The 2023 NBA Draft is full of high-end talent and intriguing storylines. Here are the five teams that improved the most on Thursday thanks to their front-office savviness.
San Antonio Spurs
To no one’s surprise, the Spurs used the No. 1 overall pick on Victor Wembanyama. The 7-foot-4-inch phenom is the most-hyped prospect to enter the league since LeBron James and offers an unfathomable combination of offensive prowess and defensive upside.
The hype is surreal, but If Wembanyama can stay healthy, he has the chance to positively affect the Spurs franchise parallel to what Tim Duncan and David Robinson did back in the 90s and 2000s.
Portland Trail Blazers
The Blazers didn’t flip the No. 3 pick for veteran talent, which could strengthen trade chatter surrounding Damian Lillard. Regardless, the selection of Scoot Henderson offers Portland a lead-guard skill-set and injects talent into a roster that has missed the postseason in back-to-back years.
Whether he is playing alongside Lillard or taking the torch from him, Henderson gives the Blazers a franchise cornerstone and rounds out a tantalizing under-25 trio with Anfernee Simons and Shaedon Sharpe.
Dallas Mavericks
The Mavericks moved down two spots and selected Duke center Dereck Lively II at the No. 12 pick, the same player they likely would have taken at No. 10. Dallas not only got their guy — an elite-level rim-protector in Lively — but also offloaded Dāvis Bertāns’ contract during the process.
Dealing Bertāns to Oklahoma City creates a $17 trade exception for the Mavs, according to Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype. Dallas will now be approximately $74M below the luxury tax, giving them the financial flexibility to re-sign Kyrie Irving and fill out the roster around him and star Luka Doncic.
New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans ranked second to last in three-point attempts per game (30.1) this past season and 23rd (11.0) in made threes.
Insert Jordan Hawkins.
Neck and neck with Gradey Dick as the best shooter in the class, Hawkins knocked down 38.8 percent of his shots from beyond the arc at Connecticut in 2022-23. A menace in transition and coming off screens, Hawkins gives the Pels a plug-and-play option next to CJ McCollum.
Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks didn’t necessarily need a guard, but snagging Kobe Bufkin at the No. 15 spot was too good of value to pass up. Garnering some top-10 hype leading up to the draft, Bufkin is a true combo guard who saw his scoring output skyrocket in 2022-23, increasing his per-game average by 11.0 points.
His jumper could use some fine-tuning, but the Michigan product gives Atlanta flexibility in the backcourt — both with his versatility and also in the fact that it opens the door for a potential Dejounte Murray trade.
