For the second year in a row, the first round of the NBA Draft passed without a prospect who played at an Alabama high school or college getting picked.
But what happened on Wednesday night in Brooklyn likely did affect former first-rounders with Alabama basketball roots, particularly Crimson Tide alumni Brandon Miller and Collin Sexton.
The second selection in the 2023 NBA Draft by Charlotte, Miller played in only 27 games for the Hornets in the 2024-25 season because of a wrist injury after he’d made the All-Rookie team the previous year.
Miller is a 6-foot-9 wing. Charlotte came away from Wednesday’s picks with two 6-foot-7 wings in Duke’s Kon Knueppel at No. 4 and Connecticut’s Liam McNeeley. To further the seeming duplication of the picks, Knueppel and McNeeley are considered sharpshooters, and Miller took 11.4 3-point shots per game last season.
But the incoming rookies were picked as complements to Miller, with their shooting and passing abilities holding potential to open space for the more athletic third-year pro to blossom.
On other hand, the Utah Jazz’s two first-round selections appear to support reports that the NBA team is trying trade Sexton after the guard led the team in points in the 2024-25 season. The Jazz added two guards – Rutgers’ Ace Bailey at No. 5 and Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. at No. 18.
Sexton was the eighth pick of the 2018 NBA Draft.
Another former first-rounder from Alabama, 2023 No. 21 pick Noah Clowney, got five new teammates in the first round on Wednesday night as the Brooklyn Nets reeled in the eighth, 19th, 22nd, 26th and 27th selections. But only one could have much impact on Clowney’s court time – 7-foot-0 Michigan forward Danny Wolf. Clowney is a 6-10 forward.
As expected, the 79th annual draft started with the Dallas Mavericks taking Duke forward Cooper Flagg.
Twenty-nine picks followed, with 10 made on behalf of other teams. Because trades cannot be completed until the NBA’s new league year begins on July 6, the deals won’t be official for 11 more days.
In addition to Clayton, four more players were chosen from the SEC – Texas guard Tre Johnson at No. 6 by the Washington Wizards, Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears at No. 7 by the New Orleans Pelicans, South Carolina forward Collin Murray-Boyles at No. 9 by the Toronto Raptors and Georgia forward Asa Newell at No. 23 by the Pelicans (but traded to the Atlanta Hawks).
The first-round picks included:
1. Dallas Mavericks: Duke forward Cooper Flagg
2. San Antonio Spurs: Rutgers guard Dylan Harper
3. Philadelphia 76ers: Baylor guard VJ Edgecombe
4. Charlotte Hornets: Duke guard Kon Knueppel
5. Utah Jazz: Rutgers guard Ace Bailey
6. Washington Wizards: Texas guard Tre Johnson
7. New Orleans Pelicans: Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears
8. Brooklyn Nets: BYU guard Egor Demin
9. Toronto Raptors: South Carolina forward Collin Murray-Boyles
10. Houston Rockets: Duke center Khaman Maluach (proposed trade to Phoenix Suns)
11. Portland Trail Blazers: Washington State forward Cedric Coward (proposed trade to Memphis Grizzlies)
12. Chicago Bulls: French forward Noa Essengue
13. Atlanta Hawks: Maryland center Derik Queen (proposed trade to New Orleans Pelicans)
14. San Antonio Spurs: Arizona forward Carter Bryant
15. Oklahoma City Thunder: Georgetown center Thomas Sorber
16. Memphis Grizzlies: Chinese center Yang Hansen (proposed trade to Portland Trail Blazers)
17. Minnesota Timberwolves: French center Joan Beringer
18. Washington Wizards: Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. (proposed trade to Utah Jazz)
19. Brooklyn Nets: French guard Nolan Traore
20. Miami Heat: Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis
21. Utah Jazz: Illinois guard Will Riley (proposed trade to the Washington Wizards)
22. Atlanta Hawks: North Carolina guard Drake Powell (proposed trade to Brooklyn Nets)
23. New Orleans Pelicans: Georgia forward Asa Newell (proposed trade to Atlanta Hawks)
24. Oklahoma City Thunder: Colorado State guard Nique Clifford (proposed trade to Sacramento Kings)
25. Orlando Magic: Michigan State guard Jase Richardson
26. Brooklyn Nets: Israeli guard Ben Saraf
27. Brooklyn Nets: Michigan forward Danny Wolf
28. Boston Celtics: Spanish guard Hugo Gonzalez
29. Phoenix Suns: Connecticut guard Liam McNeeley (proposed trade to Charlotte Hornets)
30. Los Angeles Clippers: Penn State center Yanic Konan Niederhauser
The NBA will return to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for the second and final round of the 2025 draft at 7 p.m. CDT Thursday. ESPN will televise the second round.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at@AMarkG1.