Paolo Banchero knew that Thursday would be a special day, the beginning of his NBA career.
He had no idea of the plans of the Orlando Magic, the team he selected first overall in the NBA Draft tonight. When he found out, just minutes before NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called his name, he couldn’t believe it.
“It’s not even a dream,” Banchero said. “I feel like it’s a fantasy. I dreamed of being in the NBA, but being number one in general is crazy. ”
Magic chose Banchero, a striker from Duke University, with the best choice in Thursday’s draft. He is a 6-foot 10 and 250-pound striker whose mother, Ronda Smith-Banchero, played in the WNBA. He was a guard earlier in his basketball career and played football and basketball at O’Dea High School in Seattle.
Minutes before his name was called, Banchero was sitting at a table on the floor of the Barclays Center, showing no emotion on his face. The magic was on the clock and it began to spread that Banchero could be their choice. Cameras crowd around him, but he does not react externally. It wasn’t until he heard his name that his expression changed.
He lowered his head, looked up, and smiled with tears in his eyes.
“I told everyone I wouldn’t cry, no matter which choice I made,” Banchero said. “It simply came to my notice then. I couldn’t stop him. “
In his only season at Duke, Banchero averaged 17.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game and was named rookie of the year at the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Elections for the rest of the top five: Chet Holmgren of Gonzaga No. 2 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Jabari Smith of Auburn to the Houston Rockets No. 3, Keegan Murray of Iowa to the Sacramento Kings No. 4 and Purdue Jaden Ivey vs. 5.
Three prospects were thought to have split at the top of this year’s draft: Banchero, Holmgren and Smith.
Holmgren nodded and smiled softly when he heard Banchero’s name called first. When Silver called his name, Holmgren burst into a wide smile, stopping for a handshake and long hugs with his family members.
“I have a thousand emotions to describe this moment,” Holmgren said in an interview broadcast in the Brooklyn arena. “It’s surreal and everything I expected.”
Holmgren, 20, is a slender, seven-foot-tall center who grew up in Minneapolis and was named Minnesota of Minnesota in 2021. He was a teammate of Jalen Sugs High School, whom Magic chose fifth overall fifth in 2021. Each spent one season in Gonzaga.
Holmgren led Gonzaga to a record of 28-4 and an average of 14.1 points per game, while making 60.7 percent of his attempts to score from the field. He also averages 9.9 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game. Gonzaga entered the NCAA tournament as number 1 in the overall standings, but was upset in the quarterfinals.
In the days before the draft, rumors were circulating in the media that Orlando had decided to choose Smith first overall. As Smith waited for his name to be called, he looked disappointed. When Silver finally announced his name, another prospect, Tari Eason of Louisiana, who played in the same conference, jumped out of his seat to applaud Smith.
“I know it’s possible, so when that didn’t happen, I was surprised,” Smith said of the prospect of being elected first overall. “You know, all the guys to choose from are great players. They bring a lot to the table. It was like I said in the other interviews: It was a coin toss. So when that happened, you know, I was just happy for them, clapping for them and just waiting for them to call my name. “
The 19-year-old Smith spent a season in Auburn after an outstanding basketball career at a high school in Georgia. He plays for the same Amateur Athletic Union team as Magic’s other No. 1 pick: Dwight Howard. Smith’s father, also named Jabari Smith, spent four seasons in the NBA in the early 2000s.
Jabari Smith Jr. was named freshman of the year at the Southeast Conference and the second all-American team last season. Smith is a 6 foot 10 powerful striker with the ability to shoot from the perimeter. He scored 42.9 percent of his 3 points and averaged 16.9 points per game in Auburn.
The first surprise of the evening was the selection of Murray from Kings number 4, given the expectations that Banchero, Holmgren and Smith will go in some order in the top three. Spectators at the Barclays Center erupted at the announcement.
Murray is the best selected Falcon Eye in school history. The 6-foot-8 striker won a consensus all US first team medals last season and finished fourth in Division I, scoring 23.5 points per game. He led the Hawkeyes to a record 26-10 and participated in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Ivy spent two seasons in Purdue before announcing the draft. He averaged 17.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game in his second season.
The Magic won this year’s draft lottery after finishing the season at 22-60, the worst record in the Eastern Conference and the second worst record in the league. Only the Houston Rockets, who had the third pick in this year’s draft after the 20-62 season, won fewer games than the Magic.
This year was the fourth time in the franchise’s history that it made its first overall choice. The Magic chose Shaquille O’Neill with his first choice in 1992; Chris Weber, who was immediately replaced by Penny Hardway in 1993; and Dwight Howard in 2004.
The pairing of Hardway and O’Neill yielded a spot in the NBA Finals, but no Magic championships. Howard also led Magic to a final in 2009.
Later in their careers, O’Neill and Howard won championships while playing for the Los Angeles Lakers – O’Neill in 2000, 2001 and 2002 and Howard in 2020.
Before Banchero, Duke’s last overall No. 1 player in the NBA was Zion Williamson in 2019. Banchero followed two guards – Anthony Edwards (2020) and Cade Cunningham (2021) – to win the award as the best choice. .
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