Nothing tops the NBA draft

No matter how tall

The story is San Antonio. When they unearth these posts in three decades and find us discussing Dāvis Bertāns and Dallas’ trade exemption, they’ll wonder what our brains were doing with all those moderate temperatures in late June.

On Thursday San Antonio drafted someone who may very well finish his career as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. Victor Wembanyama is the stud of studs, the sort of player general managers joke about finding. He is 7-5 and he takes and makes one-footed three-pointers. He is Ralph Sampson without crutches, Dirk Nowitzki with an extra head on top, Ray Allen but a whole, foot, taller.

And he will go to San Antonio to learn from the front office which didn’t care if LaMarcus Aldridge played for them or not, the team which waives first-round picks without reflex. Wembanyama won’t have David Robinson (and the gnomes!!) or Sean Elliott waiting for him in the front court, but it won’t be long before he’ll have enough.

Wembanyama in Texas is perfect, the club will give Victor his best chance to succeed, any rings are up for fate to decide. The San Antonio Spurs are the only club with any idea of what they have on their hands, and how alternately patient and progressive the front office needs to be.

This was a capable draft, an excellent mix of drafting for pleasure and need. The basketball fits appear outstanding and the suits looked good, too. I like red.

TORONTO

These are not ranked or graded, Toronto is next because I mentioned the suit.

Dealing Pascal Siakam and/or OG Anunoby for a single lottery pick always felt a little rash, for Masai Ujiri at least. The Raptors are not bad, far from it, and at worst Ujiri should own confidence in his new coaching hire to concoct a bump in the standings.

The age-old NBA trick in this scenario is to hire youth, who don’t know any better, and the Raptors did well: Gradey Dick, here to say “yessir.”

Can Dick can the 25-foot NBA three-pointer promptly? Is he a 40-percent threat from October until the end of his career? Not the point, the rookie is here to score and pass from wherever, the rookie is here to be young. The Raptors, full of youth, appeared sluggish in 2022-23.

Probably because they only played five players. Now they kind of have a sixth.

PORTLAND

Picked up the second-brightest prospect in the draft instead of following through on trades which may not have been there — if something were on the table, we’d have seen a meal finished. In the absence of credible offers, the Blazers settled on someone who could make multiple All-Star teams.

Scoot Henderson is absolutely a guard who can play alongside Damian Lillard, just not immediately. If Lillard is true regarding his feelings of permanence in Portland, this is the perfect draft pick, Lillard can train his replacement. As if that ever happens in the NBA.

If Damian Lillard is unreasonable about things, airing it out like Vince Carter in 2003, then Portland has a problem. Until that decision, Portland did the best with what it was offered. No combination of veteran trade returnees would guarantee Portland a playoff spot, let alone a shot at the title in 2024.

BOSTON

Marcus Smart didn’t want to leave Boston, nobody on the Celtics wanted to watch him go. The Celtics know how often Smart saves their ass, how many championship chances he sustained for the club by gathering the grenade and pinning it into a turnaround jumper.

The vibe shift is so abrupt that the remaining Celtics can’t help but face the truth inherent, it is time for Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to think about winning dumb NBA championships above anything else. It is time for the stars to be like Smart.

They’ll have to, because Kristaps Porziņģis will disappear from games just as often as he disappears from Boston’s list of healthy and available players. What Porziņģis will also do is win repeated regular season contests, block shots, score in myriad ways and supply Al Horford with the rest he required to approach elite shooting percentages in the postseason.

I understand the logic, however beige, without enjoying the deal. Brad Stevens knew the Grizzlies were desperate to turn surplus picks into an actual player, he knew the Wizards had a few hours to work something with KP, he made a positive transaction.

Malcolm Brogdon is Boston’s now, nobody else’s, a very good player when cleared for action. Derrick White, in prime, is capable of leading an NBA club to a championship. Grabbing Golden State’s 2024 pick (protected top-four) for a potential season of Porziņģis (a free agent in 2024) is the kicker, perhaps it can be parlayed into the next Brad Wanamaker, because the C’s are down a guard.

