Charlotte, who has the second overall pick, has a headache.
On June 23,메이저사이트 the 2023 NBA draft will be held at the Barclays Center in New York, USA.
The public’s attention is focused on Victor Wembanyama, a super-class French prospect who is likely to be the first choice, to the extent that the story of ‘Victor Wembanyama Draft’ is heard.
If there is no change, it seems that the San Antonio Spurs, who won the first pick in 26 years since 1997, will nominate Wembanyama.
San Antonio is also a team with deep ties to French NBA players such as Tony Parker, Boris Diaw, and Nande de Colo. David Robinson (1987) and Tim Duncan (1997) debuted and retired in San Antonio as the first pick, rewriting franchise history as the greatest big men of all time. It is hard to find a team from Wembanyama with a storyline like this.
But there is another team we should pay attention to. It’s Charlotte with the second overall pick.
Charlotte again failed to secure the first pick. Since the 1991 draft (1st pick Larry Johnson), there has been no experience in exercising the first pick for over 30 years.
Instead, they exercised the second pick in the 1992 draft (2nd pick Alonzo Mourning), the 2004 draft (2nd pick Emeka Okafor), and the 2012 draft (2nd pick Michael Kidd-Gilcrete). In those three drafts, Charlotte outright missed Shaquille O’Neal (1st pick in 1992), Dwight Howard (1st pick in 2004) and Anthony Davis (1st pick in 2012). All three of them reigned as the best big men of the time and even won championship rings.
So, who will Charlotte pick with the second pick in this draft?
Assuming Victor Wembanyama is the first pick, there are two players Charlotte could consider for the second pick. Scoot Henderson and Brandon Miller.
The 190cm Scoot Henderson played for Ignite in the G League last season and was compared to Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook and Kyrie Irving. He has tremendous athletic ability and even an excellent skill set, so it is expected that he will perform well even if he comes to the NBA right away.
The problem is that Charlotte has a clear guard called Lamelo Ball. Henderson and Lamelo Ball are players whose roles inevitably overlap. So, Henderson, who initially seemed likely to be the second pick, was pushed back to the third place on many draft prediction sites when Charlotte got the right to pick the second pick.
The player who quickly emerged as a candidate for the second pick in place of Henderson is Brandon Miller.
Miller, who graduated from the University of Alabama, is a wing prospect with a good shooting ability comparable to that of Paul George.
First of all, he is not unusual physically. With a height of 206cm and a wingspan of 213cm, he is excellent at shooting, recording a 38.4% 3-point shooting success rate in college. He’s not your average spot-up shooter who just stands up and catches the ball and throws it. On the college stage, Miller was also very good at moving shots, receiving handoff passes and using pindown screens to score 3 points. He’s also good at ball handling and jump shot production, and has the potential to become a scorer better than Keegan Murray (Sacramento) from his rookie year.
In Charlotte, Miles Bridges missed the entire 2022-2023 season due to domestic violence issues, and Gordon Hayward suffered another injury and repeatedly missed appearances and absences. Jaylen McDaniels was traded to Philadelphia during the season. Even if Bridges returns next season, additional reinforcement of the wing line is a must. Miller, who has a big and long body and excellent shooting ability, can be a good alternative.
It remains to be seen what choice Charlotte will make. Because in the era of multi-handlers, it’s not at all unusual to use Lamelo Ball and Scoot Henderson together in the backcourt. It is expected that we will be able to find out on the day of the upcoming draft which selection Charlotte will make with the second pick.