NBA Draft: Best No. 4 Overall Picks of the 2000s

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NEW YORK – JUNE 28: Mike Conley (R) shakes hands with NBA Commissioner David Stern after being selected fifth overall by the Boston Celtics during the 2007 NBA Draft at the WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden June 28, 2007 in New York, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2007 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) /

4. Mike Conley, 2007

Memphis needs to look no further than its own backyard backcourt for evidence of how well a fourth overall pick can play out. Mike Conley’s stock has steadily risen over the past decade. When healthy, he is among the NBA’s truly best two-way players.

Iron Mike excels in subtleties; he lacks the flair of contemporaries like Golden State’s Steph Curry or Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, but is still brutally effective. Not only in what he does —surgical pick-‘n’-roll artistry combined with lethal pull-up shooting — but what he prevents opponents from doing.

While his health has waned in recent years, the Memphis Grizzlies shut Conley down in 2017-18 for surgery to treat his recurring Achilles injury. They got another No. 4 pick out of it; a return to health for Mike Conley in addition could make Grizz fans forget this past season pretty quickly.

PHOENIX – DECEMBER 26: Chris Bosh of the Toronto Raptors looks on against the Phoenix Suns on December 26, 2004 at America West Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns won 106-94. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2004 NBAE (Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images) /

3. Chris Bosh, 2003

Coming in at third place, it’s everybody’s favorite player who both starred for a team named after a dinosaur, and resembles one himself.

Chris Bosh was one of the NBA’s most dependable 20/10 guys while coming up for the Toronto Raptors in the mid-late 2000’s. Despite his obvious talent, the Raptors’ Front Office made continual missteps in surrounding him with soft, overpaid Europeans. At least Twitter had not become popular yet…

Bosh took a backseat and reinvented himself as a floor-spacing small-ball center alongside LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in Miami. While his career was cut tragically short by blood clots in his lungs, he made an undeniable impact as both an individual superstar and team-first World Champion.

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