NBA draft’s No. 3 pick is Scoot Henderson to Portland

NEW YORK (AP) — Scoot Henderson believes he should have been the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. He’ll have to settle for being No. 3.

He was picked by the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night, behind Victor Wembanyama by San Antonio and Brandon Miller by Alabama.

And now it’s time to watch what longtime Portland star Damian Lillard does – and if the pick of another point guard will make him think about requesting a change of scenery.

Henderson spent the last two seasons with the G League Ignite, preparing for life in the NBA that way instead of going the traditional college route.

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What to know:

— Who is Victor Wembanyama and why is he considered a generational talent? We explain.

— The mock draft, selected by AP writers.

— Miller tops list of forwards in the draft.

— Henderson leads the draft guard class.

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MILLER TO CHARLOTTE

Charlotte offered the first intrigue of the NBA draft: Brandon Miller is going to the Hornets at No. 2, over Scoot Henderson.

Miller is widely considered the best wing in the draft, and was the SEC player of the year at Alabama in his lone college season.

He raised some eyebrows at the draft on Wednesday when he said he doesn’t consider Michael Jordan — the Hornets owner, who is selling the majority stake — the best player of all time, saying he holds Paul George in that regard.

There’s also Miller’s ties to a significant off-court issue: A murder case that led to former Tide player Darius Miles and another man being indicted on capital murder charges. A police investigator testified in February that Miles texted Miller to bring him his gun that night. Miller hasn’t been charged with wrongdoing.

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WEMBY GOES NO. 1

It’s finally official. Victor Wembanyama is going to the San Antonio Spurs.

Wembanyama is the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, as has been expected for many months. The Spurs took the French teen who is listed at 7-foot-4 with the first overall selection.

This is the third time that the Spurs had the top overall selection. They chose David Robinson in 1987 and Tim Duncan in 1997. Both of those players became NBA champions and members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

And Wembanyama will follow in their footsteps now. He instantly becomes the centerpiece of San Antonio’s hopes to return to the postseason and start contending for titles again. The Spurs have won five championships under coach Gregg Popovich, with the last of those in 2014.

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THE ODDS

There’s no debate at No. 1. Victor Wembanyama will be the No. 1 pick in the draft.

The intrigue at No. 2 will go down to the wire. As of 7:40 p.m. Eastern, or roughly 30 minutes before the pick, Brandon Miller was the significant favorite according to FanDuel Sportsbook. Scoot Henderson was the second choice in those odds.

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FASHION SHOW

The players have arrived at Barclays Center for the NBA draft. And as always, the preshow was a fashion show.

Soon-to-be No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama wore a green suit and a special necklace, telling ESPN that the stone appealed to him because it was unusual — not expensive. “I don’t care about wearing expensive stuff,” he said.

Taylor Hendricks of UCF had a pinkish suit, the jacket lined with photos that represented his journey to the NBA and some of the people who mean the most to him.

And there was a lot of sparkly. Kansas’ Gradey Dick showed up in a dazzling red jacket, and Scoot Henderson of the G League Ignite wore black with a lot of accent stones in designs selected by his family.

Players arrived, by bus from their hotel, several hours before the 8 p.m. start to the draft, which can be viewed on ABC or ESPN and streamed on ESPN’s website and app.

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