All eyes will be on the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night as they look to turn a page in the annals of their franchise by selecting Victor Wembanyama as the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming 2023 NBA Draft.
While there’s no denying that the 19-year-old phenom is the ultimate draw in this highly-anticipated event, the draft actually has much more to offer than just Wembanyama. The draft is where the NBA offseason will kick into high gear this week as GMs, scouts and other representatives gather.. While the NBA draft isn’t the 3 day spectacle like their NFL brethren, it’s a key date on the calendar where teams reshape their rosters and major moves are made.
While the number 1 pick is a locked in no doubter, the uncertainty starts at pick #2. But there’s a consensus that there’s a good number of players with high end talent and/or potential. This year’s draft is also of huge importance not only to the future of NBA franchises, but also to the future of how NBA prospects choose to make their way to the NBA. With more and more major prospects diverting away from the traditional college route, it will be intriguing to see how future prospects evaluate their choice between college, G-League, OTE or playing overseas based on how this year’s crop of fresh prospects went about their pre-draft process. There’s a strong international presence in the incoming crop of rookies as well.
The Basics
This year’s draft will take place on Thursday, June 22nd at its usual home at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn, New York. The draft itself kicks off at 8pm (ET), with ABC and ESPN providing the draft day coverage. Barclays Centre has hosted every draft since 2013, minus the 2020 draft that was done virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is the 77th edition of the annual event, and will have only 58 picks as opposed to the normal 60 due to both the Chicago Bulls and Philadelphia 76ers forfeiting their 2nd round picks as a result of tampering violations.
The Stories
Just How Good Is Victor Wembanyama, and what does it mean for the Spurs?
As mentioned, Wembanyama will be selected by the San Antonio Spurs with the 1st overall selection. He’s an athletic freak, standing 7’4”, and weighing 230 lbs with an 8’0” wingspan at 19 years old. Playing in France’s premier basketball league, Wembanyama averaged 20.8 ppg, 3.0 blocks and 10.4 rebounds per game.
He’s the NBA’s most hyped prospect in decades with the ceiling to be an all time great. With the size and skill set that’s unlike anyone who has come before him, there may be riots in San Antonio if the Spurs don’t select him Thursday night.
His size allows him to tower over defenders and utilize his unblockable jumpshot that has improved greatly over the past season in both efficiency and technique. He’s a skilled post scorer that can hit fadeaways, turnarounds and hook shots, but will likely need to add some power post moves to his game if he expects to dominate down low in the NBA against stronger bigs. He’s also a sturdy screener and a devastating finisher around the rim when used as a pick and roll option. While the French phenom is a score first type player, Wembanyama also has a feel for playmaking, particularly at finding an outlet leading to a fast break.
In the half court, he’s excellent at the high low game, finding cutting wings or creating angles to get the ball into bigs down low who’ve sealed off their defenders. On defense, Wembanyama has the potential and work ethic to be a perennial defensive player of the year candidate. His 8 foot wingspan deters opponents from even sniffing the paint, and he has quick enough hands to use that wingspan to poke the ball away against a driving opponent.
Wemby makes blocking jumpers look easy, not only because of his length, but also his outstanding closing speed and constant defensive effort. He’s comfortable playing down low as a help defender, or as a switch defender against wings. To top it all off, to date, there have been no questions about his character. He’s emerged as a leader who communicates well on the court, isn’t afraid to encourage his teammates or speak up in the huddle.
This will be the 3rd time the Spurs select 1st overall in the NBA draft. In 1997 they used the 1st pick to select Tim Duncan, who became one of the most fundamentally sound and technically proficient big men in NBA history. 10 years before that, they also selected a big man in David Robinson, a 10 time all star. Both of these players are in the basketball hall of fame.
The NBA has tried to curb teams tanking at the end of the season, giving the Spurs a 14% chance (tied with the Houston and Detroit) for the number 1 pick. But after selling off their key players while retaining future hall of fame coach Gregg Popovich, it was obvious that the Spurs were gunning for their next generational talent to bring the franchise back to relevancy. The Spurs own 3 picks in this year’s draft, and depending on protections, 5 in 2024, and potentially 6 in 2025.
