The NBA draft on Thursday will be a night to celebrate the league’s next young wave of talent, headlined by Duke’s Zion Williamson — all-but certainly headed to New Orleans as the No. 1 pick. He’ll be the toast of the Big Easy before the season’s first tip-off.
Thursday will also be a night of disappointment across the country as a record 86 college players with remaining eligibility stayed in this year’s draft, in which there are only 60 selections. It doesn’t require an accounting degree to do the math. When you add the college seniors — yes, though an endangered species in 2019, a few do still exist — plus international prospects, draft night will crush its share of dreams.