Blazers and Hornets sit atop NBA Draft — and could sway it with big decisions
New York TimesCHICAGO — While the NBA Draft Lottery was the star of the show this week — with its reveal that the San Antonio Spurs won the right to select Victor Wembanyama — the draft combine continued on in its shadow at Wintrust Arena. Hornets president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak told reporters he wouldn’t be averse to taking another ball-dominant guard alongside Ball but also hinted that fit, not just talent, could be a factor. “I think three years ago, or even two years ago, I would have said without question that we’re going to take the best available player. I don’t think we’re where we need to be from a talent level, but we’ve got a lot more talent than we did two or three years ago, so I think we can be a little bit picky and take into consideration not only the overall talent but also the position.” Interestingly, Kupchak expressed some concern after the lottery about getting the opportunity to work out the potential players early enough in the process, instead of having to wait until the final week before the draft in June. By jumping up from the fifth-overall lottery slot into the top three, Portland got the ability to add a player from the draft’s perceived second tier — Wembanyama in a strata all by himself, with Henderson and Miller below him.
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