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On the Warriors and the NBA Draft

In November 2020, the Warriors drafted James Wiseman with the No. 2 overall draft pick, their highest pick since they took Mike Dunleavy Jr. third overall out of Duke in 2002.

Three years later, though, Wiseman is no longer with the team, and Dunleavy, despite once being made scapegoat for Warriors fans’ frustrations after years of futility, is the team’s new general manager.

The Warriors have gambled in the last three drafts, taking some high-upside teenage players with the hopes to groom them to one day take the baton from the dynastic trio as it ages out.

But with Stephen Curry still a top-five NBA star at the age of 35, the Warriors should be looking to maximize the here and now. And the process of retooling their roster to be a championship contender once again starts with the No. 19 pick in Thursday’s draft.

On the Kings and upcoming free agency

Via the Sacramento Bee:

All eyes in Sacramento will be on the forward positions as the Kings hurtle closer to the 2023 NBA draft and the start of free agency.

Harrison Barnes is an unrestricted free agent this summer. So is Trey Lyles. Keegan Murray will return after a stellar rookie season, but there’s no telling who will man the other forward spot as Sacramento seeks even greater heights after reaching the playoffs as the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.

The Kings hold the draft rights to EuroLeague MVP and Olympiacos star Sasha Vezenkov, but they can’t sign him until after Thursday’s draft. The Kings have signaled their intention to bring Vezenkov to Sacramento if they can agree to a contract, but barring a major trade Sacramento will need more reinforcements in the event that Barnes or Lyles are not retained.

Murray and Kessler Edwards are the only forwards the Kings have under contract next season.

New Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy Jr. faces big decisions in draft, free agency

Via the San Jose Mercury News:

Dunleavy and his team will have to take a hard look at the roster and make a plan for where to go from here. Their first major test will be the NBA Draft, where they hold the No. 19 pick.

Other questions facing the Warriors are whether they can retain Draymond Green and find ways to capitalize on Stephen Curry’s prime by bolstering their roster, despite having little flexibility.

The Warriors are handicapped in their current financial situation.

If Green exercises his $27.6 million player option for next season — a decision he has to make by June 29 — the Warriors will be projected to dish out more than $205 million in salaries alone. That’s well above the tax line, and with a repeater penalty also in play, Golden State could be paying a whopping $250 million in luxury tax, according to The Athletic.

San Antonio Spurs win 2023 NBA Draft Lottery

The NBA today announced that the San Antonio Spurs have won the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery, which was conducted at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago earlier this evening. The Spurs will have the first overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft that will be held on Thursday, June 22.

“The team and the city that sticks with us and put so much effort and love into the organization, it’s just amazing for them to get rewarded,” said Spurs Managing Partner Peter J. Holt immediately following the Lottery. “So many folks have been with us a long time and now everybody can feel rewarded and excited. My joy was a ‘we’ type of fun and joy.”

For the third time in franchise history, San Antonio holds the top overall pick with the previous two being Hall of Fame big men David Robinson in 1987 and Tim Duncan in 1997, who helped the Spurs start their NBA record 22-year Playoff streak from 1998-2019.

Going into tonight’s lottery, the Silver and Black held a 14.0% chance to land the No. 1 pick. Since the Draft Lottery was introduced in 1985, San Antonio has owned seven total lottery picks, fewest in the NBA.

Ties broken for order of selection in 2023 NBA Draft

Six ties among teams with identical regular-season records were broken today through random drawings to determine the order of selection for NBA Draft 2023.

The drawings were conducted by NBA Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars at the NBA office in Secaucus, New Jersey. The tiebreaker process was overseen by Marie Dhimmar, a partner from the accounting firm of Ernst & Young.

The results of the drawings:

The Houston Rockets (22-60) won a tiebreaker with the San Antonio Spurs.
The Indiana Pacers (35-47) won a tiebreaker with the Washington Wizards.
The Chicago Bulls (40-42) won a tiebreaker with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Miami Heat (44-38) won a tiebreaker with the Golden State Warriors and the LA Clippers. Second and third place in the tiebreaker drawings went to Golden State and the LA Clippers, respectively.
The Phoenix Suns (45-37) won a tiebreaker with the Brooklyn Nets.
The Memphis Grizzlies (51-31) won a tiebreaker with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

TV ratings for the 2022 NBA Draft

Per ESPN, TV viewership ratings for the 2022 NBA Draft on Thursday, June 23 were up 33 percent from last year, according to Nielsen. The first round across ABC and ESPN averaged nearly four million TV viewers (3,988,000), up 32 percent from last year’s NBA Draft first round, which also aired on ABC and ESPN.

Overall, the 2022 NBA Draft averaged 3,047,000 viewers for both rounds (round two aired on ESPN only). The first round of the NBA Draft across ABC and ESPN was the most-watched program for June 23 across all of television and in all key demos. The event peaked with 4,500,000 viewers at 8:15 p.m. ET.

