This draft can be all sorts of interesting starting with the first pick.
The 2023 PBA Draft will take place on Sunday, September 17, at Market! Market! in Taguig, and it will mark new beginnings for the players and fresh starts for most teams.
But as the draft draws nearer and nearer, what should PBA fans expect?
Well, at this point, fans should expect the unexpected. It is cliché, yes, but really, with a record 128 aspirants all hoping to have their names called on draft day, it is virtually impossible to get a pulse on just exactly how the draft will play out.
For starters, while highly touted Fil-Am and potential game-changer Stephen Holt is projected by several mock drafts as going number 1, it is still far from certain—in part because the Terrafirma Dyip might go big at the top of the order to fortify a thin frontline. Or, they might choose God-knows-who and turn this draft upside-down right at the very first pick.
Assuming Holt gets drafted first, it becomes a virtual free-for-all starting at number 2. Former De La Salle Green Archer Schonny Winston is being pegged as the likely pick here by quite a few experts, but the Blackwater Bossing can choose to go big, too, as the team is short on big men as well. Or it can nab do-it-all forward Zavier Lucero and just wait for him to be healthy enough again to play.
Then, there is Yeng Guiao, whose Rain or Shine Elasto Painters hold the third and fourth picks in this draft. While he has made it clear he wants size, Guiao might very well throw a curve ball with one of his picks and opt for a wing, like Ricci Rivero, perhaps, or even a Ken Tuffin. But with a few pretty solid bigs available, do expect Coach Yeng to use one of his picks to get a big man—with Luis Villegas a distinct possibility, followed by Keith Datu and Brandon Bates.
Equally interesting would be the length of this draft. Since 2011, the draft has continued until all teams have passed. With 128 hopefuls, this draft can potentially extend to round 6 (just like last year’s draft) and even beyond—or will it?
Now, depending on who you ask, this draft is either the deepest in years or the thinnest in recent memory. Regardless, it is certainly still worth watching as it will mark a turning point for a lot of the players and for some of the teams in the PBA.