The Best NBA Draft Steals of All Time
The NBA draft could be argued as the only draft of the major four American sports (NHL, MLB, and NFL) that very scarcely features "steals," as in players that make a true difference in an NBA's starting five that no one saw coming based on their draft position.
There are several instances of meaningful bench and role players being found in the second round. However, finding a true star or co-star outside of the first round is very rare. This is due to a number of factors, such as modern scouting, social media hype, and college basketball being a better preview of a player's overall game.
When stars are found late in the first round or in the second round, it's usually a testament to extensive scouting and a player falling under the radar.
Here are our top 10 best steals in NBA draft history.
10. Khris Middleton (39th pick, 2012)
When Middleton fell into the Detroit Pistons' lap in the second round in 2012, they didn't pass up on him.
A three-year standout at Texas A&M, Middleton was sidelined by a torn meniscus that forced him to miss 12 games during his 2011-12 junior season, an injury that seemed to plague him even after he returned, with scouts saying Middleton was playing cautiously to avoid re-injury. This led to a dip in his scoring numbers amid a disappointing season for A&M as a whole.
The other 29 teams must've been kicking themselves for missing Middleton, as the 39th pick in 2012 would serve as a vital co-star alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee after being traded from Detroit.
Middleton made three All-Star teams, helped the Bucks win the 2021 NBA Finals, and won gold at the 2020 Olympics.
9. Jimmy Butler (30th pick, 2011)
Even before draft day in 2011, Butler's journey to arrive at the NBA was no small feat. Being kicked out of the house at the age of 13, Butler was only recruited by Marquette University after becoming friends with Jordan Leslie, whose family took him in as one of their own, at a basketball camp.
Being slept on his whole life, Butler was regarded as a strong defensive pick before he was taken by the Bulls at No. 30. He wasn't given an NBA comparison but said to have "great qualities for a future role player" in his scouting report, also being called a "jack of all trades and master of none."
Butler decided being a role player wasn't good enough, as he has been one of the premier two-way forwards in the NBA, making six All-Star teams, leading the league in steals in 2021, winning Most Improved Player in 2015, and making two NBA Finals appearances with the Heat in 2020 and 2023.
8. Gilbert Arenas (31st pick, 2001)
Arenas was one of the most explosive players of his era, but before that, he was a player who got picked far lower than he, or anybody else, expected.
On draft day, Arenas famously wore layers of workout shorts from teams he thought would pick him, peeling them off with each passing pick. Due to concerns about his maturity and underwhelming draft workouts -- one of which Arenas missed to tend to his Achilles -- teams felt it was easy to pass up on him.
When the Warriors finally pulled the trigger at No. 31, Arenas told the media that he would become a starter by the middle of his rookie season. Sure enough, Arenas would start 30 games for the Dubs in 2001, and received the Most Improved Player award in the 2002 season.
From there, Arenas, nicknamed "Agent Zero" or "Hibachi" depending on who you ask, made three NBA All-Star teams consecutively from 2005 to 2007, and tallied 20.7 points per game over an 11-year career.
7. Marc Gasol (48th pick, 2007)
The story of Gasol's draft experience is an all-timer. Gasol, a highly touted international prospect, was picked midway through the second round in 2007 for a variety of reasons, one of which was that he refused to come to the United States for pre-draft workouts, believing teams should instead look at his 5-on-5 play.
Even after he was taken 48th overall by the Lakers, he was traded to the Grizzlies in a major trade package that included his older brother, Pau, who had been in the league for six years at that point.
Pau would go on to win two consecutive NBA Finals with the Lakers in 2009-10, while Marc would win Defensive Player of the Year in 2013 and an NBA Finals with the Raptors in 2019.
6. Dennis Rodman (27th pick, 1986)
The 1986 NBA draft produced a few stars, including first overall pick Brad Daugherty, Jeff Hornacek, and Mark Price, but none had as winding a path to reach NBA stardom as Rodman.
After high school, Rodman was an overnight janitor at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, where a growth spurt from 5-foot-11 to 6-foot-7 inspired him to try basketball at Southeastern Oklahoma State University after flunking out of Cooke County College. There, Rodman was a three-time NAIA All-American and earned a spot at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament for NBA hopefuls.
