- Aug 22, 2012
- 8,767
- 7,557
Cam is the only guy outside the top 2 that I am excited about thus far tbh
2025 NBA Draft Thread
- Thread in 'Sports & Training' Thread starter Started by addict4sneakers,
- Start date
- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,288
- 130,034
Biggest storylines at the 2023 NBA draft combine
A record 123 players will assemble at Wintrust Arena in Chicago for the NBA draft combine, G League Elite camp and pro day circuit starting Saturday, kicking draft season into high gear.
Chicago also plays host to the highly anticipated NBA draft lottery on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN), a monumental event that will determine which lucky franchise is given the right to select Victor Wembanyama, the most coveted basketball prospect since LeBron James in 2003.
The NBA moved the draft lottery to the middle of combine week a few years ago and invited top projected picks to be part of the television show. It helped make the combine more attractive to top prospects, who had increasingly declined invites and elected not to show up at all (more on that later).
That trend has been reversed, as all of the top prospects in the draft -- with the exception of Wembanyama, who is still playing for Paris' Metropolitans 92 along with fellow first-round projected teammate Bilal Coulibaly -- are slated to be in attendance this week.
The G League and NBA combines will also help provide feedback to dozens of collegiate prospects "testing the waters" who will decide whether to keep their names in the June 22 NBA draft or return to school by the May 31 NCAA deadline.
Three international-based prospects will also be in attendance, providing NBA teams with an excellent opportunity to evaluate players who would be difficult to see otherwise: Rayan Rupert, Nikola Djurisic and Tristan Vukcevic, with only Vukcevic expected to play in scrimmages.
Players will interview with teams, and many will participate in competitive 5-on-5 contests, shooting, transition and 3-on-3 drills. Some of them will undergo extensive medical examinations, measurements and athletic testing.
Still, most of the top prospects won't participate in any of these activities -- and certainly won't pick up a basketball in front of NBA teams during that time. Some might elect to be measured or conduct interviews with teams or the media, if deemed advantageous for them to do so, but few first-rounders will elect to participate in drills or scrimmages for fear of injury or damaging their draft stock with a poor showing.
This has caused significant friction between teams -- which will be in Chicago for more than a week and want to get their money's worth for their time -- and agents, who often feel less is often more when it comes to baring their clients' weaknesses for the world to see.
This is the last year players and their representatives will be able to decide whether or not to attend the combine under their own volition, as significant changes are coming next year thanks to the newly ratified collective bargaining agreement that mandates near-full participation or risk being ineligible for selection in the draft.
Previously, agents of elite prospects could strategically keep medicals of clients away from less attractive teams in hopes of steering players to preferred destinations, something that will no longer be possible.
To say NBA agents are unhappy about this change would be an understatement.
"It was a big mistake to give up that piece on the medicals and require players to attend Chicago," NBA super-agent Jeff Schwartz told ESPN. "Teams will feel the exact opposite obviously, but I don't think enough was gained to have given that up."
"It's egregious," a top NBA agent told ESPN. "The NBA snuck it in at the end. There's some real frustration in the agent community right now -- because there are some really poorly run teams, certain organizations you want to avoid. That's the only way to prevent an iconic player from going to a bad team. You just don't want a valuable player with these bad organizations. It's painful. The league as a whole doesn't care. My question will be if it were next year -- if the Victors, Brandon Millers and Scoots of next year said they aren't going to the combine, are teams not going to draft them? Teams would be up in arms."
In addition to the combine, NBA teams previously felt compelled to also spend significant time traveling around the country to watch the agency run pro days, which many teams and scouts complained was a poor use of their time. As a result, the league banned pro days outside of the ones conducted in Chicago, as well as a four-day window in the Los Angeles area from May 22-25, something that will become even narrower in scope next year with the new CBA.
The G League Elite Camp will kick off the proceedings this weekend, with 45 players slated to attend the two-day event. The five to seven best players from the scrimmages can expect to move on to the NBA draft combine later in the week -- which is exactly what LA Clippers guard Terance Mann and Charlotte Hornets forward Cody Martin did in 2019, eventually hearing their names called in the draft and carving out strong NBA careers.
Other G League Elite Camp alumni, such as Max Strus, Caleb Martin and Jose Alvarado, didn't get the draft combine call-up but still went on to become impactful NBA players.
Some of the top prospects playing at the Elite camp in our view include Josiah-Jordan James (Tennessee), Jalen Bridges (Baylor), Hunter Tyson (Clemson), Tosan Evbuomwan (Princeton) and Matthew Murrell (Ole Miss).
-- Jonathan Givony
Play or sit?
Without fail, combine week brings a wave of players withdrawing from scrimmages --- the NBA's primary platform for prospects to turn heads and strengthen their draft position. While the league doesn't require the highest-profile prospects to scrimmage in Chicago, those remaining and their agents are left to decide whether to take the court and showcase themselves with the entire league watching. And while the specific reasoning varies, a large segment of those players opt out of playing every year, with the end goal to protect their own perceived draft stock.
Despite whatever strategic machinations may be taking place behind the scenes in making these decisions, history strongly suggests that players can benefit greatly from participating in the two days of combine games. NBA teams strongly value participation and tend to look favorably at those who play well. Meanwhile, countless prospects who have chosen not to play wound up falling into the second round or out of the draft entirely.
The star of the 2022 scrimmages was Jalen Williams, who wound up going No. 12 to the Thunder, making him a rare but remarkable case of an eventual lottery prospect actually playing at the combine. Neither Denver's Christian Braun nor Memphis 'David Roddy played especially well in Chicago, yet were drafted in the 20s last year. Andrew Nembhard played his way to the 31st selection and guaranteed money. In 2021, Josh Primo (No. 12), Josh Christopher (No. 24), Quentin Grimes (No. 25) and Bones Hyland (No. 26) were direct beneficiaries of their combine participation.
There are also plenty of cases of players not scrimmaging, falling into the second round and having strong NBA careers anyway, but the fact is opportunities and guaranteed dollars get left on the table every year when agencies take a heavily risk-averse approach to the combine. There's already been an early wave of players on the first-round cusp deciding not to scrimmage, and time will tell how those decisions bear out. But for players with something to prove, there's no bigger opportunity than these games. The smart money is on a handful of prospects once again leaving a strong impression and reaping the benefits.
-- Jeremy Woo
Which players have the most at stake this week?
Brandin Podziemski | Guard | Santa Clara
Following his transfer to Santa Clara, Podziemski legitimized himself in NBA circles as a draftable prospect after grading out as one of the best players in college basketball from an analytics perspective. He's drawing consideration in the back half of the first round and will be a person of interest in the 5-on-5 setting, where he'll have a chance to prove his mettle against other top college players. Now one of the higher-profile players expected to scrimmage, Podziemski will be looking to showcase his versatility on and off the ball, his feel to play and score from all over the floor and hold his own defensively.
As a competitive, aggressive and tough perimeter scorer, Podziemski is the type of prospect who can really shine in a combine setting, provided he touches the ball enough to make an impact. While he's technically testing the waters, after the type of season he just put together, this is a key opportunity to capitalize on the buzz and secure himself in guaranteed contract territory, whether that's late first round or early second. After another highly productive Santa Clara star, Jalen Williams, stole the show at the 2022 combine, a little déjà vu could be in order.
Dillon Mitchell | Forward | Texas
Mitchell enters this week's scrimmages with quite a bit to prove after a disappointing freshman season at Texas, where he struggled to produce consistently and secure playing time as part of a senior-heavy team with winning expectations. One of the top pound-for-pound athletes in this year's draft class, Mitchell figures to test well athletically, but it's also worth noting that he didn't measure extraordinarily well at the 2022 Hoop Summit, coming in at 6-foot-7.5 barefoot, with a wingspan just under 6-10.
At this point, Mitchell's primary pathway to a guaranteed contract is reminding NBA executives what made him such a highly-rated recruit to begin with, and producing in a 5-on-5 setting as a skilled player who can contribute in ways other than scoring can go a long way. Considering that these scrimmages can be guard-driven and difficult for off-ball players to manufacture points, Mitchell will need to hit the glass hard, convert what opportunities he gets and make a stronger case for himself as a developmental pick worthy of a guaranteed contract.
Leonard Miller | Forward |G League Ignite
After looking unpolished in last year's combine scrimmages and ultimately deciding to take another year before entering the draft, Miller became the most productive player -- as a teenager -- on a G League Ignite team that included projected top-3 pick Scoot Henderson, strengthening his own résumé significantly. A degree of skepticism surrounding his rise has persisted in NBA circles nonetheless, as teams struggle to parse his numbers contextually due to how many Ignite games ended in blowouts, where he still logged heavy minutes. While the raw numbers are certainly impressive, there's still some thought that Miller has been more of a statistical compiler than a true winning-adjacent producer.
Stepping back from that context, Miller remains a 19-year-old, theoretically versatile forward with an excellent physical profile (he measured 6-foot-8.5 with a 7-foot-2 wingspan at last year's combine) and a range of skills for NBA teams to work with. He's certainly made strides in the last year, but this week will be about proving to teams how far he's come, both on the court and in interviews, where he can address some of the questions that arose last season about his readiness to play professionally. He's on the short list of players with true first-round chances expected to play 5-on-5 and will hope to appeal to teams as someone worth a long-term developmental investment.
Emoni Bates | Forward | Eastern Michigan
Although Bates' NBA stock cratered after two tumultuous college seasons, he remained intriguing enough in the eyes of teams to secure himself a combine invite. I'm told Bates intends to partake in 5-on-5 scrimmaging, and it wouldn't be a total exaggeration to frame this week as a last chance for him to stake his claim as a draftable player. While he averaged 19.1 points per game as the only scoring option at Eastern Michigan, Bates has done little to change his reputation in the eyes of NBA decision-makers. Noting his suboptimal efficiency and high volume as a scorer, observers continue to question not only his secondary skill set, but his willingness to adjust his style of play in a way that could allow him to add value in an NBA role.
While a scoring outburst from Bates in a scrimmage setting would be exciting theater, the best pathway for him to actually open some minds and help himself as a draftable prospect might be to pick his spots, compete defensively and show scouts that he's willing to play for his teammates and share the ball. A high-volume shooting display, no matter how prolific, might negatively reinforce the school of thought that Bates will never change his tendencies. He's a gifted enough jump shooter and scorer that you can't write him off completely, but there's quite a bit of work for him to do to revitalize his standing over the next month or so.
Tristan Vukcevic | Center | Partizan
Vukcevic is the only internationally-based prospect scheduled to play 5-on-5 at present (Barcelona's James Nnaji was a late combine opt out with his season still ongoing), and should have a valuable platform in Chicago. A majority of scouts have not seen him live recently (or ever) due to his inconsistent role and minutes at Partizan. The Serbian center is among the more offensively gifted bigs in the draft class, but projects as a potential second-rounder due to concerns about his defensive viability and NBA readiness.
A productive day or two could cement Vukcevic as someone worth drafting, particularly due to how thin this class is up front -- only two true centers, Nnaji and Duke's Dereck Lively II, currently rank inside our top 40, and neither will scrimmage. NBA teams will be hoping to see some of these bigs separate themselves from the pack as guaranteed deal caliber prospects, and the 20-year-old Vukcevic will play head-to-head against many of the top bigs in college basketball, with a chance to impress due to his offensive fluidity and skill level as a potential stretch five. He'll be an intriguing curiosity and a newer face for scouts to get a feel for, and while it's always difficult for ball-needy bigs to thrive in this environment, Vukcevic has an opportunity to better establish himself.
-- Woo
Which college programs with players testing the waters have a big week in store?
Due to NCAA rules, college players testing the NBA draft waters can't wait until June 12, like their international brethren, to decide whether to withdraw their names from the 2023 draft. They have until 10 days following the conclusion of the combine (May 31 at 11:59 p.m. ET) to withdraw and maintain their NCAA eligibility.
With the 2024 draft appearing significantly weaker than this year's crop due to a poor incoming class of graduating high school seniors/rising college freshmen, there is no shortage of projected second-round picks who could be thinking of withdrawing and trying their luck again next year, especially with the amount of NIL money programs are using to lure their star players back to school.
For these players, the combine, especially the 5-on-5 scrimmages, is an extremely important platform to showcase themselves in front of all 30 teams that will likely play an influential role in their final decisions.
