NBA draft report cards: Spurs, Rockets among teams that hit it big

It’s theeasiest call of theNBAdraft: The San Antonio Spurs won.

That’s not tosay other teams didn’t do very well on Thursday, when 58 playerswere selected as the league’s newest members. But the Spurs beingable to take generational French talent Victor Wembanyama puts themat the head of the class.

Some of theteams that also did well: NBA champion Denver, Golden State,Toronto — even with just one pick — and Orlando, which might now becloser to returning to the postseason mix.

A breakdownof which teams had Excellent drafts, those that had Good drafts andothers that will have to Wait and See:

EXCELLENT

DALLASMAVERICKS

Picks: DereckLively II (12, via trade); Olivier-Maxence Prosper (24, viatrade).

Dallas gotthe big man it wanted and created opportunity by moving DavisBertans. Hard to argue that it wasn’t a good night. And now freeagency awaits. Prosper is another player with big potential and wasextremely hard to guard at Marquette.

Picks: JulianStrawther (29), Jalen Pickett (32, will be acquired via trade),Hunter Tyson (37),

Pickettshould have gone in the first round. He’s that good, and the NBAchampions just got another do-it-all guy who will also serve asinsurance should Bruce Brown leave in free agency.

DETROITPISTONS

Picks: AusarThompson (5), Marcus Sasser (25, via trade), James Nnaji (31)

No matterwhat, the Pistons were going to get better and deeper on Thursdaynight. Thompson is incredibly athletic (even by NBA standards) andplays defense with a ton of energy.

GOLDENSTATE WARRIORS

Picks:Brandin Podziemski (19), Trayce Jackson-Davis (57, via trade)

Play to yourstrength, and the Warriors got another shooter to add to the mixwith Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Podziemski could addsomething right away, and came to Golden State on the same day thatthe Warriors swung a deal for Chris Paul by sending Jordan Poole toWashington.

HOUSTONROCKETS

Picks: AmenThompson (4), Cam Whitmore (20)

Thompson is agreat move and gives Detroit another great option as it builds. IfWhitmore is healthy, then Houston got an absolute steal by gettingthe Villanova forward at No. 20.

OKLAHOMACITY THUNDER

Picks: CasonWallace (10, via trade), Keyontae Johnson (50)

Wallace wasgreat for Kentucky in his lone college season and played perhapshis best game in the Wildcats’ finale in the NCAA tournament. Hecan score; he didn’t look to score quite often enough at times incollege.

ORLANDOMAGIC

Picks:Anthony Black (6), Jett Howard (11)

PaoloBanchero got a couple more shooters to help him out, and the youngand talented Magic got more young talent. An excellent night againand it’s time to start thinking about Orlando as a team that shouldmake a run at the play-in — at minimum.

SAN ANTONIOSPURS

Picks: VictorWembanyama (1), Sidy Cissoko (44).

Their gradewas secured at the very moment that the last ping-pong ballappeared at the lottery last month. Wembanyama was a no-brainer,and now it’s up to the Spurs to start the real work — get him intothe gym, see how he fits, and figure out what the plan is goingforward.

TORONTORAPTORS

Pick: GradeyDick (13)

Dick showedup to the draft in a red-and-black jacket — a nod to Dorothy from“The Wizard of Oz” and his Kansas roots. The color scheme will workin Toronto as well. Dick is a pure shooter, and no team can havetoo many of those. The jury’s still out on what the Raptors will bethis coming season, but this kid will be a rotation piece.

UTAHJAZZ

Picks: TaylorHendricks (9), Keyonte George (16), Brice Sensabaugh (28)

Hendricks iswhat an NBA big pretty much is now; a power forward who can alsodefend centers. George was the Big 12 rookie of the year at Baylorand is a proven scorer. He’s good from the line, has 3-pointpotential and can get to the rim. There’s some work to do, but he’sa serious prospect.

GOOD

BROOKLYNNETS

Picks: NoahClowney (21), Dariq Whitehead (22), Jalen Wilson (51)

Clowney is anathletic big from Alabama whose game is still a bit unfinished.Whitehead has enormous potential and was highly recruited by Duke,but foot issues are a concern. Wilson was the Big 12 player of theyear at Kansas. The Nets likely didn’t choose three elite programsaccidentally. Lot to like here.

CHARLOTTEHORNETS

Picks:Brandon Miller (2), Nick Smith Jr. (27), Amari Bailey (41).

