Paolo Banchero

The 19-year-old from Duke seen as a shock at number one pick on a night of surprises. Here's why the selection made waves in Italy.

12) Jalen Williams, SG, picked by Oklahoma City Thunder (from Clippers) Here are the top first round picks. "I'm proud to wear the Azzurri jersey," he added, "I will never forget when I received it for the first time. Orlando had the first pick. He eventually went third to the Houston Rockets. Here's why the selection made waves in Italy.

Most tweets probably wouldn't have been very complimentary after the Magic selected a lanky high school kid named Dwight Howard over UConn's national- ...

Thats one of the things the league is looking for— Pat Welter WRAL (@PatrickWelter) June 24, 2022 The best player in his draft class.— The Brotherhood (@BrotherhoodCBB) Magic's Jeff Weltman: The thing about Paolo is there isnt one thing. Paolo Banchero gives the Magic a 6-10 big with versatile scoring from inside and outside. He can drive with power finesse, plus he’s a creative passer off the dribble. -— Dan Savage (@Dan_Savage) @OrlandoMagicPresident of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman on keeping the pick close to the vest. "When you're playing poker, you don't put your cards on the table, right?" Banchero has been our No. 1 prospect all year because he’s the best shot creator in the class. Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! #MagicTogether pic.twitter.com/1Ud7Yf7B8L June 24, 2022 And how these players develop over the next few years will make most tweets look idiotic, and perhaps some prophetic. Paolo Banchero is a Orlando Magic— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) @SociosUSAx #MagicDraft pic.twitter.com/gxFVzl1Rl3 June 24, 2022 — James D. Jackson (@JamesDJackson15)— James D. Jackson (@JamesDJackson15) #Thunderfans reaction to the Orlando Magic taking Paolo Banchero with the No. 1 pick in the #NBADraft pic.twitter.com/wdBcGJWXyP June 24, 2022

Banchero, who has only played one season at college level with Duke, follows in the footsteps of Shaquille O'Neal.

Forward Jabari Smith, of Auburn, was chosen by Houston Rockets as the third pick of the evening in New York. The draft was also notable for Jeremy Sochan being picked ninth overall by the San Antonio Spurs, which made him the first British player selected in the draft in more than a decade since Ryan Richards was chosen by Spurs in 2010. Banchero, who has only played one season at college level with Duke, follows in the footsteps of Shaquille O’Neal after he was the number one pick by Magic in 1992.

After denying all pre-draft speculations and guesses, Paolo Banchero became the No. 1 overall pick for the Orlando Magic. Before the Draft, the Duke ...

The 19-year-old averaged 17.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.1 assists for Duke in the NCAA last season. Asked whether he is going to help the Italian national team, the newly-selected Magic was certain. "I'll be playing for the national team," he said.

The top five picks of the NBA Draft turned out to be a relative shocker and may prove to be one of the more impactful drafts in NBA history.

But in their biggest moment in a generation on Thursday night, they twisted the future of the entire NBA — and fooled the rest of the league in doing so. The top five picks going on to be the five best guys, well that has never happened. That in mind, it's been a long time since the top of an NBA Draft felt this consequential. There's a reasonable chance the best player in this draft fell to them at No. 3. This was one of the more intriguing lead-ups into a draft in some time. In what could prove to be one of the most talented drafts in recent history, Orlando and Sacramento — two franchises that have been bad seemingly for generations — subverted expectations and gave us mayhem. If Smith hits huge and becomes the best player, it's not unreasonable we could look up in 2027 and see the Rockets competing for NBA Finals appearances while the Thunder and Magic are still picking in the lottery. Has this ever happened in the history of the draft? Will the Banchero and Murray picks prove to be savvy, or will those decisions backfire on the two notoriously underperforming franchises that made them? Ever since the night of the lottery, May 17, it seemed all the momentum was behind the idea that the Magic were going to go with convention and take Smith at No. 1. The beautiful commotion of all of this is: we don't know. Despite the fact that — as we previously laid out right here — the debate over who should go No. 1 was as compelling as we'd seen in years.