-- Givony
Some of the biggest storylines we'll be tracking
Oscar Tshiebwe, Chris Livingston and Antonio Reeves, Kentucky
This is a make or break year in Lexington, as we're going on five years since the Wildcats advanced out of the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, something that hasn't happened since World War II. With the No. 1 recruiting class incoming, expectations will be sky-high, but there are reasons to be skeptical about their highly touted prospects' ability to mesh on both ends of the floor and play winning basketball in a college landscape that clearly favors older, more physical and experienced players than what Kentucky has currently on its roster. Bringing back the likes of Tshiebwe, Livingston and Reeves would be huge for coach John Calipari to soften the blow of losing Sahvir Wheeler, CJ Fredrick, Daimion Collins and Lance Ware to the transfer portal, as well as Cason Wallace and Jacob Toppin to the NBA draft. The question is how happy will centers Ugonna Onyenso and Aaron Bradshaw be with a potential All-American in Tshiebwe returning and likely diminishing their role and own NBA aspirations for next season? The same can be said for Livingston and Reeves -- likely starters next year -- who would eat into the minutes and usage of highly touted freshmen D.J. Wagner and Justin Edwards.
Olivier-Maxence Prosper, Marquette
The Golden Eagles are projected as a top-5 team next season after returning every player of note from their Big East regular season and conference tournament championship team -- with the possible exception of Prosper. A young junior, not turning 21 until July, Prosper hasn't yet found the perimeter shooting consistency needed to match the outstanding defensive versatility he displays to become a true "3 and D" wing prospect, but made major strides this past season. NBA teams will want to see how he looks outside of the Marquette offense in a more unstructured environment to get a better gauge for his potential and determine his worthiness of being a late first or early second-round pick.
Terrence Shannon Jr. and Coleman Hawkins, Illinois
Shannon and Hawkins are both looking for assurances of their draft range and ability to warrant guaranteed money in determining whether to stay in the draft or not, and their play in Chicago will go a long way in making a decision. For the Illini, returning a fourth and fifth-year senior in Hawkins and Shannon, respectively, as two of its top three scorers from last season, would be huge for Big Ten championship aspirations next season.
Judah Mintz, Syracuse
As the Orange transition out of the Jim Boeheim era into newly minted head coach Adrian Autry's tenure, their ability to retain last year's starting point guard in Mintz could play a big part in how next season shapes up. Mintz was handed the keys to Syracuse's offense as a freshman, leading to some rocky results early, but he eventually settled in and finished the year strong. The question now is whether an NBA team is ready to invest real money in his potential, or if he's better off returning for his sophomore season and looking to build on the momentum he garnered from late in the year to try and make a push for the lottery.
Zach Edey, Purdue
The Wooden Award winner would be the face of college basketball if he returned to Purdue next season. On paper, it doesn't seem like he has that much more to accomplish individually, but the sting of being eliminated by No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson in the first round of the NCAA tournament might just have left a bitter enough taste in his mouth to return to West Lafayette. Like the other players in this section, Edey will have to weigh his NIL potential in college versus whatever he's projected to make as a likely second-round pick. With just three centers currently projected to be picked in the top 40, there could be room for a traditional big man like Edey to warrant guaranteed money from a team looking for size.
Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton
Creighton was one controversial call away from going to overtime for a chance at playing in the NCAA Final Four, something that already caused his teammate Baylor Scheierman to announce his return for a fifth year. One of the most impactful defenders in the college game, Kalkbrenner still has room to improve his frame, defensive rebounding prowess and perimeter skill set. The question is whether he is better suited doing so in the NBA as a likely second-round pick, or returning to college and attempting to bolster his stock into the first round.
Reece Beekman, Virginia
Should Beekman elect to depart, Virginia will return just one player from last year's roster that averaged over 2.6 points per game, a precarious situation for coach Tony Bennett after losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament last year to No. 13 seed Furman. Beekman started last season looking like a potential first-round pick but then faded badly in ACC play, struggling to make shots or create high percentage offense inside the arc. Barring a huge showing at the combine, it seems likely he elects to return, which explains why Virginia hasn't done much to try and replace him via the transfer portal.
Adem Bona, UCLA
Having already lost its top-five scorers from last season's Pac-12 championship-winning squad, UCLA is facing a major rebuild this offseason for what will be a very different looking team next year. Bringing Bona back to anchor the team's defense and provide some continuity offensively would be huge for coach Mick Cronin and his staff, but there will surely be NBA suitors for the explosive Nigerian big man despite undergoing surgery for a torn labrum that will keep him out of action until the fall. The question is what type of guarantees Bona can secure during the pre-draft process and whether those will be enough to keep him in the draft ahead of what will likely be a breakout season in Westwood.
-- Givony
A record 123 players will assemble at Wintrust Arena in Chicago for the NBA draft combine, G League Elite camp and pro day circuit starting Saturday, kicking draft season into high gear.
Chicago also plays host to the highly anticipated NBA draft lottery on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN), a monumental event that will determine which lucky franchise is given the right to select Victor Wembanyama, the most coveted basketball prospect since LeBron James in 2003.
The NBA moved the draft lottery to the middle of combine week a few years ago and invited top projected picks to be part of the television show. It helped make the combine more attractive to top prospects, who had increasingly declined invites and elected not to show up at all (more on that later).
That trend has been reversed, as all of the top prospects in the draft -- with the exception of Wembanyama, who is still playing for Paris' Metropolitans 92 along with fellow first-round projected teammate Bilal Coulibaly -- are slated to be in attendance this week.
The G League and NBA combines will also help provide feedback to dozens of collegiate prospects "testing the waters" who will decide whether to keep their names in the June 22 NBA draft or return to school by the May 31 NCAA deadline.
Three international-based prospects will also be in attendance, providing NBA teams with an excellent opportunity to evaluate players who would be difficult to see otherwise: Rayan Rupert, Nikola Djurisic and Tristan Vukcevic, with only Vukcevic expected to play in scrimmages.
Players will interview with teams, and many will participate in competitive 5-on-5 contests, shooting, transition and 3-on-3 drills. Some of them will undergo extensive medical examinations, measurements and athletic testing.
Still, most of the top prospects won't participate in any of these activities -- and certainly won't pick up a basketball in front of NBA teams during that time. Some might elect to be measured or conduct interviews with teams or the media, if deemed advantageous for them to do so, but few first-rounders will elect to participate in drills or scrimmages for fear of injury or damaging their draft stock with a poor showing.
This has caused significant friction between teams -- which will be in Chicago for more than a week and want to get their money's worth for their time -- and agents, who often feel less is often more when it comes to baring their clients' weaknesses for the world to see.
This is the last year players and their representatives will be able to decide whether or not to attend the combine under their own volition, as significant changes are coming next year thanks to the newly ratified collective bargaining agreement that mandates near-full participation or risk being ineligible for selection in the draft.
Previously, agents of elite prospects could strategically keep medicals of clients away from less attractive teams in hopes of steering players to preferred destinations, something that will no longer be possible.
To say NBA agents are unhappy about this change would be an understatement.
"It was a big mistake to give up that piece on the medicals and require players to attend Chicago," NBA super-agent Jeff Schwartz told ESPN. "Teams will feel the exact opposite obviously, but I don't think enough was gained to have given that up."
"It's egregious," a top NBA agent told ESPN. "The NBA snuck it in at the end. There's some real frustration in the agent community right now -- because there are some really poorly run teams, certain organizations you want to avoid. That's the only way to prevent an iconic player from going to a bad team. You just don't want a valuable player with these bad organizations. It's painful. The league as a whole doesn't care. My question will be if it were next year -- if the Victors, Brandon Millers and Scoots of next year said they aren't going to the combine, are teams not going to draft them? Teams would be up in arms."
In addition to the combine, NBA teams previously felt compelled to also spend significant time traveling around the country to watch the agency run pro days, which many teams and scouts complained was a poor use of their time. As a result, the league banned pro days outside of the ones conducted in Chicago, as well as a four-day window in the Los Angeles area from May 22-25, something that will become even narrower in scope next year with the new CBA.
The G League Elite Camp will kick off the proceedings this weekend, with 45 players slated to attend the two-day event. The five to seven best players from the scrimmages can expect to move on to the NBA draft combine later in the week -- which is exactly what LA Clippers guard Terance Mann and Charlotte Hornets forward Cody Martin did in 2019, eventually hearing their names called in the draft and carving out strong NBA careers.
Other G League Elite Camp alumni, such as Max Strus, Caleb Martin and Jose Alvarado, didn't get the draft combine call-up but still went on to become impactful NBA players.
Some of the top prospects playing at the Elite camp in our view include Josiah-Jordan James (Tennessee), Jalen Bridges (Baylor), Hunter Tyson (Clemson), Tosan Evbuomwan (Princeton) and Matthew Murrell (Ole Miss).
-- Jonathan Givony
Play or sit?
Without fail, combine week brings a wave of players withdrawing from scrimmages --- the NBA's primary platform for prospects to turn heads and strengthen their draft position. While the league doesn't require the highest-profile prospects to scrimmage in Chicago, those remaining and their agents are left to decide whether to take the court and showcase themselves with the entire league watching. And while the specific reasoning varies, a large segment of those players opt out of playing every year, with the end goal to protect their own perceived draft stock.
Despite whatever strategic machinations may be taking place behind the scenes in making these decisions, history strongly suggests that players can benefit greatly from participating in the two days of combine games. NBA teams strongly value participation and tend to look favorably at those who play well. Meanwhile, countless prospects who have chosen not to play wound up falling into the second round or out of the draft entirely.
The star of the 2022 scrimmages was Jalen Williams, who wound up going No. 12 to the Thunder, making him a rare but remarkable case of an eventual lottery prospect actually playing at the combine. Neither Denver's Christian Braun nor Memphis 'David Roddy played especially well in Chicago, yet were drafted in the 20s last year. Andrew Nembhard played his way to the 31st selection and guaranteed money. In 2021, Josh Primo (No. 12), Josh Christopher (No. 24), Quentin Grimes (No. 25) and Bones Hyland (No. 26) were direct beneficiaries of their combine participation.
There are also plenty of cases of players not scrimmaging, falling into the second round and having strong NBA careers anyway, but the fact is opportunities and guaranteed dollars get left on the table every year when agencies take a heavily risk-averse approach to the combine. There's already been an early wave of players on the first-round cusp deciding not to scrimmage, and time will tell how those decisions bear out. But for players with something to prove, there's no bigger opportunity than these games. The smart money is on a handful of prospects once again leaving a strong impression and reaping the benefits.
-- Jeremy Woo
Which players have the most at stake this week?
Brandin Podziemski | Guard | Santa Clara
Following his transfer to Santa Clara, Podziemski legitimized himself in NBA circles as a draftable prospect after grading out as one of the best players in college basketball from an analytics perspective. He's drawing consideration in the back half of the first round and will be a person of interest in the 5-on-5 setting, where he'll have a chance to prove his mettle against other top college players. Now one of the higher-profile players expected to scrimmage, Podziemski will be looking to showcase his versatility on and off the ball, his feel to play and score from all over the floor and hold his own defensively.
As a competitive, aggressive and tough perimeter scorer, Podziemski is the type of prospect who can really shine in a combine setting, provided he touches the ball enough to make an impact. While he's technically testing the waters, after the type of season he just put together, this is a key opportunity to capitalize on the buzz and secure himself in guaranteed contract territory, whether that's late first round or early second. After another highly productive Santa Clara star, Jalen Williams, stole the show at the 2022 combine, a little déjà vu could be in order.
Dillon Mitchell | Forward | Texas
Mitchell enters this week's scrimmages with quite a bit to prove after a disappointing freshman season at Texas, where he struggled to produce consistently and secure playing time as part of a senior-heavy team with winning expectations. One of the top pound-for-pound athletes in this year's draft class, Mitchell figures to test well athletically, but it's also worth noting that he didn't measure extraordinarily well at the 2022 Hoop Summit, coming in at 6-foot-7.5 barefoot, with a wingspan just under 6-10.
At this point, Mitchell's primary pathway to a guaranteed contract is reminding NBA executives what made him such a highly-rated recruit to begin with, and producing in a 5-on-5 setting as a skilled player who can contribute in ways other than scoring can go a long way. Considering that these scrimmages can be guard-driven and difficult for off-ball players to manufacture points, Mitchell will need to hit the glass hard, convert what opportunities he gets and make a stronger case for himself as a developmental pick worthy of a guaranteed contract.
Leonard Miller | Forward |G League Ignite
After looking unpolished in last year's combine scrimmages and ultimately deciding to take another year before entering the draft, Miller became the most productive player -- as a teenager -- on a G League Ignite team that included projected top-3 pick Scoot Henderson, strengthening his own résumé significantly. A degree of skepticism surrounding his rise has persisted in NBA circles nonetheless, as teams struggle to parse his numbers contextually due to how many Ignite games ended in blowouts, where he still logged heavy minutes. While the raw numbers are certainly impressive, there's still some thought that Miller has been more of a statistical compiler than a true winning-adjacent producer.
Stepping back from that context, Miller remains a 19-year-old, theoretically versatile forward with an excellent physical profile (he measured 6-foot-8.5 with a 7-foot-2 wingspan at last year's combine) and a range of skills for NBA teams to work with. He's certainly made strides in the last year, but this week will be about proving to teams how far he's come, both on the court and in interviews, where he can address some of the questions that arose last season about his readiness to play professionally. He's on the short list of players with true first-round chances expected to play 5-on-5 and will hope to appeal to teams as someone worth a long-term developmental investment.
Emoni Bates | Forward | Eastern Michigan
Although Bates' NBA stock cratered after two tumultuous college seasons, he remained intriguing enough in the eyes of teams to secure himself a combine invite. I'm told Bates intends to partake in 5-on-5 scrimmaging, and it wouldn't be a total exaggeration to frame this week as a last chance for him to stake his claim as a draftable player. While he averaged 19.1 points per game as the only scoring option at Eastern Michigan, Bates has done little to change his reputation in the eyes of NBA decision-makers. Noting his suboptimal efficiency and high volume as a scorer, observers continue to question not only his secondary skill set, but his willingness to adjust his style of play in a way that could allow him to add value in an NBA role.
While a scoring outburst from Bates in a scrimmage setting would be exciting theater, the best pathway for him to actually open some minds and help himself as a draftable prospect might be to pick his spots, compete defensively and show scouts that he's willing to play for his teammates and share the ball. A high-volume shooting display, no matter how prolific, might negatively reinforce the school of thought that Bates will never change his tendencies. He's a gifted enough jump shooter and scorer that you can't write him off completely, but there's quite a bit of work for him to do to revitalize his standing over the next month or so.
Tristan Vukcevic | Center | Partizan
Vukcevic is the only internationally-based prospect scheduled to play 5-on-5 at present (Barcelona's James Nnaji was a late combine opt out with his season still ongoing), and should have a valuable platform in Chicago. A majority of scouts have not seen him live recently (or ever) due to his inconsistent role and minutes at Partizan. The Serbian center is among the more offensively gifted bigs in the draft class, but projects as a potential second-rounder due to concerns about his defensive viability and NBA readiness.
A productive day or two could cement Vukcevic as someone worth drafting, particularly due to how thin this class is up front -- only two true centers, Nnaji and Duke's Dereck Lively II, currently rank inside our top 40, and neither will scrimmage. NBA teams will be hoping to see some of these bigs separate themselves from the pack as guaranteed deal caliber prospects, and the 20-year-old Vukcevic will play head-to-head against many of the top bigs in college basketball, with a chance to impress due to his offensive fluidity and skill level as a potential stretch five. He'll be an intriguing curiosity and a newer face for scouts to get a feel for, and while it's always difficult for ball-needy bigs to thrive in this environment, Vukcevic has an opportunity to better establish himself.
-- Woo
Which college programs with players testing the waters have a big week in store?
Due to NCAA rules, college players testing the NBA draft waters can't wait until June 12, like their international brethren, to decide whether to withdraw their names from the 2023 draft. They have until 10 days following the conclusion of the combine (May 31 at 11:59 p.m. ET) to withdraw and maintain their NCAA eligibility.
With the 2024 draft appearing significantly weaker than this year's crop due to a poor incoming class of graduating high school seniors/rising college freshmen, there is no shortage of projected second-round picks who could be thinking of withdrawing and trying their luck again next year, especially with the amount of NIL money programs are using to lure their star players back to school.
For these players, the combine, especially the 5-on-5 scrimmages, is an extremely important platform to showcase themselves in front of all 30 teams that will likely play an influential role in their final decisions.
-- Givony
Some of the biggest storylines we'll be tracking
Oscar Tshiebwe, Chris Livingston and Antonio Reeves, Kentucky
This is a make or break year in Lexington, as we're going on five years since the Wildcats advanced out of the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, something that hasn't happened since World War II. With the No. 1 recruiting class incoming, expectations will be sky-high, but there are reasons to be skeptical about their highly touted prospects' ability to mesh on both ends of the floor and play winning basketball in a college landscape that clearly favors older, more physical and experienced players than what Kentucky has currently on its roster. Bringing back the likes of Tshiebwe, Livingston and Reeves would be huge for coach John Calipari to soften the blow of losing Sahvir Wheeler, CJ Fredrick, Daimion Collins and Lance Ware to the transfer portal, as well as Cason Wallace and Jacob Toppin to the NBA draft. The question is how happy will centers Ugonna Onyenso and Aaron Bradshaw be with a potential All-American in Tshiebwe returning and likely diminishing their role and own NBA aspirations for next season? The same can be said for Livingston and Reeves -- likely starters next year -- who would eat into the minutes and usage of highly touted freshmen D.J. Wagner and Justin Edwards.
Olivier-Maxence Prosper, Marquette
The Golden Eagles are projected as a top-5 team next season after returning every player of note from their Big East regular season and conference tournament championship team -- with the possible exception of Prosper. A young junior, not turning 21 until July, Prosper hasn't yet found the perimeter shooting consistency needed to match the outstanding defensive versatility he displays to become a true "3 and D" wing prospect, but made major strides this past season. NBA teams will want to see how he looks outside of the Marquette offense in a more unstructured environment to get a better gauge for his potential and determine his worthiness of being a late first or early second-round pick.
Terrence Shannon Jr. and Coleman Hawkins, Illinois
Shannon and Hawkins are both looking for assurances of their draft range and ability to warrant guaranteed money in determining whether to stay in the draft or not, and their play in Chicago will go a long way in making a decision. For the Illini, returning a fourth and fifth-year senior in Hawkins and Shannon, respectively, as two of its top three scorers from last season, would be huge for Big Ten championship aspirations next season.
Judah Mintz, Syracuse
As the Orange transition out of the Jim Boeheim era into newly minted head coach Adrian Autry's tenure, their ability to retain last year's starting point guard in Mintz could play a big part in how next season shapes up. Mintz was handed the keys to Syracuse's offense as a freshman, leading to some rocky results early, but he eventually settled in and finished the year strong. The question now is whether an NBA team is ready to invest real money in his potential, or if he's better off returning for his sophomore season and looking to build on the momentum he garnered from late in the year to try and make a push for the lottery.
Zach Edey, Purdue
The Wooden Award winner would be the face of college basketball if he returned to Purdue next season. On paper, it doesn't seem like he has that much more to accomplish individually, but the sting of being eliminated by No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson in the first round of the NCAA tournament might just have left a bitter enough taste in his mouth to return to West Lafayette. Like the other players in this section, Edey will have to weigh his NIL potential in college versus whatever he's projected to make as a likely second-round pick. With just three centers currently projected to be picked in the top 40, there could be room for a traditional big man like Edey to warrant guaranteed money from a team looking for size.
Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton
Creighton was one controversial call away from going to overtime for a chance at playing in the NCAA Final Four, something that already caused his teammate Baylor Scheierman to announce his return for a fifth year. One of the most impactful defenders in the college game, Kalkbrenner still has room to improve his frame, defensive rebounding prowess and perimeter skill set. The question is whether he is better suited doing so in the NBA as a likely second-round pick, or returning to college and attempting to bolster his stock into the first round.
Reece Beekman, Virginia
Should Beekman elect to depart, Virginia will return just one player from last year's roster that averaged over 2.6 points per game, a precarious situation for coach Tony Bennett after losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament last year to No. 13 seed Furman. Beekman started last season looking like a potential first-round pick but then faded badly in ACC play, struggling to make shots or create high percentage offense inside the arc. Barring a huge showing at the combine, it seems likely he elects to return, which explains why Virginia hasn't done much to try and replace him via the transfer portal.
Adem Bona, UCLA
Having already lost its top-five scorers from last season's Pac-12 championship-winning squad, UCLA is facing a major rebuild this offseason for what will be a very different looking team next year. Bringing Bona back to anchor the team's defense and provide some continuity offensively would be huge for coach Mick Cronin and his staff, but there will surely be NBA suitors for the explosive Nigerian big man despite undergoing surgery for a torn labrum that will keep him out of action until the fall. The question is what type of guarantees Bona can secure during the pre-draft process and whether those will be enough to keep him in the draft ahead of what will likely be a breakout season in Westwood.
-- Givony
- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,288
- 130,034
- Apr 5, 2008
- 39,612
- 80,277
- Sep 18, 2003
- 61,939
- 134,382
League going to push him like wemby when it’s time
- Feb 23, 2013
- 13,969
- 25,312
Last edited:
- Jan 27, 2013
- 14,835
- 26,246
- Jan 27, 2013
- 14,835
- 26,246
Is there anything notable in this Insider article?
www.espn.com
NBA draft: How landing Victor Wembanyama could shape each lottery team
The most anticipated NBA draft lottery (Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN) since 2003 will end with a team leaving with the chance to select Wembanyama on June 22.
- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,288
- 130,034
Inside the decade-long plan to bring Victor Wembanyama to NBA glory
In a small park in Rive Gauche, the Parisian district known for its art and culture, is one of the highest murals in Europe, an 88-foot old stairwell that has been turned into a colorful collection of squiggly figures designed to cheer up patients in the nearby children's hospital.
Located just a mile southeast of the Eiffel Tower, Victor Wembanyama has enjoyed this little corner of the city since he was a child, a beacon of color and happiness in an area that is otherwise drab and melancholy. The mural's artist, the late American pop art icon Keith Haring, picked it for this very reason, wanting to lift spirits. Haring was Wembanyama's favorite artist as he was growing up and falling in love with art and basketball.
The title of the work is "Tower." Wembanyama, a 7-foot-5 teenager who has been riding an international hype train over the past five years, understandably relates.
Basketball prospects and art are both subjective -- beauty is often in the eye of the beholder -- but the rarest are those where there's universal agreement.
Wembanyama is the most anticipated prospect in a generation, making Tuesday's NBA draft lottery (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) an event with potentially historic consequences.
His games and practices in France are packed with NBA scouts and executives, even from teams with no hope of drafting him as the No. 1 pick in June. LeBron James called him "an alien." Stephen Curry said he gave off "cheat-code-type vibes." Giannis Antetokounmpo said, "I think he's going to be one of the best to play this game."
But as all this has been raging around him -- the brands that are calling incessantly, wooing him with endorsement deals; the demand for his team's tickets forcing games into larger venues; the exploding public and international profile -- Wembanyama has remained steady. Getting here, those around him say, has been deliberate, focused and deeply considered. All of this is part of a plan years in the making.
Whichever NBA team wins the right to draft Wembanyama on Tuesday night won't just be getting his talent, it will be getting someone with a vision of how he wants his emerging career to unfold.
"I was probably born with that will to do things differently and do things my way," Wembanyama says. "I'm really glad I kept that willpower, to not [let] sometimes coaches put me in a box. That's really an everyday fight."
Buried deep on YouTube is a youth basketball game played at a recreation center in the western suburbs of Paris in 2012.
The raw footage is filled with gym echoes and erratic play, though the boys have clearly been well coached as they run backdoor cuts and execute inbounds plays. But then, six minutes into the highlight, the tallest player out there, two years younger than the rest, with feet so disproportionately big that he has to compensate by lifting his knees high just to run like the others, swipes a pass and takes off for a fastbreak.
He gets from 30-some feet into a layup in just two dribbles, picking the ball up outside the free throw line before taking two giant steps and scooping it into the basket.
Wembanyama was 8.
He grew up in Le Chesnay, a suburb in the shadow of the Palace of Versailles, about a 40-minute drive from Paris.
His mom, Elodie, is 6-foot-3 and had her own pro basketball career in France before becoming a coach who mostly taught the game to young children. His dad, Felix, a 6-foot-6 former competitive long jumper who worked with young track athletes, taught his own children proper running techniques. Height has run in the family for generations. Wembanyama's great-great-grandfather, who was Congolese, stood taller than 7 feet.
"His mother, she's a basketball addict. She was always in the gym and training all these kids every day," says Bouna Ndiaye, Wembanyama's Dallas-based agent who has known his family since before he was born.
"Victor was basically training his body just living there. When he was going up the stairs his father was telling him how to finish his climb. And with his size, I think, his parents have been very important in his development."
He's a middle child. His older sister, Eve, is 6-foot-1 and a professional basketball player in France, where she has also played on the national team. His younger brother, Oscar, is 6-foot-6 and also plays basketball.
