By CNN
—
It marks the dawn of a new generation of basketball talent; the NBA draft is here and its more exciting than ever.
Packed full of promising hopefuls, prospects will find out where they will be looking to make their mark in the pinnacle of men’s basketball.
With a French player being hyped as one of the best ever at the forefront of Thursday’s draft followed by a series of exceptional talent and coupled with the possibility of trades involving established NBA talent, the 2023 edition promises to have plenty of twists and turns.
How to watch
The 2023 NBA draft takes place on Thursday, June 22 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, and is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET.
To see who is selected by which team, fans can watch the draft on ABC, ESPN or via the NBA league pass.
Generational talent
It all begins with Victor Wembanyama.
For two years, teams have had an eye on the young French star given his unique combination of size and ball skills, and in particular, his development while playing in Europe.
Standing at seven feet, four inches tall, with an eight-foot wingspan, Wembanyama would be one of the tallest players in the NBA should he get drafted.
in May’s lottery, the San Antonio Spurs found out they were the lucky franchise who will have the opportunity to pick Wembanyama after they won the right to select first.
And at a news conference on Wednesdy, Wembanayama said he’s feels ‘lucky’ for a chance to play for the Spurs, a franchise that has won five NBA titles.
“San Antonio is synonymous with winning,” said Wembanyama. “On lottery night, when the Spurs got the No. 1 pick, I was just thinking, I was feeling lucky that they got the pick as a franchise that has that culture and that experience in winning and making, creating good players. So, I really can’t wait.”
Wembanyama also told Good Morning America that he has to “eat whenever I can. Before breakfast, after breakfast, before I go to bed, after waking up, before the nap, after the nap.”
However, unlike many players his size, Wembanyama is not a prototypical NBA center. While the 19-year-old is still dominant on defense, he is able to dribble the ball like a point guard and shoot from three-point range efficiently.
His arrival in the US has been looked forward to by many of his future opposition who have already expressed their excitement to share a court with him.
And last season, teams did what they could to improve their odds at being able to select Wembanyama. Stars were traded away, contributing players were released; all in an effort to have a worse regular season in order to increase their odds at the first pick.
Wembanyama is expected to be an all-time great player and paired with a future Hall of Fame coach Gregg Popovich at San Antonio, it will be exciting to see how the Spurs improve this season around a new young core.
The intrigue begins
With Wembanyama certain to get drafted first, the rest of the process is full of questions and uncertainty about who will be drafted where.
Alabama forward Brandon Miller and NBA G League Ignite point guard Scoot Henderson are the next two projected picks, with many split on who will be drafted first.
Henderson, with his combination of speed and power, was originally thought to be the clear No. 2 talent but a late reevaluation of Miller – who plays at a position and possesses a skillset winning teams find desirable – has left the basketball community divided.
The Charlotte Hornets possess the second pick so will play kingmakers in the process. And for a team who already has a star point guard in LaMelo Ball, many draft analysts are now projecting Miller to be chosen second.
The bigger questions surround the Portland Trail Blazers who are picking third.
In Damian Lillard, they already possess an elite point guard who, at 32 years old, has expressed his desire to win now. However, Portland’s roster currently is made up of a promising young talent who will take time to round into a championship contending team, if ever.
It has left the franchise with three potential options: do they select Henderson or Miller with the third pick and trade Lillard for future assets to continue building around a young core? Do they trade the third pick for veteran assets to help win this season? Or do they pick Henderson or Miller and try to placate Lillard to stay in Portland and win in a few years’ time?
With rumors suggesting a potential trade to the Miami Heat could be on the table, Portland’s decision is sure to shape the whole fabric of the league.
Impressive talent
Outside of the top three picks, this year’s draft has been praised for its top-end talent.
The Thompson twins, Amen and Ausar, are projected to be selected in the top 10 after impressing with the City Reapers in the Overtime Elite league, a professional league which offers players the opportunity to participate instead of college or the NBA’s developmental league, the G League.
A series of wings – like Miller, who all possess traits including size, shooting and defensive versatility which teams desire – are all projected to be taken near the top too.
Those include Villanova forward Cam Whitmore, Houston power forward Jarace Walker and UCF forward Taylor Hendricks.
Utilizing the late picks
Being able to make successful picks late in the draft often tends to be the making of good team.
Just take the Denver Nuggets, for example.
They selected an unheralded Serbian center in the second round of the 2014 draft with the 41st pick. Nine years later and Nikola Jokić just led the franchise to its first NBA championship victory, earning himself the NBA Finals MVP honors along the way.
Two-time NBA MVP Jokić is what all general managers are stiving for, a late round pick who blossoms into a superstar player.
And the reigning champions will be hoping for something similar this year, entering the draft without a first round selection and with only one second round pick, the 40th overall.
First round draft order
Here is who will pick where in the first round of the 2023 NBA draft:
1. San Antonio Spurs
2. Charlotte Hornets
3. Portland Trail Blazers
4. Houston Rockets
5. Detroit Pistons
6. Orlando Magic
7. Indiana Pacers
8. Washington Wizards
9. Utah Jazz
10. Dallas Mavericks
11. Orlando Magic
12. Oklahoma City Thunder
13. Toronto Raptors
14. New Orleans Pelicans
15. Atlanta Hawks
16. Utah Jazz
17. Los Angeles Lakers
18. Miami Heat
19. Golden State Warriors
20. Houston Rockets
21. Brooklyn Nets
22. Brooklyn Nets
23. Portland Trail Blazers
24. Sacramento Kings
25. Memphis Grizzlies
26. Indiana Pacers
27. Charlotte Hornets
28. Utah Jazz
29. Indiana Pacers
30. LA Clippers
