The Detroit Pistons are currently sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and if they end up there they will have a 14 percent chance at the number one pick.
Whichever team is lucky enough to get that pick will add forward Victor Wembanyama to their roster, as he looks like a generational talent, a combination between Kevin Durant and Rudy Gobert. Players at his height with those skills aren’t just hard to come by, they really haven’t existed up until this point.
Even if the Detroit Pistons don’t buck the odds to get Wembanyama, there are several other players who are going to raise the average height in the NBA when they are drafted.
Right now, the average height in the NBA is 6-foot-6.74 inches, which is nearly four inches taller than the average height back in 1951 just for reference of how things are moving.
The tallest player in the league is currently Boban Marjanovic, but that will likely change after the 2023 NBA Draft, as there are a couple of guys coming in who are already listed as taller.
The interesting thing about the incoming giants is that many of them are far from the plodding centers we’ve seen in the past.
Detroit Pistons: Mobile giants joining the NBA
Wembanyama is listed anywhere from 7-foot-2 to 7-foot-4 on most sites, with some claiming the latter height is what he measured WITHOUT SHOES. He could be 7-foot-5 by the time he joins the NBA.
But what makes him extra special is that Wembanyama plays like a small forward on offense, which is something he has in common with some of the other bigs coming into the NBA next season.
Here are some of the bigs that should be in the 2023 NBA Draft:
- Victor Wembanyama: 7-foot-4 forward/center.
- Kel-El Ware: 7-foot-0 freshman center who shoots 2.7 attempts from long range per game.
- Dereck Lively II: 7-foot-1 freshman center out of Duke with the agility of a guard in space.
- Leonard Miller: 6-foot-10 small forward on G-League Ignite, a wing with a 7-foot-2 wingspan.
- Baba Miller: 6-foot-11 wing from Spain who went from guard to forward after shooting up nine inches. He kept the skill as he got taller.
- Jamarion Sharp: 7-foot-5 center from Western Kentucky who is very mobile and averages just under five blocks per game.
7'5" Jamarion Sharp, the tallest player in D-I basketball, really did all of this in just SECONDS 😳 pic.twitter.com/VxVtVRHQo1
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 7, 2022
All of these players except Sharp are projected 1st-round picks and are going to give some teams a guy who can do more than just stand around in the lane and block shots.
The NBA just keeps getting bigger and more skilled and I don’t think it will be long before just about every team in the league is running out a lineup with guys who are 6-foot-8 or taller.