Elodie prided herself on giving her children natural and organic food, and proclaims she has never made the same dish for them twice. "She may have overstated that one," Victor says with a smile.
Wembanyama loved drawing, particularly sketching with pencils. He loved to read, especially fantasy novels. But when he would dream of his future, his thoughts always went one direction.
"I've always wanted to be a pro basketball player, but when did I realize it?" Wembanyama pauses. His eyes turn upward. "Probably when I was 11 or 12, because it was the first glimpse I got of the professional expectations."
It was then when Wembanyama met a man by the name of Karim Boubekri. Boubekri grew up a huge fan of Hall of Fame point guard Isiah Thomas and his dribbling, so when Boubekri became a coach, and was developing strategies and lessons to impart, he was taken by two seemingly opposite ends of the basketball spectrum: "Pistol" Pete Maravich, the Hall of Fame former Jazz guard who revolutionized the game with his ball skills and VHS instructional videos in the 1980s, and the AND1 Mixtape Tour stars of the early 2000s.
"Players want to express themselves offensively, that's what they prefer," Boubekri says. "And for them to be able to express themselves offensively, you have to make sure that the ball is not a constraint."
Bouberki's use of nontraditional techniques filtered down to his young prodigy. Wembanyama learned to handle the ball working with soccer goaltender gloves to help with feel and dexterity. Wembanyama learned that, despite his height, he had to dribble the ball low so he could control it and make it harder for it to be taken from him.
Wembanyama loved it all, devouring the egalitarian instruction: Not being treated differently because of his size opened up a world to him that traditional coaches might not have shown him.
"I probably didn't know who Pete Maravich was at that time, but I know Karim made everyone do the same drills," Wembanyama says. "He didn't expect me to be worse than any other players just because I was taller. It helped for development. It helped us challenge ourselves."
The coaches would soon learn that Wembanyama had a serious work ethic about such things. When he was 12, he played in a well-known junior tournament with 15-year-olds in Lille, the northern part of the country. Despite being younger, he was one of the best players in the event, and he led his team to the cup over a team from Moscow.
"It was my first time playing in front of people, and I really loved the experience," Wembanyama says. "But I've got maybe one regret. I didn't end up being the MVP, even though my team won, and I think I deserved it."
It was time to move on from the Maravich tapes.
Nanterre 92 is a nearly 100-year-old family-operated basketball club located a few miles from Paris' city center. The club is renowned for its incredible rise, advancing from the very bottom of the French basketball infrastructure up 11 divisions in a 24-year span. It culminated in an improbable top division title in 2013. All with the same coach and led by the well-respected Donnadieu family. The story was made into a movie in France.
There is a spartan headquarters, where the handful of cups and trophies that Wembnayama helped them win over his years there are treated with special reverence. A few blocks away is a basic three-story dormitory, where teenagers from its training program are housed in narrow rooms with miniature kitchens and shared bathrooms.
It's like a basketball Hogwarts, the teenagers living, studying and playing together. On the green doors of each room are placards commemorating eventual pros that called each room home during their formative years. Wembanyama's name is affixed to his old quarters, where the club had to special order an extra-long bed for him to sleep in.
There were a number of teams who offered similar accommodations and roles for the growing Wembanyama, both inside and outside of France. It included Spanish powerhouse FC Barcelona, where Wembanyama visited and played one summer, and INSEP, France's elite academy that has produced stars such as Tony Parker, Boris Diaw and Evan Fournier.
Wembanyama, though, had connected with the coaches he'd had at Nanterre when he was playing for their youth teams. It was away from home but not far. And there was the recent and improbable title that had given the team so much momentum.
The club retains the same facilities and charm to this day, which helps explain why he chose the little engine that could and later played a role in his eventual departure.
So at age 14, Wembanyama left home and moved in, a giant step toward his goal of becoming a professional.
"I was so much prepared for that. Especially at that age, you know? It's almost like you want to leave your house," he says. "Of course, and then you start realizing that what you left was precious."
More important than all of that was that Nanterre was committed to letting Wembanyama shape his game in the way he preferred. He wanted to play all over the court, to learn all the positions, and the Nanterre coaches would let him.
"Victor's coaches at Nanterre, they all understood that you have to let him play his game," says Jeremey Medjana, a Paris-based agent who began working with Wembanyama when he was 15. "Don't pull him around the basket and ask him to play just back to the basket because you're going to kill the kid. Victor is a complete player, you have to let him play."
While he attended a high school nearby during the day, he was kept under the watchful eye of coaches from Nanterre, who had an office at the school where his five meals a day were kept in a special refrigerator. For a while, Nanterre officials charted that Wembanyama was growing about a centimeter a month.
"What's funny is that I tried to protect him while getting a little bit too involved in his life," says Michael Bur, who coached Wembanyama as a teenager, including when he officially turned pro at age 15. "At 14, he was very absent-minded like all teenagers. He forgot his shoes, he forgot his schedule. But on the other hand, in terms of work and the rigor that we put in place little by little, he already had the work ethic in him."
It showed almost immediately. Early in his tenure with Nanterre, a troubling habit emerged, one his coaches struggled to break. When Wembanyama would shoot, he'd spread the fingers on his left hand, causing issues with the rotation.
Then suddenly one day, Bur noticed it had been resolved. The hand was closed and in perfect form every time, almost overnight. Bur, fascinated, asked his student what happened. Wembanyama told him he'd spent the previous few days putting small pieces of paper between his fingers so he'd learn to always keep them together.
"He doesn't want to give back knowledge, he doesn't want to learn just to learn," Bur says. "He needs to understand what he is doing. He was a player who was always asking questions, even if it meant cutting me off 15 times during training, because he always wanted to know why."
Wembanyama's focus on what he wanted his future to be expanded beyond the court. As he played in events elsewhere in Europe, he started to believe English was the language of basketball.
"Knowing I would play in the NBA later, I was really interested in English," Wembanyama says of his mindset as an early teen. "Basketball people speak English."
He dearly wanted to be a basketball person.
"Victor was always focused on his goals. ... I had to fight with him to get him out of the gym," Medjana said. "After practice he was shooting the ball, and he could shoot for hours. And I remember with the dad and the mum saying, 'Victor, now! We need to go!' Every day, same story. It was like a battle to get him out of the gym."
At first, Wembanyama was on Nanterre's junior team, practicing before and after the senior team. The older players couldn't help but notice the ultra tall kid with shocking ability to both dribble and shoot. The French national team would sometimes use Nanterre's arena, Palais des Sports, as a practice base before international events, and that's where the country's top players began to understand, and intensify, the Wembanyama buzz.
In the spring of 2018, then-ESPN draft analyst Mike Schmitz saw Wembanyama for the first time in practice and took some video of him. Once a player got attention from Schmitz, who is now the assistant general manager of the Portland Trail Blazers, the NBA world was usually soon to follow.
Eventually Wembanyama was invited to practice and then promoted to play with Nanterre's senior team, and he held his own. He played for the first time in the 2019 EuroCup, where Nanterre was competing at the time, three months before his 16th birthday.
He was bumped around by older, stronger players, of course, but he answered back -- and then some. His height gave him advantages when it came to challenging shots and rebounding. His ability to create space with his handles and make shots from the outside was impressive for anyone at his age regardless of size.
"I think he always knew that he was special. Every time there was an event where he was awaited, there was a lot of pressure ... where he was awaited by all the NBA scouts and everyone was already talking about him, he always pushed his level," Bur says. "He was very confident, but not arrogant."
The intel on Wembanyama began to spread. NBA executives added him to their lists when they came over on trips. Media requests started coming to Nanterre for a player who wasn't even playing much. Letters started arriving with self-addressed stamped envelopes inside, fans asking for Wembanyama's autograph.
He felt the need to take the next step.
A year later, Wembanyama made one of the biggest decisions of his life. After three years in Nanterre and with offers pouring in from across the globe, he decided to leave the comfortable confines of home and Paris.
"When we have this meeting, just him and me, and he announced his decision and it was a hard day," says Frederic Donnadieu, Nanterre 92's president, who had shepherded the young star for years, in part, because he had a son the same age. "He thought it was the best for him in this moment. But it's a hard day. It was my birthday and that night I went out with my family, but it's not a good night."
Wembanyama had decided to play for ASVEL, a French League powerhouse then primarily owned by four-time NBA champ and soon-to-be Hall of Famer Parker and coached by Parker's brother, T.J. They play in Lyon, a two-hour train ride from Paris.
ASVEL not only played in the French Pro A League, the country's top league, but also in the continental Euroleague, the most competitive in the world outside of the NBA.
Wembanyama was the youngest player on a veteran-laden team that was built to compete for titles. His teammates weren't sure what to think of the thin, lanky, baby-faced new player. Then came one of his first practices.
During a scrimmage, the ball was passed to the corner for a 3-pointer. Standing under the basket, defending the rim, Wembanyama leapt out and closed, covering the ground in what seemed like a flash. He blocked the shot, grabbed the ball and went to the other end for a dunk.
"We were kind of stunned. We'd heard about this stuff with him, and after that, everybody knew what he could do," says David Lighty, a former star at Ohio State who was a teammate of Wembanyama's at ASVEL. "I can only imagine being a 17- or 18-year-old playing against professionals. You're literally playing against guys who could be your dad. I think it definitely prepared him for the next level."
Playing in various competitions -- ASVEL won two cups last season, including the French league title -- the pressure to win was a stronger focus than developing Wembanyama, whose playing time was further limited by a couple of injuries. He ended up as a limited role player, averaging less than 20 minutes a game.
Regardless of the conventions or anyone's opinion, Wembanyama and his support system had a path they wanted to follow. There wasn't much interest in compromise.
"Victor will not be put in a box," Ndiaye says. "People will have to adapt to him."
After the season, Wembanyama decided to look for another opportunity, specifically one where his development was a team's priority. He opted out of his contract to become a free agent. There was no shortage of teams willing to offer this sort of arrangement.
Interest quickly came from the G League, Australia and other European powers. But Wembanyama and his agents were working from their own yearslong blueprint.
He chose instead to play for a much less accomplished team in Paris, Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92. Mets 92, desperate to have a talent like Wembanyama come to the financially struggling club, allowed the young star to have input on the coach, his teammates and the staff.
The concept was to put Wembanyama through the rigors of a season as the centerpiece of a team and all the pressures that come with it. They created an environment that catered specifically to his growth, picking players and a style that would best suit him. Guards that would set him up, forwards that complemented him and a coach who would allow him to play through mistakes without worrying about the win-loss record.
It wasn't a conventional route, but it appealed to Wembanyama's longstanding desire to prepare himself for the NBA, not just to win trophies or awards.
Leaving ASVEL, and the guidance of Parker, confused some NBA teams that were monitoring Wembanyama. But the strategy worked. Wembanyama led the league in points, rebounds and blocks, and Mets 92 had the second-best regular-season record. They are challengers for this season's national title, for which the playoffs start this week.
"The plan to exit was a very difficult choice," Ndiaye says. "But the idea to prepare him for this type of attention, because if he's No. 1 pick, if he comes to the NBA, it's not going to be easy.
"People will try to go after him and beat him, and the pressure will be exactly the same pressure that he's leaving now," Ndiaye continues. "The thing that we have created with the Metropolitans and building all the team around him was to make him ready to come into the league."
Wembanyama and his team chose Vincent Collet, the current French national team coach and five-time league champion, to coach him. The central mission of the season was to make it easier for the best player to say goodbye.
"I know a little bit about what is going to happen for him, and I try to prepare him to handle his situation and to manage all the expectations, which will be very high," Collet says. "This means everybody's going to wait for his performance, and he has to be ready for that. ... For a young guy, it's not so easy."
That concept led to Mets 92 playing two games against the G-League Ignite last fall in Las Vegas, where the Wembanyama hype train exploded. He scored 36 and 37 points in the two games, showing off an intoxicating array of skills in front of an NBA audience. The idea wasn't just to showcase him for American fans, which it absolutely did, but to give him a taste of the high-profile NBA life, from the media attention to the style of play to the five-star hotels.
During one of the games Wembanyama played in Vegas, his old teammates at ASVEL played a game back in France at about the same time. When the players came into the locker room after the game, their phones lit up with the news about what their former teammate had just done halfway across the world.
"I was like, 'What are y'all talking about? You know, we just won.' But they're all like, 'Do you see this stat line?'" Lighty says.
"Imagine Rudy Gobert being mixed with a little bit of Kevin Durant being mixed with a little bit of Dirk [Nowitzki]. Like, these are things that you do on your video games as a kid, you know, growing up, trying to make the perfect player to score 50 every game type of thing. So for Vic to have all those abilities in one and for him to have the mindset that he has, to want to be great and want to get better, is very unique and special."
