Toronto Raptors: Top 10 No. 46 and 47 overall picks in NBA Draft history
By Mike Luciano
3. James Edwards (No. 46, 1977)
Edwards began his nearly two-decade career in the NBA on a Lakers team with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the star and Jerry West as the coach, became one of the first overpriced free agency signings in Cleveland in the early 80s, won some rings as a starter on the “Bad Boys” Pistons, and retired as a 40-year-old bench player on the famed 95-96 Bulls. What a ride.
The former Washington star averaged a respectable 12.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game in his career, but those averaged can get pumped up to 14.3 points and 5.9 rebounds if you eschew his last five seasons as a ring-chaser.
Edwards brought plenty of muscle, interior finishing, and hard-nosed play to the game. Injuries may have prevented him from becoming a genuine star, but it’s hard to ask for more out of a player that was drafted where he was.
2. Jeff Hornacek (No. 46, 1986)
Like Edwards, Hornacek can also claim to have had one of the wildest rides in NBA history. After spending six seasons as one of the best shooters in the game in Phoenix, the Iowa State alum was flipped to Philadelphia in order to make Charles Barkley a Sun. Hornacek spent his final seven years in the pros as a starting guard on the John Stockon/Karl Malone Jazz.
Hornacek’s 14.5 points and 4.9 assists per game are impressive enough, but stats don’t tell the whole story. He was so dominant in Phoenix that the 76ers made him the centerpiece of a Barkley trade, and he was averaging double-digits in all seven of his seasons as a key tertiary scorer on one of the best teams of all time.
A title or two might’ve vaulted Hornacek to the top spot on this list, but his career remains exemplary for someone picked in the 40s. His 20.1 points per game in 1991-92 is a record that still stands for players picked either 46th or 47th overall, and it might be a while before that falls.