The 2023 NBA Draft was advertised as one of the best we have seen in years, rivaling the productive run we had between 2016-18.
This class was headlined by Victor Wembanyama, the kind of generational prospect who squashed conversations of anyone else taking his spot at the top of everyone’s mock drafts. 2023 was far from a one-man prospect pool, though, offering multiple players whom many experts argued could have earned top billing in a lesser, Wemby-less draft.
The name on the marquee has backed up that notion 90 games into his San Antonio career, building on a Rookie of the Year-winning, Defensive Player of the Year-runner-up first season by combining some of the league’s most terrifying defense with an offensive game of limitless bounds.
Wembanyama shook off a rusty, jumper-heavy start before deploying his 7-foot-4 frame in the high post, finding spots in set plays and on the roll with the help of newcomer Chris Paul. He has raised his scoring rate from 21.4 points per night to 25.6, is slated to lead the league in blocks per game for a second straight year (3.9) and looks to add an All-Star selection in the coming months.
“The Alien” has looked like the top overall pick nearly every second he has donned the historic Spurs threads.
WEMBY WITH THE BLOCK AND ONE-LEGGED THREE ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? pic.twitter.com/CggshU6pQY
— WembyMuse (@Wemby_Muse) December 9, 2024
Who Would Follow Wemby?
The primary debate surrounding this class was who Charlotte would select, with Scoot Henderson or Brandon Miller as the second option.
Henderson blossomed into the draft’s high-upside darling with the G League Ignite, someone who had demonstrated Russell Westbrook-like athleticism as a point guard. Meanwhile, Miller looked like a reliable multi-level scoring forward with the promise of buckets from day one.
Miller clearly looked like the more enticing prospect to the Hornets, who pulled the trigger on the Alabama product at No. 2, and their intuition looks to have paid off. He had the more impressive rookie season of the two, winning First Team All-Rookie honors in the frontcourt alongside Wembanyama by posting 17.3 points per game with the help of a 37.3% effective three-ball.
He looked like he had fallen a step in the season’s opening weeks, much like his French counterpart, settling on more threes than ever (Miller has averaged 11 chucks per night), but he has adjusted his efficiency to match his volume. The big wing has posted 25.3 points on 36.5% from long range over his last 13, including four 32+ point scoring outbursts.
Henderson, conversely, looked rushed by the quick NBA game and succumbed to larger defenders around the rim, where he failed to flourish as a finisher. He has marginally improved as a slasher and mid-range shooter to the detriment of his three-ball, giving him a sub-50% true shooting percentage.
His role has also decreased within the offense, starting just three games in 25 chances. The guard started hot, notching 22 points in the Trail Blazers’ season opener, but has yet to crack 20 since. Inconsistent scoring without much defense to speak of at 6-foot-2 has given Scoot stockholders little to cling on to entering 2025, especially with a quarter-season worth of data to solidify what we thought we had seen.
His game-winner against the Jazz on Dec. 26 is worth nothing, though.
SCOOT HENDERSON WITH 0.1 SECONDS ON THE CLOCK 🔥🔥
Portland gets the victory in the final moments! pic.twitter.com/YpGvSr4MUk
— NBA (@NBA) December 27, 2024
Notable risers
While one top-shelf athlete in Henderson has failed to deliver on some of his pre-draft hype, the physical specimen who went with the pick directly after him has fully inserted himself into the top of his team’s scouting report.
Amen Thompson exemplifies everything that has turned the Rockets into fiery competitors. He is a defensive demon who Houston coach Ime Udoka utilizes as more of a weapon than your standard NBA sophomore. At 6 feet 7 inches, he has one of the toughest covers to shake, and Udoka already trusts him to guard anybody.
He flashed some of this as a rookie but completely settled into his niche late in 2024. Thompson and Tari Eason — the Terror Twins — have combined for one of the deadliest bench tandems in a Western Conference already brimming with talent. They have held opponents to 101.4 points per 100 possessions across well over 400 minutes sharing the court.
Thompson has displayed plenty of the athletic magnificence we once saw in spurts to start this season, showing his ability to adapt his talents to the moment.
Amen Thompson clearly has something special.
