Skip to footer

NBA draft 2013 full of surprises, starting with a Canadian No. 1 pick

NBA draft 2013: Anthony Bennett became the first Canadian to be the No. 1 pick. The predicted No. 1 pick, Nerlens Noel, didn't even make the top five, in a surprising start to the 2013 NBA draft.

|
Jason DeCrow/AP
NBA Commissioner David Stern (l.) shakes hands with UNLV's Anthony Bennett, who was selected first overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA basketball draft, Thursday, June 27, in New York.
  • By Brian Mahoney AP Basketball Writer

| NEW YORK

Anthony Bennett became the first Canadian to be the No. 1 pick and Nerlens Noel tumbled out of the top five in a surprising start to Thursday's NBA draft.

The Cleveland Cavaliers passed on Mr. Noel and Alex Len, who went to Phoenix at No. 5, in favor of Mr. Bennett, a University of Nevada Las Vegas forward who has starred for Canada's junior national teams and was the Mountain West Conference player of the year.

There was suspense right until the end, either because the Cavs were unsure who they wanted or were trying to trade the pick. Most predictions had them taking one of the big men, with Noel largely considered the favorite for the No. 1 choice even after a torn knee ligament that ended his lone college season at Kentucky in February.

David Stern, booed heavily in his final draft as commissioner, added to the surprise of the moment by pausing slightly before announcing the Cavs' pick, their first at No. 1 since taking All-Star Kyrie Irving in 2011.

"I'm just as surprised as anyone else," Bennett said.

Orlando passed on both of the big men, too, going with Indiana swingman Victor Oladipo with the No. 2 pick. Washington took Otto Porter Jr. with the third pick, keeping the Georgetown star in the D.C. area.

Ten years after the Cavaliers selected LeBron James to start a draft that would include his future NBA championship teammates Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in the top five, this one lacked star power and perhaps even the promise of stardom.

Bennett, Noel and Len are all coming off injuries and couldn't even work out for teams, but the Cavs decided Bennett's shoulder surgery wasn't enough cause for concern.

Len walked up to meet Stern and collect his orange Phoenix Suns hat, then sat down near the stage to put on the walking boot he needs for the stress fracture of his left ankle that was discovered after Maryland's season.

Noel finally went to New Orleans with the next pick, joining last year's No. 1, Anthony Davis, and giving the Pelicans two terrific defensive players from Kentucky.

He didn't seem upset at his fall down the draft board, hugging his mother and shaking hands with Wildcats coach John Calipari.

It was a good start to the night for the Hoosiers, with Cody Zeller going two places after Oladipo to the Charlotte Bobcats.

Kansas guard Ben McLemore, another player who was considered a potential top-three pick, also dropped, going seventh to Sacramento.

Hosting the draft at Barclays Center, the Brooklyn Nets made the biggest news. A person with knowledge of the talks confirmed a Yahoo Sports report that the Nets and Celtics were working on a trade that would bring Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn.

ESPN reported earlier Thursday that Dwight Howard was unlikely to return to the Los Angeles Lakers when he becomes a free agent next month.

National player of the year Trey Burke of Michigan went ninth, and Lehigh's C.J. McCollum rounded out the top 10 by going to Portland.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to NBA draft 2013 full of surprises, starting with a Canadian No. 1 pick
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0627/NBA-draft-2013-full-of-surprises-starting-with-a-Canadian-No.-1-pick
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe