by Ryan Mercier
Everyone knew Victor Wembanyama was going first overall to the San Antonio Spurs. Intrigue Level: Zero. Here are the selections from Thursday night’s first 14 off the board which garner some real intrigue.
No. 3 G Scoot Henderson to the Portland Trail Blazers
The Blazers are Damian Lillard. Since he became a superstar, the two are synonymous. Does another small guard impact his chances of winning a championship in Portland? No way.
The intrigue here obviously comes more from the team and situation rather than any questions about the talent of Henderson. Will Dame ask out? Does Anfernee Simons get dealt to shape up this roster to compete in the West? Or, worst of all, perhaps it will just be more of the same.
No. 7 F Bilal Coulibaly to the Washington Wizards (from Indiana Pacers)
There’s room for one more French guy, Wemby! Look at the new Wizards. They’re making sensible choices to improve their future following the trades of Kristaps Porzingis, Chris Paul, and making the Coulibaly selection.
This intrigue is much more about the player, though. He was, apparently, nearly a foot shorter than he stands today at 6’8” just years ago. Anthony Davis had a similar growth spurt experience. While the Frenchman doesn’t have a handle like Davis, there are innate skills a player can learn while overcoming the challenges of being smaller on a basketball court. Coulibaly may be able to harness those skills in his new frame.
No. 14 G Jordan Hawkins to the New Orleans Pelicans
First off, Hawkins is a champion. That counts for something and he’s off a great season with UConn. More importantly, what does every single NBA team need, want, and always want more of? Shooting!
Even Kevin O’Connor (aka Kevin O’Concert, aka Kevin O’Camera, aka Kevin O’Killian) of The Ringer, who has Hawkins down at No. 29 on his big board, leads his player description with quite a sentence. KOC says the former Husky is an “Elite shooter with a lightning-quick release and the stamina to run around the floor all game and the intelligence to find open space at a high level.”
To be clear, O’Connor does a tremendous job with the NBA and the draft. This is merely pointing out someone who is relatively down on him compared to other players still had glowing things to say.
There is no way there are 13 players better than this guy. Teams will look back at the 2023 NBA Draft wondering why they took Player X higher than Hawkins. Or, maybe at the least, he will be highly sought after in a future free agency period by some team desperate for shooting, yet again.
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