4 No. 18 draft picks who had successful NBA careers

3. J.R. Smith 

In 2004, J.R. Smith entered the NBA Draft right out of high school. The New Orleans Hornets selected him 18th overall. 

Smith quickly established himself as a double-digit scorer, averaging 12.4 points per game for his sixteen-season-long career. His best season by far came in 2012-13 with the New York Knicks. For the first time in his career, Smith averaged over 30 minutes of playing time per game and put up 18.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. To top that off, he did all that while coming off the bench in all 80 games he played. At the end of the season, Smith was rewarded with the Sixth Man of the Year award. 

After two more seasons with the Knicks, he was sent to Cleveland in a three-team deal and won a championship with the Cavaliers in 2016. His time in Cleveland came to an end in 2019 after he accused the team of intentionally losing games and was eventually waived. 

That did not mark the end of Smith's NBA career quite yet, however. In 2020, he signed with the Lakers on his way to winning his second championship. His last game in the league was Game 3 of the 2020 NBA Finals. 

Just like McGee, Smith never made an All-Star game, but he found success in other ways after being selected 18th overall.