Top 5 Biggest NBA Draft Steals Since 2000

Every fan enjoys watching a highly-touted No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft reach his potential at the professional level, but there's something extra special about a draftee coming from nowhere to dominate the league.

Since 2000, there have been quite a few players to play their way to Hall of Fame consideration after flying under the radar on draft night.

Here, we'll take you through the five biggest steals in the NBA Draft in the 21st century.

Nikola Jokic

Drafted: 41st overall pick (round 2, pick 11) in 2014
Accomplishments: 1x NBA Champion, 1x NBA Finals MVP, 3x NBA MVP, 7x All-NBA (5x First-Team), 7x All-Star

Let's start with the most famous of all the recent NBA Draft steals. Infamously, Nikola Jokic was drafted by the Denver Nuggets during a Taco Bell commercial, and his name was not read out on live TV.

In fairness to both the player and the Bell, the commercial was for the Quesarito, which is one of the establishment's greatest menu items ever. But I digress.

Jokic already ranks 44th all-time in career win shares, and he keeps improving. In 2024/25, he shot over 40% from three (41.7%) and averaged a triple-double for the first time in his career. He's also durable, having never played fewer than 69 games in a season since entering the NBA.

The Joker is the first second-round draft pick to win NBA MVP since Willis Reed, who was selected 10th overall in 1964, when the league had nine teams.

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Drafted: 15th overall in 2013
Accomplishments: 1x NBA Champion, 1x NBA Finals MVP, 2x NBA MVP, 1x Defensive Player of the Year, 1x Most Improved Player, 9x All-NBA (6x First-Team), 9x All-Star, 1x All-Star MVP

Giannis Antetokounmpo was selected with the first pick outside of the lottery, but considering the 2013 draft saw Anthony Bennett picked first overall, it's safe to call the Greek Freak a steal.

Few people knew who he was on draft night, and that continued through the first few years of his career, the entirety of which he has spent with the team that drafted him, the Milwaukee Bucks. He broke out in 2016/17 to win Most Improved Player, and two years later, he won the first of his two MVP Awards.

Like Jokic and many other stars who weren't among the top picks in their draft, Antetokounmpo has improved as his career progressed. He has averaged at least 10 rebounds since his fifth season in the NBA, and he's averaged a career-high 6.5 assists in each of the past two seasons.

The Greek Freak has also averaged at least 30 points in each of the last three seasons, and in the previous two seasons, he's posted an effective field goal percentage of at least 60%. And, he's already ranked 51st in career win shares in NBA history.

Jimmy Butler

Drafted: 30th overall in 2011
Accomplishments: 5x All-NBA, 1x Most Improved Player, 1x Steals Champion, 5x All-Defensive, 6x All-Star

Jimmy Butler is nicknamed "Playoff Jimmy" for a reason. He hasn't won an NBA Championship yet, but he often raises his game in the postseason and led the Miami Heat to the NBA Finals twice in five full seasons there.

In 2019/20, when the Heat lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals in the Bubble, Butler stuffed the stat sheet with 22.2 points, 6.5 reobunds, 6.0 assists, and 2.0 steals per game in that postseason.

Two seasons later, when Miami lost to the Boston Celtics in the Conference Finals, Butler averaged a playoff career-high 27.4 points with 7.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists to 1.5 turnovers, and 2.1 steals in 37 minutes per game.

The following year, he averaged 26.9 points, 6.6 boards, 5.2 assists to 1.9 turnovers, and 1.8 steals as the Heat lost to the Denver Nuggets in the Finals. Now with the Golden State Warriors and turning 36 before the 2025/26 campaign, Butler will give it his all to win a ring.

Stephen Curry

Drafted: 7th overall in 2009
Accomplishments: 4x NBA Champion, 1x NBA Finals MVP, 2x NBA MVP, 2x Scoring Champion, 11x All-NBA (4x First-Team), 1x Steals Champion, 11x All-Star, 2x All-Star MVP

It's not often that players who end up changing basketball last until the seventh pick in the draft. Not only that, but Stephen Curry was the third point guard taken in 2009 — or the fifth, if you count James Harden and Tyreke Evans as point guards.

Curry has been the main driver of the three-point revolution in the NBA. Not only has he led the league in three-point attempts in nine of his 16 NBA seasons, but he's been efficient enough to lead a Warriors dynasty that won four titles in eight years, showing the league that teams can win with the three-ball.

Chef Curry is the all-time record holder in threes made per game (4.0) and attempted per game (9.3). He's also seventh all-time in career three-point percentage, but four of the players ahead of him on the list averaged less than 3.0 three-point attempts per game.

Curry is also the NBA record holder in free-throw percentage at 91.1%. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound sharpshooter has had an impact on the league and the sport that far exceeds his stature.

Tony Parker

Drafted: 28th overall in 2001
Accomplishments: Hall of Fame, 4x NBA Champion, 1x NBA Finals MVP, 4x All-NBA, 6x All-Star

The only retired player on this list is Tony Parker, who played a major role in the San Antonio Spurs dynasty in the 2000s and 2010s despite being a late first-round pick.

The four-time NBA Champion helped the Spurs make the playoffs in 17 straight seasons from his rookie year in 2001/02 until his second-to-last NBA season in 2017/18.

Parker's regular-season scoring average peaked at 22.0 points in 2008/09, but he made a career out of making his teammates better, taking care of the ball, and being the floor general for a complicated yet extremely effective offense under legendary head coach Gregg Popovich.

The point guard for some of the best teams in NBA history had his crowning individual achievement in the 2007 NBA Finals, when he won Finals MVP after leading the Spurs to a sweep over the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers. Parker posted 24.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game while shooting 56.8% overall in a series where either team reached 100 points in a game just once.