SPURS WILL SELECT FIRST
Victor Wembanyama is now set to begin his NBA career with the San Antonio Spurs, after they won the NBA draft lottery and the No. 1 overall pick on Tuesday night.
The Spurs were one of three teams with the best odds — 14 percent — to land the No. 1 pick, which they’ll almost certainly use on Wembanyama. The 7-foot-3 French 19-year-old is one of the most highly touted prospects in NBA history and will be expected to make an immediate impact on the league.
“He’s an incredible young man,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told ESPN as part of its draft lottery broadcast. “He’s 19 years old and I didn’t take out a yardstick or meter stick or whatever they use in France, but he seemed all of 7-4 to me. … He clearly appears to be a generational talent.”
It’s the third time the Spurs have won the lottery, and on both previous occasions they made picks that paid off for decades. They chose David Robinson in 1987, Tim Duncan in 1997, and those selections were a major part of how the Spurs became a team that won five NBA titles under coach Gregg Popovich.
“I’m so excited,” said Peter J. Holt, Spurs managing partner.
Charlotte will pick second, Portland will pick third, and Houston will pick fourth.
The Spurs were 22-60 this season, tied for the secondworst record in the NBA. Popovich and the Spurs have had incredible success with international players in the past — most notably, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, who owns the French team that Wembanyama played for last season.
Detroit had the worst record in the NBA and was one of the three teams with the best odds of winning. The Pistons wound up falling all the way to fifth, the worst of their possible outcomes.
The rest of the lottery order: Orlando will pick sixth, Indiana seventh, Washington eighth, Utah ninth, Dallas 10th, Orlando (from Chicago as part of an earlier trade) in 11th, Oklahoma City 12th, Toronto 13th, and New Orleans 14th.
Notable
Doc Rivers’ penchant for playoff collapses and secondround exits cost him his coaching job with the Philadelphia
76ers.
The 76ers fired Rivers following a third straight exit in the second round of the playoffs, and the second time over that span he lost a series lead and a Game 7.
Rivers led the 76ers to their second straight 50-win season behind NBA MVP Joel Embiid but again failed to lead them to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2001. The Sixers have not won an NBA championship since 1983.
Morey was scheduled to address the decision at a news conference today.
• Ja Morant spoke about his latest troubles, three days after the Memphis guard apparently
held a firearm again while being broadcast on social media and was suspended by the Grizzlies from all team activities.
“I know I’ve disappointed a lot of people who have supported me,” Morant said in a statement released Tuesday night by his representatives. “This is a journey and I recognize there is more work to do. My words may not mean much right now, but I take full accountability for my actions. I’m committed to continuing to work on myself.”
Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane had surgery on his right big toe after initially breaking a bone during a game Nov. 11.