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Toronto Raptors: Top 15 No. 4 overall picks in NBA Draft history

By Mike Luciano

Oklahoma City Thunder's Russell Westbrook (R) drives to the basket against the Miami Heat's Chris Bosh (Photo credit should read RONALD MARTINEZ/AFP/GettyImages)
Oklahoma City Thunder's Russell Westbrook (R) drives to the basket against the Miami Heat's Chris Bosh (Photo credit should read RONALD MARTINEZ/AFP/GettyImages) /
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Micheal Ray Richardson, Toronto Raptors, NBA Draft
LANDOVER, MD – CIRCA 1984: Micheal Ray Richardson #20 of the New Jersey Nets dribbles the ball (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

11. Micheal Ray Richardson (1978)

Very few players achieve stardom for both the Knicks and Nets, but Richarson, who was picked No. 4 overall out of Montana, managed to achieve this rare feat by becoming one of the best two-way players of his era in New York and sustaining that production what he made the move to New Jersey later in his career.

Richardson has a 20 point per game season, a 10 assist per game season, three years in which he led the league in steals per game, four All-Star games, and two All-Defensive team nominations on his resume.

Another player who would’ve been more respected if he was playing today, Richardson was a 6-5 point guard who could take the best opposing player completely out of the game. If the Raptors end up taking a player of his caliber, they will have done well for themselves in the draft.

10. Glen Rice (1989)

Over the course of his 15-year career, Rice, scooped up by Miami out of Michigan, achieved icon status with three different franchises. His early career made him one of the best players in heat history, he was an All-Star in all three of his career-best scoring seasons with the Hornets, and he put his scoring aside to help the Shaq/Kobe Lakers win a championship.

Rice was named an All-Star three times in his career and an All-NBA performer twice. In a seven-season span between 1991 and 1998, Rice averaged 22.2 points per game while averaging at least 21 points per game six times.

His career may not have come to the most satisfying conclusion, but Miami Rice was a matchup nightmare, and Charlotte Rice has a three-year stretch where his scoring numbers were as good as any small forward in the league. Safe to say, that’s not a bad selection at that point in the draft.