2023 NBA Draft Christmas Wish List for Tanking Teams

Is your team tanking? Well if they are I have the list for you. I’m going to show you the current top 3 projects at each position for our big board and what teams they would fit on best.

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Centers

Victor Wembanyama

19: 7’4 220 Pivot Metropolitan92 (France). Comp= High School/UCLA Kareem. Currently #1 On the Hoop Social Big Board. 

Wemby is a generational talent. He’s gigantic, a fluid athlete, a skilled scorer, a decent passer, and an amazing rim protector. He is the prize of this class. Honestly of the last several classes. 

Team Fits: Houston, Charlotte, San Antonio 

Kel’El Ware

19: 6’11 210 Big Oregon. Comp= Chris Boucher. Currently #15 On the Hoop Social Big Board. 

Ware is the next big up. He’s still raw. Struggles to see obvious passes sometimes and makes stupid mistakes. He’s also insanely skilled and super athletic. He’s kinda like a skinnier Javale McGee with a jumper. 

Team Fits: Houston, Washington, Toronto 

DaRon Holmes

20: 6’10 220 Big Dayton. Comp= Amir Johnson. Currently #25 On the Hoop Social Big Board. 

Holmes is just a work horse big. He’s gonna not make mistakes, he’s gonna defend and roll to the basket. He’s not got star upside but he’s gonna have a long career. 

Team Fits: Sacramento, Brooklyn, Phoenix 

HM: Derek Lively, James Nnaji, Kyle Filipowski. 

Power Forward 

Jarace Walker

19: 6’8 220 Point Forward Houston. Comp= Royce White/Thick Odom. Currently #9 On the Hoop Social Big Board. 

Walker is one of the most unique prospects in a while. He’s basically a 6’8 220 point guard. Who looks like Lamar Odom in Jared Vanderbilt’s body. He could really have an out sized impact on a team. 

Team Fits: Indiana, OKC, Toronto. 

GG Jackson

18: 6’11 215 Big South Carolina. Comp= Josh Smith. Currently #11 On the Hoop Social Big Board. 

Jackson is a strange prospect. He struggles to create for others with his super high usage (but also he has no one to pass too). He’s also the youngest player in the class. He can create his own shot at that height and hasn’t been abused on defense. He’s just really strange. 

Team Fits: Toronto, New Orleans, Golden State. 

Brandon Miller

21: 6’8 200 Forward Alabama. Comp= Steve Novak+. Currently #14 On the Hoop Social Big Board. 

People either love or hate Miller. I’m kinda in the middle. He’s basically one of the best shooters ever right now. He also can’t buy a 2 point basket if you gave him the money and held his hand on the way to the cashier, even with his good athleticism. He’s not a super good defender but also not getting killed there. If his half court offense from 2 ever works out he could be something really, really good. 

Team Fits: New York, Atlanta, Indiana. 

HM: Taylor Hendricks, Kris Murray, Nikola Durisic. 

Small Forwards

Cam Whitmore

19: 6’6 200 Forward Villanova. Comp= Miles Bridges. Currently #5 On the Hoop Social Big Board. 

Whitmore is just awesome. A super springy thick wing who can handle the ball a bit and shoot from the outside. There’s nothing to not like about Cam. He’s got a little bit of everything in his bag and could rise even higher on my board. 

Team Fits: Washington, Orlando, OKC. 

Ausar Thompson

19: 6’7 108 Wing OTE. Comp= Shawn Marion but shorter. Currently #7 On the Hoop Social Big Board. 

Ausar isn’t a great shooter but he’s passable. He isn’t a primary creator but he’s a good passer, he isn’t an incredible ball handler but he can attack defenders with a cross over. What he is though, is one of the greatest defenders in the class and an insane athlete. 

Team Fits: Washington, OKC, Orlando. 

Dariq Whitehead

19: 6’7 190 Wing Duke. Comp= Andrew Wiggins. Currently #12 On the Hoop Social Big Board. 

This is projecting a bit that Dariq will round into form after missing nearly 4 months due to an ankle injury. He was in contention for a top 3 pick before then and can create his own shot while also not giving up much on defense. 

Team Fits: OKC, New Orleans, Golden State. 

HM: Gradey Dick, Jett Howard, Maxwell Lewis. 

Shooting Guard

Keyonte George

19: 6’4 170 Guard Baylor. Comp= Bradley Beal lite. Currently #10 On the Hoop Social Big Board. 

George is a good scoring guard who can pass a bit. The shot isn’t quite there right now but I’m a believer in it coming around. He’s also held up pretty well on defense so far. 

Team Fits: Orlando, Washington, Toronto. 

Terquavion Smith

21: 6’3 180 Guard NC St. Comp= Bones Hyland lite. Currently #17 On the Hoop Social Big Board. 

Terq can just shoot the ball. His percentage hides how good he is because teams attack him so hard on defense. He also could maybe play some defense of his own but his size is worrisome. 

Team Fits: Indiana, NY, Miami. 

Terrence Shannon Jr

22: 6’6 209 Wing Illinois. Comp= Kelly Oubre Jr. Currently #20 On the Hoop Social Big Board. 

While not a sexy pick Shannon will be a good all around player. He’s not going to really have many weaknesses to his game but also isn’t elite at any one thing. 

Team Fits: Sacramento, Phoenix, Los Angeles Lakers. 

HM: Julian Strawther, Amari Bailey, Kevin McCullar. 

Point Guard

Scoot Henderson

19: 6’2 180 Point Ignite. Comp= John Wall. Currently #2 On the Hoop Social Big Board. 

Super athletes who can also pass don’t happen often. Ones with his ability to also play defense and the pedigree of playing in the G league so young is even rarer. Scoot is clearly the number two guy right now. 

Team Fits: Orlando, Houston, San Antonio. 

Amen Thompson

19: 6’7 200 Point Forward OTE. Comp= Scottie Pippin. Currently #3 On the Hoop Social Big Board. 

Amen is like what happens when you give Jimmy Butler’s body the offensive game of SGA and the defense of Ron Artest. He’s the best athlete in the class by a super wide margin but he’s also a poor shooter so he will have to work on that. 

Team Fits: Houston, Orlando, Detroit. 

Nick Smith jr. 

19: 6’5 180 Guard Arkansas. Comp= Jamal Murray. Currently #4 On the Hoop Social Big Board. 

A fantastic combo guard who can score from everywhere both on and off ball. He’s also a good defender as well. 

Team Fits: Orlando, San Antonio, Washington. 

HM: Anthony Black, Cason Wallace, Tyrese Hunter

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Jordan Ennis lives in West Africa where he is a pastor at an international church, he also co-hosts the Assisted Development Podcast on the HoopSocial Podcasts feed. He can be found at Assisted Development Podcast on Facebook and @HoopSocialDraft on Twitter.