There was not the slightest surprise at the top of the NBA draft on Thursday night at Barclays Center, as the Spurs added to the NBA’s ever-increasing international flavor by tabbing ultra-hyped French unicorn Victor Wembanyama with the first-overall pick.
Though the 7-foot-4 center with guard skills has been considered the slam-dunk automatic top selection of this year’s draft for months, the ensuing picks offered far more intrigue, both in which players were going to be selected and which teams would be making those choices.
The Hornets grabbed Alabama forward Brandon Miller at No. 2, with the Trail Blazers holding onto the third pick after entertaining trade offers to obtain an established player to pair with seven-time All-Star guard Damian Lillard.
Instead, Portland scooped up G-League Ignite guard Scoot Henderson, who expressed hope that neither he nor Lillard gets moved and they get an opportunity to form a dynamic backcourt.
“I’m hoping to get to play with Dame, for sure. Yeah, it would be cool to play with him,” Henderson said. “If they do decide to trade or do whatever with the pick, man, I’m just going to continue to work, control what I can.”
Miller, who called his selection by Michael Jordan’s Hornets “a dream come true,” acknowledged Wednesday being asked by NBA teams about his involvement in a January incident in Tuscaloosa, Ala., that resulted in the death of a 23-year-old woman.
Miller was alleged to have brought a gun used by another man in the shooting, but he never was charged in the case. Former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles and his friend Michael Lynn Davis are facing capital murder charges in the fatal shooting of Jamea Harris on Jan. 14 near the Alabama campus.
“NBA teams kind of did their background on me,” Miller said Wednesday. “I think they kind of found out that I was a great guy, great character. So I don’t think they’re really worried about the character part of it now. I think it’s just all basketball now.”
The Thompson twins, 6-7 Overtime Elite guards Amen and Ausar Thompson, made history by going with the fourth and fifth picks to the Rockets and the Pistons, respectively.
The Wizards already were the busiest team leading up to the draft — trading Kristaps Porzingis to Boston and Bradley Beal to Phoenix for a bevy of picks and Chris Paul, then flipping him to the Warriors for Jordan Poole. They also were aggressive on draft night, trading up one spot with the Pacers to obtain Wembanyama’s teammate, guard Bilal Coulibaly, at No. 7. Indiana instead got Houston forward Jarace Walker one spot later, along with a couple of extra future second-round picks.
Another trade involved a pick the Knicks thought they had hoped to obtain this year, with the Mavericks dealing out of the 10th spot they tanked for at the end of the regular season for the 12th pick from Oklahoma City. The Thunder wound up getting Kentucky combo guard Cason Wallace with the Mavericks landing Duke center Dereck Lively II at No. 12. Michigan guard Jett Howard, the son of Wolverines coach Juwan Howard, was grabbed between them at 11 by the Magic, one of his father’s former teams.
Back to the top, the 19-year-old Wembanyama widely has been regarded as the best draft prospect since LeBron James 20 years ago, and the next generational and global superstar in a league in which the past five MVP winners — Giannis Antetokounmpo (twice), Nikola Jokic (twice) and Joel Embiid (2023) — were born outside the U.S.
Wembanyama will begin his NBA journey alongside Hall of Fame coach Gregg Popovich with the Spurs, whose previous No. 1-overall pick, Tim Duncan, led San Antonio to five NBA titles following his selection in 1997. Those teams also featured international stars Manu Ginobli (Argentina) and Wembanyama’s fellow Frenchman, Tony Parker.
“Longest five minutes of my life,” Wembanyama joked after his inevitable selection was announced. “Then someone gave me this [Spurs jersey]. Someone knew this was happening somehow.”
A much bigger surprise was the fall of Villanova forward Cam Whitmore, who widely was projected to go in the lottery only to slip to the Rockets at No. 20.
The hometown Nets followed with consecutive selections after their deadline breakup with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, taking Alabama forward Noah Clowney, and Duke guard and Newark native Dariq Whitehead.
The Knicks entered the night with no selections and were unable to trade into the back end of the first round. The Blazers took Iowa forward Kris Murray at 23 with the pick they obtained in the Josh Hart trade.
