Spurs pick French phenom Victor Wembanyama first overall in NBA draft

Victor Wembanyama was the presumptive No. 1 pick for months, the rare certainty in an NBA draft process that is often a game of chance.

But as the clock above the stage he was watching ticked all the way to zero, the butterflies began to appear.

“The longest five minutes of my life,” said Wembanyama.

The San Antonio Spurs are confident he will be worth the wait.

The Spurs brought in the 19-year-old from France, who arrives with huge expectations to become the newest basketball sensation on Thursday night, prompting chants of “Wemby! Wemby” from a group of Spurs fans waving signs from the front row of seats at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

LOOK | Victor Wembanyama took 1st overall by Spurs:

Wembanyama has a lot more height and hype than most No. 1 picks. Standing 2.4 meters tall, he dominated his French league in his final season there, leading all players in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots.

He burst into tears as he left the stage wearing his Spurs cap and hugging his siblings, then joked about how quickly he got a white and black number 1 jersey with his name already on the back.

“Someone knew this was happening one way or another,” he said.

Just about everyone did.

Wembanyama was the center of attention during the design process, sitting in the center of the green room – at least for the short time he was there. He smiled at young fans shouting “Victor!” as he walked around the arena even encouraging someone to throw him a basketball which he drew and threw back into the stands.

Wembanyama is the Spurs’ third No. 1 pick and first since Tim Duncan in 1997, leading to a streak of five NBA championships through 2014 before struggling in recent seasons.

He became the first international player to be drafted No. 1 without playing collegiate basketball since Andrea Bargnani in 2006, ending a streak of 13 consecutive years in which a freshman went first. Blake Griffin, a sophomore in 2010, was the last No. 1 not to be a one-off.

Raptors select Gradey Dick

Kansas’ Gradey Dick, whose dazzling red coat resembled Dorothy’s shoes from “The Wizard of Oz,” went to the Toronto Raptors wearing number 13.

The six-foot-tall, 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 percent from three-point range, a sore spot for the Raptors in 2022-23.

The 19-year-old goalkeeper wants to make an immediate impact for his new team.

“I think the most important thing I can really offer and my biggest goal in this is to make an immediate impact early on,” Dick told reporters in Toronto via Zoom. “Coming into a team, especially like Toronto, and bring that shooting ability, which I’m most proud of.

“I actually just came out of FaceTime with Scottie [Barnes] and a player like him, where he can do a lot of different things versatile, with a combo like that and the things I do.

It is the third time Toronto has had a lottery selection in the past decade. The Raptors finished 41-41 last season, having missed the playoffs for the second time in four years after falling to the Chicago Bulls in the play-in tournament.

It was also the Raptors’ only choice of design. Toronto traded its second-round pick in the deal that transferred center Jakob Poeltl from San Antonio at the trade deadline in February.

Canadians Prosper, Miller also lined up

The Canadians Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Leonard Miller also heard their names in the draft on Thursday.

The Sacramento Kings selected Prosper 24th overall and Leonard went 33rd to the San Antonio Spurs.

However, both players will be suitable for teams other than the ones that drafted them.

Prosper was traded to the Dallas Mavericks and Leonard is going to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

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Montreal’s Olivier-Maxence Prosper placed 24th overall in NBA Draft

Montreal’s Olivier-Maxence Prosper is selected 24th overall in the 2023 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings, but he will join the Dallas Mavericks in a trade.

Prosper, 20, entered the draft after finishing his junior season with the Marquette Golden Eagles.

Miller, a 19-year-old from Toronto, averaged 18 points and 11 rebounds while playing for the NBA G League Ignite team, a development program for elite prospects in the NBA’s minor league.

Four Canadians were selected to the draft last year.

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The Charlotte Hornets brought forward Alabama freshman Brandon Miller with the No. 2 pick.

Scoot Henderson of the G League Ignite, whose bling-filled jacket contrasted sharply with Wembanyama’s solid green look, was the number 3 pick of 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 minor league has left him more primed for NBA success.

“I’m the most prepared player in the draft. That’s what I’m saying,” said Henderson. “Being there for two years just taught me so much. On the pitch too, but a lot of things off it.”

The Thompson twins make history

Draft history was made with the numbers 4 and 5. 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 going to the Detroit Pistons.

“Means a lot to my family,” said Amen Thompson. “We’d be happy who went first. For us to go back-to-back, to be the first twin to be back-to-back in the top five means a lot.”

Arkansas’ Anthony Black was sixth by Orlando, ending the streak of three players in a row who had not attended college. But then it was back in the international ranks when Indiana picked Bilal Coulibaly, Wembanyama’s teammate at Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92 whose postseason stock soared as the team reached the finals in the Pro A League.

The Pacers split Coulibaly’s rights to Washington for Houston forward Jarace Walker, who was hired at number 8.

The numbers 10 and 12 were also traded, with the Mavericks acquiring Kentucky guard Cason Wallace and sharing his rights with 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 finish the lottery.

The surprise of the first round was Villanova forward Cam Whitmore, expected to be a top-10 pick, who fell to the Rockets at number 20. Nick Smith Jr. from Arkansas went to Charlotte at number 27 after being deemed a lottery selection.

The Miami Heat, who lost in the NBA Finals, took Jaime Jaquez Jr. from UCLA at number 18.

Notable names in the second round included UCLA’s Amari Bailey to Charlotte at No. 41, East Michigan’s Emoni Bates to Cleveland at No. 49, and Miami’s Isaiah Wong to Indiana at No. 55.

The draft was shortened to 58 picks as Chicago and Philadelphia forfeited second-round selections for violating league rules with the timing of their free agency talks.