NBA Draft Articles - Page 45

The rebuild is well ahead of schedule in Salt Lake City. After trading away franchise cornerstones Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert before the start of the season, a surprisingly resilient Utah Jazz team led by rookie coach Will Hardy finished the year 37-45. Finnish big man Lauri Markkanen led the team with 25.6 points per […]

The Houston Rockets could drastically enhance their team during the 2023 NBA Draft. Houston owns the No. 4 and No. 20 overall picks, and the Rockets are looking to find a stable future star at No. 4 overall while finding a sleeper at No. 20 in the first round. Amen Thompson is expected to be […]

There is exactly one month until the 2023 NBA Draft, and many draft prospects put their skills to the test in last week’s NBA Draft Combine in Chicago. With hundreds of scouts, league executives, coaches and others in attendance, players displayed their shooting skills, strength and agility, as well as who they are as a […]

The San Antonio Spurs seem to have struck gold by winning the NBA Lottery, and having the chance to draft Victor Wembanyama No. 1 overall in the upcoming NBA Draft. Former college basketball player DeVante Jones has been his teammate, and his description of Wembanyama’s work ethic will have Spurs fans even more excited. “We […]

Like Tony Soprano, the Houston Rockets are on the precipice of an enormous crossroads heading into the 2023 NBA Draft. After three years of egregious tanking, they’ve established a solid base layer of young talent. Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Sengun, Tari Eason, Kevin Porter Jr.: all good players. Similarly, new head coach Ime […]

The Brooklyn Nets hold two first-round picks in this year’s NBA Draft, their own at 21st overall and the Phoenix Suns’ at 22nd. This is not unfamiliar territory for general manager Sean Marks, who held multiple first-round picks outside the lottery entering the 2017 and 2019 drafts. Marks traded one of his picks ahead of […]

The Oklahoma City Thunder appear to be on the path of rapid ascent. They entered the 2022-23 season to little fanfare, as pundits expected more of the same from them — 20+ wins, yet another lost season in the hopes of entering the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes. But here they are, in May 2023, having arrived […]

The Philadelphia 76ers have a busy offseason ahead of them. Most of their key decisions will come with their head coaching hire, in free agency and the trade market but they can still add to their team in the 2023 NBA Draft. Already, the Sixers’ front office is familiarizing itself with the prospects of this […]

Will the Indiana Pacers continue to build upon their bright young core with a solid selection in the 2023 NBA Draft? The Pacers selected guard Bennedict Mathurin, guard Chris Duarte and center Goga Bitadze with their first-round picks in 2022, 2021 and 2019, respectively. Duarte played in 46 games and started in 12 last season, […]

The Indiana Pacers is one youthful team that surprised a ton of NBA fans at the early juncture of the season. They were competing for a Top 6 spot in the Eastern Conference, with Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner and Buddy Hield leading the way. As reality kicks in, however, it was made clear they needed […]

What is already expected to be a very interesting offseason for the Chicago Bulls is about to get even more intriguing. This is after reports emerged that the Bulls intend to attend Scoot Henderson’s pro day ahead of the NBA Draft. What makes this noteworthy is that this could be a clear indication of Chicago’s […]

The last time the San Antonio Spurs picked first overall in the NBA Draft was in 1997. They used that pick to select Wake Forest University standout Tim Duncan, who later on became one of the greatest power forwards of all time. The Spurs are the proud owners of the No. 1 overall pick yet […]

The Toronto Raptors may have earned the 13th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be picking there. Typically, a team that gets a lottery selection uses that pick to actually select a player they want. However, Toronto is in a unique position due to their current situation. They have […]

The Washington Wizards are in NBA purgatory as a team good enough to extend their season to the playoffs but without enough talent to ensure that they do. Until the Wizards solidify their status as a playoff team, the idea of reaching the NBA Finals is merely a pipe dream. That’s even if All-Star guard […]

The Portland Trail Blazers are in an interesting spot this offseason. The biggest question surrounding the franchise at the moment remains, “can they build a contending team around Damian Lillard?” The past few years haven’t exactly gone according to plan for Lillard and the Blazers. For the past two years, the Blazers essentially gave up […]

The Portland Trail Blazers came into the NBA Draft lottery with extremely high hopes. Despite having just a 10.5% chance to win the No. 1 overall pick, the Blazers remained optimistic that they would earn the right to draft French phenom Victor Wembanyama in the upcoming draft. Instead, Portland had to settle for the No. […]

San Antonio Spurs fans have been rejoicing since they won the NBA Draft lottery earlier this week. Lady Luck was smiling on them on that fateful evening and they now have earned the right to draft top prospect Victor Wembanyama as the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. Not so fast, though. […]

The Utah Jazz have a long and rich history. So them being on the fringes of playoff contention, let alone out of the postseason altogether, is all but an anomaly. Of course, every team will have their stretches where they’re not as dominant as they once were but for the Jazz, these seasons have been […]

With the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery now a thing of the past, we know the Utah Jazz draft will start with the No. 9 pick in the first round. The franchise did a great job starting its rebuild with the Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert trades. Now they need to start turning all those picks […]

Will the Washington Wizards be able to fight their way into a potential playoff spot next season? The Wizards finished their 2022-23 campaign with a 35-47 record in their second year under head coach Wes Unseld. It was the same record they finished with the year before. Guard Bradley Beal and forward Kristaps Porziņģis led […]

