The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
» Wiseman, Ball follow Edwards offff draft board,
The Golden State Warriors, stung by the news that Klay Thompson sustained another leg injury earlier Wednesday, took Memphis center James Wiseman with the second pick in the draft.
They stumbled to the bottom of the league while Thompson missed the entire season with a torn ACL in his left knee.
The severity of his injury had not been revealed as the draft began but it didn’t persuade the Warriors to take another guard. Instead they went with the 7- foot- 1 center who arrived as the No. 1 recruit out of high school and averaged 19.7 points and 10.7 rebounds in three games before he was suspended for eligibility reasons and eventually left the program to prepare for the draft.
Golden State picked Wiseman right after Minnesota used the top pick on Anthony Edwards of Georgia.
With the third pick, the Charlotte Hornets grabbed Lamelo Ball, a player who already has had a lengthy basketball journey that sent the guard from high school in California to stops as a professional i n Lithuania and Australia.
A 6- f oot- 7 point guard, Ball gives Michael Jordan’s team a player with immediate notoriety.
It’s unclear what the addition of Ball means for Charlotte’s starting backcourt of Devonte Graham and Terry Rozier, the team’s two leading scorers last season. Graham emerged as a scorer in his second season averaging 18.2 points per game while Rozier averaged 18 points per game after coming over from the Celtics.
Ball is most comfortable with the ball in his hands and brings exceptional ball handling and court vision to the NBA after averaging 7 assists per game last season for Australia’s Illawarra Hawks of the National Basketball League.
He’s considered a fearless shooter and has shown the ability to get shots off quickly. He finished 17th in the NBL last season in scoring, averaging 17 points per game and was eighth in rebounding at 7.5 per game before suffering a foot injury. He only played in 12 games but had t riple- doubles i n back- toback games for the Hawks.
Ball l eft to play professionally overseas after his junior season of high school, f i rst playing i n the Lithuanian league and later for the Hawks. In between he played his senior year of high school basketball in Ohio.
Ball first earned national attention during his freshman year at Chino Hills High School in California where he won a state title playing alongside his older brothers Liangelo and current NBA player Lonzo. That helped him amass more than 5.6 million Instagram followers — which i s 600,000 more than last year’s No. 1 draft pick Zion Williamson.
His older brother Lonzo plays for the New Orleans Pelicans.
Ball’s father, Lavar, briefly played for the NFL’S Carol i na Panthers. L avar Ball once challenged Jordan to a 1- on- 1 game.
At No. 4, Jordan’s former team the Chicago Bulls took Patrick Williams of Florida State, the ACC sixth man of the year as a freshman.
The 19- year- old Williams helped the Seminoles win their first ACC regular- season crown. At 6- foot- 8 and with an early 7- foot wingspan, he can defend multiple positions and had a team- high 30 blocks.
Cleveland followed with Auburn’ s Isaac Okoro, another freshman, to round out the top five.
He is arguably the best perimeter defender in the draft. Okoro, who st ands 6- foot- 6, last season averaged 12.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists on 51.4% shooting.
Okoro is viewed as an elite defender on the perimeter and an explosive athlete who often finds himself in the right place at the right time. His shooting hasn’t been one of his strengths, though his ceiling would be considerably high if his jump shot improves.