After winning the draft lottery on Tuesday night, the San Antonio Spurs will have the first overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft.
Wembanyama was going to win regardless of who was given the first pick. He will be selected first in the NBA draft. That's fantastic. A nice bonus is joining the Spurs.
The Spurs are no longer the same team that produced 18 consecutive 50-win seasons, but they still tend to be more stable, have a more recent record of success, and have a long history of embracing and dominating international players.
Even though Charlotte last selected this highly in 2012, when it selected Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, right behind top pick Anthony Davis, finishing in second place to the Spurs hurts, the Hornets should still be getting a really good player.
Portland moved up to No. 3 despite having the fifth-best odds. The Blazers can either package that pick to add a star player to join Damian Lillard or use it to select a talented young player. The small increase expands Portland's options.
Dallas pretty obviously tried to tank the end of its season to keep its first-round pick; if the Mavericks' pick fell outside the top 10, it would pass to the New York Knicks through the 2019 Kristaps Porzingis trade.
The NBA fined the Mavs $750,000 for their behavior, but the team ultimately got what it wanted by staying at No. 10 and keeping their first-round pick.
With a 17-65 record, Detroit had the worst record in the NBA, while the Spurs and Houston each had a 22-60 record.
The Bulls had a 1.8% chance of getting the first pick, but they don't get one at all in the end.
The Orlando Magic will pick in place of the Chicago Bulls because of the 2021 trade for Nikola Vucevic, even though the Bulls' pick was top-four protected and was left at 11.