MEMPHIS

Does Smart start? If he does, the Grizzlies are also down a veteran point guard. If Smart peels off the bench, the Grizzlies are biffing a major opportunity to team Desmond Bane and Ja Morant with an ideal starting partner. And if you’re worried about defending Kevin Durant, don’t, because the Suns just traded for another guard.

Tyus Jones is a completely different player than Smart, each can be trusted to earn good looks for lesser lights, but Jones is one of the league’s best pass-first playmakers, and Marcus Smart is the NBA’s best Marcus Smart.

Losing Golden State’s 2024 first-round pick (protected top-four, earned via the Andre Iguodala trade) for Smart is a marvelous move, the Grizzlies also threw in Memphis’ own No. 25 pick (Marcus Sasser) because the Grizzlies don’t need any more youngsters.

And it can’t waste Smart. Memphis needs to start him, even after Ja returns.

WASHINGTON

The Wizards provided the draft’s only out-loud moment, blowing in to pick Bilal Coulibaly three or four or five or seven slots ahead of where many had him before Thursday’s draft. It’s been that sort of week for Washington, trading its two best players plus Chris Paul for a single draft selection — GSW’s 2030 pick protected through top 20 per Zach Lowe.

Washington also dealt for the rights to pay Jordan Poole through his first (and potentially only) large contract, Poole makes $27.5 million next year, $34 million in 2027 when he’s 27. These will be Jordan’s most explosive seasons, in one way or another.

The Wizards will contend with this by swapping selections with Phoenix in 2024, 2026, 2028 and 2030. The Suns are set up for spectacular failure as this decade moves along, but the Wizards will still have to out-win Phoenix. No gimmie.

The Wizards are in no hurry to, Washington owes a first-round pick to New York beginning with the next NBA draft, protected through the top-12 in 2024, the top-10 in 2025 and the top-eight in 2026.

Why Washington couldn’t finagle its way down the draft board in 2023 is beyond me. Why it had to deal up for Coulibaly (by all accounts an NBA mensch in the making, a potential top-seven player out of this draft lot) instead of trading down (to replace the eventual Knicks pick) is anyone’s guess besides the obvious: GM Michael Winger is out to splash.

Why he dealt Bradley Beal with zero leverage confounds, I agree with Tom Ziller, Washington should have waited but could not bear the embarrassment of working with Beal looming over them. In a vacuum Monte Morris should be worth a first-round pick but with so many guards on the rebuilding roster, Washington may have traded itself into poor bargaining position.

Maybe Miami isn’t into pick swaps.

Or maybe Michael Winger was told, long ago, that if he ever became an NBA GM he should call Isiah Thomas first.

PHOENIX

Isiah Thomas and the Suns’ new doofus owner traded for Bradley Beal. As if Phoenix’s problem was scoring.

Four pick swaps for a shooting guard Phoenix didn’t need, with zero teams lining up to tick off the rest of the NBA and offer Perfect Depth in exchange for DeAndre Ayton.

Pray for KD, pray for Devin Booker, the Suns might win a title in 2024 but playing for these prats won’t end well.

BUCKS

Khris Middleton opted out to opt back into a contract extension, boring. Drafted Chris Livingston as Mr. Irrelevant, traded for Andre Jackson Jr. at No. 36.

What is not good is Woj’s continuing reports confirming Houston’s interest in Brook Lopez, who is imperative to Milwaukee’s championship hopes.

Don’t cheap out, Bucks owners. Lose money on a championship run, make it all back when Giannis Antetokounmpo drags ten different Buck rosters into various playoff rounds from 2028 through 2034. Now is not the time for Giannis to plug in at center.

CHARLOTTE

Personally, I’d take Scoot. Just me.

Drafting for need after a 27-win season is as absurd as it sounds, but choosing Brandon Miller isn’t an initial misstep, the player Charlotte passed on isn’t ready to lead a team anywhere but back to the lottery.

If Scoot Henderson turns into a bigger De’Aaron Fox, bodacious, Miller is the classic two-way forward with size and three-point potential (if not acumen) which teams never overlook. Teams like the 2005 Atlanta Hawks.

(How bad is a front office when Dick Vitale laps around its NBA analysis? Not Billy Knight’s night.)

