The San Antonio Spurs have officially selected Victor Wembanyama for the first overall pick of the 2023 NBA Draft this Thursday.
This came in with no such surprise since the Spurs won the draft sweepstakes last May. The French wonder becomes the third top overall pick chosen by the Spurs following both franchise greats in David Robinson (1987) and Tim Duncan (1997).
Per ESPN Stats & Info, Wembanyama is also the first No. 1 pick to have no college background since Toronto Raptors’ Andrea Bargnani in 2006. He also joins Dwight Howard (2004), LeBron James (2003), Yao Ming (2002), and Kwame Brown (2001) in the club.
For the second selectors in Charlotte Hornets, it’s a toss-up between both Brandon Miller and Scoot Henderson, but outgoing team owner Michael Jordan ultimately picks the Alabama standout for the prized selection.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN previously reported that Miller impressed the club with a much better output on his second workout with the franchise last Monday. As such, he is the newest member to join Charlotte’s fantastic young core that already features LaMelo Ball and P.J. Washington.
Henderson automatically landed and was picked by the Portland Trail Blazers for the third overall selection. The G League Ignite is set to share the court alongside Damian Lillard, though the team’s future with the franchise star gets even more anticipated after what has transpired on draft night.
As such, the Thompson twins are going back-to-back with Amen bound to the Houston Rockets for the fourth pick while Ausar is now a Detroit Piston after being named as the fifth top prospect. They are the first pair of brothers picked together within the Top 5 of the draft since the NBA-ABA merger (via ESPN Stats & Info).
For their sixth top pick, the Orlando Magic selects talented Arkansas guard Anthony Black.
