Do you draft the best player available, or according to your team needs? The Portland Trail Blazers went with the second approach and made the greatest mistake in NBA draft history. After the Rockets picked Olajuwon with the no.1 pick in the 1984 draft, the Blazers were choosing between Sam Bowie and Michael Jordan. They went for Bowie, as they already had Clyde Drexler and Jim Paxson taking care of the perimeter. Chicago is eternally grateful.

Sometimes that approach makes sense. One of the mistakes the 76ers made in the process was drafting Nerlens Noel in 2013, Joel Embiid in 2014, and Jahlil Okafor in 2015. Theres no way to develop all three, give them playing time, and get appropriate value in a later trade. Especially if youre Portland and already have your guy in Clyde Drexler. Youre not thinking about getting the best guy; you think you already have him. Portland was looking for someone to support Drexlers team.

Well, you dont think about positional fit when a perennial All-Star is available, and even at the time of the Draft, a lot of people knew that Jordan would be more than that. Back in those days, there was no one-and-done. MJ spent three years playing for Dean Smith and made his mark on the college level. During his three seasons with the Tar Heels, Jordan averaged 17.7 ppg on 54.0% shooting. MJ did more than collect stats he made the game-winning jump shot in the 1982 NCAA Championship game against Georgetown, which was led by future NBA rival Patrick Ewing. All that was enough for coach Knight to make a bold statement before MJ ever set foot on an NBA court.

If I were going to pick three or four best athletes Ive ever seen play basketball, hed be one of them. I think hes the best athlete Ive ever seen play basketball, bar none. If I were going to pick people with the best ability Ive ever seen play the game, hed be one of them. If I wanted to pick one of the best competitors, hed be one of them. Hes the best athlete, hes one of the best competitors, hes one of the most skilled players, and that to me makes him the best basketball player Ive ever seen play.

When Bobby Knight says something like that about a player, and hes on the board, you select that player in a heartbeat. The Blazers werent convinced, so they reached out to Knight and shared their positional concern with him. They needed a center, and Bob Knight made his position very clear.

Play him [Jordan] at center, and he will be the best center in the league.

One more thing we need to address. Portland gets all the criticism for missing out on Jordan, but theres another team that should get at least equal grief for it that would be the Pacers of Indiana. They traded the no.2 to Portland. Who did they want so much that hey gave away the chance to get MJ? Tom Owens, yet another center.Owens was so dominant in Indiana, averaging 10.5 points and 5 rebounds, that the Pacers traded him the very next summer for a secondround pick.

We could say wing players are treated the same way these days. Every wing player has 3-and-D potential these days, and significantly more talented big men are dropping in demand because of the modern era trend. Thats how you get Nikola Jokic at 41.

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Bob Knight to the Blazers: Draft Jordan and play him at center - Basketball Network