2023 NBA Mock Draft: Brandon Miller, Scoot Henderson go behind Victor Wembanyama in two-round projection

We are officially less than one week out from the 2023 NBA Draft, so with the NBA season officially in the books and the draft now days out, it’s time to grab the magnifying glass and inspect closer how draft night might unfold and what we think will happen.

One thing we know: Victor Wembanyama will be the No. 1 pick to the San Antonio Spurs. Lock it in. The drama, as ever, centers around who goes No. 2 and No. 3 … and so on. 

In some order, Brandon Miller and Scoot Henderson are believed to be the most in play at No. 2 for the Charlotte Hornets, with the one not selected most likely to get scooped at No. 3 by the Portland Trail Blazers. Those domino decisions will create another effect, with Houston at No. 4 and Detroit at No. 5 also very much up in the air.

In our first two-round mock look-ahead for next week, our projections mirror the betting markets — for now — with Overtime Elite guard Amen Thompson off the board for the Rockets at No. 4 and Cam Whitmore falling to Detroit at No. 5. However, even with the draft so close, keep in mind right now projections are more about ranges than definitive landing spots. So Amen could go between No. 4 and No. 7; Whitmore between No. 4 and No. 10; Jarace Walker between No. 4 and No. 8; and so on.

Am I going to be right about some landing spots? Well, yes, thanks to some combination of dumb luck and some expert tea-leaf reading. But most likely I will be way more wrong than right below. For this exercise I will fall on the knife and sacrifice some accuracy to lay out where I think prospects could go and in what ranges — for all 58 picks (the Bulls and 76ers both forfeited second-round picks for violating league rules governing the timing of free agency discussions.)

Let’s jump in!

Round 2