Rodman caught the attention of the Pistons after winning MVP at the tournament, and was taken with the third pick in the second round. Rodman would become known as the best defensive player in the game during the Pistons' repeat NBA Finals win in 1990, winning two consecutive Defensive Player of the Year awards in 1990 and 1991.
His time with the Bulls in the Michael Jordan era speaks for itself, but Rodman was easily the steal of the 1986 class.
5. Giannis Antetokounmpo (15th pick, 2013)
The extent to which Giannis was a steal isn't so much based on his actual draft selection in 2013 but rather how he was perceived coming into the league.
As a raw, 18-year-old prospect from the second Greek division, Giannis was said to be missing a consistent jump-shot, an added disadvantage given his then-wiry frame and lack of high-level competition.
When the Bucks took him midway through the first round in the draft, they were in many ways taking a chance on a prospect who was said to need to improve his upper-body strength without compromising his overall mobility.
They're pretty glad they did, because the near-perennial All-Star Giannis will always be the defining player in this era of Milwaukee basketball, including the star behind the Bucks' four straight wins to surmount a 2-0 deficit in the 2021 NBA Finals against the Suns.
4. Draymond Green (35th pick, 2012)
Known as a "tweener" -- a player too unathletic to be a wing but too small to be a forward -- Green fell to No. 35 in 2012 despite being the Big Ten Player of the Year at Michigan State.
Green proved all of those doubts wrong when he emerged as an undersized center in the Warriors' "Death Lineup" beginning in 2014. He helped begin a trend in the NBA involving players who could defend multiple positions and make plays for teammates, with standout seasons in the steals, rebounding, and shot blocking areas.
Green is a rare example of a player involved in each of the Warriors' four NBA championships, and has five NBA All-First Defensive Team awards as well as four All-Star nods to his resume.
3. Jalen Brunson (33rd pick, 2018)
What more is there to say about Brunson that hasn't been said already during the Knicks' historic run to the 2026 NBA Finals?
The 6-foot-2 guard has been the David in the David vs. Goliath story his entire career, and was entirely slept on by the NBA, despite excelling out of high school and at Villanova, where he won two NCAA National Championships.
Brunson's pre-draft scouting report was glowing with all of his collegiate accomplishments and notes about his craftiness, which scouts said "somewhat made up for" his lack of elite size and explosiveness.
Still, as the No. 2 next to Luka Doncic in Dallas, where he would have stayed if offered the right money, Brunson made a solid reputation as a reliable and crafty guard who was always adding tricks to his bag to change with the times.
Brunson's career took off when he joined his father, Rick, in New York during the 2022 offseason, and as a longtime Knicks fan, the second-round pick is crafting an all-time Knicks resumé as the central organ of this Knicks team.
2. Manu Ginóbili (57th pick, 1999)
Ginóbili's infamously low draft selection had less to do with his overall talent but rather the era he came up in. It was one that de-emphasized international scouting and gambled picks on raw, foreign prospects as opposed to high-upside American players.
The Spurs first discovered Ginóbili at a U22 tournament in Australia, where his Argentina team made the medal round. The Spurs drafted him less with the intention of having him make an immediate impact on the roster, but rather to "draft and stash," allowing him to develop overseas, which was pivotal in the years leading up to his 2002 debut.
When he did join the NBA, he became an immediate playoff sensation under head coach Gregg Popovich, where he won an NBA championship in two of his first three years (2003 and 2005).
1. Nikola Jokić (41st pick, 2014)
There's perhaps no more appropriate pick to be the top NBA draft steal of all time.
The formula was all there - Jokic was known as having elite basketball IQ, incredible court vision, and strong passing ability, but just average athleticism and below-average foot speed and leap. Infamously, the ESPN broadcast of the NBA draft was on a commercial break when Jokić's name was announced.
Jokić has proved that sleeper reputation wrong and then some, becoming the lowest-drafted player to win a regular-season MVP and steering the Nuggets to a 2023 NBA title, winning Finals MVP in the process.
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This story was originally published June 13, 2026 at 8:19 AM.