Lady luck was on the side of the San Antonio Spurs, again, during the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery. San Antonio came away with the rights to the first overall pick and the opportunity to select Victor Wembanyama in the 2023 NBA Draft.
Wembanyama is the most hyped prospect since LeBron James heading into the 2003 NBA Draft. His presence in the draft led to some unprecedented tanking being down throughout the league in the 2022-23 season as franchises wanted to put themselves in a position to land the transcendent prospect.
In the end, it was the Spurs who got lucky. San Antonio has had the good fortune that other teams can only dream of having. The four-year playoff drought they are currently on is the longest in franchise history.
NBA NEWS & DRAFT RUMORS: Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs & Washington Wizards Updates
They had only missed the playoffs three previous times in the franchise’s existence in the NBA. Virtually every time they are bad, they come away with a player who projects to help them turn things around almost instantly.
In a few weeks, they will get to select Wembanyama officially. This will be the third time that they will be selecting No. 1 overall. The last two times it occurred, San Antonio selected David Robinson in 1987 and Tim Duncan in 1997.
The Spurs should be counting their lucky stars, as they did pull off a bit of an upset to land the pick. According to Ben Golliver, national NBA writer for the Washington Post, San Antonio overcame the odds in the end.
NBA NEWS & DRAFT RUMORS: Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs & Washington Wizards Updates
After the first three lottery balls were selected, No. 14, 5, and 8, it was the Washington Wizards who had the best chance at landing the first pick. Out of the 11 possible remaining numbers, the Wizards owned six of them. Luck wasn’t on their side, as one of the five other numbers came up, leading to the Spurs winning the grand prize.
That is a tough break for the Wizards, who would have benefited greatly from adding a player of Wembanyama’s caliber to their roster. They are capped out and don’t have many avenues to improve upon their roster, which includes Bradley Beal, Kristaps Porzingis, and Kyle Kuzma as their Big 3.
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