Los Angeles (USA) (EFE).- The French prodigy Victor Wembanyama, the most anticipated youngster in the NBA since LeBron James landed in the league 20 years ago, reigned this Thursday in the draft with number one and, Hand in hand with the San Antonio Spurs, now aspires to revolutionize the league from top to bottom.
“This is fulfilling something that I have dreamed of all my life,” said a Wembanyama dressed in a smart green suit and who could not help but cry after hearing his name as Spurs’ first choice.
It has been known for months that Wembanyama would be number one in the NBA draft since no team in its right mind would miss the fabulous opportunity to take a unique and generational talent for its exceptional qualities.
Wembanyama, 2.23 meters tall
At 2.23 meters tall and at the age of 19, Wembanyama can score from three and from medium distance, he handles the ball with tremendous skill and speed for a player of his size, he moves with great agility and ease, he is very dangerous one-on-ones (not just in the post) and is also a major intimidation threat on defense.
“He’s like a player created in the NBA 2K video game,” Stephen Curry summed up in October before the irruption of this huge center with shooting guard skills.
Wembanyama will play under a legendary coach like Gregg Popovich in a Spurs that were the worst team in the West last season with a record of 22-60.
Despite not going through its best moment right now, San Antonio is considered one of the best-managed franchises in recent decades and also has extensive experience choosing centers in first place, since David Robinson (1987) and Tim Duncan (1997) forever changed the history of this team with five titles between 1999 and 2014.
Wembanyama, MVP of the French league with the Metropolitans 92 this season, is the second highest player to be the number in the NBA draft, only behind the Chinese Yao Ming.
Although Wembanyama’s landing in the NBA “overshadowed” to some extent the rest of the draft, which was held at the Brooklyn Nets’ Barclays Center in New York, there was also quite a bit of anticipation to see who the Charlotte Hornets would pick at number two. .
Brandon Miller, number two in the draft
Finally the lucky one was forward Brandon Miller, who led the three and the Portland Trail Blazers point guard Scoot Henderson, who also sounded strong for that second place in the draft.
Two other names in capital letters of the night were the twins Amen and Ausar Thompson, who became the first brothers in NBA history to be selected in the ‘top 10’ of a draft.
The Houston Rockets bet on Amen with the fourth pick and the Detroit Pistons selected his brother Ausar just after with the fifth pick to round out a magical night in the Thompson family.
The ‘top 10’ of the draft was completed, in this order, by Anthony Black (Orlando Magic), Bilal Coulibaly (Washington Wizards via Indiana Pacers after negotiating a transfer), Jarace Walker (Indiana Pacers via Washington Wizards), Taylor Hendricks ( Utah Jazz) and Cason Wallace (Oklahoma City Thunder via Dallas Mavericks).
In this sense, Luka Doncic’s team agreed with the Thunder to exchange picks 10 and 12 of the draft in addition to the transfer of Davis Bertans to Oklahoma, which allows Dallas to gain salary space to, for example, try to renew Kyrie irving.
Jett Howard (Orlando Magic), Dereck Lively (Dallas Mavericks via Oklahoma City Thunder), Gradey Dick (Toronto Raptors), Jordan Hawkins (New Orleans Pelicans) and Kobe Bufkin (Atlanta Hawks) were picked from the 11th to 15th spots.
In addition, Mexican-American Jaime Jáquez Jr., a forward who played four years at UCLA, was selected 18th overall by the Miami Heat.