Are they really the top three players in the same class? The No. 1 pick has become a superstar, the No. 2 pick is a standout, and the No. 3 pick is mediocre!

After entering the new season, the San Antonio Spurs, who had been dormant for many years, once again played their youthful storm. After defeating the Raptors, they have now won four consecutive victories and ranked first in the Western Conference. Such an astonishing performance is inseparable from the top ability of third-year Victor Vunbanyama. Although Bunyama had to undergo treatment last season due to a blood clot problem and was eventually reimbursed for the season, he was selected to the All-Star lineup and became the block leader for the second consecutive year. It is destined that he will not become a parallel import.

Entering this season, Bunyama has once again ushered in evolution, averaging 31 points, 13.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.5 steals and a terrifying 4.8 blocks per game. His shooting percentage has reached an extremely exaggerated 60.3%. It can be said that although Bunyama is only 21 years old now, he has already entered the ranks of superstars.

Not only that, in the first MVP ranking list announced not long ago, this young man has surpassed everyone and became the number one existence. And this also makes people sigh. They are obviously all rookies in the same class. As the number one pick, Bunyama Yama is so strong, but the second and third overall picks seem so average? Let’s take a look at the current development of the second and third best students in the same class as the liberal arts class!

Brandon Miller

Career statistics: 18.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists

Team: Charlotte Hornets

First of all, let's talk about Brandon Miller. As the strongest forward in the 2023 class, he performed very well during the NCAA period. In one year at the University of Alabama, he averaged 18.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.9 blocks per game, making him the undisputed core of the team. After the end of the season, he also successfully won the SEC League's best player and best freshman awards. Not only that, he was also selected to the All-American First Team. This is a very remarkable achievement. The last person to do this in his freshman season was Anthony Davis, who later flourished in the NBA.

So from the outside world, if Wenbanyama does not participate in the 2023 draft, then the top pick will definitely be Miller's bag. But even so, he was appointed by the Hornets and became the second pick of this class, and was regarded by scouts as the successor to Paul George.

Of course, although he is regarded as George's successor, there is still a big gap between Miller and George. Fortunately, the Hornets have been weak in the Eastern Conference for a long time, and they have enough time and opportunities for Miller to grow, so in his rookie season, he also fired like crazy, and finally handed over 17.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists. His shooting and three-point shooting percentages reached 44% and 37.3% respectively. For a rookie, this is already a good performance.

However, the turning point was last season. After entering his sophomore career, due to injuries to many people on the team, Miller took up the banner of the team's offense and also handed over 21 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.6 assists. However, behind this was extremely low efficiency. What's even worse is that after playing only 27 games, he was directly reimbursed for the season due to a hand injury. After playing only 2 games this season, he began to miss a large number of games again due to a left shoulder subluxation injury. Although he has a certain amount of talent, as the second best student, his current performance is absolutely unqualified, especially when compared with the liberal arts class, it pales into insignificance.

Scooter Henderson

Career statistics: 13.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists

Team: Portland Trail Blazers

Then, let’s talk about the No. 3 pick, which is Henderson who is now a Blazers teammate with Yang Hansen. Before entering the NBA, Henderson also received as much attention as Bunyama. The two were invited to participate in the NBA Rookie Challenge, which also helped the NBA's All-Star Weekend ratings soar. It can be said that it was a bright moment.

However, Henderson's career plan was a bit bad. He was regarded as the number one high school student in the United States at the time. He did not go to the NCAA for further studies. Instead, he directly signed a contract with the Ignite of the G League and entered the professional league. For high school students, it is not a good thing to be exposed to professional leagues too early. After all, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and others are among the few successful cases. Henderson played for the Ignite for 2 seasons. Although he got a lot of ball rights, and in the second year he also handed over 17.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 6.4 assists, and 1.2 steals, his efficiency was not high, and he also committed 3.3 turnovers. Compared with the above two, it was a bit disappointing.

However, it happened that the Trail Blazers sent away the team's core Damian Lillard, and they got the No. 1 pick, so they also really wanted to find a defender with excellent physical fitness and great potential to succeed Lillard, so they took a fancy to Henderson. After being designated as the third overall pick by the Trail Blazers, he was also very excited and directly stated that under his leadership, the Trail Blazers would usher in a new life. But the result was that in his first year in the NBA, he was unable to adapt to the intensity and rhythm of the game, and his basic skills were very rough, so he was moved from starting to substitute. In the end, he only produced 14 points, 3.1 rebounds and 5.4 assists, and his shooting percentage was even more appalling..

Last season, he also had no outstanding performance. After averaging 12.7 points, 3 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game, he still only had a shooting percentage of just over 40%. Now he has not made his debut in the new season due to injury. As a third overall pick, it is indeed inappropriate to have such a poor performance, so he is also the one among the top three picks who is most likely to become a parallel import in the future.