NBA Draft Preview: After Victor Wembanyama, keep an eye out for these players

The only mystery surrounding the top pick in this year’s NBA draft was solved a month ago. On May 16, the San Antonio Spurs won the draft lottery, giving them the chance—or perhaps more accurately, the obligation—to select Victor Wembanyama with the first overall pick.

A 7-foot-4 French superstar, Wembanyama is arguably the most hyped NBA prospect since LeBron James, and for good reason: He shoots the ball like a modern lead guard and blocks it like a classic paint patrol center. Within his eight-foot wingspan, Wembanyama has just about every skill NBA teams look for in a franchise player.

“There’s no better environment for him than the Spurs,” said Jonathan Givony, a draft analyst for ESPN. He added: “Everyone around him is very happy for him. I don’t see Spurs screwing this up.”

But while Wembanyama, 19, is the ultimate prize of the draft, there are plenty of potentially franchise-changing prospects in the lottery – the celebrated top 14 picks – and even in the second round.

“There are levels to this design,” Givony said. “Victor is in a class of his own. After that it’s Brandon Miller and Scoot Henderson. And it really opens up from there.

Miller, a guard from Alabama, and Henderson, a guard from the NBA G League’s Ignite, are expected to be drafted within the first few picks.

Here are five other players you need to know about in the 2023 NBA draft.

Anthony Black

6-6, 210 pounds, guard, Arkansas

Anthony Black’s first scholarship offers came from football teams. As a sophomore wide receiver for Coppell High School in Texas, Black reeled in 39 passes for 762 yards and eight touchdowns. His play got the attention of major programs such as Arkansas, Baylor and Cincinnati. But basketball was his first love.

“No doubt I would have made it to the NFL if I focused on football,” said the 19-year-old Black. “I was pretty raw with it. I have not reached my potential. When I started getting basketball offers during my sophomore year, that became my focus.

Black was born into an athletic family: his mother was a Baylor scholarship athlete in football; his father, in basketball. But they never pushed him to become a bear, which is how he ended up in Arkansas, where he averaged 12.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists in a single season. He became a more confident and reliable shooter as the season progressed, but the reason he is projected as a potential top-10 pick is his defense. He puts great pressure on the ball and can defend even big men because of his strength and size.

“Defense is where I’ve always hung my hat,” said Black. “I was always the best defender in the team, whether in the league or in my region. Sometimes I haven’t been aggressive enough in attack to be more active in defence. For me it’s quite embarrassing to be scored.

Jordan Hawkins

6-4, 186 pounds, guard, Connecticut

During the 2022 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, Jordan Hawkins watched from the sidelines as New Mexico State, a 12th seed, upset his fifth-seeded Connecticut Huskies in the round of 64. In the locker room after the game, he said Hawkins to Coach Dan Hurley: “This won’t happen again next year.”

He spent the summer receiving basketball advice from UConn alumni and NBA greats like Richard Hamilton and Ray Allen. He also prioritized his mental strength and started a daily meditation practice with the Calm app. All that work has paid off. After posting one of his worst performances of the season—5 points on 11 shots—in UConn’s second-round loss to Marquette in the Big East tournament, Hawkins vowed to play better throughout the NCAA tournament.

“The best players appear in March,” said 21-year-old Hawkins. “I wanted to prove I was one of the best players at my position – and the best players, period, in the country.”

In the NCAA Tournament, Hawkins was named the most outstanding player in the West Regional after averaging 22 points per game and nine total three-pointers against Arkansas and Gonzaga. (He shot 38.8 percent of 3 for the season.)

Before the team’s Final Four game against Miami, Hawkins contracted a stomach flu. He threw up more than a dozen times before the game and almost passed out during the first half. But he remembered the promise he made to his coach. He helped lead the Huskies to their fifth basketball title.

“That’s what I bring to the NBA,” he said. “I’m confident that I’m a great defender and I believe I’m the best shooter in the draft. But more than that, I know how to accept my role and work hard and win championships.

GG Jackson

6-8, 214 pounds, forward, South Carolina

In a seven-month span last year, GG Jackson became the No. 1 player in the Class of 2023 committed to North Carolina, disbanded from North Carolina, reclassified to the Class of 2022 and committed to South Carolina. It was a tumultuous time for a player who was under 18 years old, but as the college basketball season began, Jackson believed he had made the right decision.

“The coaches told me I had the power to uplift many people in my home state by staying in South Carolina,” he said. “Besides, the fact that I stayed so close to home made my mother happy.”

Jackson posted a respectable 15.4 points per game this season, but he only made 38.4 percent of his shots. He also publicly criticized his coaches on Instagram Live after a loss to Arkansas in February. Jackson apologized and said he admitted the outburst during meetings with NBA teams. While not expected to be a top-10 pick, he has a combination of size and skill that is hard to come by that could convince a team to select him in the first round.

“I remember where I came from in basketball,” Jackson said. “I was a frail kid who had to wear goggles. I got to number 1, but now I’m starting over again. I’m not the bad guy the way people see me. I’m serious about the player and person I want to become.”

Kris Murray

6-8, 213 pounds, forward, Iowa

While Keegan Murray signed up for the NBA last June, his twin brother, Kris, decided to stay in Iowa for one more season. When the Hawkeyes got together for practice a few weeks later, Kris realized: This would be the first practice without his brother.

“I knew I could eventually become an NBA player, but going back to college gave me the chance to make a name for myself,” said 22-year-old Murray. “In terms of basketball, I have to be the center of our team. I need to lead our team, be on top of scouting reports for other teams, be the guy everyone’s trying to stop. That was an invaluable experience for me.”

It was also a successful experience. Murray doubled his points and minutes from the previous season, but maintained his field goal percentage and improved as a passer and rebounder. His 20.2 points per game was slightly behind Keegan’s 23.5 the season before.

“He gives me shit and I give him shit,” Kris said, referring to his brother. “But we really like working with our dad.”

Their father, Kenyon Murray, averaged just 9.9 points per game during his four-year run with the Hawkeyes in the mid-1990s.

In April, Kris watched Keegan start for the Sacramento Kings in a first-round playoff game victory against the Golden State Warriors. And in May, the brothers got to train together for a week and prepare for the next NBA season.

“I feel like my player equation in the draft is pretty clear,” said Kris. “It might be a little lazy, but it’s pretty accurate.”

Ryan Rupert

6-6, 193 pounds, forward, France

Rayan Rupert, 19, was born into one of the top basketball families in France: his father, Thierry, was a former captain of the French national team; his sister, Iliana, won a WNBA championship last summer with the Las Vegas Aces. Thierry died when Rayan was 8, but he instilled in his children a love of the game to which he had devoted his life.

“It’s important for me and my sister to represent the Rupert name,” Rayan said. “I am very proud of my father. At the same time, I want to have my own career. I want people to know me not only as Thierry’s son, but also as Rayan.”

After playing for four years at the prestigious French academy INSEP, Rupert signed with the New Zealand Breakers as part of the NBL’s Next Stars development program. He followed in the footsteps of his best friend, Ousmane Dieng, who went from INSEP to the Breakers to the Oklahoma City Thunder as the 11th overall pick in last year’s NBA draft.

He’s part of a movement of French players who have gone on to become first-round NBA designers, and he’s known Wembanyama since he was 12. But for now, he’s more concerned with making a name for himself.

“I am very happy for Victor and for all the French players in this class,” he said. “But my goal is to be one of the best players in this league. That’s my only focus.”