The draft can help NBA franchises turn around their fortunes, while relatively unheralded prospects can become NBA legends.
Victor Wembanyama, for example, was the first overall pick in 2023 and he not only helped the San Antonio Spurs end their play-off drought this year but they went all the way to the NBA Finals.
They were beaten by the New York Knicks, with this year’s Finals Most Valuable Player being Jalen Brunson, a second-round pick in 2018. Others include Nikola Jokic, Draymond Green and Dennis Rodman.
The Washington Wizards had this year’s first pick and were expected to go for 19-year-old AJ Dybantsa instead of point guard Darryn Peterson after giving Trae Young a contract extension.
After a 17-65 record last season, the Wizards are expected to improve with the 6ft 9in Dybantsa joining a core which includes Young and Anthony Davis, and they hope to reach the play-offs for the first time since 2020-21.
With the second pick the Utah Jazz had to choose between Peterson and power forward Cam Boozer, son of Jazz legend Carlos, who now works in their front office.
Yet they plumped for Peterson so the Memphis Grizzlies took Boozer, who won multiple awards as a freshman with Duke last season, with the third pick.
They also collected five future second-round picks to move back from 16 to 21 in the first round, where they made 19-year-old Karim Lopez the first Mexican-born player to be drafted in the first round.
The 6ft 8in forward was the highest-rated prospect in this year’s class from an international league having played for the New Zealand Breakers the past two seasons.
The Grizzlies also acquired former first-round pick Isaiah Stewart and with the 32nd pick selected versatile guard Richie Saunders, who is 25 and was a late bloomer after serving a two-year church mission prior to starting college.
Despite finishing with the NBA’s top record for the second straight year, the Oklahoma City Thunder had two top-16 picks.
They were expected to challenge for back-to-back championships but were upset by San Antonio in this year’s play-offs.
The Spurs, led by the 7ft 4in Wembanyama, could be OKC’s biggest rival in the Western Conference for years to come so they remedied that by using the 12th pick on 7ft 3in Spanish centre Aday Mara. They then added point guard Bennett Stirtz with the 16th pick.
