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David J. Phillip/Associated Press

Chris Paul (No. 4 in 2005)

It's hard to argue that the fourth pick in a draft was a steal, as none of our top 10 players were lottery picks. But Paul (171.5 win shares) is one more healthy season away from bypassing Kobe Bryant (172.7), Reggie Miller (174.4), Charles Barkley (177.2) and David Robinson (178.7) on the NBA's career win shares leaderboard. The nine-time All-Star and eight-time All-NBA selection almost has as many win shares as the combined total of the three players selected ahead of him in the 2005 draft—Andrew Bogut, Marvin Williams and Deron Williams (who are at 190.6).

Stephen Curry (No. 7 in 2009)

Similar to Paul, Curry was left out of our top 10 because he was drafted in the lottery. Although, when you consider that Hasheem Thabeet, Tyreke Evans, Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn were all drafted ahead of Curry, there's a strong case to be made that the Warriors committed highway robbery by getting this two-time MVP at seventh overall.

Paul Millsap (No. 47 in 2006)

Excluding those two lottery picks, Millsap was the toughest omission. It wasn't until his fifth season that he hit his stride, but the four-time All-Star has been rock-solid throughout his 13-year (and counting) run in the NBA. No other player drafted 25th or later in 2006 has more than 30 win shares, but Millsap is sitting at 88.2.

Kyle Lowry (No. 24 in 2006)

Like Millsap, it took a few years for Lowry to carve out a significant role in the NBA. He only started 30 games in his first four seasons. But by year five, he had become an indispensable starting point guard, especially over the past seven seasons with Toronto. Lowry has been named an All-Star in each of the last five seasons. Had he been an early second-round pick instead of a late first-rounder, he probably would have made the cut.

Carlos Boozer (No. 35 in 2002)

The Booze Cruise was a more-than-serviceable big man for more than a decade. At his peak in 2006-07 and 2007-08, he averaged at least 20 points and 10 rebounds per game in back-to-back All-Star seasons. On his career, he averaged 16.2 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. He only spent two sub-.500 seasons with the team that drafted him (Cleveland), and then the Utah Jazz more than got their money's worth out of him for the next six seasons.

Gilbert Arenas (No. 35 in 2001)

Knee injuries and the handguns-in-the-locker-room incident limited Agent Zero to just six full, healthy seasons, but he was incredible at his peak. Arenas earned All-Star and All-NBA honors in three straight seasons, averaging 27.7 points, 5.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game during that stretch. The only other players from that draft to earn All-NBA honors multiple times were Pau Gasol and Tony Parker.

Michael Redd (No. 43 in 2000)

Like Arenas, Redd's career was cut short by knee injuries. But from the beginning of the 2002-03 season through the first torn ACL in January 2009, Redd averaged 22.0 points per game and shot better than 38 percent from three-point range. Had the Bucks provided him with any sort of supporting cast while he was healthy, perhaps he would have a more memorable legacy among fans outside of Milwaukee.

Jarrett Allen (No. 22 in 2017)

Mitchell Robinson (No. 36 in 2018)

It's too early to stack these young guys up against great players who have been in the league for more than a decade. However, early returns suggest Allen and Robinson were egregiously underrated by draft scouts around the nation.

In terms of career win shares, Allen (11.9) is No. 2 from the 2017 draft class, trailing only Jayson Tatum (12.0) by a decimal point. And Robinson (6.1) led all rookies in that category this past season, despite playing more than 800 fewer minutes than both Deandre Ayton (5.8) and Luka Doncic (4.9).