Victor Wembanyama caps off eventful week by joining San Antonio Spurs as No. 1 pick
Wembanyama became the third big man selected by the Spurs with the first pick, joining David Robinson (1987) and Tim Duncan (1997).
NEW YORK — The inevitable was made official Thursday night when the San Antonio Spurs selected Victor Wembanyama with the first pick of the NBA draft.
There was no suspense as the 7-foot-4 versatile Frenchman was projected as the first selection for some time. It became a foregone conclusion that they would draft him after being awarded the No. 1 pick in last month’s NBA draft lottery.
But the lack of suspense didn’t take away his excitement at becoming the Spurs’ third first overall pick, joining David Robinson (1987) and Tim Duncan (1997).
“I can’t really describe it, you know, it’s still fresh,” Wembanyama said. “But it’s one of the best things of my life, probably the best night of my life. I’ve been dreaming about this for so long. It’s just a dream come true.”
The 76ers didn’t have any pick in the draft, but were expected to purchase a second-rounder. However, the team still made additions.
A league source confirmed the Sixers have agreed to two-way contracts with former Arkansas guard Ricky Council IV, former Arizona forward Azuolas Tubelis, and former North Carolina State guard Terquavion Smith. The Sixers will also add former Arizona State forward Marcus Bagley to an Exhibit 10 contract.
Meanwhile, former Westtown School and Duke standout Dereck Lively II was selected 12th by the Oklahoma City Thunder and immediately traded to the Dallas Mavericks. Lively is also the second former Team Final AAU player selected as a lottery pick in as many years. Jalen Duren was selected 13th by the Charlotte Hornets and immediately traded to the Detroit Pistons in the 2022 draft.
» READ MORE: Duke’s Dereck Lively II, a Westtown graduate, has risen into national stardom. His mother steered that path.
Former Villanova standout Cam Whitmore, once a projected as a top-5 pick, slid all the way to 20th to the Houston Rockets. Then in the second round, the Atlanta Hawks picked former Penn State and Roman Catholic standout Seth Lundy with the 46th pick. Lundy also played for Team Final. And the Indiana Pacers nabbed former Miami and Bonner & Prendergast standout Isaiah Wong with the 55th pick.
But this night was all about Wembanyama, whose eyes were red as he tried not to shed tears of joy as he addressed the media. The draft was the culmination of an eventful three days for Wembanyama in the Big Apple.
On Tuesday, the 19-year-old rode the subway to Yankee Stadium and threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the New York Yankees game against the Seattle Mariners.
On Wednesday after media availability, he visited Mary McLeod Bethune School, a public school in Harlem partly funded by the NBA. Then he went to the famed Rucker Park, which borders Harlem and Washington Heights.
On Thursday, he visited Times Square and viewed a billboard featuring him. But two hours before the draft, he walked across the stage where he would later embrace NBA commissioner Adam Silver, paused for a moment and looked back.
“That’s when it started to feel a little bit real,” Wembanyama said of being selected first. “It still isn’t complete really. At that moment, I started visualizing it.”
Then 40 minutes before the draft, Wembanyama left the Green Room to sign two autographs. One of his autographs went on a basketball he caught from a Spurs fan in the stands.
Wembanyama stood out this season for the Metropolitans 92 in France’s LNB Pro A league. He averaged 21.6 points, 10.4 rebounds. and 3.0 blocks while leading his team to the finals. The Indiana Pacers selected his Metro 92 teammate Bilal Coulibaly with the seventh pick and traded him to the Washington Wizards.
Lively, a 7-1 center, averaged 5.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks in his lone season at Duke. Lively joins Los Angeles Lakers center Mo Bamba and Portland Trail Blazers guard Cam Reddish as former Westtown players in the NBA.
The 19-year-old also becomes the 17th Team Final product to make the NBA. The list includes Sixers two-way player Louis King, Tyreke Evans, Mikal Bridges, Donte DiVincenzo, Lonnie Walker, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Lamar Stevens, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Duren, Reddish and Lundy.
“It’s always been some form of competitive nature, not even on the east coast, just in Philadelphia,” Lively said. “Just having that grit, having that hustle and having that determination to do whatever it takes. No matter how hard the world beats you down, you got to get back up and fight twice as harder.”
Whenever he thinks about Westtown, Lively remembers watching as a 6-10, 190-pound freshman.
“Even thinking about Team Final, I was 6-7, 170,” he said. “So just thinking about how far I’ve come, and the people that came here with me. I’m just so grateful and so thankful.”
Whitmore, 6-6 forward, averaged 12.5 points and 5.3 rebounds in 26 games last season as a freshman. He was named to the all-Big East freshman team. He became the first Villanova one-and-done to get drafted since Tim Thomas in 1997.
Lundy, another 6-6 forward, averaged 14.2 points and 6.3 rebounds last sason as a senior at Penn State. Wong, a 6-3 guard, tallied 16.2 points and 3.2 assists as senior for the Hurricanes.