San Antonio Spurs have won the NBA Lottery Draft and with it are expected to sign Victor Wembanyama.
Gregg Popovich's side will now get first dibs on the French wonderkid for the NBA Draft on June 22, with the 7ft 4in phenom expected to light up the professional stage next season. Charlotte Hornets will have second pick, while Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockers take third and fourth respectively.
One of the favourites for Wembanyama, Detroit Pistons, suffered a blow by drawing fifth in the lottery. Orlando Magic via Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers, Washington Wizards, Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks, Orlando Magic, Oklahoma City Thunder, Toronto Raptors and New Orleans Pelicans followed suit in the lottery.
The remaining order of the the draft picks are made up of the Playoff sides and based on regular-season records, with the Milwaukee Bucks technically in 30th and Boston Celtics technically in 29th. The Bucks, of course, crashed out of the Playoffs in a first round surprise 4-1 defeat by Miami Heat.
But it's at the other end where all eyes will be on Wembanyama. The 19-year-old officially declared for the 2023 NBA draft last month. The teen, who plays for Metropolitans 92 in France, has attracted a serious amount of attention with his skills and talent.
Several plays of his have also gone viral, not least of all a clip of himself dunking off his own rebound in a game in early April. The 11 second footage was shared by the NBA's Twitter channel as well as Los Angeles Clippers star Nicolas Batum.
After declaring, Wembanyama told NBA Today: "It's been a year with so much good news for me, so first of all I want to thank everyone who's been a part of that journey from coaches to family. And I'm really excited to announce that I'm going to declare for the 2023 NBA Draft, so I hope it's big news!"
Wemby, as he's known already, played his last game of the regular season in a win against Paris Basketball on Tuesday. A solid 22 points, with 14 coming in the fourth quarter, spurred on a home crowd featuring PSG superstar Kylian Mbappe.
Joining the teen as top picks this summer will likely be Scoot Henderson (G League Ignite), Brandon Miller (Alabama), identical twins Amen Thompson and Ausar Thompson (Overtime Elite) and Jarace Walker (Houston Cougers).
NBA Draft Order
1. San Antonio Spurs
2. Charlotte Hornets
3. Portland Trail Blazers
4. Houston Rockets
5. Detroit Pistons
6. Chicago Bulls (to Orlando Magic)
7. Indiana Pacers
8. Washington Wizards
9. Utah Jazz
10. Dallas Mavericks
11. Orlando Magic
12. Oklahoma City Thunder
13. Toronto Raptors
14. New Orleans Pelicans
15. Atlanta Hawks
16. Minnesota (to Utah)
17. Los Angeles Lakers
18. Miami Heat
19. Golden State Warriors
20. LA Clippers (to Houston Rockets)
21. Phoenix Suns (to Brooklyn)
22. Brooklyn Nets
23. New York Knicks (to Portland Trail Blazers)
24. Sacramento Kings
25. Memphis Grizzlies
26. Cleveland Cavaliers (to Indiana Pacers)
27. Denver Nuggets (to Charlotte Hornets via New York Knicks and Oklahoma City Thunder)
28. Philadelphia 76ers (to Utah Jazz via Brooklyn Nets)
29. Boston Celtics (to Indiana Pacers)
30. Milwaukee Bucks (to the LA Clippers via Houston Rockets)
