Did people really believe Jordan would be a lock for top 4 player ever when he came out?
He was a high pick who hit a championship shot so yes.
Did they expect Kobe would be one of the greatest scorers?
Again, there was a ton of hype on him.
Did they see Bird being an assain on the court breaking another team's will nightly?
Bird was a dominant college player. There were concerns about his athletic ability even Bird had them himself. Red thought enough of him to draft him using an arcane rules a year early. I think you were assassin, right?
The great thing about the NBA is that you can beat hype. The league always picks a few guys to market each draft, sometimes they are wrong. Brown is going to be a guy who beats the hype. Tatum got the hype. At 27, no one expect Williams to be a world beater but if he can play it would be a real nice coup.