The college basketball season is a month away, but NBA scouts will be traveling this week to Henderson, Nevada, to watch two games featuring players not in school who just so happen to be the projected No. 1 and No. 2 draft picks in the 2023 draft.
French basketball club Metropolitans 92 and Victor Wembanyama will play the G League Ignite and Scoot Henderson in a pair of highly anticipated games this week on ESPN2 (Oct. 4, 10 p.m. ET; Oct. 6, 3 p.m. ET).
The 7-foot-5 Wembanyama will play in the United States for the first time as NBA fans start to imagine what impact the 18-year-old could have on their respective teams. Henderson is no slouch either as the explosive 6-3 point guard with a 6-9 wingspan signed with the Ignite in 2021, becoming the first high school junior to commit to the program.
After spending the summer evaluating players globally, here are my latest projections in what's expected to be a deep class.
The 2023 draft order is based on ESPN projections and reflects the current state of picks owed and owned: