We’ve written about this before and the trend has remained true: free agency in the NBA ain’t what it used to be. The stars have learned that it’s better to secure the extension through Bird Rights — thereby maximizing their contracts — and pick the destination later by requesting a trade. Kevin Durant did it. Bradley Beal did it. Dame Lillard could do it next. As a result, the upcoming free agency won’t include a franchise player changing teams for a fourth straight year. The 2019 class was a doozy and we may never see it again. But there are some game-changers available, even if most of the ..read more

With the first pick, the “Wemby Draft” went according to plan. We’ll see if Victor Wembanyama’s career follows suit. Wembanyama, the giant Frenchman, shook Adam Silver’s hand in a dark green suit and officially joined the San Antonio Spurs. The process was drawn out by the NBA to achieve maximum airtime for ESPN, with the Spurs requiring the full five minutes for the pick. Then the clock started on the real drama, with Michael Jordan making his final pick as Hornets owner at No. 2. Here were the top-10 picks from Thursday’s draft: 1. SPURS: VICTOR WEMBANYAMA Previous Team: Metropolitans 92 (Fr ..read more

For the first time since 2001, four of the top five picks in the NBA draft did not play college basketball in the United States. No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama will join the San Antonio Spurs after having played in France’s top league. The third pick, Scoot Henderson, went to the Portland Trail Blazers after two seasons with the G League Ignite. Last season, he averaged 17.6 points, 6.6 assists and 5.1 rebounds in 25 games, including a 28- point outburst in a preseason game against Wembanyama’s Metropolitans 92 squad. The next two picks, twins Amen and Ausar Thompson, played for Overtime Elite ..read more

Amen and Ausar Thompson took an unconventional route, but their final destination was determined within moments of each other Thursday night in the NBA Draft. The Thompson twins, who started playing basketball in Oakland and were home schooled before moving to Florida and playing at Atlanta-based Overtime Elite in hopes of becoming NBA players, were Nos. 4 and 5 selections as announced by Commissioner Adam Silver at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The Houston Rockets selected Amen at No. 4, and no sooner did the family finish with ABC/ESPN television interviews, the Detroit Pistons selected Ausar ..read more

Chris Paul, the Warriors’ longtime playoff rival, is coming to Golden State. In a deal that will send Jordan Poole to Washington along with Ryan Rollins and two draft picks, the Warriors will add the 38-year-old point guard on the hunt for his first NBA championship. The Warriors have crossed paths with Paul’s teams three times in the playoffs over the last decade, creating for some tense and memorable moments. Here are a few of the best: 4. Fake laugh at Steve Kerr Paul and his new team, the Houston Rockets, beat the Warriors in January 2018 regular-season game and Paul led the Rockets in sco ..read more

The Warriors didn’t win the NBA championship and don’t have the top pick in Thursday’s draft. But Golden State stole the conversation on Draft day by agreeing to acquire Chris Paul from the Washington Wizards in a trade that would send dynamic guard Jordan Poole to the nation’s capital. Even with generational superstar Victor Wembanyama’s likely selection by the San Antonio Spurs set to come on Thursday, ESPN’s coverage building up to the draft gave significant time to the Warriors-Wizards trade. Analyst JJ Redick said he was “fascinated” by the move, especially how Paul will pair up with Step ..read more

The height is real. The hype? Let’s just say Victor Wembanyama has a lot to live up to. Wembanyama, the 7-3 wunderkind, is already such a star that the NBA gave him a separate room and press conference for his pre-draft media session Wednesday. The other 24 prospects were shuttled into a hotel ballroom in groups of eight, representing the far removed supporting cast of Thursday’s draft. This year — and perhaps many more beyond — is all about Wemby. “I’m trying to be the best,” said Wembanyama, a lock to join the Spurs as the first overall pick. “So being the best is not just on the court. Ther ..read more

If the projections are reasonably accurate, Jaime Jaquez Jr. is the only player standing between the Pac-12 and a hefty dose of ignominy Thursday evening in the 2023 NBA Draft. The versatile UCLA forward is considered the only likely first-round selection for a conference that typically produces a handful of them and hasn’t been shut out of the opening round entirely since 1988. The last time it generated just one first-rounder? When Washington’s Quincy Pondexter went 26th to Oklahoma City in 2010. Jaquez’s perch atop the draft class is somewhat unexpected and highly instructive. The Southern ..read more

The Warriors made the first major decision of their offseason last week, naming Mike Dunleavy Jr. as their next general manager. The next big choice comes Thursday in Brooklyn at the NBA Draft. Golden State has the No. 19 pick and plenty of motivation to use it on a win-now plan, with Stephen Curry pushing to extend his prime at age 35. Exactly how the Warriors will do so remains an open question: Should they trade up for a higher-caliber rookie, package the pick with a young player to pursue an established NBA veteran, or stay put and make the pick, trusting their scouting? Our writers make t ..read more

OAKLAND – Amen and Ausar Thompson are trailblazers: The 20-year-old twins enter NBA Draft week all but ordained to become the first players ever drafted from the Overtime Elite developmental league.  Mock drafts from around the basketball world have projected the brothers from San Leandro as top-10 picks. They aren’t prodigies, though, if longtime Bishop O’Dowd coach and East Bay hoops elder statesman Lou Richie is to be believed.  “I never thought they would be the No. 3 and No. 5 picks in the NBA Draft, not at 11 or 12 years old,” Richie told the Bay Area News Group on Thursday aft ..read more