To a large extent, the NBA draft is a crapshoot. But some executives excel at that crapshoot more than others.
In the modern era, Sam Presti, for example, has an impressive track record with three MVPs drafted back-to-back-to-back. How does he compare to other legendary general managers when it comes to selecting star talent?
To find out, we looked up the draft record of each NBA executive in history according to the indispensable Basketball-Reference. Unsurprisingly, Red Auerbach comes out on top with nine different All-NBA players selected, a byproduct of his basketball acumen but also of drafting players in 34 different offseasons.
(For this exercise, we assigned players based on final draft rights rather than initial selection. For instance, Kobe Bryant counts for Jerry West, not the Hornets who technically picked him.)
Red Auerbach
Getty Images
All-NBA players: 9 (Bill Russell, Dave Cowens, Jo Jo White, John Havlicek, Kevin McHale, Larry Bird, Paul Westphal, Sam Jones, Tommy Heinsohn)
All-NBA selections: 49
Drafts: 34
All-NBA players per draft: 0.26
Don Nelson
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images
All-NBA players: 7 (Chris Webber, Dirk Nowitzki, Latrell Sprewell, Marques Johnson, Mitch Richmond, Sidney Moncrief, Tim Hardaway)
All-NBA selections: 36
Drafts: 25
All-NBA players per draft: 0.28
Fred Podesta
Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Network.
All-NBA players: 5 (Dick McGuire, Dolph Schayes, Harry Gallatin, Richie Guerin, Willis Reed)
All-NBA selections: 23
Drafts: 16
All-NBA players per draft: 0.31
John Sbarbaro
All-NBA players: 5 (Andy Phillip, Bob Cousy, Jim Pollard, Larry Foust, Ralph Beard)
All-NBA selections: 22
Drafts: 4
All-NBA players per draft: 1.25
Wayne Embry
All-NBA players: 5 (Alex English, Brad Daugherty, Julius Erving, Kevin Johnson, Mark Price)
All-NBA selections: 20
Drafts: 18
All-NBA players per draft: 0.28
Bryan Colangelo
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All-NBA players: 5 (Amare Stoudemire, Steve Nash, Joe Johnson, DeMar DeRozan, Ben Simmons)
All-NBA selections: 18
Drafts: 21
All-NBA players per draft: 0.24
Eddie Gottlieb
Charles T. Higgins/Getty Images
All-NBA players: 5 (Gene Shue, Jack George. Larry Costello, Tom Gola, Wilt Chamberlain)
All-NBA selections: 15
Drafts: 11
All-NBA players per draft: 0.45
Sam Presti
Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images
All-NBA players: 4 (Domantas Sabonis, James Harden, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook)
All-NBA selections: 29
Drafts: 18
All-NBA players per draft: 0.22
Pat Williams
Pottheiser/NBAE/Getty Images
All-NBA players: 4 (Anfernee Hardaway, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, World B. Free)
All-NBA selections: 29
Drafts: 23
All-NBA players per draft: 0.17
Jerry West
Stephen Dunn/Getty Images
All-NBA players: 4 (Eddie Jones, James Worthy, Kobe Bryant, Kyle Lowry)
All-NBA selections: 19
Drafts: 24
All-NBA players per draft: 0.17
Bob Whitsitt
John Gress/Getty Images
All-NBA players: 4 (Gary Payton, Jermaine O’Neal, Shawn Kemp, Zach Randolph)
All-NBA selections: 16
Drafts: 18
All-NBA players per draft: 0.22
Eddie Donovan
All-NBA players: 4 (Bob McAdoo, Randy Smith, Spencer Haywood, Walt Frazier)
All-NBA selections: 13
Drafts: 16
All-NBA players per draft: 0.25
Max Winter
All-NBA players: 4 (Clyde Lovellette, Dick Garmaker, Slater Martin, Vern Mikkelsen)
All-NBA selections: 11
Drafts: 6
All-NBA players per draft: 0.67
Jerry Krause
DAN LEVINE/AFP via Getty Images
All-NBA players: 4 (Elton Brand, Metta World Peace, Scottie Pippen, Tyson Chandler)
All-NBA selections: 10
Drafts: 19
All-NBA players per draft: 0.21
Norm Sonju
David Woo
All-NBA players: 4 (Dale Ellis, Detlef Schrempf, Jamal Mashburn, Jason Kidd)
All-NBA selections: 9
Drafts: 17
All-NBA players per draft: 0.24
Danny Ainge
Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
All-NBA players: 4 (Rajon Rondo, Al Jefferson, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown)
All-NBA selections: 7
Drafts: 21
All-NBA players per draft: 0.19
Gregg Popovich
Jason Miller/Getty Images
All-NBA players: 3 (Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker)
All-NBA selections: 21
Drafts: 9
All-NBA players per draft: 0.33
Pepper Wilson
Getty Images
All-NBA players: 3 (Oscar Robertson, Bob Love, Jerry Lucas)
All-NBA selections: 17
Drafts: 12
All-NBA players per draft: 0.25
Kevin McHale
Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
All-NBA players: 3 (Kevin Love, Kevin Garnett, Stephon Marbury)
All-NBA selections: 13
Drafts: 14
All-NBA players per draft: 0.21
Bob Bass
MIKE FIALA/AFP via Getty Images
All-NBA players: 3 (David Robinson, Baron Davis, Alvin Robertson)
All-NBA selections: 12
Drafts: 22
All-NBA players per draft: 0.14
Jack McCloskey
Doug Scott-USA TODAY NETWORK
All-NBA players: 3 (Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Dennis Rodman)
All-NBA selections: 10
Drafts: 15
All-NBA players per draft: 0.20
Mike Dunleavy
JIM RUYMEN/AFP via Getty Images
All-NBA players: 3 (Ray Allen, Blake Griffin, Vin Baker)
All-NBA selections: 9
Drafts: 8
All-NBA players per draft: 0.38
Steve Patterson
AP Photo/Jack Plunkett
All-NBA players: 3 (Brandon Roy, Sam Cassell, LaMarcus Aldridge)
All-NBA selections: 8
Drafts: 5
All-NBA players per draft: 0.60
Joe Axelson
Rocky Widner / NBAE via Getty Images
All-NBA players: 3 (Tiny Archibald, Phil Ford, Otis Birdsong)
All-NBA selections: 7
Drafts: 16
All-NBA players per draft: 0.19
Geoff Petrie
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
All-NBA players: 3 (DeMarcus Cousins, Isaiah Thomas, Predrag Stojakovic)
All-NBA selections: 4
Drafts: 20
All-NBA players per draft: 0.15
Ernie Grunfeld
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All-NBA players: 3 (Bradley Beal, John Wall, Michael Redd)
All-NBA selections: 3
Drafts: 27
All-NBA players per draft: 0.11
