There are currently more developmental pathways that could potentially lead to the NBA than ever before, and that’s exciting for scouts and evaluators.
As of right now, it is possible that none of the first three players who will hear their names called in the 2023 NBA Draft will play college basketball next season. France’s Victor Wembanyama is joined by G League Ignite’s Scoot Henderson and Overtime Elite’s Amen Thompson as the most touted prospects in the class thus far.
That could change, however, now that the college basketball season is now underway. No one predicted Ja Morant would become the No. 2 overall pick before his sophomore season at Murray State began.
No one is able to predict the draft even on the day of the event. Remember what happened with Paolo Banchero during the offseason? That came out of nowhere!
So while it’s a fool’s errand to pretend like we’re confident in our predictions this early in the season, it’s a nice barometer check to see what kind of player could be available when your favorite team is on the clock.
Our draft order is based on win-loss projections from FiveThirtyEight. Based on what we know about these players, here is how we predict the 2023 NBA Draft.