Movement, competitiveness, explosiveness, positional size, decision making capacity. Freak athlete + high feel is a bet you always make. He's a jumper away from stardom and will continue to positively impact winning even without one. pic.twitter.com/2HomwNUznu
— NBA University (@NBA_University) December 19, 2024
One player who has lacked that opportunity to play on a budding contender is Gradey Dick, who went to Toronto later in the lottery.
A sub-25% winning rate has not stopped him from getting his, as Dick has answered the call to elevate into the Raptors’ starting two-guard. Toronto has implemented more dribble handoffs and staggered screens to benefit Dick’s ability to catch and shoot on the move, resulting in his leaping from 8.5 points per game last season to 17.6 this year on comparable efficiency.
Gradey Dick is shooting 58% on midrange jumpers (17/29)
Pure hooper pic.twitter.com/SDxmHS8djF
— Japanese Jafar 🧛🏾🇲🇦🇬🇭 (@Bantonappp) November 8, 2024
The second round also produced a few second-year risers, starting with Andre Jackson Jr.
Like Thompson, Jackson could only produce with the coaching staff making more of an effort to implement him into the rotation, a decision he repaid with top-of-the-line perimeter defense. His effort helped spearhead the Bucks’ bouncing back from their ghastly 2-8 start.
Best to worst defensive rating among Bucks players this season (min. 400 minutes):
106.8 – Andre Jackson Jr.
107.7 – AJ Green
110.0 – Brook Lopez
112.8 – Giannis
113.8 – Taurean Prince
113.9 – Gary Trent Jr
114.3 – Bobby Portis
115.5 – Damian Lillard pic.twitter.com/KkehQWNACX— The Lead (@TheLeadSM) December 31, 2024
Jalen Wilson represented an archetype that often slips past the first round, a steady collegiate star with a jack-of-all-trades game. A team defined by guys like Wilson who can compete with anyone since getting overlooked. He’ll be more of a known asset once he can access the finishing to pair with his profile as a 3-and-D wing.
Slumpers
The Warriors were lauded last season for their cleaning up in the draft, snagging Brandin Podziemski midway through the first round and Trayce Jackson-Davis with one of the night’s final picks.
Adding a Swiss army knife guard and a mobile big alongside Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Chris Paul looked like they’d only bolster Steve Kerr’s motion-oriented system, making Golden State look that much smarter when both rookies earned rightful rotation spots as the season progressed.
The early goings of the 2024-25 season have not been kind to the young Dubs. Warriors fans have particularly turned on Podziemski, who broke through as an off-ball shooter, perimeter defender and rebounder, just the kind of old soul who tends to win Kerr over.
He’s failed to rise to meet the workload, filling in starting guard duties without Thompson or Paul around for veteran leadership. Podziemski’s three-ball, a key staple of his game at Santa Clara and as a rookie, has slipped, as have his finishing numbers. He’s a good distributor, but not yet at the level that Golden State needs to run the offense when Curry sits, which necessitated the Dennis Schroder trade.
Jackson-Davis has experienced similar scoring troubles, albeit in a completely different role. He alternates minutes with Kevon Looney as joint undersized centers, guarding top bigs, rebounding and finishing plays within the restricted area.
The young center had no problem as a rim-runner last season, but his 2PT% has fallen from last season’s 70%, mainly due to his field goal percentage between 0-3 feet diving below 70% on numerous smoked layups.
He’s picked it up a few ticks in recent games, but up-and-down results from the sophomore Warriors may be attributed to Kerr’s inconsistent rotations, a process that isn’t made any easier by Golden State’s 3-7 record over their last 10.
I'm gonna keep it real.
This is getting really, really weird for Trayce. Can't miss this layup. pic.twitter.com/nj74LQX2PN
— Joe Viray (@JoeVirayNBA) December 7, 2024
Jaime Jaquez Jr. was the Dalton Knecht of 2023, a college stud with a scoring style that translated almost immediately to the league. He didn’t have Knecht’s outside jumper but could offer the craftiest off-the-dribble midrange work among any of his classmates, smart at picking his spots and having good enough shooting chops to occasionally translate outside of the arc and finishing fourth in Rookie of the Year voting.
The hefty wing’s league-average 57.4% true shooting was fueled by his 50% success between three and ten feet, a region that accounted for 33.7% of his shot diet in 2023. However, that efficient clip has nosedived to 40% accuracy despite that distance range accounting for, coincidentally, 40% of his attempts. A similarly shrinking 3-point shot has failed to save him from his shooting woes.
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