With 10th pick in 2022 NBA draft, Wizards selected Johnny Davis

The Washington Wizards selected Johnny Davis from the University of Wisconsin with the 10th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft and selected Yannick Nzosa from Unicaja (Spanish ACB) with the 54th overall selection.

“Johnny proved his scoring capability and showed the ability and willingness to defend at a very high level at Wisconsin,” said Wizards President and General Manager Tommy Sheppard. “His versatility, toughness and extraordinary basketball IQ stood out during our evaluation process and we’re excited to have him join our team.”

Davis (6-5, 196) earned the Big Ten Player of the Year accolade after averaging 19.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 31 games as a sophomore with the Badgers in 2021-22. Davis scored in double figures in all but one game, topping 20 points in 16 games, as he improved his scoring average by 12.7 points per game in his sophomore season. He also averaged 24.1 points in eight games against top-25 opponents.

In addition to his Big Ten Player of the Year honor, Davis also earned the 2022 Lute Olson National Player of the Year, Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year, was a consensus First-Team All-American and was a finalist for the Naismith Trophy and Wooden Award. He was also selected as the Big Ten Player of the Week three times and was the Naismith National Player of the Week for the week on January 10. The La Crosse, Wisconsin, native also won a Gold Medal with USA Basketball at the 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup in Latvia.

With the 54th overall pick, the Wizards selected Yannick Nzosa (6-10, 200), a Congolese center who spent the past two seasons with Unicaja in the Spanish ACB. In 68 total games with Unicaja, Nzosa has averaged 3.5 points and 2.4 rebounds while shooting .534 from the floor. An 18-year-old with a 7-4 wingspan, Nzosa played for Stellazzurra Basketball Academy in Rome to begin his amateur career.

With 9th pick in 2022 NBA draft, Spurs selected Jeremy Sochan

The San Antonio Spurs yesterday selected forward Jeremy Sochan with the ninth overall pick along with guard Malaki Branham with the 20th overall pick and guard Blake Wesley with the 25th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.

It was the first time in franchise history the Silver and Black had three first round picks.

Sochan, 6-9/230, is the highest draft pick by the Spurs since they selected Tim Duncan with the first overall pick in 1997 NBA Draft. The 19-year-old played one season at Baylor University where he helped lead the Bears to a 27-7 record and to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Sochan was named the Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year and was selected to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team, averaging 9.2 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.27 steals while appearing in 30 games. A native of England, Sochan averaged 13.8 points and 8.3 rebounds in four games across the Big 12 Tournament and NCAA Tournament. Sochan became the youngest player in Polish Men’s National Team history when he competed against Romania in a FIBA EuroBasket qualifier in February 2021 at the age of 17.

Branham, 6-5/180, played one season at Ohio State University where he was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year, the Kyle Macy Award winner and to the Kyle Macy Freshman All-America Team. The former Buckeye averaged 13.7 points and 3.6 rebounds in 32 games while shooting 49.8 percent from the floor and finished second in the Big Ten in free throw percentage at 83.3 percent. Prior to Ohio State, Branham was named Ohio’s Mr. Basketball in 2021.

Wesley, 6-5/185, played one season at University Notre Dame. In 35 games, he led the Fighting Irish in scoring with 14.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 29.4 minutes as a freshman. He finished with the fourth-most points (504) by a freshman in Notre Dame program history. The first-year guard helped the team to a first round NCAA tournament win over Alabama on his way to All-ACC Second Team and ACC All-Rookie Team honors in 2022. Wesley became the first Fighting Irish player selected in the first round since Jerian Grant in 2015 and Notre Dame’s first player to leave for the NBA draft after one season.

With 8th pick in 2022 NBA draft, Pelicans selected Dyson Daniels

The New Orleans Pelicans have selected Dyson Daniels with the 8th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.

Daniels, 6-8, 199, averaged 12.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 2.0 steals for NBA G League Ignite during the 2021-22 season. Daniels joined Ignite from the NBA Global Academy Australia.

Daniels represented the Australian national team at the 2021 FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup, averaging 14.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists.

With 7th pick in 2022 NBA draft, Trail Blazers selected Shaedon Sharpe

The Portland Trail Blazers yesterday selected guard Shaedon Sharpe with the seventh pick in the first round of the 2022 NBA Draft.

Sharpe, 19, joins the Trail Blazers from the University of Kentucky. A guard out of London, Ontario in Canada, Sharpe (6-6, 200) averaged 24.1 points and 6.0 rebounds during his final season at Dream City Christian Academy in Glendale, Arizona in 2020-21.

In 2019, Sharpe led Canada to a silver medal at the FIBA U16 Americas Championship, posting averages of 13.0 points (68.0% FG, 33.3% 3-PT, 60.0% FT), 3.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists in six games.

He will wear No. 17 for the Trail Blazers.