Wembanyama's teammates, current and past, know the NBA hasn't been far from his mind for a long time. There's a long journey ahead as he moves to a new country and develops his body.
As with any draft pick, be it No. 1 or No. 30, there are no guarantees.
Wembanyama, who keeps an eye on the league and has spent quite a bit of time studying what he thinks is coming, knows there's going to be pressure and serious expectations. But the closer the moment has gotten and the more his strategy over the past few years has rounded into focus, the more excited he gets about showing the world what he has spent his life preparing for.
"[Vegas] just confirmed the thoughts that I had about the NBA," Wembanyama says. "I think it fits my game so well. I love playing these games. I feel like I got so much to express on the court. ... So yeah, I'm excited, too. I know I've a lot to show."
In a small park in Rive Gauche, the Parisian district known for its art and culture, is one of the highest murals in Europe, an 88-foot old stairwell that has been turned into a colorful collection of squiggly figures designed to cheer up patients in the nearby children's hospital.
Located just a mile southeast of the Eiffel Tower, Victor Wembanyama has enjoyed this little corner of the city since he was a child, a beacon of color and happiness in an area that is otherwise drab and melancholy. The mural's artist, the late American pop art icon Keith Haring, picked it for this very reason, wanting to lift spirits. Haring was Wembanyama's favorite artist as he was growing up and falling in love with art and basketball.
The title of the work is "Tower." Wembanyama, a 7-foot-5 teenager who has been riding an international hype train over the past five years, understandably relates.
Basketball prospects and art are both subjective -- beauty is often in the eye of the beholder -- but the rarest are those where there's universal agreement.
Wembanyama is the most anticipated prospect in a generation, making Tuesday's NBA draft lottery (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) an event with potentially historic consequences.
His games and practices in France are packed with NBA scouts and executives, even from teams with no hope of drafting him as the No. 1 pick in June. LeBron James called him "an alien." Stephen Curry said he gave off "cheat-code-type vibes." Giannis Antetokounmpo said, "I think he's going to be one of the best to play this game."
But as all this has been raging around him -- the brands that are calling incessantly, wooing him with endorsement deals; the demand for his team's tickets forcing games into larger venues; the exploding public and international profile -- Wembanyama has remained steady. Getting here, those around him say, has been deliberate, focused and deeply considered. All of this is part of a plan years in the making.
Whichever NBA team wins the right to draft Wembanyama on Tuesday night won't just be getting his talent, it will be getting someone with a vision of how he wants his emerging career to unfold.
"I was probably born with that will to do things differently and do things my way," Wembanyama says. "I'm really glad I kept that willpower, to not [let] sometimes coaches put me in a box. That's really an everyday fight."
Buried deep on YouTube is a youth basketball game played at a recreation center in the western suburbs of Paris in 2012.
The raw footage is filled with gym echoes and erratic play, though the boys have clearly been well coached as they run backdoor cuts and execute inbounds plays. But then, six minutes into the highlight, the tallest player out there, two years younger than the rest, with feet so disproportionately big that he has to compensate by lifting his knees high just to run like the others, swipes a pass and takes off for a fastbreak.
He gets from 30-some feet into a layup in just two dribbles, picking the ball up outside the free throw line before taking two giant steps and scooping it into the basket.
Wembanyama was 8.
He grew up in Le Chesnay, a suburb in the shadow of the Palace of Versailles, about a 40-minute drive from Paris.
His mom, Elodie, is 6-foot-3 and had her own pro basketball career in France before becoming a coach who mostly taught the game to young children. His dad, Felix, a 6-foot-6 former competitive long jumper who worked with young track athletes, taught his own children proper running techniques. Height has run in the family for generations. Wembanyama's great-great-grandfather, who was Congolese, stood taller than 7 feet.
"His mother, she's a basketball addict. She was always in the gym and training all these kids every day," says Bouna Ndiaye, Wembanyama's Dallas-based agent who has known his family since before he was born.
"Victor was basically training his body just living there. When he was going up the stairs his father was telling him how to finish his climb. And with his size, I think, his parents have been very important in his development."
He's a middle child. His older sister, Eve, is 6-foot-1 and a professional basketball player in France, where she has also played on the national team. His younger brother, Oscar, is 6-foot-6 and also plays basketball.
Elodie prided herself on giving her children natural and organic food, and proclaims she has never made the same dish for them twice. "She may have overstated that one," Victor says with a smile.
Wembanyama loved drawing, particularly sketching with pencils. He loved to read, especially fantasy novels. But when he would dream of his future, his thoughts always went one direction.
"I've always wanted to be a pro basketball player, but when did I realize it?" Wembanyama pauses. His eyes turn upward. "Probably when I was 11 or 12, because it was the first glimpse I got of the professional expectations."
It was then when Wembanyama met a man by the name of Karim Boubekri. Boubekri grew up a huge fan of Hall of Fame point guard Isiah Thomas and his dribbling, so when Boubekri became a coach, and was developing strategies and lessons to impart, he was taken by two seemingly opposite ends of the basketball spectrum: "Pistol" Pete Maravich, the Hall of Fame former Jazz guard who revolutionized the game with his ball skills and VHS instructional videos in the 1980s, and the AND1 Mixtape Tour stars of the early 2000s.
"Players want to express themselves offensively, that's what they prefer," Boubekri says. "And for them to be able to express themselves offensively, you have to make sure that the ball is not a constraint."
Bouberki's use of nontraditional techniques filtered down to his young prodigy. Wembanyama learned to handle the ball working with soccer goaltender gloves to help with feel and dexterity. Wembanyama learned that, despite his height, he had to dribble the ball low so he could control it and make it harder for it to be taken from him.
Wembanyama loved it all, devouring the egalitarian instruction: Not being treated differently because of his size opened up a world to him that traditional coaches might not have shown him.
"I probably didn't know who Pete Maravich was at that time, but I know Karim made everyone do the same drills," Wembanyama says. "He didn't expect me to be worse than any other players just because I was taller. It helped for development. It helped us challenge ourselves."
The coaches would soon learn that Wembanyama had a serious work ethic about such things. When he was 12, he played in a well-known junior tournament with 15-year-olds in Lille, the northern part of the country. Despite being younger, he was one of the best players in the event, and he led his team to the cup over a team from Moscow.
"It was my first time playing in front of people, and I really loved the experience," Wembanyama says. "But I've got maybe one regret. I didn't end up being the MVP, even though my team won, and I think I deserved it."
It was time to move on from the Maravich tapes.
Nanterre 92 is a nearly 100-year-old family-operated basketball club located a few miles from Paris' city center. The club is renowned for its incredible rise, advancing from the very bottom of the French basketball infrastructure up 11 divisions in a 24-year span. It culminated in an improbable top division title in 2013. All with the same coach and led by the well-respected Donnadieu family. The story was made into a movie in France.
There is a spartan headquarters, where the handful of cups and trophies that Wembnayama helped them win over his years there are treated with special reverence. A few blocks away is a basic three-story dormitory, where teenagers from its training program are housed in narrow rooms with miniature kitchens and shared bathrooms.
It's like a basketball Hogwarts, the teenagers living, studying and playing together. On the green doors of each room are placards commemorating eventual pros that called each room home during their formative years. Wembanyama's name is affixed to his old quarters, where the club had to special order an extra-long bed for him to sleep in.
There were a number of teams who offered similar accommodations and roles for the growing Wembanyama, both inside and outside of France. It included Spanish powerhouse FC Barcelona, where Wembanyama visited and played one summer, and INSEP, France's elite academy that has produced stars such as Tony Parker, Boris Diaw and Evan Fournier.
Wembanyama, though, had connected with the coaches he'd had at Nanterre when he was playing for their youth teams. It was away from home but not far. And there was the recent and improbable title that had given the team so much momentum.
The club retains the same facilities and charm to this day, which helps explain why he chose the little engine that could and later played a role in his eventual departure.
So at age 14, Wembanyama left home and moved in, a giant step toward his goal of becoming a professional.
"I was so much prepared for that. Especially at that age, you know? It's almost like you want to leave your house," he says. "Of course, and then you start realizing that what you left was precious."
More important than all of that was that Nanterre was committed to letting Wembanyama shape his game in the way he preferred. He wanted to play all over the court, to learn all the positions, and the Nanterre coaches would let him.
"Victor's coaches at Nanterre, they all understood that you have to let him play his game," says Jeremey Medjana, a Paris-based agent who began working with Wembanyama when he was 15. "Don't pull him around the basket and ask him to play just back to the basket because you're going to kill the kid. Victor is a complete player, you have to let him play."
While he attended a high school nearby during the day, he was kept under the watchful eye of coaches from Nanterre, who had an office at the school where his five meals a day were kept in a special refrigerator. For a while, Nanterre officials charted that Wembanyama was growing about a centimeter a month.
"What's funny is that I tried to protect him while getting a little bit too involved in his life," says Michael Bur, who coached Wembanyama as a teenager, including when he officially turned pro at age 15. "At 14, he was very absent-minded like all teenagers. He forgot his shoes, he forgot his schedule. But on the other hand, in terms of work and the rigor that we put in place little by little, he already had the work ethic in him."
It showed almost immediately. Early in his tenure with Nanterre, a troubling habit emerged, one his coaches struggled to break. When Wembanyama would shoot, he'd spread the fingers on his left hand, causing issues with the rotation.
Then suddenly one day, Bur noticed it had been resolved. The hand was closed and in perfect form every time, almost overnight. Bur, fascinated, asked his student what happened. Wembanyama told him he'd spent the previous few days putting small pieces of paper between his fingers so he'd learn to always keep them together.
"He doesn't want to give back knowledge, he doesn't want to learn just to learn," Bur says. "He needs to understand what he is doing. He was a player who was always asking questions, even if it meant cutting me off 15 times during training, because he always wanted to know why."
Wembanyama's focus on what he wanted his future to be expanded beyond the court. As he played in events elsewhere in Europe, he started to believe English was the language of basketball.
"Knowing I would play in the NBA later, I was really interested in English," Wembanyama says of his mindset as an early teen. "Basketball people speak English."
He dearly wanted to be a basketball person.
"Victor was always focused on his goals. ... I had to fight with him to get him out of the gym," Medjana said. "After practice he was shooting the ball, and he could shoot for hours. And I remember with the dad and the mum saying, 'Victor, now! We need to go!' Every day, same story. It was like a battle to get him out of the gym."
At first, Wembanyama was on Nanterre's junior team, practicing before and after the senior team. The older players couldn't help but notice the ultra tall kid with shocking ability to both dribble and shoot. The French national team would sometimes use Nanterre's arena, Palais des Sports, as a practice base before international events, and that's where the country's top players began to understand, and intensify, the Wembanyama buzz.
In the spring of 2018, then-ESPN draft analyst Mike Schmitz saw Wembanyama for the first time in practice and took some video of him. Once a player got attention from Schmitz, who is now the assistant general manager of the Portland Trail Blazers, the NBA world was usually soon to follow.
Eventually Wembanyama was invited to practice and then promoted to play with Nanterre's senior team, and he held his own. He played for the first time in the 2019 EuroCup, where Nanterre was competing at the time, three months before his 16th birthday.
He was bumped around by older, stronger players, of course, but he answered back -- and then some. His height gave him advantages when it came to challenging shots and rebounding. His ability to create space with his handles and make shots from the outside was impressive for anyone at his age regardless of size.
"I think he always knew that he was special. Every time there was an event where he was awaited, there was a lot of pressure ... where he was awaited by all the NBA scouts and everyone was already talking about him, he always pushed his level," Bur says. "He was very confident, but not arrogant."
The intel on Wembanyama began to spread. NBA executives added him to their lists when they came over on trips. Media requests started coming to Nanterre for a player who wasn't even playing much. Letters started arriving with self-addressed stamped envelopes inside, fans asking for Wembanyama's autograph.
He felt the need to take the next step.
A year later, Wembanyama made one of the biggest decisions of his life. After three years in Nanterre and with offers pouring in from across the globe, he decided to leave the comfortable confines of home and Paris.
"When we have this meeting, just him and me, and he announced his decision and it was a hard day," says Frederic Donnadieu, Nanterre 92's president, who had shepherded the young star for years, in part, because he had a son the same age. "He thought it was the best for him in this moment. But it's a hard day. It was my birthday and that night I went out with my family, but it's not a good night."
Wembanyama had decided to play for ASVEL, a French League powerhouse then primarily owned by four-time NBA champ and soon-to-be Hall of Famer Parker and coached by Parker's brother, T.J. They play in Lyon, a two-hour train ride from Paris.
