It’s only been 6 years! The top three picks in the draft year, but now the top pick and the second pick may leave the team, and the top pick will become a green leaf!

Back in the summer of 2019, this year's NBA draft was full of talents. Jordan Poole, Keldon Johnson and Kevin Porter Jr., who are now key players in the Pelicans, Spurs and Bucks, were actually the bottom three of the first round in this draft's rookie rankings, which is enough to prove the gold content of this draft. However, the top three draft picks who were regarded as the favored players are now stuck in their own quagmire. They all once performed well and were even regarded by the NBA as the face of the future, but now they are no longer what they used to be. Let us take a look together to see what happened to them!

Zion Williamson

Career statistics: 24.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists

Team: New Orleans Pelicans

First of all, let’s talk about being the No. 1 pick Zion, before entering the NBA that year, Zion received a lot of attention. On draft night, as many as a hundred media outlets even rushed to interview him, which is enough to prove his popularity. Even compared with today's Cooper Flagg and Victor Vunbanyama, it is even better.

It is true that in one season at Duke University, he showed extremely impressive talent, averaging 22.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.8 blocks per game. Looking at the entire NCAA history, there are only a handful of players who can produce such data as a freshman.

Another incident that reflects Zhai En's influence is that during a game, he stepped on a pair of Nike sneakers, which directly caused huge fluctuations in Nike's stock market that day, which is enough to prove Zhai En's terrifying traffic. Therefore, after participating in the NBA draft, he was directly designated as the No. 1 pick and was regarded as the next Charles Barkley. At that time, the Pelicans lost Anthony Davis. Zion's arrival undoubtedly gave the Pelicans hope for the future.

However, after all these years, Zhai En's performance has been quite disappointing. Although on the court, his performance is indeed worthy of recognition, especially in his sophomore year, he has been able to contribute 27 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists, which are definitely top star level data.

Not only that, he was also selected to the All-Star team twice. Overall, as long as he plays, he is at least an All-Star level player. But the problem is that he has been suffering from injuries since he entered the NBA. In the past six years, he has only played 214 games, which is a terrible number.

Not only that, he even missed another 5 games this season due to injury. There is no doubt that the fans have been extremely disappointed with him, which also gave the Pelicans the idea of ​​sending him away, but the embarrassing thing is that it is difficult for any team to accept it. It is indeed extremely sad that he is only 25 years old and is now in such a situation.

Ja Morant

Career statistics: 22.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 7.4 assists

Team: Memphis Grizzlies

Let’s talk about the second-placed Morant. When he participated in the NBA draft, because Zion was too dazzling and all three Duke players entered the top ten of the draft, his attention was not that high. But after entering the NBA, Morant quickly showed his value. His movement control skills are very good, and his playing style is also extremely elegant. He can often complete wonderful pull-up layups under the basket, and with his amazing jumping ability, he is also very good at performing some amazing dunks. Although his rookie season averages were only 17.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game, which was not that dazzling, but he relied on his solid performance to beat everyone and became the best rookie.

After that, Morant also grew rapidly and became one of the best guards in the NBA. In his third year, he was even able to contribute 27.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists, helping the Grizzlies return to the ranks of the Western Conference's top teams. In the past few years, he has become the most improved player, was selected to the All-NBA Second Team, and made two All-Star appearances. Currently, his achievements are the highest among this rookie class.

But what is disappointing is that since he emerged and quickly became a hot potato in the NBA, Morant has become restless. He has started causing trouble off the court. Speeding and fighting are commonplace. What is most intolerable to fans and the media is that he has repeatedly carried guns outside the court, which is obviously not allowed by the NBA. But he still went his own way, doing many controversial celebrations on the court.

In addition, he also began to be troubled by injuries. Due to various factors, he lost all the reputation he had accumulated. Not only that, his style of play also makes the Grizzlies dissatisfied. It has been six years since he entered the NBA, but he has still been unable to develop a stable outside shooting. Under this situation, the Grizzlies are no longer willing to tolerate it. Recently, there have been constant rumors about Morant's trade. If a team offers enough chips to satisfy the Grizzlies, maybe Morant will really leave Memphis.

RJ Barrett

Career statistics: 18.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists

Team: Toronto Raptors

Finally, let’s talk about the third overall pick. Compared with the above two, Barrett’s personal image is pretty good, and his attendance rate in each season is basically guaranteed. Generally speaking, he has nothing to criticize. But relatively speaking, he doesn’t have much to boast about. As the third overall pick in the New Year’s draft, Barrett also received a lot of media attention when he debuted, thinking that he could at least become an All-Star player..

And the team he joined is the Knicks, located in the big city of New York. The team once regarded him as a "prince" for training. However, in his more than 4 seasons with the Knicks, his performance has been tepid. In his most outstanding season, he averaged only 20 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3 assists per game. However, he was traded to Toronto, and he found his own position, but now it seems that he is only a second or third boss.

This season, he can contribute 20.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists, but he can only serve as a green leaf, assisting Brandon Ingram and Scotty Barnes. He has not been able to reach the heights he should have as a No. 3 pick. So overall, he also made fans feel a little disappointed, but compared to the above two, it is still relatively satisfactory.