The Denver Nuggets are your NBA champions, so it’s time to turn our collective attention to the NBA Draft.
And we’re already looking into NBA Draft 2023 odds, including odds for the No. 2 pick.
It’s universally known that Victor Wembanyama will be the first overall pick, going to the San Antonio Spurs.
However, there are still questions about the second overall pick, which belongs to the Charlotte Hornets.
Vegas oddsmakers have thoughts on who might go to Charlotte, or a potential trade partner, at No. 2 – and they’ve released a betting market for the pick.
Let’s check out the current betting odds for which NBA prospect might go second overall in this year’s draft.
Odds via Caesars.
Current betting odds indicate that either Brandon Miller (-260) or Scoot Henderson (+145) will be the second overall pick.
Converting those to implied odds, Caesars projects that Miller goes second 72.2% of the time, while Henderson goes closer to 40% of the time (the odds add up to over 100% because of the book’s hold).
Let’s go through the pluses and minuses for each guy.
In a game last season, the Crimson Tide were struggling against lowly South Carolina as double-digit favorites, even trailing by five late.
The Tide couldn’t score.
That is, except for Miller.
Miller finished with 41 points and the game-winner, saving Alabama’s top overall seed hopes and cementing himself as a top-five draft pick.
He also showed everything that makes him special.
He’s a big-bodied wing with elite three-level shot-making skills – specifically, Miller can hit shots off hand-offs, pick-and-pops or off the dribble.
Standing 6-foot-9, Miller is happy to finish over smaller defenders at the rim, from mid-range or beyond the arc.
Miller is also a surprisingly effective playmaker.
Alabama ran a ton of pick-and-roll last year, and Miller was the third-highest usage guy (behind guards Jahvon Quinerly and Mark Sears), wherein he regularly made the rolling pass to his big or the cross-court pass to open shooters.
His scoring and playmaking required a solid handle, which only improved as his season progressed.
Finally, Miller is an active, quick on-ball defender.
Alabama finished third nationally in Defensive Efficiency last year, and Miller’s big body was a reason why.
All-in-all, Miller is a franchise-changing prospect.
He’s a huge two-way wing with the ability to run the offense, make every shot and defend at a high level.
His most popular NBA comparison is Paul George, but I see shades of Jayson Tatum.
Of course, Miller’s a little thin to be an impact defender against some of the NBA’s best wings, and he lacks burst off the dribble.
Also, there are off-the-court concerns (he was involved in the Darius Miles shooting).
The Hornets expect Miller to become a second playmaker and shot-creator next to LaMelo Ball.
Henderson is a pure point guard with stupid athleticism.
He reminds me of Russell Westbrook with his ability to blow by defenders and throw down rim-rocking dunks.
But past that, he has a great first step and regularly shows the ability to change pace on a defender, plus he’s happy to finish at the rim in all different ways.
He’s a true playmaker who can create for teammates out of isolation or pick-and-roll sets.
Also, he’s a hard-working defender, especially off-the-ball.
The one big weakness is shot selection, where he looks to pull up from mid-range too often.
His spot-up numbers were very poor, although he improved his shot mechanics and efficiency.
At No. 3 overall, the Blazers are probably looking for Damian Lillard’s heir apparent, and you can’t get much better than Henderson.
Amen Thompson (+4500) is a distant third in this betting market.
He profiles as a point guard but is bigger than Henderson, so he can show more positional and defensive versatility.
There’s a mess of guys with much-longer odds in this market, but guys I wouldn’t mind heading to Charlotte include:
Here are the current odds provided by Caesars Sportsbook at the time of writing.
The bet is titled “2023 NBA Draft – Second Pick”