Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I’m glad I don’t have to hand-deliver this newsletter as I said I would yesterday if Victor Wembanyama wasn’t the first pick in the draft.
In today’s SI:AM:
🏀 Winners and losers from the NBA draft
☘️ The Celtics lose their heart and soul
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Welcome to the NBA, Victor Wembanyama. The Spurs finally made the most obvious draft pick in decades official when they selected the French phenom with the No. 1 pick last night. While Wembanyama was the focus of the night, there were a lot of noteworthy actions. Let’s break them down.
The Hornets’ choice at No. 2
The second pick was the source of some controversy. Most observers believed that athletic point guard Scoot Henderson was the second-best player in the draft—the sort of guy who’d be a clear No. 1 choice in any other year. But the Hornets were long rumored to prefer swingman Brandon Miller. Despite a report by The Athletic’s Shams Charania that Charlotte was considering going with Henderson, the team did wind up selecting Miller.
It’s a risky move, but the man who made it won’t be around to deal with the consequences if it goes sideways. Hornets owner Michael Jordan has already agreed to sell the team but was still in charge of running the draft. And as Chris Mannix writes, Jordan’s track record as a talent evaluator and team builder is dismal:
As a player, Jordan is nearly peerless. As a businessman, he is. As an executive charged with building a championship-caliber team, Jordan has been a disaster.
Seriously: awful. His brief stewardship of the Wizards was highlighted by the decision to draft Kwame Brown. His control of basketball operations in Charlotte, which began in 2006, yielded just three trips to the playoffs. Jordan’s lottery picks during that time include Adam Morrison and D.J. Augustin … Cody Zeller and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist … Frank Kaminsky and Malik Monk.
While Henderson may not have been the ideal addition to a team that already boasts LaMelo Ball, history has shown that teams can face difficulties when prioritizing positional needs versus overall talent. Miller is a highly regarded prospect who excelled in his lone season at Alabama, but he’s less of a sure thing than Henderson. If he doesn’t pan out and Henderson develops into the All-Star–caliber player, the Hornets will rue their decision. Judging by these videos from watch parties, Charlotte fans already think their team made the wrong choice.
Cam Whitmore’s fall
In every draft in every sport there’s a player who surprisingly tumbles down the board. In this case, it was Villanova wing Cam Whitmore. Kevin Sweeney ranked him as the No. 7 prospect in this draft. Most mock drafts had him going in the top five. But after a dramatic slide, Whitmore went to the Rockets at No. 20.
It’s a lucky break for Houston, which selected another lottery-caliber player in the back half of the first round, but a tough one for Whitmore, who will sign a less valuable rookie deal.
The Thompson twins
There have been sets of brothers who played in the NBA together before, but never two brothers selected in the top 10 of the same draft—until now. The Rockets took point guard Amen Thompson at No. 4 last night and then with the next pick, the Pistons took his twin brother, swingman Ausar. The Lopez twins (Brook and Robin) and Morris twins (Marcus and Markieff) were all top-15 picks in their draft years.
The Mavericks’ shrewd trade
Last season was a disaster for the Mavericks, whose midseason trade for Kyrie Irving spectacularly backfired. Building a winner around Luka Dončić will be tough, but a move Dallas made last night will help in that pursuit. In trading back from No. 10 to No. 12 with the Thunder, Dallas shed the contract of Dāvis Bertāns while still selecting the player it wanted (Duke’s Dereck Lively II). As Rohan Nadkarni points out, it’s a move with luxury-tax implications that will help the Mavs in free agency:
[T]he Mavs now have access to the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, valued around $12.4 million. With a potential squeeze on middle-class free agents in the new CBA, the Mavs may be able to use that exception on a player better than Bertāns in free agency, all for the cost of moving down only two spots and picking someone they liked anyway.
The best of Sports Illustrated
- Rohan Nadkarni has a thorough list of winners and losers from last night’s draft.
- Former No. 1 recruit Emoni Bates was selected in the second round of the draft.
- In trading away Marcus Smart, the Celtics lost their heart and soul, Chris Herring writes.
- Rohan believes the Smart trade is a perfect fit for the Grizzlies, though.
- With the MLB trade deadline about a month away, Emma Baccellieri looks at which teams will be facing tough decisions about whether to be buyers or sellers.
- The Rays benched star shortstop Wander Franco, citing behavior and attitude issues.
- Get your seats to MLB games with SI Tickets.
The top five…
… things I saw yesterday:
5. Amen Thompson’s interview about splitting up his and twin brother Ausar’s shared belongings now that they’re going to the NBA.
4. Yankees utilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s ninth inning. Pitching in the top of the ninth inning in a 10–0 blowout against the Mariners, he struck out Eugenio Suárez. Then he hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning. He’s the first Yankees pitcher to hit a home run since Lindy McDaniel in 1972 and the first Yankees pitcher with a strikeout and a home run in the same inning since Mel Stottlemyre in ’71.
3. Phillies radio announcer Scott Franzke’s hilariously monotone call of Marcell Ozuna’s 10th-inning home run.
2. LSU first baseman Tre’ Morgan’s diving throw on a squeeze bunt to prevent a run from scoring in the eighth inning of a scoreless game against Wake Forest.
1. Tommy White’s walk-off homer in the 11th inning to send the Tigers to the Men’s College World Series.
SIQ
On this day in 1994, which pitcher, the father of a current major leaguer, was denied a perfect game by an umpiring mistake similar to the one Jim Joyce made in Armando Galarraga’s 2010 perfect game bid?
- Steve Bedrosian
- Bobby Witt
- Roger Clemens
- Mark Leiter
Yesterday’s SIQ: On June 22, 1978, which future World Series winner married his wife in a ceremony at home plate of a minor league stadium? (Hint: The wedding made him the stepfather to his nephew, also a future major leaguer.)
- Mookie Wilson
- Bruce Sutter
- Chris Gwynn
- Sal Butera
Answer: Mookie Wilson. Preston Wilson was four years old when his mother, Rosa Gilbert, married the Mets’ center fielder. Mookie’s brother, Richard, was Preston’s father.
Mookie was in his second pro season, playing with the Jackson Mets, the franchise’s Double A affiliate in Mississippi, when he married Gilbert. He would quip later that they held the wedding at the ballpark because “he had always promised her a diamond, and this was the only way he could manage,” according to a 1986 New York Times article.
It sounded like a nice night. Here’s how Wilson’s SABR biography described it:
“The ceremony, held before a crowd of 1,200, included an archway of bats held up by team members. The reception took place on the field after the game, with everyone in attendance invited. Fans and teammates then chipped in for a bridal suite at a local hotel.”
Two years later, Wilson made his big league debut with the Mets. In 1998, Preston followed suit.
