NBA - Wiggins second straight Canadian to go No. 1 to Cleveland

NEW YORK (NBA) - Andrew Wiggins became the second straight Canadian to be selected with the first overall pick in the NBA Draft as the Cleveland Cavaliers picked the Toronto native with the top selection in a draft that saw four FIBA world champions picked as well as a total of 20 international players.

He follows in the footsteps of fellow Canadian Anthony Bennett, who the Cavs selected first last year and will be Wiggins' teammate in the NBA. A third Canadian, Tristan Thompson, is also with the Cavaliers after being taken fourth overall in the 2011 Draft.

Wiggins was long considered the number one pick or at least in the running along with Jabari Parker, who went number two to the Milwaukee Bucks, and Joel Embiid, who was the third selection by the Philadelphia 76ers. 

"A thousand thoughts are going through my head right now," Wiggins said afterwards. "It's a dream come true."

Asked about the impact this will have on basketball in his homeland, he said: "It's huge. It opens doors for all the young and everyone in Canada. I wasn't ranked. I wasn't known. I didn't have no offers. But I just kept my head straight and kept working on my game and look where I am today. I just think it gives everyone in Canada hope that they can accomplish what I did because it's possible if they work hard."

With Embii's stock dropping due to injury concerns - including a broken foot just before the draft and a back injury during the NCAA college season - Milwaukee went after Parker with the second pick. The Duke product joins the Bucks as a former world champion, having won the title at the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship.

There were three other world champions chosen as Aaron Gordon (fourth pick overall to the Orlando Magic), Marcus Smart (number six overall to the Boston Celtics) and Elfrid Payton (10th to Philadelphia traded to Orlando) were all members of the USA team that won the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship.

Gordon going to the Magic was considered by many draft experts as a surprise which let the Utah Jazz snag Australia's Dante Exum with the fifth pick.

The Los Angeles Lakers picked Julius Randall seventh followed by another Canadian, Nik Stauskas, going eighth to the Sacramento Kings and Noah Vonleh to the Charlotte Hornets at nine.

The Canadian pair of Wiggins and Stauskas, along with Cameroon native Embiid and Exum were four of 10 internationals to go in the first round. The others were: Croatia's Dario Saric selected 12th (by Orlando), Bosnia and Herzegovina's Jusuf Nurkic 16th (by the Chicago Bulls), Canada's Tyler Ennis 18th (by the Phoenix Suns), Brazil's Bruno Caboclo 20th (by the Toronto Raptors), Switzerland's Clint Capela 25th (by the Houston Rockets) and Serbia's Bogdan Bogdanovic 27th (by Phoenix).

While some were surprised with the Gordon selection, Toronto going for Caboclo was an out-right jaw-dropper as the Brazilian is considered very raw despite impressive athleticism and length.

Other picks of note in the first round were James Young from Kentucky going to Boston at number 17. The NBA finalists Miami Heat picked PJ Hairston at 26 but swapped him to Charlotte for the player the Heat really wanted, Shabazz Napier from the NCAA title winners University of Connecticut.

Hairston, meanwhile, became the first NBA D-League player to be drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft.

The NBA champions San Antonio Spurs finished the first round by picking Kyle Anderson at number 30.

The first pick of the second round was France's Damien Inglis at 31 to Milwaukee. The Denver Nuggets chose Serbian Nikola Jokic at number 41, before the Atlanta Hawks selected Cape Verde's Walter Taveras at number 43, and Dwight Powell became the fourth Canadian taken on the night, at 45 by Charlotte.

A second Australian, Cameron Bairstow, was picked by Chicago at 49 while Greece's Thanasis Antetokoumpo - brother of Milwaukee rookie Giannis - was selected by the New York Knicks at 51.

Two young Europeans who have already made their way into their respective nation's senior national team followed Antetokoumpo in Serbian Vasilije Micic (Philadelphia) and Italian Alessandro Gentile (Minnesota Timberwolves).

Serbian Nemanja Dangubic was the next pick at 54 to Philadelphia. Dangubic, Micic and Jokic all played this past season with Serbian side Mega Vizura.

Frenchman Louis Labeyrie was the final international player picked at number 57 by the Indiana Pacers.

FIBA