2023 NBA Draft grades: Victor Wembanyama goes No. 1 as Spurs officially start new era

The pick was virtually guaranteed the moment the Spurs won the lottery

By Sam Quinn

Jun 22, 2023 at 8:34 pm ET • 2 min read

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The San Antonio Spurs, as expected, selected Victor Wembanyama with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft on Thursday night. The pick has been a virtual guarantee ever since May 17, when the Spurs, in the No. 3 slot, jumped up to No. 1 in the draft lottery. San Antonio made it official on Thursday when they selected arguably the best prospect the NBA has seen since LeBron James entered the league in 2003.

Wembanyama is a 7-foot-4 French phenom who can do virtually everything on a basketball court. He will enter the NBA as one of the league's most imposing shot-blockers. He is a strong shooter and one-on-one shot-creator, which is extremely rare for a player of his size. He might be the tallest player in the NBA next season, but he moves like a player a full foot shorter. The sky is the limit for Wembanyama, who has been projected as the No. 1 pick in this draft class for several years now.

His presence will be transformative for a Spurs team that has spent the past several years in the wilderness. San Antonio has not won a playoff series since Kawhi Leonard forced his way out in 2018. They've missed the playoffs four years in a row, but in that time, they've amassed an impressive collection of young talent. Wembanyama will be surrounded by players like Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell and Jeremy Sochan when he arrives in the NBA.

CBS Sports' Adam Finkelstein graded the move an 'A+' for San Antonio:

The 7-foot-5 prodigy with the 8-foot wingspan has generated the type of praise we have not heard since LeBron James. On top of his insane measurables is a combination of defensive dominance, offensive skill and uncanny agility for his size. If he can stay healthy, true NBA stardom is a very likely scenario. The Spurs spent years setting themselves up to be in this position and took advantage of it.

Wembanyama will be coached by Gregg Popovich, the man who, 26 years ago, selected another enormous phenom and helped mold him into one of the greatest players the NBA has ever seen. Tim Duncan won five championships with Popovich, and Tony Parker, a fellow Frenchman and the owner of one of Wembanyama's former teams, was there for four of them. That made the Spurs a preferred destination for Wembanyama.

Now the Spurs will attempt to build their sixth champion with Wembanyama at the center of it all. San Antonio has a long way to go, but with Wembanyama in place, the sky is the limit moving forward.