We continue our eDraft exclusive look at the top NBA draft choices over the past 40 years. Our continued look back through history will determine who was the best draft selection through each slot in the draft. We don’t stop with the first overalls, we will go pick by pick, year by year to to identify the very best selections of all-time.

We seem to have righted the draft ship with our selection as the greatest 18th overall draft pick; Joe Dumars took home the honor as the Hall of Famer was an easy pick among his peers. After the 19th and 20th slots were completed and the eventual winners in Zach Randolph and Larry Nance selected, didn’t have an MVP Award nor a Hall of Fame resume to share between them.

We are now only two draft spots away from entering the NBA Lottery selections and while teams picking in the middle of the pack don’t often find their franchise cornerstone; the talent is nonetheless there for the taking. As was the case for some teams, trades often go down on draft day where executives will opt to trade their lottery selection away for a mid-range pick in hopes of not only saving a few million dollars but it is also the case where they usually have a player in mind and are confident that he will still be on the board later in the draft.

Let’s have a look at those who have been drafted 17th overall who have made an impact in the Association but who have fallen short in being named our greatest 17th overall draft pick. The two most recent notables are Jrue Holiday and Roy Hibbert who were drafted in 2009 and 2008 respectively. Preceding them and also going in back-to-back years were Danny Granger in 2005 and Josh Smith in 2004.

Heading even further back, the 1990’s saw four players who were drafted out of this spot make names for themselves. Rasho Nesterovic was drafted in 1998 by Minnesota, Jermaine O’Neal went in 1996 to Portland, Aaron McKie was nabbed by Portland in the 1994 draft and Doug Christie was selected by Seattle in 1992. All this means is that once again our eventual champion here was drafted into the League in the 1980’s.

The rainy city of Seattle at the time played home to the Supersonics and while the team has since relocated to Oklahoma the Sonic movement and passion remains in the city. Back in the early 1990’s Sonic Fever was at it’s highest as the ‘Reign Man’ Shawn Kemp came into the league via the 17th overall pick in the 1989 draft.

Seattle paired Kemp with ‘The Glove’ Gary Payton and they became a force in the Western Conference. Kemp was the marketing machine the Sonics needed to lure the fan base out to the antiquated Key Arena and the fans came out in droves to watch the man-child throw down vicious dunks on anybody who dared stand in the paint.

Although Kemp played for four different team during his 14-year NBA career, his time in the League will be most remembered for what he did in Seattle. Kemp officially retired from the NBA in 2006 after numerous failed attempts to make a comeback. Weight problems as well as drug and alcohol addictions railed Kemp’s career; however, despite the off-court issues Kemp was a six time NBA All-Star and three time member of the All-NBA Second Team.

Kemp came into the league as a fresh-faced teenager fresh out of a Junior College. Kemp was at the time, the youngest player in the league and as a player skipping Division I basketball going straight to the pro-ranks. Kemp did not have an easy time in the Association and his legacy is somewhat tarnished as a result of his indiscretions.  Kemp remains in the Seattle area as a business owner and supporter of the community.

Here’s hoping that with time an NBA franchise will return to Seattle and along with it Kemp’s legacy as a franchise great. For all that Shawn Kemp has done he is eDraft’s greatest 17th overall draft pick of all time.