to win an NBA championship with the Miami Heat before retiring a year later.

8) Paul Millsap

Paul Millsap was the 47th overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz, and while he was never flashy, Millsap’s production is impossible to deny.

He quickly emerged as a valuable player for the Jazz as an undersized power forward, then blossomed into a four-time NBA All-Star after joining the Atlanta Hawks.

Millsap helped lead Atlanta to the best record in the Eastern Conference during the 2014-15 season. The Hawks eventually fell in the Eastern Conference Finals that year to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

6) Khris Middleton

Oh how different things could have been. The Detroit Pistons, not the Milwaukee Bucks, used the 39th pick in the 2012 NBA Draft to select Khris Middleton out of Texas A&M.

Middleton began his career with Detroit’s G League affiliate in Fort Wayne and played just 27 games for the Pistons before being dealt to Milwaukee in a deal for Brandon Jennings.

Slowly but surely, Middleton grew into a secondary star for the Bucks alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo. He made the first of three All-Star Game appearances in 2019 and played a huge role in Milwaukee’s championship run in 2021, including a 40-point game in the NBA Finals against the Phoenix Suns.

5) Marc Gasol

Often considered an afterthought compared to his older brother Pau, Marc Gasol was the 48th pick in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers.

He was then traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in a deal involving his brother and established himself as one of the league’s best big men in the years to come.

Gasol made three NBA All-Star teams, was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2013 and then played a key role in helping the Toronto Raptors to an NBA championship in 2019.

When it’s all said and done, don’t be surprised if Gasol finds himself alongside his brother in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

4) Jalen Brunson

The Dallas Mavericks used the 33rd overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft to select Brunson. The reigning National College Player of the Year won just about everything there was to win in college at Villanova and only reached the second round due to his size.

But the 6-foot-2 point guard wasted no time showing he belonged in the NBA, carving out a spot in the Mavs rotation before blossoming into one of the best bench players in the league.

Brunson left Dallas for the New York Knicks in free agency in 2022 and has since developed into one of the best players in the league. He was named an All-Star each of the last two seasons and finished fifth in the 2024 NBA MVP voting.

3) Draymond Green

Love him or hate him, it’s impossible to deny Draymond Green’s immense impact on the NBA. The 35th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft quickly developed into one of the best defensive players the league has ever seen.

Green is a four-time All-Star, four-time NBA champion, and five-time first-team All-Defense selection, including an NBA Defensive Player of the Year selection in 2017.

The Golden State Warriors star, at his peak, was capable of guarding every position and was the perfect counterbalance to fellow stars Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.

2) Manu Ginobili

The San Antonio Spurs used the 57th pick in the 1999 NBA Draft to select Manu Ginobili, a little-known Argentinian guard who had been playing overseas in Italy.

Little did they know that Ginobili would develop into a Hall of Fame player and perhaps the best sixth man the league has ever seen.

The four-time NBA champion was also a two-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA third team selection.

On a more analytical level, Ginobili had over 40 more win shares in his career and posted a career VORP (Value Over Replacement Player) of 47.6 compared to Green’s 27.6.

1) Nikola Jokic

There was only ever really one choice for this spot. With the 41st pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, the Denver Nuggets took a flier on a Serbian center named Nikola Jokic.

Little did anybody know it would change the history of the franchise forever.

Jokic spent the 2014-15 season overseas before joining the Nuggets in 2015. He finished third in the NBA Rookie of the Year voting in 2015-16 and just continued to flourish from there.

By the time he was 23, Jokic was an NBA All-Star and an MVP contender. Three MVP awards, one NBA championship, and one NBA Finals MVP award later and Jokic is widely regarded as the best player in the league as well as the greatest pick in NBA Draft history.

So if you’re tuning into the second round of the 2025 NBA Draft and hear your team select some guy you’ve never heard of from a team you didn’t know existed, you never know what that player might become.