Brooklyn Nets: 15 best draft picks of all-time (updated through 2018-19)
By Phil Watson
147. . PF. New Jersey Nets (1st round, 1st overall, 2000 NBA Draft). Kenyon Martin. 6. player
Despite a broken leg late in his senior season at Cincinnati, Kenyon Martin was the choice of the New Jersey Nets with the top pick in the 2000 NBA Draft.
History has not smiled on that draft class, but Martin was a solid contributor for four seasons with a Nets team that rose from the ashes to go to back-to-back NBA Finals in the early 21st century.
Martin was bothered by nagging injuries throughout his tenure, missing 45 games in his four years with the Nets, but was a rugged defender and rebounder who did his offensive work in close.
In each of his final two seasons, Martin averaged 16.7 points per game — his career high — and in four seasons put up 15.1 points and 7.6 rebounds in 34.1 minutes per game.
He earned his lone All-Star nod in 2004, as well, before leaving after the season in a sign-and-trade deal with the Denver Nuggets that brought New Jersey a 2005 first-round pick and a pair of first-rounders in 2006.
Martin spent seven seasons in Denver and finished his career bouncing from the Los Angeles Clippers to the New York Knicks to the Milwaukee Bucks (along with a stopover in China during the 2011 lockout) before retiring in 2015.
Martin has the fifth-lowest defensive rating among qualifiers in team history at 97.6, but was never named to an All-Defensive team in his 15-year career.