Hornets GM-for-now Mitch Kupchak concluded his evening telling the press his Hornets need a leader. After he drafted the guy who returned the murder weapon to the murderer.

Charlotte also spent a first-round pick on Nick Smith Jr., a top recruit of the 2022 class whose freshman year at Arkansas was blammo’ed by a knee injury. He could be a lottery-level pickup or the Hornets could waste three guaranteed seasons on various surgical procedures.

ATLANTA

Apparently on its way out of the luxury tax, Dejounte’ Murray and others may be on the move, in the meantime here is Kobe Bufkin, completely overwhelmed but working in good faith.

OKLAHOMA CITY

Dealt up two spots for the price of taking on Dāvis Bertāns’ $17 million deal, who can shoot but won’t play a ton in OKC. The Thunder could use a guy like Bertāns to sop up minutes as the Thunder makes its way through a six-month regular season. Not a rotation regular, not with Dāvis’ defensive limitations, but someone good for 50-60 games of occasional help.

Not more than 62 games, though, because that would trip the guarantee on Bertāns’ $16 million deal for 2024-25. If he works fewer than 75 percent of Thunder games in 2023-24, the team can pay $5 million to make Dāvis go away next offseason. Or they can deal Bertāns’ cap relief, along with one of OKC’s thousand future first-round draft picks, for someone who moves over to try and stop layups.

Well worth trading up two spots, especially when the reward is “I Got This”-guard Cason Wallace. The Thunder roster begs for a fourth guard with confidence, someone to eventually mind the smaller opposing scorers which Josh Giddey cannot.

MAVERICKS

The Mavs’ big salary-match, Dr. Dāvis Bertāns, was spent on a Traded Player Exception. Not the All-Star return Mavericks fans hoped for, but the Mavs didn’t embarrass themselves with anything else. The team traded down from No. 10 to No. 12 to select center prospect Dereck Lively II, a hit-or-miss type you’ll hope cranks a home run.

The Mavs still look a mess, but at least the prospects are interesting.

Sacramento is after cap space and Dallas is after centers, Sacto sent big man Richaun Holmes (owed over $12 million in 2023-24) to the Mavs plus Sacramento’s first-round pick, No. 24 selection Olivier-Maxence Prosper. It all fits inside the TPE Dallas created with the Bertāns transaction.

Dallas can now use its mid-level exemption on the sort of player who just dying to come play next to Kyrie Irving.

LOS ANGELES LAKERS

We get it, Lakers, you really blew the old Doug Christie trade, you gave up on him too early after all those ankle woes, you want Doug back.

Jalen Hood-Schifino didn’t go to Pepperdine, but he will be asked to swim the pool and consider changing his name to “Doug.”

NOLA

The Pelicans dangled those picks but developed nothing. Zion Williamson wasn’t on the table, David Griffin may have reached for Jordan Hawkins.

Or, Zion misses 59 games in 2023-24 but is randomly healthy just in time for the playoffs, the draft picks the Pelicans offered were only the crummier choices, and Jordan Hawkins’ footwork is better suited for the NBA than the NCAA experience.

Scoot Henderson isn’t leading the Celtics or Nuggets or Heat or Lakers to an NBA championship next season, let alone the New Orleans Pelicans. Griffin has a very, very good team with championship potential, it needs a bit of shooting and playmaking and time. And maybe Thursday wasn’t the time to overhaul anything.

Zion Williamson is an elite player. If he is healthy at the correct time, New Orleans’ various roster misgivings may not matter.

ORLANDO

The combination of Jalen Suggs and Cole Anthony has its holes, the Magic hope the third time is the charm in Anthony Black.

AB is a Big Guard who does the Right Things. Suggs & Cole were involved in trade rumors in days leading up to the draft but we’d love Orlando to give all three a look before deciding to trade Cole Anthony to deal anyone.

Jett Howard is a lottery pick because James Jones scored so wonderfully on Cameron Johnson in 2019, and Howard should earn his status if his shooting travels.

Jett’s father played for Orlando during the season it all went wrong for the Magic.

