The NBA Draft is this evening and people are beyond excited to see this class of fresh new talent enter the league and push it forward.
Every year’s draft is full of surprises, both good and bad.
There are some new recruits who surpass expectations and become superstars seemingly overnight.
On the other hand, there are some players who inevitably come up short and don’t live up to the hype.
11 years ago today, this trio entered the league.
Tonight, a new group of young stars will make their mark in the NBA Draft 🍿 pic.twitter.com/IsbcHeWmwm
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) June 23, 2022
Some years are better than others and some draft classes pack more of a punch.
Like the 2011 rookie class, which featured the jaw-dropping trio of Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, and Kawhi Leonard.
Each of these stars have found great success and fame in the league, as well as at least one championship ring each.
Will tonight’s draft class bring us champions like these three?
A Blast From The Past
It’s wild to think that 2011 was over 10 years ago.
A lot has changed within the league since these three superstars entered.
The 2011 NBA Draft was held on June 23 in Newark, New Jersey and had an awful lot of excitement surrounding it.
In the end, Irving was the number one pick, selected by then-struggling Cleveland Cavaliers.
He was followed by the likes of Derrick Williams, Enes Freedom, Tristan Thompson, and Jonas Valanciunas.
As for Thompson and Leonard, they didn’t even make the top-10: Thompson was the 11th pick and Leonard landed at number 15.
Other big picks from that year’s draft included brothers Markieff and Marcus Morris, Iman Shumpert, Bismack Biyombo, Kemba Walker, and Jimmy Butler, who was the last pick of the first round.
There were other big names in 2011’s draft, proving that every year provides a lot of potential for the league.
Who from this year’s rookie class will make the biggest splash?
NEXT: Andrew Wiggins Shows He Has Not Stopped Celebrating