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Yesterday, we looked at how Eastern Conference teams have drafted per position in the one-and-done era. That would be since 2005.
Now we switch to the Western Conference. It's even more revealing; more teams have more drafts without picks, and a few teams have more than double the amount of draft selections as others.
As a reminder: For players whose positions are a little ambiguous -- or are tweeners -- I categorized them by their NBA.com position. In rare cases where there was no true distinction, I went by practicality and closest logical match.
You can see above the surprising broad results. Wouldn't you have guessed small forward or shooting guard -- even if its a "dying" position -- was the most prominent position? And I go by categorization only, because I can't believe we've had more centers than point guards enter the league over nine years. The 5 position truly has changed.
In the West, the Blazers, Timberwolves and Thunder are tied for the most picks (26), while Denver matches the Miami Heat with an NBA-low 12 picks over nine seasons. By position, here are the teams that have drafted most:
Center: Oklahoma City (8)
Power forward: Minnesota (9)
Small forward: Houston, San Antonio (7)
Shooting guard: Oklahoma City (9)
Point guard: Portland (6)
Amazingly, despite owning 26 picks, the Thunder/Sonics (sorry, Seattle) have not drafted a point guard the past nine years. And Dallas has not picked a center in that time frame.
And how about the Lakers drafting seven shooting guards? No wonder Kobe's been wanting some say over the years. Here's how each team has made its decisions.
