For weeks, the media had been certain that Auburn sharpshooter Jabari Smith, Jr. was going to be the first pick of the NBA draft.
Even as the Vegas odds shifted suddenly on the eve of the draft, with Duke point forward Paolo Banchero going from distant third to clear favorite, the people who are paid to know these things insisted that the top 3 picks would proceed in the manner predicted.
As team boards finalize today, the 1-2-3 of the NBA Draft is increasingly firm, per sources: Jabari Smith to Orlando, Chet Holmgren to Oklahoma City and Paolo Banchero to Houston.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 23, 2022
As the resident shaman of the NBA reporting world, Woj's tweet had massive ramifications. All of the major casinos temporarily stopped taking bets on who would be selected first and when they returned it to the board, Smith was not only a favorite, but a massive favorite. Yet, as the pre-draft show began airing on ESPN, there was Woj eating crow with his first report of the night. Suddenly, Banchero was being very much considered at the top of the draft. Moments later, Banchero's draft rights were the property of the Orlando Magic.
After this turn of events, the Oklahoma City Thunder and general manager Sam Presti were on the clock in a scenario few had considered. All of the pre-draft conversation had been centered on whether OKC would consider Banchero over Gonzaga unicorn Chet Holmgren. There was far less talk about Smith than even the possibility of the Thunder going way outside the box and choosing Purdue's Jaden Ivey or even Canadian high schooler Shaedon Sharpe.
Less then two minutes into the five minutes allotted for the Thunder to make a decision, the ESPN crawl announced "THE PICK IS IN." That pick was Holmgren.