Nineteen-year-old Frenchman Victor Wembanyama announced on Friday during an appearance on NBA Today that he has officially declared for the 2023 NBA Draft, where he is projected to be the No. 1 overall pick regardless of which team wins the Draft Lottery.
"Declaring for the draft was just me sending a letter to the NBA, but it's something crazy I'm not realizing yet," Wembanyama said. "I realized pretty young I wanted to play in the NBA, but it becomes reality more and more every day, and I just feel so lucky to have these dreams at the reach of my hand. I'm gonna take every opportunity I can."
Wembanyama, who stands 7-foot-4, is considered one of the best prospects to ever enter the league due to his extremely rare combination of size and skill. He can finish with ease in the paint, handles like a guard, shoots 3-pointers at a decent clip and defends all over the floor. In the modern era, skilled big men who can space the floor on one end and protect the rim on the other are among the most valuable players, and Wembanyama has the potential to be the best in that category.
It seems every time he plays he does something we've never seen before, such as throwing down a putback dunk off his own missed 3-pointer earlier this season.
Putback dunk off his own stepback 3 🤯 https://t.co/ARkuLYGsAI pic.twitter.com/fXgjzrIAmO
— NBA (@NBA) April 2, 2023
"I would rather score the step-back 3 than miss it," Wembanyama said. "But what's funny about it is two years ago, two of my teammates they actually had a bet on whether I would do that at some point in my career or not. A couple days after the game I called them and told them 'that crazy play happened.' Even for me, that was crazy to see and to rewatch that afterwards. It was a really intense game, so I just went for my rebound and I happened to dunk it. I happened to have arms long enough and jump high enough to dunk it."
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The 2023 NBA Draft Lottery is set for Tuesday, May 16, and every team involved will be hoping the ping pong balls bounce their way. A few teams have better odds than most, though. That includes the Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs, who finished with the three worst records in the league; they all have a 14 percent chance at the No. 1 pick. The Charlotte Hornets (12.5 percent) and Portland Trail Blazers (10.5 percent) are the other two teams with double-digit percentage chances at the top selection.
Whichever franchise wins the chance to add Wembanyama will see their present and future change instantly.
