Paolo Banchero - NBA - sportstiger

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The Orlando Magic have selected Duke forward Paolo Banchero with their first overall pick in the NBA Draft at Brooklyn's Barclays Center on Thursday. Banchero put up 17.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 39 starts in his one year at Duke.

The Seattle-born was followed by Gonzaga big man Chet Holmgren who went to the Oklahoma City Thunder as the second pick. Then with the third pick, Houston Rockets picked Auburn forward Jabari Smith. The top five picks were capped off by Sacramento Kings picking up Iowa forward Keegan Murray followed by Purdue's Jaden Ivey going to Detroit Pistons.

Bennedict Mathurin from Arizona and Kentucky’s Shaedon Sharpe was selected sixth and seventh by the Indiana Pacers and Portland Trail Blazers respectively. The eighth pick in the draft was Australian Dyson Daniels who was selected by the New Orleans Pelicans. 

Then Jeremy Sochan went ninth to the San Antonio Spurs. The Washington Wizards have selected Wisconsin's Johnny Davis with the No. 10 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft while the New York Knicks selected Frenchman Ousmane Dieng as the 11th.

I didn’t find out I was actually getting picked: Banchero

Reacting to getting picked number one in the draft, Paolo Banchero talked about not knowing where he was going 20 seconds before being called on. He also talked about playing with Wendell Carter and Franz Wagner for the Magic.

“The information that I was being told was just that it was up in the air, Orlando wasn’t really sure yet and to just be ready for whatever,” Paolo Banchero said. “I didn’t find out I was actually getting picked until about 20 seconds before the commissioner got on the stage. I didn’t really even have time to think about it or anything. It just kind of happened.”

I feel like I will fit in great. The Magic have a lot of talent: Banchero

“I feel like I will fit in great. The Magic have a lot of talent. They’re very deep,” Paolo Banchero said. “They also have a lot of dynamic forwards like myself, like Wendell [Carter], Franz Wagner. Adding myself, I feel like that’s going to give teams a lot of problems. That’s three 6-9, 6-10, 6-11 guys that can all dribble, pass and shoot, and have a high IQ.”