Miller madesense over Scoot Henderson because the Hornets have a point guardalready. But Henderson might be the more NBA-ready player.

INDIANAPACERS

Picks: JaraceWalker (8, via trade), Ben Sheppard (26), Julian Strawther (29),Mojave King (47, via trade), Isaiah Wong (55)

Walker playshard on both ends, and this is rare to say, but he might playharder on defense than he does on offense. And getting Wong — theACC player of the year — so late is a steal.

LOS ANGELESCLIPPERS

Picks: KobeBrown (30), Jordan Miller (48)

Brown is astrong player, addicted to rebounding, and probably needs toimprove considerably on the offensive end. Miller did a little ofeverything for the Miami Hurricanes in their run to the FinalFour.

LOS ANGELESLAKERS

Picks: JalenHood-Schifino (17), Maxwell Lewis (40, via trade).

Hood-Schifinogot NBA coaching in college last season; Indiana is coached by MikeWoodson. He’s a winner; his high school teams won, his Indiana teamwent to the NCAA Tournament and he’ll obviously benefit from timewith LeBron James.

MIAMIHEAT

Pick: JaimeJaquez Jr. (18)

A four-yearcollege player whose game got more complete each year, Jaquez has anotorious work ethic that should fit in quite well with the EasternConference champions.

NEW ORLEANSPELICANS

Pick: JordanHawkins (14)

Hawkins was abig part of UConn’s team that won the national title last spring,earning his way onto the All-Tournament team. New Orleans got awinner.

PORTLANDTRAIL BLAZERS

Picks: ScootHenderson (3), Kris Murray (23), Rayan Rupert (43).

Henderson hasshown that he’s NBA-ready. The Blazers drafted well. But really,the only question now is whether Damian Lillard is happy or not.Murray is the twin brother of Sacramento’s Keegan Murray and had abig season for Iowa — averaging just over 20 points per game.

WASHINGTONWIZARDS

Picks: BilalCoulibaly (7, via trade), Tristan Vukcevic (42)

The Wizardsare starting over, and on the day they also agreed to acquireJordan Poole from Golden State they just happened to get a Frenchplayer. (No, not that one.) But Coulibaly is highly touted by No. 1pick Victor Wembanyama, and that’s enough of an endorsement forus.

WAIT ANDSEE

ATLANTAHAWKS

Picks: KobeBufkin (15), Mouhamed Gueye (39, via trade), Seth Lundy (46)

Bufkin had agreat second half of the season at Michigan, and left-handersalways provide defenses with an extra challenge. The best way todescribe his game is this: He doesn’t do much wrong. Very solid,can help the Hawks in a lot of ways.

BOSTONCELTICS

Picks: JamesNjaji (31, via trade), Jordan Walsh (38, via trade)

Still only18, Njaji started playing the game about seven years ago and is noteven close to reaching his potential yet. Big prospect.

CHICAGOBULLS

Pick: JulianPhillips (35, via trade)

The Bulls hadto forfeit what would have been their pick because of free-agencyviolations last summer, and swung a deal with Boston to land theTennessee wing.

CLEVELANDCAVALIERS

Pick: EmoniBates (49)

He was toutedas a star since basically middle school, had more than his share ofpromising moments in college, and now has to really provehimself.

MEMPHISGRIZZLIES

Picks:Gregory Jackson II (45), Tarik Biberovic (56)

Prospects.They’re not expected to provide any real help anytime soon.

MILWAUKEEBUCKS

Picks: AndreJackson (36, via trade), Chris Livingston (58)

Jackson was abig part of UConn’s national championship. He’s only going tobenefit from being around Giannis Antetokounmpo every day.

MINNESOTATIMBERWOLVES

Picks:Leonard Miller (33, via trade), Jaylen Clark (53)

Miller had alot of big moments playing with Scoot Henderson and the G LeagueIgnite this past season. Athleticism is tough to ignore.

NEW YORKKNICKS

No picks.

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS

No picks.

PHOENIXSUNS

Pick: ToumaniCamara (52)

Given thetrades that they’re making, this might be one of their last picksfor quite some time. There’s nothing wrong with not valuing thedraft, but giving up on it entirely is a dangerous game to play toooften.

SACRAMENTOKINGS

Picks: ColbyJones (34, via trade), Jalen Slawson (54)

Jones hasskills the Kings crave; great shooter, great passing and greatvision. A young Kevin Huerter-type in those regards.