Houston makes Reed Sheppard the top American pick in NBA draft

Only the nation of France produced more top ten NBA draft picks than the University of Kentucky on Wednesday.

UK's Reed Sheppard was the top American player of the draft at the third pick, and Rob Dillingham went at number eight.

The Atlanta Hawks took Zacharie Risacher with the No. 1 pick as France landed three players in the top six in a historic night for the country. The 19-year-old forward was the winner of the best young player award in the French League last season and beat out fellow Frenchman Alex Sarr in the race to be the top pick. Sarr went second to the Washington Wizards after playing last year with Perth in Australia’s National Basketball League.

The Houston Rockets were rumored to be interested in trading for Kevin Durant leading up the draft, but kept the No. 3 overall pick and selected Kentucky sharpshooter Sheppard. Sheppard was a one-and-done college player. The 52% 3-point shooter will bring some needed outside firepower to the Rockets.

The San Antonio Spurs gave last year’s No. 1 overall pick and NBA rookie of the year Victor Wembanyama (another Frenchman) a running mate by selecting guard Stephon Castle from Connecticut with the fourth overall pick in the draft. They also held the No. 8 selection — though they dealt the rights to that pick, Kentucky guard Rob Dillingham, to Minnesota.

The Detroit Pistons took Ron Holland of the G League Ignite with the fifth pick before the Hornets took Tidjane Salaun, who played last year for Cholet Basket in France.

UConn center Donovan Clingan, who won titles in both seasons in Storrs, went to Portland at No. 7.

While the Spurs and Rockets were upgrading their backcourt, the Memphis Grizzlies went big — real big. They selected 7-foot-4, 300-pound Zach Edey from Purdue with the ninth overall pick, giving them a huge presence in the middle.

The draft moved to a two-night format this year, with the first round being held as usual at Barclays Center in Brooklyn and the second round to be held Thursday at ESPN’s Seaport District studios.




(AP Photo Julia Nihkinson)