The basketball world is looking to New York tonight!
This year’s NBA draft will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where the Nets usually play with Kevin Durant. Here the teams choose from the best talents in the world. It starts at 8 p.m. local time, i.e. 2 a.m. in Germany. In Germany, the show can be seen live on DAZN.
Right in the middle: the German Franz Wagner (19)!
The Berliner last played for the Michigan Wolverines in the NCAA, the US college league. He is 2.05 meters tall and usually acts as a small forward. His brother Moritz, called “Moe”, plays in the NBA for the Orlando Magic.
DOES FRANZ BEAT SCHREMPF AND NOWITZKI TODAY?
Detlev Schrempf in 1985 in the Dallas Mavericks jersey
Foto: NBAE via Getty Images
In NBA history, Detlef Schrempf and Dirk Nowitzki are the two Germans who were selected the earliest.
- Schrempf was signed in 1985 in 8th place by the Dallas Mavericks.
- Nowitzki was drawn in 1998 in 9th place by the Milwaukee Bucks and immediately transferred to Dallas.
The young Dirk Nowitzki! Here he is introduced to the Dallas Mavericks at a 1998 press conference
Foto: NBAE via Getty Images
When is Wagner drawn? Everything is possible! Which club will select which player is still a secret and will only be revealed on draft evening in New York.
Experts’ forecasts have fluctuated in the United States over the past few weeks. In the meantime it was even said that Wagner had a chance of being selected in sixth or seventh place. He wouldn’t be a player who would immediately guarantee a lot of points – but he is considered very versatile with strengths on the defensive. That’s what the clubs stand for!
In the last few days rumors have persisted that Wagner would be chosen between 9th and 12th place. Allegedly the Sacramento Kings are hot for him. Also the Golden State Warriors.
In the first place, there is a huge probability that Cade Cunningham (19, Oklahoma State) will be drawn by the Detroit Pistons. The 2.03 meter tall point guard is considered to be the outstanding talent in this draft year. It’s the Pistons’ first top 5 pick since they drew Darko Milicic in 2003 – and only the third in the past 40 years.
In which order can the clubs vote?
1. Detroit
2. Houston
3. Cleveland
4. Toronto
5. Orlando
6. Oklahoma City
7. Golden State
8. Orlando
9. Sacramento
10. New Orleans
11. Charlotte, 12. San Antonio, 13. Indiana, 14. Golden State, 15. Washington, 16. Oklahoma City, 17. Memphis, 18. Oklahoma City, 19. New York, 20. Atlanta, 21. New York, 22. Los Angeles Lakers, 23. Houston, 24. Houston, 25. LA Clippers, 26. Denver, 27. Brooklyn, 28. Philadelphia, 29. Phoenix, 30. Utah
Background of the ranking list: The pistons are allowed to vote first because they have been awarded first place in the draft lottery. After the preseason, this game of chance takes place, in which all teams participate that did not make it to the playoffs.
Procedure: The first three places are drawn in the lottery. The worse the team was, the more tickets it got. The worst team has about a 25 percent chance of winning the top pick. The better the teams did, the lower the probability – up to one percent for teams that just missed the playoffs.
The places from 4 downwards are determined in the order in which the previous season was cut off.
In addition, picks can also be part of a player transfer from recent years, so that teams appear in the list that were not so bad in the past season.
The German draft picks in NBA history
Chris Welp: 1987 ranked 16th by the Philadelphia 76ers
Dennis Schröder: 2013 17th place by the Atlanta Hawks
Uwe Blab: 1985 ranked 17th by the Dallas Mavericks
Moritz Wagner: 2018 ranked 25th by the Los Angeles Lakers
Tibor Pleiß: 2010 31st by Utah Jazz
Isaac Bonga: Ranked 39th by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018
Isaiah Hartenstein: 2017 ranked 43rd by the Houston Rockets
Paul Zipser: Ranked 48th by the Chicago Bulls in 2016
In addition there are players like Dalibor Bagaric, who was born in Munich and played for the Croatian national team (drawn in 24th place by the Chicago Bulls in 2000), the American Chris Kaman, who later played for Germany (in 2003 in 6th place of the Los Angeles Clippers) and the American Shawn Bradley (selected 2nd from Philadelphia in 1993), who also played for Germany because of his German mother.
What can Franz Wagner do?
Experts in the American basketball scene agree: The Michigan Wolverines winger is very mature for his age, versatile and a 3-and-D player who throws three-pointers and is strong at defense. He can defend many positions. The teams like that too!
There are certainly still weaknesses in dribbling. It is really good in many areas – but not outstanding in any way! Therefore, it is expected to be drawn in the back single digits, front double digits. But the forecasts go so far that everyone agrees that he fits into the league very well and will go his way.
So it will be interesting to see whether Wagner even beats Schrempf and Nowitzki in the draft and will be signed before the two legendary NBA Germans …
.
