Spurs select French phenom Victor Wembanyama 1st overall in NBA draft
Raptors take Gradey Dick of Kansas at No. 13; Montreal's Prosper drafted 24th overall
Victor Wembanyama was the presumed No. 1 pick for months, the rare certainty in an NBA draft process that's often a guessing game.
Yet as the clock above the stage he was facing ticked all the way down to zero, butterflies set in.
"Longest five minutes of my life," Wembanyama said.
The San Antonio Spurs are confident he will be worth the wait.
The Spurs took the 19-year-old from France who arrives with enormous expectations to become basketball's newest sensation on Thursday night, triggering chants of "Wemby! Wemby" from a group of Spurs fans waving signs from the first row of seats in Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
WATCH | Victor Wembanyama drafted 1st overall by Spurs:
Wembanyama comes with far more height and hype than most No. 1 picks. Listed at 7-foot-4, he dominated his French league in his final season there, leading all players in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots.
He teared up as he left the stage with his Spurs cap on and hugged his siblings, then joked afterward about how quickly he was handed a white-and-black No. 1 jersey with his name already on the back.
"Someone knew this was happening somehow," he said.
Just about everyone did.
Wembanyama was the centre of attention throughout the draft process and sat in the middle of the green room — for the short time he was there, anyway. He smiled for young fans who screamed "Victor!" as he walked around the arena, even encouraging one to throw him a basketball that he signed and tossed back up into the stands.
Take a look at the complete draft board for the 1st round of the 2023 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBADraft?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBADraft</a> presented by State Farm!<br><br>Visit the Draft Hub for more news and info: <a href="https://t.co/lgf4TJzSnP">https://t.co/lgf4TJzSnP</a> <a href="https://t.co/4U1ltfDhQW">pic.twitter.com/4U1ltfDhQW</a>
—@NBAWembanyama is the Spurs' third No. 1 pick and the first since Tim Duncan in 1997, which led to a stretch of five NBA championships through 2014 before they struggled in recent seasons.
He became the first international player drafted No. 1 without playing any college basketball since Andrea Bargnani in 2006 and ended a run of 13 straight years where a college freshman went first. Blake Griffin, a sophomore in 2010, was the last No. 1 who wasn't a one-and-done.
Raptors select Gradey Dick
Gradey Dick of Kansas, whose dazzling red jacket resembled Dorothy's shoes from "The Wizard of Oz," went to the Toronto Raptors with the No. 13 pick.
The six-foot-eight, 205-pound guard averaged 14.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game in his lone season with the Jayhawks.
He also shot 40.3 per cent from three-point range, a sore spot for the Raptors in 2022-2023.
Gradey Dick is selected 13th overall by the <a href="https://twitter.com/Raptors?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Raptors</a> in the 2023 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBADraft?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBADraft</a> presented by State Farm!<br><br>Watch on ABC & ESPN. <a href="https://t.co/XryHzmQGLB">pic.twitter.com/XryHzmQGLB</a>
—@NBAThe 19-year-old aims to make an instant impact for his new team.
"I think the biggest thing that I can really provide and my biggest goal coming into this is making an instant impact early," Dick told reporters in Toronto over Zoom. "Coming into a team, especially like Toronto, and bring that shooting ability, the thing I take pride in the most.
"I actually just got off FaceTime with Scottie [Barnes] and a player like him where he could kind of do a lot of different things versatile-wise, bringing a combo like that and the things that I do."
It is the third time Toronto has had a lottery selection in the past decade. The Raptors finished 41-41 this past season, having missed the playoffs for the second time in four years after falling in the play-in tournament to the Chicago Bulls.
It was also the Raptors' lone pick of the draft. Toronto traded its second-round pick in the deal that brought centre Jakob Poeltl over from San Antonio at the trade deadline in February.
Canadians Prosper, Miller also drafted
Canadians Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Leonard Miller also heard their names called at the draft on Thursday.
The Sacramento Kings selected Prosper 24th overall and Leonard went 33rd to the San Antonio Spurs.
However, both players will suit up for different teams than the ones that drafted them.
Prosper was traded to the Dallas Mavericks and Leonard is heading to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
WATCH | Olivier-Maxence Prosper selected 24th overall:
Prosper, 20, entered the draft after completing his junior season with the Marquette Golden Eagles.
Miller, a 19-year-old from Toronto, averaged 18 points and 11 rebounds playing for the NBA G League Ignite team, a developmental program for elite prospects in the NBA's minor league.
Four Canadians were picked in the draft last year.
WATCH | Leonard Miller might be most intriguing 2023 NBA Draft prospect:
The Charlotte Hornets took Alabama freshman forward Brandon Miller with the No. 2 pick.
Scoot Henderson of the G League Ignite, whose bling-filled jacket stood in sharp contrast to Wembanyama's solid green look, was the No. 3 pick by the Portland Trail Blazers.
Henderson was originally considered the likely No. 2 pick before Miller passed him after his outstanding season for the Crimson Tide. But the 19-year-old believes the two years he played in the NBA's minor league has him more ready for NBA success.
"I'm the most prepared player in the draft. That's what I say," Henderson said. "The fact that I went there for two years just taught me so much. On the court, as well, but a lot of things off the court."
Thompson twins make history
Draft history was made with the Nos. 4 and 5 picks. Twins Amen and Ausar Thompson of Overtime Elite became the first brothers to be selected in the top 10 of the same draft, with Amen going to the Houston Rockets and Ausar following to the Detroit Pistons.
"Means a lot to my family," Amen Thompson said. "We were going to be happy whoever went first. For us to go back-to-back, be the first twins to go back-to-back in the top five means a lot."
Proud mom of the Thompson Twins! ♥️ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBADraft?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBADraft</a> presented by State Farm NEXT on ABC & ESPN <a href="https://t.co/CVnwv14bzu">pic.twitter.com/CVnwv14bzu</a>
—@NBAAnthony Black of Arkansas was taken sixth by Orlando, ending the run of three straight players who hadn't gone to college. But then it was right back to the international ranks when Indiana picked Bilal Coulibaly, Wembanyama's teammate with Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92 whose stock soared in the post-season as the team reached the finals in the Pro A League.
The Pacers dealt Coulibaly's rights to Washington for Houston forward Jarace Walker, who was taken at No. 8.
The Nos. 10 and 12 picks were also swapped, with the Mavericks taking Kentucky guard Cason Wallace and dealing his rights to the Oklahoma City Thunder, who had taken Duke big man Dereck Lively II.
Jordan Hawkins of national champion UConn was taken by New Orleans to end the lottery.
The surprise of the first round was Villanova forward Cam Whitmore, projected to be a top-10 pick, falling to the Rockets at No. 20. Nick Smith Jr. of Arkansas went to Charlotte at No. 27 after being considered a lottery selection.
The Miami Heat, who lost in the NBA Finals, took UCLA's Jaime Jaquez Jr. at No. 18.
Familiar names in the second round included UCLA's Amari Bailey to Charlotte at No. 41, Emoni Bates of Eastern Michigan to Cleveland at No. 49 and Isaiah Wong of Miami to Indiana at No. 55.
The draft was shortened to 58 picks because Chicago and Philadelphia forfeited second-round selections for violating league rules with the timing of their free agency discussions.
With files from The Canadian Press and CBC Sports