They’ve done well to stockpile long term assets which will be key to helping them acquire pieces to put in place around Wembanyama. The Spurs have also shed salary, giving them plenty of cap space for GM Brian Wright to work with, allowing the team to build around the NBA’s next future star and try and create their next dynasty.
The Earth 2023 universe is ready for the NBA draft 🕷️🏀
📺 8 PM ET | ESPN/ABC pic.twitter.com/IAuXDD9hrv
— ESPN (@espn) June 22, 2023
Who Goes #2
There is a clear second tier in this year’s draft consisting of just 2 players, and who the Charlotte Hornets deem to be the better prospect at #2 is incredibly intriguing. While Scoot Henderson was ahead of Brandon Miller throughout the scouting season, it now appears that the Hornets are leaning towards Miller, the 6’9” wing from Alabama.
He’s a tall playmaking scorer with a deadly 3-pointer who models his game after Paul George. Henderson, meanwhile, is a graduate of the G-League Ignite and stands at 6’2” and 195 lbs but has an impressive 6’9” wingspan. Despite his height, he’s shown an innate ability to finish at the rim. While both teams are certainly in need of an influx of talent, taking Henderson over Miller would muddy the waters of both the Blazers and Hornets rosters.
Charlotte has a high level guard in Lamelo Ball, and the Blazers seem determined to continue to build around Damian Lillard, another ball dominant player. It would be interesting to see if the Hornets would then move Ball to shooting guard and let Henderson work as the primary ball handler if they opt for that route. While Ball is the better shooter, Henderson has a more explosive first step and can penetrate defenses more successfully.
Both of these teams are also strong candidates to move down in the draft and collect additional future assets (which in the case of Portland they will try and use to get Lilliard some immediate help), so the intrigue of this draft begins as soon as Charlotte is on the clock.
There are Now Options for Rookies Outside of College
When the NBA raised the required age for players to enter the NBA draft, the only route for young rookies to get noticed was to go to college and do the one-and-done dance. Now the incoming crop of players have more options than ever, and it will only make basketball more popular across the globe.
Wembanyama is the most obvious example, as instead of coming over to play in the states, he opted to stay in France and play in their top men’s league. It certainly didn’t hurt his draft stock, and with the growth of the NBA internationally, he’ll likely be an international ambassador for the league going forward. For the first time in NBA history, the league has a plethora of top end talent from overseas (Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, Joel Embid just to name a few) and adding an elite superstar like Wembanyama will only help solidify the league’s international reach.
Top 3 pick Scoot Henderson also forged his own path, opting to sign with the G-League instead of going the college route, becoming the youngest player in league history. The G-League has added solid NBA contributors in the past, but Henderson looks to be the most highly coveted prospect to go through their program.
The draft will also be a coming out party of sorts for the new 6 team Overtime Elite League (OTE), as twin brothers Amen and Ausar Thompson will come into the league as potential lottery picks with plenty of pressure to prove that the new development league can nurture future stars. There are a couple players that look to be factors later on in the draft as well, so evaluating how these prospects adjust to the pro game at the NBA level will likely help shape the future of the entire organization.
Trades
The NBA draft is one of the most popular dates due to the high chance of the unexpected, and this year is shaping up to follow suit. While Bradley Beal has already been shipped to Phoenix, the rumour mill is constantly churning out big names who could potentially be on the move. The draft has a plethora of talent, but most of the higher end prospects are guards or wings, so teams in need of big men will be looking to the trade market.
As teams make their selections, taking the obvious best players available, certain big name veterans could all of a sudden become trade chips. There’s also a number of teams who simply have too many picks in this year’s draft (including 3 teams with 5 total picks), and plenty of teams who would love to move up into the lottery and get a shot at a true game changer.
Overall, Thursday evening sets up to be a game changer for many franchises looking to make a run at the Denver Nuggets and their championship trophy. With an elite level prospect at the top, to all-pro players right behind him, and a top 9 that could end up rivalling any draft class in recent memory, there will be hope aplenty in the air at the Barclays Center.
-Devon Gallant
Twitter: @DevGallant
Photo: Thomas S. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.