The NBA held their annual draft on Thursday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
With no surprise to any, the San Antonio Spurs took France big man center Victor Wembamyama with the first pick. Wembamyama, who is 7 foot 4 with an 8 foot wingspan, is one of the highest touted players since LeBron James. With his defensive dominance, offensive skill, and uncanny agility for his size he is expected to make an immediate impact for a San Antonio team that put themselves in this position with a 22-60 record this past season.
To round out the top five the Charlotte Hornets took shooting forward Brandon Miller out of Alabama, the Portland Trailblazers selected point guard Scoot Henderson from G League Ignite, and two brothers from the same team were picked number four and five as the Houston Rockets took shooting forward Amen Thompson, and the Detroit Pistons took shooting forward Ausar Thompson. Both brothers played for the Overtime Elite which is a professional basketball league for 16-20 year olds based out of Atlanta, Georgia.
The Boston Celtics, who made a blockbuster three team deal on Wednesday to acquire Kristaps Porzingis from Washington in a move that sent Marcus Smart to Memphis, only made one second round selection on a busy draft night for them on Thursday. Boston selected University of Houston guard Marcus Sasser with the No. 25 pick it received in the deal for Smart, but sent the upperclassman guard to the Pistons in exchange for the No. 31 pick and two future second-rounders. They then flipped the No. 31 pick, Barcelona FC center James Nnaji, to the Hornets in exchange for picks Nos. 34 and 39. The Celtics traded the No. 34 pick to the Kings (who selected Xavier guard Colby Jones) for pick No. 38, followed by another move to send pick No. 39 to the Hawks for a future second-round pick. So to break it down, the C’s turned one pick at No. 25 via the Smart trade into one selection at No. 38 plus four future second round picks. The one player they did select at 38 is Arkansas freshman forward Jordan Walsh. Walsh is 6 foot 7 with a 7 foot 2 wingspan, and while not completely tuned as of yet on the offensive end he could help Boston immediately on the defensive end of the floor off the bench.
Here are the results for the entire draft-
First Round
1. Spurs draft Victor Wembanyama (Metropolitans 92)
2. Hornets draft Brandon Miller (Alabama)
3. Blazers draft Scoot Henderson (G League Ignite)
4. Rockets draft Amen Thompson (Overtime Elite)
5. Pistons draft Ausar Thompson (Overtime Elite)
6. Magic draft Anthony Black (Arkansas)
7. Pacers draft Bilal Coulibaly (Metropolitans 92) – Traded to Wizards
8. Wizards draft Jarace Walker (Houston) – Traded to Pacers
9. Jazz draft Taylor Hendricks (UCF)
10. Mavericks draft Cason Wallace (Kentucky) – Traded to Thunder
11. Magic draft Jett Howard (Michigan)
12. Thunder draft Dereck Lively II (Duke) – Traded to Mavericks
13. Raptors draft Gradey Dick (Kansas)
14. Pelicans draft Jordan Hawkins (Connecticut)
15. Hawks draft Kobe Bufkin (Michigan)
16. Jazz draft Keyonte George (Baylor)
17. Lakers draft Jalen Hood-Schifino (Indiana)
18. Heat draft Jaime Jaquez Jr. (UCLA)
19. Warriors draft Brandin Podziemski (Santa Clara)
20. Rockets draft Cam Whitmore (Villanova)
21. Nets draft Noah Clowney (Alabama)
22. Nets draft Dariq Whitehead (Duke)
23. Blazers draft Kris Murray (Iowa)
24. Kings draft Olivier-Maxence Prosper (Marquette) – Traded to Mavericks
25. Grizzlies draft Marcus Sasser (Houston) – Traded to Pistons
26. Pacers draft Ben Sheppard (Belmont)
27. Hornets draft Nick Smith Jr. (Arkansas)
28. Jazz draft Brice Sensabaugh (Ohio State)
29. Pacers draft Julian Strawther (Gonzaga) – Traded to Nuggets
30. LA Clippers draft Kobe Brown (Missouri)
Second Round
31. Pistons draft James Nnaji (FC Barcelona) – traded to Celtics
32. Pacers draft Jalen Pickett (Penn State)– traded to Nuggets
33. Spurs draft Leonard Miller (G League Ignite) – traded to Timberwolves
34. Hornets draft Colby Jones (Xavier) – Traded to Kings
35. Celtics draft Julian Phillips (Tennessee) – traded to Bulls (via Wizards)
36. Magic draft Andre Jackson Jr. (Connecticut) – traded to Bucks
37. Thunder draft Hunter Tyson (Clemson) – traded to Nuggets
38. Kings draft Jordan Walsh (Arkansas) – traded to Celtics
39. Hornets draft Mouhamed Gueye (Washington State) – traded to Hawks (via Celtics)
40. Nuggets draft Maxwell Lewis (Pepperdine) – traded to Lakers (via Pacers)
41. Hornets draft Amari Bailey (UCLA)
42. Wizards draft Tristan Vukcevic (Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade)
43. Blazers draft Rayan Rupert (NZ Breakers)
44. Spurs draft Sidy Cissoko (G League Ignite)
45. Grizzlies draft Gregory Jackson II (South Carolina)
46. Hawks draft Seth Lundy (Penn State)
47. Lakers draft Mojave King (G League Ignite) – traded to Pacers
48. Clippers draft Jordan Miller (Miami)
49. Cavaliers draft Emoni Bates (Eastern Michigan)
50. Thunder draft Keyontae Johnson (Kansas State)
51. Nets draft Jalen Wilson (Kansas)
52. Suns draft Toumani Camara (Dayton)
53. Timberwolves draft Jaylen Clark (UCLA)
54. Kings draft Jalen Slawson (Furman)
55. Pacers draft Isaiah Wong (Miami)
56. Grizzlies draft Tarik Biberovic (Fenerbahce Beko)
57. Wizards draft Trayce Jackson-Davis (Indiana) – traded to Warriors
58. Bucks draft Chris Livingston (Kentucky)
Story by Chris Lessner/Info for this story was gathered courtesy of the NBA website