Juwan Howard’s career-high as a member of the Magic is 38 points (against the Bulls, Marcus Fizer managed 30 points and 20 rebounds), can Jett Howard top 38 points?

HOUSTON

The Rockets were the league’s most miserable watch last season by a Montgomery County mile, the team still can’t shoot and it won’t look good in those uniforms but at least we are piling up prospects.

Securing Amen Thompson should go a long way toward making a serious team out of these Rockets, he won’t break plays. He won’t hit jumpers, either, flat-footed shots, runners, damn-near anything. Amen is still a project, but doesn’t want to remain one.

Cam Whitmore? The medical charts could read terribly, or it coulda been noncommittal collusion. Sometimes GMs like to let the other teams take on the bull in the room, especially when the draft comes down to choosing for need, rather than a do-it-all gamer. Whatever the reason for the fall, Whitmore is in Houston to tell everyone to cut that shit out.

DETROIT

The Ausur Thompson choice projects as a splattered shot chart, but this was the right pick for these Pistons. Ausur makes fewer mistakes, is more economical with his forays, he can’t shoot but he won’t mess up as much as his brother.

Thompson will be expected to hold his own in lineups featuring mixtures of Jaden Ivey, Cade Cunningham, Isaiah Stewart, Killian Hayes and Jalen Duren. He has to learn how to survive in this setting, staggering isn’t an option. Thompson can’t be shielded from minutes alongside the terrible-shooting teammates he’s charged with turning the Pistons around with.

The Pistons fired a bunch of second-rounders at Boston and came up with twenty-fifth pick, Houston defensive guard Marcus Sasser, because the Pistons don’t have enough guards on rookie deals.

GOLDEN STATE

Steve Kerr and Mike Dunleavy think the best way to earn Chris Paul a championship is to sit him for the first and third quarters of every game so he is rested for the playoffs, and I want to watch.

Chris Paul minutes are massive. The uptick between Jordan Poole minutes and Chris Paul minutes will make life so much easier for everyone on that roster. I wouldn’t want to share a flight with Chris Paul either, but I’d sure as shit let him run my basketball team. Even if Steph Curry was point guard.

INDIANA

The Pacers had picks No. 7, No. 26, No. 29, No. 32 and No. 55.

The team turned No. 29 (scored from Boston for Brogdon) and No. 32 into Denver’s first-round pick in 2024 and the No. 40 pick in the 2023 draft, which the Pacers dealt for the contract rights to No. 47 pick Mojave King plus $4.3 million from the Lakers.

The Pacers traded down off the No. 7 pick to draft Jarace Walker and earned two-second round picks out of it. So, nothing. But Walker is tremendous.

Indiana also owned Cleveland’s first-round pick and chose Ben Sheppard at No. 26, a four-year guard out of Belmont who isn’t Soundgarden’s bassist. He won’t turn 22 until next month and looks made for an NBA roster, if not rotation.

Indiana will love Jarace Walker, and not just because Jalen Smith played his position last season.

DENVER

The Nuggets gave up this year’s first-round pick to get off JaMychal Green’s contract and acquire Peyton Watson last offseason. Bored, Denver traded into the first round and drafted Julian Strawther, a lengthy shooter from Gonzaga who probably could have provided the Nuggets with inoffensive second quarter minutes in the Finals earlier this June.

In Julian Strawther, Peyton Watson and Christian Braun, Nuggets GM Calvin Booth has drafted three names from William Faulkner novels.

UTAH

Everyone likes Taylor Hendricks. Will he play 20 years like Udonis Haslem? Seems like he has the chance.

Utah apparently had its eye on Keyonte George for a while now, he and No. 25 pick Brice Sensabaugh should run circles around whoever tries to get in the way of Utah’s Summer League entries. How they’ll do against the next level is for February to figure out, but I can’t help but trust Danny Ainge at the middle and bottom of a draft.

(To me, the NBA draft only lasts for one round.)

Three rookie extensions at the same time is always tough news, but odds are one of these guys won’t be good. At all.

CHICAGO

Why do we even with this shit.

OLDER GUYS

Thanks as always to Ricky O’Donnell for his year-long NBA mock draft work.

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