The NBA Draft Lottery made headlines in Chicago this week with the San Antonio Spurs coming away with the first overall pick, but another important event took place in the city with the NBA Draft Combine 2023 at Wintrust Arena. With the 2023 NBA Draft less than five weeks away now, all 30 teams around the […]

With the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery in the books, we now know the Detroit Pistons draft will start with the No. 5 pick in the first round. With one of the best chances to win the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes, sliding all the way down to No. 5 is disappointing. However, the Pistons can’t wallow in […]

Kentucky basketball’s Cason Wallace is an interesting NBA Draft prospect. He features no shortage of potential, but offers a defensive-first type of game. As a result, there’s a chance he could just be a role player in the NBA, or he may emerge as a dual-threat superstar with offensive prowess to compliment his superb defense. […]

All aboard the Victor Wembanyama hype train! The French superstar is among the best prospects the NBA Draft has ever seen. The hype around him has many fans asking the question: Is he a better prospect than LeBron James? A former teammate of LeBron James, Richard Jefferson, weighs in on this debate on SiriusXM NBA […]

Scoot Henderson’s goodness–his greatness, even—is undeniable. Despite being just 6’2, his supreme athleticism and canny court-sense make him the most alluring guard prospect since Kyrie Irving in 2013. Having spent the last two seasons with the G League Ignite, Henderson is already fluent in the spacing and tempo of the NBA game; he’s internalized the […]

Lady Luck did not like the Toronto Raptors during the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery. Granted, they didn’t really have good odds to get to the top four. Still, Toronto fans would’ve wanted some luck to go their way to help their situation out. Unfortunately, they didn’t get their wish. Still, a 13th overall pick is […]

Team executives, scouts, coaches, general managers and others from around the NBA made their yearly expedition to Chicago this past week to not only attend the NBA Draft Combine, but to see who would be awarded the first overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. This year’s NBA Draft Lottery was the most anticipated draft […]

After the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery, we now know the Orlando Magic draft will include the Nos. 6 and 11 picks in the first round. The second first-round selection is courtesy of the Chicago Bulls via the Nikola Vucevic trade. With that second pick, the Magic have the chance to get a real difference-maker at […]

After advancing to the play-in tournament in the past two seasons, the Charlotte Hornets had a horrific 2022-23 campaign, thus opening up a massive opportunity to select a top-tier pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. Victor Wembanyama has been discussed as one of the best NBA prospects ever, so every organization has been vying for […]

The Detroit Pistons’ luck in the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery could not have gone any worse. They had a 52.1 percent chance to at least make the top four after a dispiriting 17-win season, but here they are drafting outside the top four and essentially taking them out of the conversation for Brandon Miller. It […]

Luka Doncic may be under contract until at least the end of the 2025-26 season, but the Dallas Mavericks are not taking any chances. After all, having one of the ten-best (or perhaps even five-best) players in the entire association and then proceeding to miss even the play-in tournament isn’t ideal at all. Thus, trades […]

The NBA Draft is always an exciting time, both for teams looking to land the next big thing in basketball and for youngsters who want to make a name for themselves by proving that they belong on the biggest stage. Even with 29 other teams missing out on Victor Wembanyama, the most hyped up prospect […]

The Houston Rockets should have an exciting summer. Armed with the No. 4 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, the Rockets will choose from an assortment of lottery picks with star potential. Overtime Elite guard Amen Thompson, an explosive athlete and intuitive playmakers that didn’t play against an ideal level of competition heading into the […]

After the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery, we now know the Orlando Magic will have the Nos. 6 and 11 picks in the first round. The team finished with the sixth-worst record in the NBA last season, and that’s where they stayed in the lottery. With that first pick, the Magic have the chance to get […]

The New Orleans Pelicans had a disappointing end to the 2022-2023 campaign after such a promising start. At one point towards the middle of the season, the Pelicans were first in the Western Conference and looking like serious title contenders. It all went downhill when a pulled hamstring sidelined Zion Williamson, a serious enough injury […]

The Orlando Magic have plenty of decisions to make leading up to the 2023 NBA Draft. Thanks to the Nikola Vucevic trade in 2021, the Magic have two lottery picks to work with, their own at No. 6 and the Chicago Bulls’ at No. 11. Now the question is, how they will use these picks? […]

There isn’t the usual amount of excitement among the Charlotte Hornets fan base after the team landed the No. 2 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. Perhaps it’s because, like every other team that had a legitimate shot at winning the No. 1 overall pick and the chance to draft Metropolitans 92 power forward Victor […]

The Dallas Mavericks had a very disappointing 2022-2023 NBA season. They made it to the Western Conference Finals in 2022, and followed up that effort by missing the 2023 NBA Playoffs after falling short of the 2023 NBA Play-In Tournament. With the offseason fully underway in Dallas, the Mavs find themselves with two priorities. The […]

Now that the NBA Draft Lottery is in the books, we know the official order of the 2023 NBA Draft. The San Antonio Spurs were the big winners of the event, receiving the No. 1 overall pick and the right to draft generational talent Victor Wembanyama. While the French phenom has stolen most of the […]