ASVEL not only played in the French Pro A League, the country's top league, but also in the continental Euroleague, the most competitive in the world outside of the NBA.
Wembanyama was the youngest player on a veteran-laden team that was built to compete for titles. His teammates weren't sure what to think of the thin, lanky, baby-faced new player. Then came one of his first practices.
During a scrimmage, the ball was passed to the corner for a 3-pointer. Standing under the basket, defending the rim, Wembanyama leapt out and closed, covering the ground in what seemed like a flash. He blocked the shot, grabbed the ball and went to the other end for a dunk.
"We were kind of stunned. We'd heard about this stuff with him, and after that, everybody knew what he could do," says David Lighty, a former star at Ohio State who was a teammate of Wembanyama's at ASVEL. "I can only imagine being a 17- or 18-year-old playing against professionals. You're literally playing against guys who could be your dad. I think it definitely prepared him for the next level."
Playing in various competitions -- ASVEL won two cups last season, including the French league title -- the pressure to win was a stronger focus than developing Wembanyama, whose playing time was further limited by a couple of injuries. He ended up as a limited role player, averaging less than 20 minutes a game.
Regardless of the conventions or anyone's opinion, Wembanyama and his support system had a path they wanted to follow. There wasn't much interest in compromise.
"Victor will not be put in a box," Ndiaye says. "People will have to adapt to him."
After the season, Wembanyama decided to look for another opportunity, specifically one where his development was a team's priority. He opted out of his contract to become a free agent. There was no shortage of teams willing to offer this sort of arrangement.
Interest quickly came from the G League, Australia and other European powers. But Wembanyama and his agents were working from their own yearslong blueprint.
He chose instead to play for a much less accomplished team in Paris, Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92. Mets 92, desperate to have a talent like Wembanyama come to the financially struggling club, allowed the young star to have input on the coach, his teammates and the staff.
The concept was to put Wembanyama through the rigors of a season as the centerpiece of a team and all the pressures that come with it. They created an environment that catered specifically to his growth, picking players and a style that would best suit him. Guards that would set him up, forwards that complemented him and a coach who would allow him to play through mistakes without worrying about the win-loss record.
It wasn't a conventional route, but it appealed to Wembanyama's longstanding desire to prepare himself for the NBA, not just to win trophies or awards.
Leaving ASVEL, and the guidance of Parker, confused some NBA teams that were monitoring Wembanyama. But the strategy worked. Wembanyama led the league in points, rebounds and blocks, and Mets 92 had the second-best regular-season record. They are challengers for this season's national title, for which the playoffs start this week.
"The plan to exit was a very difficult choice," Ndiaye says. "But the idea to prepare him for this type of attention, because if he's No. 1 pick, if he comes to the NBA, it's not going to be easy.
"People will try to go after him and beat him, and the pressure will be exactly the same pressure that he's leaving now," Ndiaye continues. "The thing that we have created with the Metropolitans and building all the team around him was to make him ready to come into the league."
Wembanyama and his team chose Vincent Collet, the current French national team coach and five-time league champion, to coach him. The central mission of the season was to make it easier for the best player to say goodbye.
"I know a little bit about what is going to happen for him, and I try to prepare him to handle his situation and to manage all the expectations, which will be very high," Collet says. "This means everybody's going to wait for his performance, and he has to be ready for that. ... For a young guy, it's not so easy."
That concept led to Mets 92 playing two games against the G-League Ignite last fall in Las Vegas, where the Wembanyama hype train exploded. He scored 36 and 37 points in the two games, showing off an intoxicating array of skills in front of an NBA audience. The idea wasn't just to showcase him for American fans, which it absolutely did, but to give him a taste of the high-profile NBA life, from the media attention to the style of play to the five-star hotels.
During one of the games Wembanyama played in Vegas, his old teammates at ASVEL played a game back in France at about the same time. When the players came into the locker room after the game, their phones lit up with the news about what their former teammate had just done halfway across the world.
"I was like, 'What are y'all talking about? You know, we just won.' But they're all like, 'Do you see this stat line?'" Lighty says.
"Imagine Rudy Gobert being mixed with a little bit of Kevin Durant being mixed with a little bit of Dirk [Nowitzki]. Like, these are things that you do on your video games as a kid, you know, growing up, trying to make the perfect player to score 50 every game type of thing. So for Vic to have all those abilities in one and for him to have the mindset that he has, to want to be great and want to get better, is very unique and special."
Wembanyama's teammates, current and past, know the NBA hasn't been far from his mind for a long time. There's a long journey ahead as he moves to a new country and develops his body.
As with any draft pick, be it No. 1 or No. 30, there are no guarantees.
Wembanyama, who keeps an eye on the league and has spent quite a bit of time studying what he thinks is coming, knows there's going to be pressure and serious expectations. But the closer the moment has gotten and the more his strategy over the past few years has rounded into focus, the more excited he gets about showing the world what he has spent his life preparing for.
"[Vegas] just confirmed the thoughts that I had about the NBA," Wembanyama says. "I think it fits my game so well. I love playing these games. I feel like I got so much to express on the court. ... So yeah, I'm excited, too. I know I've a lot to show."
- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,288
- 130,034
Is there anything notable in this Insider article?
NBA draft: How landing Victor Wembanyama could shape each lottery team
The most anticipated NBA draft lottery (Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN) since 2003 will end with a team leaving with the chance to select Wembanyama on June 22.
NBA draft lottery: What's at stake in Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes
On Tuesday night, the winner of the 2023 NBA draft lottery -- the most anticipated lottery since 2003 -- will leave Chicago with the No. 1 pick and the opportunity to select Victor Wembanyama on June 22.
The Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs are tied with the best odds to land the top pick and all three teams could benefit from inserting the 7-foot-5 Wembanyama into their starting lineups. While there should be little suspense with the top pick, the draft will be immediately intriguing starting at No. 2. Alabama's Brandon Miller and G League Ignite's Scoot Henderson have been projected as the No. 2 pick this draft season, and Overtime Elite twins Amen and Ausar Thompson could be in consideration depending on team need.
Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo break down how the NBA lottery works, why Wembanyama is a lock to go No. 1 overall and what's at stake for the teams participating in Tuesday's festivities.
How does the NBA lottery work?
The league utilizes a complex lottery system that involves drawing numbered ping-pong balls, with every possible combination of those digits assigned to a specific team. The actual drawing takes place in closed quarters, where numbers are drawn in order to determine the first four spots in the draft.
The three teams with the worst records are all assigned a 14% chance to win the lottery, and all have a 52.1% chance of selecting in the top four in any scenario. Due to the fact only the top four spots are up for grabs, the team with the worst record (Detroit) can fall no further than fifth in a worst-case scenario, the second-worst team no further than sixth and so on. The further down the list you go, the worse odds teams have to move up in the lottery.
Below is a table that breaks down the probability of all 14 teams winning the lottery:
By the time the lottery order is revealed publicly, the numbers have already been drawn and team representatives -- who are secluded in a back room with a group of media members and league personnel until the results are known to everyone -- know the outcome.
Since the NBA changed the lottery system in 2019 -- designed to better balance the odds to disincentivize tanking -- one of the teams with top chances has won three of four times, the exception coming in 2019, when the New Orleans Pelicans jumped six spots (and the Memphis Grizzlies and Atlanta Hawks also made big jumps into the top four). Since then, things have been a bit chalkier, which either means the Pistons, Spurs and Rockets should feel great about their chances -- or maybe, we're due for another surprising outcome. -- Woo
How to watch the 2023 NBA draft lottery
Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Why Victor Wembanyama is a lock to go No. 1
Wembanyama has been the presumptive favorite to be the No. 1 pick since he first emerged as a can't-miss prospect at the FIBA U16 European Championship in 2019, but has only widened the gap between him and the field since the start of the season.
He blew the doors off the basketball world last October with an incredible two-game performance in Las Vegas against G League Ignite, scoring 36 and 37 points, respectively, and showcasing his exceptional shot-making prowess, ability to create offense for himself and teammates, game-changing defensive presence and feel for the game, which indicates how seamlessly his game will translate to the NBA.
He's in the midst of an MVP-caliber campaign guiding his Metropolitans 92 team to the second-best record in France while leading the league in points, rebounds and blocks, something we've never seen from a 19-year-old at this level of competition. Perhaps most impressively, he hasn't missed a game all year, alleviating many concerns about how his 7-foot-5 frame will hold up long-term.
Wembanyama's mobility, length, instincts and anticipation skills will make him a formidable presence defensively from day one patrolling the paint and covering ground on the perimeter, while his versatile skill level inside and outside the arc gives him huge mismatch potential offensively. He still has considerable room to improve as his lanky frame evolves but has made significant improvement there as well. The work ethic, competitiveness and intelligence he shows on both ends of the floor, combined with his supernatural physical tools and talent, gives him a chance to become an MVP candidate and possibly one of the best players we've seen in this generation long-term. -- Givony
What's at stake for every lottery team?
1. Detroit Pistons
The Pistons have anchored their rebuild to a pair of perimeter building blocks in Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey. After multiple seasons of sustained losing, Detroit feels some urgency to turn this around -- there's no better pathway than cashing in on lottery night and walking away with the chance to draft Wembanyama. If Detroit winds up drafting second, third or drops even further, it will be thrust into a complicated spot where no available prospect directly solves its issues. This is a pretty massive juncture to take a step forward. -- Woo
2. Houston Rockets
The Rockets can thank the Pistons for helping them avoid the dubious distinction of finishing with the NBA's worst record for a third straight season. After winning just 23% of their games since 2020, there's seemingly nowhere to go but up in Houston. With their 2024 first-rounder owed to Oklahoma City (top-four protected), the Rockets are hoping to pivot back to respectability armed with ample cap room and what they hope is a very high draft pick to help compensate for the misery their fan base has endured lately. Wembanyama, Scoot Henderson or Brandon Miller would likely be immediate starters and difference makers for Houston, but falling outside of the top three -- there's a 60% chance of that occurring -- would be extremely painful. -- Givony
3. San Antonio Spurs
San Antonio continues to search for a star player who can legitimately alter the franchise's trajectory. Wembanyama would be that. Henderson would also be a nice fit here. The Spurs have assembled a talented young core, headlined by last year's lottery pick, Jeremy Sochan. Even if they manage a big swing elsewhere in the draft, dropping back from No. 3 perpetuates their rebuilding process somewhat indefinitely into the future, which would be a tough break for one of the NBA's most historically successful organizations. -- Woo
4. Charlotte Hornets
The Hornets have been one of the NBA's most rudderless teams dating back to their inception in 1988, failing to make the playoffs since 2016 and not advancing a round in more than 20 years. Shockingly, the team has had just one top-three pick in the past decade (LaMelo Ball in 2020), and doesn't otherwise have much to show for all the losing they've endured with a roster that looks extremely thin on talent outside of the passing magician Ball. That makes Tuesday's drawing all the more important as it gives the team an opportunity to cycle out of the mediocrity that's become the norm in Charlotte. -- Givony
5. Portland Trail Blazers
A late-season slide in the standings positioned the Blazers with top-five lottery odds, creating a pivotal moment for the organization. Portland has been trying to thread the needle between developing talent and winning games with Damian Lillard, but it's roster continues to skew younger. This has begun to look like a situation that could trend toward a full rebuild if the Blazers do decide to deal their longtime franchise player. Landing Wembanyama would be a cure-all; any other result might create even more incentive to go all-in on rebuilding around Shaedon Sharpe, Anfernee Simons and this year's draft pick. -- Woo
6. Orlando Magic
The Magic pivoted quickly from consecutive playoff appearances in 2019 and 2020 to assembling one of the league's most impressive troves of young talent in the span of a few years. The front office is hoping this is their last trip to the top of the draft order for some time, so bucking the odds and coming away with a top-four pick (there's just a 37% chance) would be a huge shot in the arm for their rebuilding process. The roster doesn't have nearly as many holes as other teams in this range, which means the team can go in a number of different directions depending on where they ultimately land. -- Givony
7. Indiana Pacers
The idea of a Wembanyama-Tyrese Haliburton pairing is certainly alluring, but the Pacers need quite a bit of help for that to manifest. Indiana has put itself in a good position to be competitive moving forward, and a bit of lottery fortune could help it land another foundational piece. If not, the Pacers can still grab another nice young player, and have a clear need to upgrade the forward spots now that center Myles Turner is on a new contract. A bit of luck could turn Indiana into one of the most promising young teams in the league. -- Woo
8. Washington Wizards
The Wizards go into lottery night without a lead decision-maker after dismissing general manager Tommy Sheppard. Ownership will be hoping this job becomes significantly more attractive with the 29% chance they move into the top four, which will likely help decide what direction the franchise will go in terms of a full-blown rebuild. Either way, there's a significant amount of work to do with the roster. The first order of business: deciding what to do with the impending free agency situations of 20-plus points per game scorers Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle Kuzma, as well as three-time All-Star Bradley Beal, who is under contract long-term but turns 30 next month. -- Givony
9. Utah Jazz
Despite a hot start to the season, the Jazz wound up in the lottery after backsliding in March and April, and are loaded with future draft picks from Minnesota following the Rudy Gobert trade. Utah is in a position to take some big swings, with Lauri Markannen having emerged and 21-year-old Walker Kessler now entrenched as it's starting center, but the rest of the roster lacks franchise-changing upside. Utah doesn't need a top-four pick to keep this pointed in a good direction, but it certainly wouldn't hurt. -- Woo
10. Dallas Mavericks
With their first-round pick owed to the New York Knicks if it fell to 11th or later, the Mavericks elected to tank the final games of the season to try to ensure their spot in the top 10, a move that earned the team a $750,000 fine from the NBA. We'll find out Tuesday if it was worth it, as there's still a 20% chance a team could leapfrog them and push their pick down one spot, which would mean it still gets conveyed to the Knicks in an all-time face-palm moment by NBA standards. The counter to that is the 14% chance the Mavs do move up, something that would be huge for their chances of surrounding Luka Doncic with enough talent to give him content in Dallas long-term. -- Givony
11. Chicago Bulls
The Bulls will convey the 11th pick to the Magic unless it leaps into the top four, which means they only have an 8.5% chance of keeping it. So, naturally, a surprise result would be seismic for Chicago, which has seen its veteran trio of Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic start to hit its ceiling, and could use an infusion of young talent to help chart a new course. None of this is likely, but moving up anywhere in the top four would be a gigantic win. -- Woo
12. Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder are in the most enviable situation of any NBA team projecting long-term, with a huge stockpile of picks to go along with a tantalizing amount of young talent (not to mention the return of Chet Holmgren next season). The 8.1% chance of OKC moving into the top four has to be downright frightening for the rest of the Western Conference considering how rosy it's outlook is already, and the 1.7% chance of a Holmgren-Wembanyama frontcourt could create the potential for one of the most intriguing pairings we've seen in years. -- Givony
13. Toronto Raptors
With just a 1% chance of winning the lottery and a 4.8% chance of moving up at all, this should be a pretty quiet night for the Raptors. Changes would seem to be coming in Toronto one way or another, but any unexpected lottery result would be a total coup. -- Woo
14. New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans' play-in game loss to Oklahoma City ended a disappointing collapse from being 10 games over .500 in early January to out of the playoffs altogether, a process that started with the season-ending injury suffered by 2019 No. 1 pick Zion Williamson that same week. The Pelicans' 2.4% chance of moving into the top four would be the unlikeliest scenario we've seen in NBA draft lottery history since Charlotte in 1999, which rose from drafting at No. 13 to No. 3 despite having just a 1.83% chance of moving up. In all likelihood, the Pelicans will need to nail their late lottery pick and find improvement internally, starting with hoping Williamson's 114 career NBA game tally rises dramatically next season. -- Givony
On Tuesday night, the winner of the 2023 NBA draft lottery -- the most anticipated lottery since 2003 -- will leave Chicago with the No. 1 pick and the opportunity to select Victor Wembanyama on June 22.
The Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs are tied with the best odds to land the top pick and all three teams could benefit from inserting the 7-foot-5 Wembanyama into their starting lineups. While there should be little suspense with the top pick, the draft will be immediately intriguing starting at No. 2. Alabama's Brandon Miller and G League Ignite's Scoot Henderson have been projected as the No. 2 pick this draft season, and Overtime Elite twins Amen and Ausar Thompson could be in consideration depending on team need.
Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo break down how the NBA lottery works, why Wembanyama is a lock to go No. 1 overall and what's at stake for the teams participating in Tuesday's festivities.
How does the NBA lottery work?
The league utilizes a complex lottery system that involves drawing numbered ping-pong balls, with every possible combination of those digits assigned to a specific team. The actual drawing takes place in closed quarters, where numbers are drawn in order to determine the first four spots in the draft.
The three teams with the worst records are all assigned a 14% chance to win the lottery, and all have a 52.1% chance of selecting in the top four in any scenario. Due to the fact only the top four spots are up for grabs, the team with the worst record (Detroit) can fall no further than fifth in a worst-case scenario, the second-worst team no further than sixth and so on. The further down the list you go, the worse odds teams have to move up in the lottery.
Below is a table that breaks down the probability of all 14 teams winning the lottery:
By the time the lottery order is revealed publicly, the numbers have already been drawn and team representatives -- who are secluded in a back room with a group of media members and league personnel until the results are known to everyone -- know the outcome.
Since the NBA changed the lottery system in 2019 -- designed to better balance the odds to disincentivize tanking -- one of the teams with top chances has won three of four times, the exception coming in 2019, when the New Orleans Pelicans jumped six spots (and the Memphis Grizzlies and Atlanta Hawks also made big jumps into the top four). Since then, things have been a bit chalkier, which either means the Pistons, Spurs and Rockets should feel great about their chances -- or maybe, we're due for another surprising outcome. -- Woo
How to watch the 2023 NBA draft lottery
Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Why Victor Wembanyama is a lock to go No. 1
Wembanyama has been the presumptive favorite to be the No. 1 pick since he first emerged as a can't-miss prospect at the FIBA U16 European Championship in 2019, but has only widened the gap between him and the field since the start of the season.
He blew the doors off the basketball world last October with an incredible two-game performance in Las Vegas against G League Ignite, scoring 36 and 37 points, respectively, and showcasing his exceptional shot-making prowess, ability to create offense for himself and teammates, game-changing defensive presence and feel for the game, which indicates how seamlessly his game will translate to the NBA.
He's in the midst of an MVP-caliber campaign guiding his Metropolitans 92 team to the second-best record in France while leading the league in points, rebounds and blocks, something we've never seen from a 19-year-old at this level of competition. Perhaps most impressively, he hasn't missed a game all year, alleviating many concerns about how his 7-foot-5 frame will hold up long-term.
Wembanyama's mobility, length, instincts and anticipation skills will make him a formidable presence defensively from day one patrolling the paint and covering ground on the perimeter, while his versatile skill level inside and outside the arc gives him huge mismatch potential offensively. He still has considerable room to improve as his lanky frame evolves but has made significant improvement there as well. The work ethic, competitiveness and intelligence he shows on both ends of the floor, combined with his supernatural physical tools and talent, gives him a chance to become an MVP candidate and possibly one of the best players we've seen in this generation long-term. -- Givony
What's at stake for every lottery team?
1. Detroit Pistons
The Pistons have anchored their rebuild to a pair of perimeter building blocks in Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey. After multiple seasons of sustained losing, Detroit feels some urgency to turn this around -- there's no better pathway than cashing in on lottery night and walking away with the chance to draft Wembanyama. If Detroit winds up drafting second, third or drops even further, it will be thrust into a complicated spot where no available prospect directly solves its issues. This is a pretty massive juncture to take a step forward. -- Woo
2. Houston Rockets
The Rockets can thank the Pistons for helping them avoid the dubious distinction of finishing with the NBA's worst record for a third straight season. After winning just 23% of their games since 2020, there's seemingly nowhere to go but up in Houston. With their 2024 first-rounder owed to Oklahoma City (top-four protected), the Rockets are hoping to pivot back to respectability armed with ample cap room and what they hope is a very high draft pick to help compensate for the misery their fan base has endured lately. Wembanyama, Scoot Henderson or Brandon Miller would likely be immediate starters and difference makers for Houston, but falling outside of the top three -- there's a 60% chance of that occurring -- would be extremely painful. -- Givony
3. San Antonio Spurs
San Antonio continues to search for a star player who can legitimately alter the franchise's trajectory. Wembanyama would be that. Henderson would also be a nice fit here. The Spurs have assembled a talented young core, headlined by last year's lottery pick, Jeremy Sochan. Even if they manage a big swing elsewhere in the draft, dropping back from No. 3 perpetuates their rebuilding process somewhat indefinitely into the future, which would be a tough break for one of the NBA's most historically successful organizations. -- Woo
4. Charlotte Hornets
The Hornets have been one of the NBA's most rudderless teams dating back to their inception in 1988, failing to make the playoffs since 2016 and not advancing a round in more than 20 years. Shockingly, the team has had just one top-three pick in the past decade (LaMelo Ball in 2020), and doesn't otherwise have much to show for all the losing they've endured with a roster that looks extremely thin on talent outside of the passing magician Ball. That makes Tuesday's drawing all the more important as it gives the team an opportunity to cycle out of the mediocrity that's become the norm in Charlotte. -- Givony
5. Portland Trail Blazers
A late-season slide in the standings positioned the Blazers with top-five lottery odds, creating a pivotal moment for the organization. Portland has been trying to thread the needle between developing talent and winning games with Damian Lillard, but it's roster continues to skew younger. This has begun to look like a situation that could trend toward a full rebuild if the Blazers do decide to deal their longtime franchise player. Landing Wembanyama would be a cure-all; any other result might create even more incentive to go all-in on rebuilding around Shaedon Sharpe, Anfernee Simons and this year's draft pick. -- Woo
6. Orlando Magic
The Magic pivoted quickly from consecutive playoff appearances in 2019 and 2020 to assembling one of the league's most impressive troves of young talent in the span of a few years. The front office is hoping this is their last trip to the top of the draft order for some time, so bucking the odds and coming away with a top-four pick (there's just a 37% chance) would be a huge shot in the arm for their rebuilding process. The roster doesn't have nearly as many holes as other teams in this range, which means the team can go in a number of different directions depending on where they ultimately land. -- Givony
7. Indiana Pacers
The idea of a Wembanyama-Tyrese Haliburton pairing is certainly alluring, but the Pacers need quite a bit of help for that to manifest. Indiana has put itself in a good position to be competitive moving forward, and a bit of lottery fortune could help it land another foundational piece. If not, the Pacers can still grab another nice young player, and have a clear need to upgrade the forward spots now that center Myles Turner is on a new contract. A bit of luck could turn Indiana into one of the most promising young teams in the league. -- Woo
8. Washington Wizards
The Wizards go into lottery night without a lead decision-maker after dismissing general manager Tommy Sheppard. Ownership will be hoping this job becomes significantly more attractive with the 29% chance they move into the top four, which will likely help decide what direction the franchise will go in terms of a full-blown rebuild. Either way, there's a significant amount of work to do with the roster. The first order of business: deciding what to do with the impending free agency situations of 20-plus points per game scorers Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle Kuzma, as well as three-time All-Star Bradley Beal, who is under contract long-term but turns 30 next month. -- Givony
9. Utah Jazz
Despite a hot start to the season, the Jazz wound up in the lottery after backsliding in March and April, and are loaded with future draft picks from Minnesota following the Rudy Gobert trade. Utah is in a position to take some big swings, with Lauri Markannen having emerged and 21-year-old Walker Kessler now entrenched as it's starting center, but the rest of the roster lacks franchise-changing upside. Utah doesn't need a top-four pick to keep this pointed in a good direction, but it certainly wouldn't hurt. -- Woo
10. Dallas Mavericks
With their first-round pick owed to the New York Knicks if it fell to 11th or later, the Mavericks elected to tank the final games of the season to try to ensure their spot in the top 10, a move that earned the team a $750,000 fine from the NBA. We'll find out Tuesday if it was worth it, as there's still a 20% chance a team could leapfrog them and push their pick down one spot, which would mean it still gets conveyed to the Knicks in an all-time face-palm moment by NBA standards. The counter to that is the 14% chance the Mavs do move up, something that would be huge for their chances of surrounding Luka Doncic with enough talent to give him content in Dallas long-term. -- Givony
11. Chicago Bulls
The Bulls will convey the 11th pick to the Magic unless it leaps into the top four, which means they only have an 8.5% chance of keeping it. So, naturally, a surprise result would be seismic for Chicago, which has seen its veteran trio of Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic start to hit its ceiling, and could use an infusion of young talent to help chart a new course. None of this is likely, but moving up anywhere in the top four would be a gigantic win. -- Woo
12. Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder are in the most enviable situation of any NBA team projecting long-term, with a huge stockpile of picks to go along with a tantalizing amount of young talent (not to mention the return of Chet Holmgren next season). The 8.1% chance of OKC moving into the top four has to be downright frightening for the rest of the Western Conference considering how rosy it's outlook is already, and the 1.7% chance of a Holmgren-Wembanyama frontcourt could create the potential for one of the most intriguing pairings we've seen in years. -- Givony
13. Toronto Raptors
With just a 1% chance of winning the lottery and a 4.8% chance of moving up at all, this should be a pretty quiet night for the Raptors. Changes would seem to be coming in Toronto one way or another, but any unexpected lottery result would be a total coup. -- Woo
14. New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans' play-in game loss to Oklahoma City ended a disappointing collapse from being 10 games over .500 in early January to out of the playoffs altogether, a process that started with the season-ending injury suffered by 2019 No. 1 pick Zion Williamson that same week. The Pelicans' 2.4% chance of moving into the top four would be the unlikeliest scenario we've seen in NBA draft lottery history since Charlotte in 1999, which rose from drafting at No. 13 to No. 3 despite having just a 1.83% chance of moving up. In all likelihood, the Pelicans will need to nail their late lottery pick and find improvement internally, starting with hoping Williamson's 114 career NBA game tally rises dramatically next season. -- Givony
- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,288
- 130,034
Victor Wembanyama, No. 15, has been preparing for the NBA for a decade. Bouna Ndiaye, Wembanyama's Dallas-based agent, says they've been trying to prepare him "for this type of attention, because if he's No. 1 pick ... it's not going to be easy." Courtesy Nanterre 92
- Jan 27, 2013
- 14,835
- 26,246
Thank you!!!NBA draft lottery: What's at stake in Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes
On Tuesday night, the winner of the 2023 NBA draft lottery -- the most anticipated lottery since 2003 -- will leave Chicago with the No. 1 pick and the opportunity to select Victor Wembanyama on June 22.
The Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs are tied with the best odds to land the top pick and all three teams could benefit from inserting the 7-foot-5 Wembanyama into their starting lineups. While there should be little suspense with the top pick, the draft will be immediately intriguing starting at No. 2. Alabama's Brandon Miller and G League Ignite's Scoot Henderson have been projected as the No. 2 pick this draft season, and Overtime Elite twins Amen and Ausar Thompson could be in consideration depending on team need.
Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo break down how the NBA lottery works, why Wembanyama is a lock to go No. 1 overall and what's at stake for the teams participating in Tuesday's festivities.
How does the NBA lottery work?
The league utilizes a complex lottery system that involves drawing numbered ping-pong balls, with every possible combination of those digits assigned to a specific team. The actual drawing takes place in closed quarters, where numbers are drawn in order to determine the first four spots in the draft.
The three teams with the worst records are all assigned a 14% chance to win the lottery, and all have a 52.1% chance of selecting in the top four in any scenario. Due to the fact only the top four spots are up for grabs, the team with the worst record (Detroit) can fall no further than fifth in a worst-case scenario, the second-worst team no further than sixth and so on. The further down the list you go, the worse odds teams have to move up in the lottery.
Below is a table that breaks down the probability of all 14 teams winning the lottery:
By the time the lottery order is revealed publicly, the numbers have already been drawn and team representatives -- who are secluded in a back room with a group of media members and league personnel until the results are known to everyone -- know the outcome.
Since the NBA changed the lottery system in 2019 -- designed to better balance the odds to disincentivize tanking -- one of the teams with top chances has won three of four times, the exception coming in 2019, when the New Orleans Pelicans jumped six spots (and the Memphis Grizzlies and Atlanta Hawks also made big jumps into the top four). Since then, things have been a bit chalkier, which either means the Pistons, Spurs and Rockets should feel great about their chances -- or maybe, we're due for another surprising outcome. -- Woo
How to watch the 2023 NBA draft lottery
Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Why Victor Wembanyama is a lock to go No. 1
Wembanyama has been the presumptive favorite to be the No. 1 pick since he first emerged as a can't-miss prospect at the FIBA U16 European Championship in 2019, but has only widened the gap between him and the field since the start of the season.
He blew the doors off the basketball world last October with an incredible two-game performance in Las Vegas against G League Ignite, scoring 36 and 37 points, respectively, and showcasing his exceptional shot-making prowess, ability to create offense for himself and teammates, game-changing defensive presence and feel for the game, which indicates how seamlessly his game will translate to the NBA.
He's in the midst of an MVP-caliber campaign guiding his Metropolitans 92 team to the second-best record in France while leading the league in points, rebounds and blocks, something we've never seen from a 19-year-old at this level of competition. Perhaps most impressively, he hasn't missed a game all year, alleviating many concerns about how his 7-foot-5 frame will hold up long-term.
Wembanyama's mobility, length, instincts and anticipation skills will make him a formidable presence defensively from day one patrolling the paint and covering ground on the perimeter, while his versatile skill level inside and outside the arc gives him huge mismatch potential offensively. He still has considerable room to improve as his lanky frame evolves but has made significant improvement there as well. The work ethic, competitiveness and intelligence he shows on both ends of the floor, combined with his supernatural physical tools and talent, gives him a chance to become an MVP candidate and possibly one of the best players we've seen in this generation long-term. -- Givony
What's at stake for every lottery team?
1. Detroit Pistons
The Pistons have anchored their rebuild to a pair of perimeter building blocks in Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey. After multiple seasons of sustained losing, Detroit feels some urgency to turn this around -- there's no better pathway than cashing in on lottery night and walking away with the chance to draft Wembanyama. If Detroit winds up drafting second, third or drops even further, it will be thrust into a complicated spot where no available prospect directly solves its issues. This is a pretty massive juncture to take a step forward. -- Woo
2. Houston Rockets
The Rockets can thank the Pistons for helping them avoid the dubious distinction of finishing with the NBA's worst record for a third straight season. After winning just 23% of their games since 2020, there's seemingly nowhere to go but up in Houston. With their 2024 first-rounder owed to Oklahoma City (top-four protected), the Rockets are hoping to pivot back to respectability armed with ample cap room and what they hope is a very high draft pick to help compensate for the misery their fan base has endured lately. Wembanyama, Scoot Henderson or Brandon Miller would likely be immediate starters and difference makers for Houston, but falling outside of the top three -- there's a 60% chance of that occurring -- would be extremely painful. -- Givony
3. San Antonio Spurs
San Antonio continues to search for a star player who can legitimately alter the franchise's trajectory. Wembanyama would be that. Henderson would also be a nice fit here. The Spurs have assembled a talented young core, headlined by last year's lottery pick, Jeremy Sochan. Even if they manage a big swing elsewhere in the draft, dropping back from No. 3 perpetuates their rebuilding process somewhat indefinitely into the future, which would be a tough break for one of the NBA's most historically successful organizations. -- Woo
4. Charlotte Hornets
The Hornets have been one of the NBA's most rudderless teams dating back to their inception in 1988, failing to make the playoffs since 2016 and not advancing a round in more than 20 years. Shockingly, the team has had just one top-three pick in the past decade (LaMelo Ball in 2020), and doesn't otherwise have much to show for all the losing they've endured with a roster that looks extremely thin on talent outside of the passing magician Ball. That makes Tuesday's drawing all the more important as it gives the team an opportunity to cycle out of the mediocrity that's become the norm in Charlotte. -- Givony
5. Portland Trail Blazers
A late-season slide in the standings positioned the Blazers with top-five lottery odds, creating a pivotal moment for the organization. Portland has been trying to thread the needle between developing talent and winning games with Damian Lillard, but it's roster continues to skew younger. This has begun to look like a situation that could trend toward a full rebuild if the Blazers do decide to deal their longtime franchise player. Landing Wembanyama would be a cure-all; any other result might create even more incentive to go all-in on rebuilding around Shaedon Sharpe, Anfernee Simons and this year's draft pick. -- Woo
6. Orlando Magic
The Magic pivoted quickly from consecutive playoff appearances in 2019 and 2020 to assembling one of the league's most impressive troves of young talent in the span of a few years. The front office is hoping this is their last trip to the top of the draft order for some time, so bucking the odds and coming away with a top-four pick (there's just a 37% chance) would be a huge shot in the arm for their rebuilding process. The roster doesn't have nearly as many holes as other teams in this range, which means the team can go in a number of different directions depending on where they ultimately land. -- Givony
7. Indiana Pacers
The idea of a Wembanyama-Tyrese Haliburton pairing is certainly alluring, but the Pacers need quite a bit of help for that to manifest. Indiana has put itself in a good position to be competitive moving forward, and a bit of lottery fortune could help it land another foundational piece. If not, the Pacers can still grab another nice young player, and have a clear need to upgrade the forward spots now that center Myles Turner is on a new contract. A bit of luck could turn Indiana into one of the most promising young teams in the league. -- Woo
8. Washington Wizards
The Wizards go into lottery night without a lead decision-maker after dismissing general manager Tommy Sheppard. Ownership will be hoping this job becomes significantly more attractive with the 29% chance they move into the top four, which will likely help decide what direction the franchise will go in terms of a full-blown rebuild. Either way, there's a significant amount of work to do with the roster. The first order of business: deciding what to do with the impending free agency situations of 20-plus points per game scorers Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle Kuzma, as well as three-time All-Star Bradley Beal, who is under contract long-term but turns 30 next month. -- Givony
9. Utah Jazz
Despite a hot start to the season, the Jazz wound up in the lottery after backsliding in March and April, and are loaded with future draft picks from Minnesota following the Rudy Gobert trade. Utah is in a position to take some big swings, with Lauri Markannen having emerged and 21-year-old Walker Kessler now entrenched as it's starting center, but the rest of the roster lacks franchise-changing upside. Utah doesn't need a top-four pick to keep this pointed in a good direction, but it certainly wouldn't hurt. -- Woo
10. Dallas Mavericks
With their first-round pick owed to the New York Knicks if it fell to 11th or later, the Mavericks elected to tank the final games of the season to try to ensure their spot in the top 10, a move that earned the team a $750,000 fine from the NBA. We'll find out Tuesday if it was worth it, as there's still a 20% chance a team could leapfrog them and push their pick down one spot, which would mean it still gets conveyed to the Knicks in an all-time face-palm moment by NBA standards. The counter to that is the 14% chance the Mavs do move up, something that would be huge for their chances of surrounding Luka Doncic with enough talent to give him content in Dallas long-term. -- Givony
11. Chicago Bulls
The Bulls will convey the 11th pick to the Magic unless it leaps into the top four, which means they only have an 8.5% chance of keeping it. So, naturally, a surprise result would be seismic for Chicago, which has seen its veteran trio of Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic start to hit its ceiling, and could use an infusion of young talent to help chart a new course. None of this is likely, but moving up anywhere in the top four would be a gigantic win. -- Woo
12. Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder are in the most enviable situation of any NBA team projecting long-term, with a huge stockpile of picks to go along with a tantalizing amount of young talent (not to mention the return of Chet Holmgren next season). The 8.1% chance of OKC moving into the top four has to be downright frightening for the rest of the Western Conference considering how rosy it's outlook is already, and the 1.7% chance of a Holmgren-Wembanyama frontcourt could create the potential for one of the most intriguing pairings we've seen in years. -- Givony
13. Toronto Raptors
With just a 1% chance of winning the lottery and a 4.8% chance of moving up at all, this should be a pretty quiet night for the Raptors. Changes would seem to be coming in Toronto one way or another, but any unexpected lottery result would be a total coup. -- Woo
14. New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans' play-in game loss to Oklahoma City ended a disappointing collapse from being 10 games over .500 in early January to out of the playoffs altogether, a process that started with the season-ending injury suffered by 2019 No. 1 pick Zion Williamson that same week. The Pelicans' 2.4% chance of moving into the top four would be the unlikeliest scenario we've seen in NBA draft lottery history since Charlotte in 1999, which rose from drafting at No. 13 to No. 3 despite having just a 1.83% chance of moving up. In all likelihood, the Pelicans will need to nail their late lottery pick and find improvement internally, starting with hoping Williamson's 114 career NBA game tally rises dramatically next season. -- Givony
- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,288
- 130,034
Got a promise?
- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,288
- 130,034
- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,288
- 130,034
- Sep 18, 2003
- 61,939
- 134,382
- Feb 23, 2013
- 13,969
- 25,312
- Jul 13, 2005
- 35,421
- 27,033
20/25 is impressive
- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,288
- 130,034
- Apr 5, 2008
- 39,612
- 80,277
time to go 1st round is what it’s called
- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,288
- 130,034
- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,288
- 130,034
- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,288
- 130,034
Scrimmages are on Wednesday and Thursday.
- Feb 23, 2013
- 13,969
- 25,312
- Dec 9, 2009
- 7,580
- 4,851
May the Wizards win the Wembanyama sweepstakes
