Biggest takeaways from the 2023 NBA Draft

Normal draft
Sorting the franchise
Generational drafts
Takeaways
Miller over Henderson
The right call?
Dallas get it right
Perfect for Luka
Houston young core
Sliding down the ladder
Brothers back-to-back
Amen before
Jaime Jaquez surprise
No high expectation
Wemby in the league
'Ready for it'
Normal draft

For once in what feels like a lifetime, this year's NBA Draft was not full of tremendous surprises, with many players getting picked where they were projected to.

Sorting the franchise

It wasn't to say there was no drama, though; players at the top of the draft were picked in a different order, and some franchises sorted their wage bill crisis.

Generational drafts

The 2023 draft class has been compared to Shaquille O'Neal's 1992 or LeBron James' 2003 draft classes, having a generational talent to go at number one (Victor Wembanyama).

Takeaways

Here are the biggest takeaways from this year's NBA Draft.

Miller over Henderson

The first significant pick of the draft came at number two, with the Charlotte Hornets drafting Brandon Miller over Scoot Henderson.

The right call?

On paper, this looks like the right call by The Hornets, who already have an established point guard in LaMelo Ball on their roster. Miller can play at guard or small forward, offering an elite shooting presence to play off Ball.

Dallas get it right

No one expected Dallas to make huge strides in this year's draft, but with the dumping of Davis Bertans contract, moving up places in the draft, and selecting Dereck Lively 2nd, they may have won the draft.

Perfect for Luka

Lively offers rim protection and an elite option for the alley-oop, perfect for Luka Doncic and potentially Kyrie Irving. Signing Lively to a rookie deal and losing Bertans makes the Dallas cap sheet look fantastic.

Houston young core

Cam Whitmore was projected to go in the top ten of many people's mock drafts, but he was selected 20th by the Houston Rockets, meaning they got two young stars to play in starting roles from one draft (Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore).

Sliding down the ladder

Whitmore started as high as fourth on the projected ladder, but with questions over the durability of his knee and an underwhelming draft process, no team took a chance till the 20th pick.

Brothers back-to-back

Amen, and Auser Thompson were the first brothers to be drafted back-to-back in NBA Draft history, with Amen selected fourth by Houston and Auser fifth by the Detroit Pistons.

Amen before

Amen was born one minute before his brother and a similar sequence happened at the draft, with Amen being drafted five minutes before Auser.

Jaime Jaquez surprise

Perhaps the player who fluctuated the most in the draft was four-year college veteran Jaime Jaquez, who was selected 18th overall by the Miami Heat after expectations of him going in the second round.

No high expectation

Jaquez was a projected second-round pick after many NBA scouts believed he lacked the athleticism to play in the league. However, after impressing at the draft combine and team workouts, he was selected as the 18th overall pick.

Wemby in the league

The biggest takeaway and most obvious one is that generational talent Victor Wembanyama is now officially an NBA player, selected first by the San Antonio Spurs.

'Ready for it'

According to nba.com, Wembanyama said: "The road for me is going to be very long to reach the top, but I'm ready for it."

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