NEW YORK (AP) — Johni Broome is like most basketball players, dreaming of being drafted as a kid and then working hard enough to make it possible.
So the fact that it didn’t happen until the second round and a second day wasn’t going to dampen his enthusiasm.
The Auburn All-American was taken by the Philadelphia 76ers with the No. 35 selection on Thursday night, five picks into the second round.
“Being here, this is probably the most exciting moment of my life so far,” Broome said. “As a kid you always want to be drafted, hear your name called, put on the hat. So kind of going through the moment, I don’t know, it just feels surreal.”
The NBA draft resumed Thursday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn — though in a much smaller portion of it than was used Wednesday for the first round — with a trade and the deals kept coming throughout the second round.
The Phoenix Suns opened it by taking Rasheer Fleming after agreeing to acquire the pick earlier Thursday from the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Wolves still made the No. 31 selection, but Phoenix and Minnesota had worked out the swap a few hours earlier. Fleming became aware of the situation shortly before he was selected on his second trip to Barclays Center in two nights after attending the first round on Wednesday.
“It was a long day now that I think about it,” Fleming said. “But like everything has happened so fast — like, this was a great experience. Like, it’s kind of a crazy feeling. Not even kind of. Crazy feeling.”
Fleming, a forward from Saint Joseph’s, averaged 14.7 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks last season, ranking in the top four in the Atlantic 10 in rebounds and blocks.
Among the familiar names going early in the second round were Broome, Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner, the four-time Big East defensive player of year, who was selected one pick earlier by Charlotte at No. 34, and Marquette All-American Kam Jones, whose rights were acquired by Eastern Conference champion Indiana after he was taken 38th by San Antonio.
The Mavericks, who selected Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 pick Wednesday, did not have a selection when Round 2 began. They had the option to try to trade in and a number of other teams moved around as the draft went on.
The Lakers were one of them, agreeing to acquire the rights to Adou Thiero, the 36th pick from Arkansas. They will be required after sending out cash in the deal to stay below the second apron next season.
The league began the two-night format last year, believing the event was ending too late when all 60 picks, along with approving trades, was being done in one night.
Teams like the new way, with the ability to catch their breathe and evaluate after the first round, but the players’ side doesn’t like the potential lengthy wait for those who are on the fringe of the first round but then have to wait another night if they tumble into the second.
Charlotte took Sion James at No. 33 and Cleveland picked Tyrese Proctor at 49, giving Duke all five starters taken after Flagg, Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach went in the top 10.
The draft only went to No. 59 this time, with the New York Knicks having been penalized their second-round selection for tampering by negotiating with Jalen Brunson too soon before eventually signing the guard away from Dallas in 2022.
The NBA points to the success of players such as Brunson, who became an All-NBA selection in New York, and three-time MVP Nikola Jokic of Denver when touting the types of difference-makers who could come out of the second round.
Maybe Broome could be one of those players. The runner-up to Flagg for The Associated Press player of the year award was banged-up late in the season after leading the Tigers to the Final Four and that may have led to some poor testing at the NBA combine.
But Broome has felt he was an NBA player ever since his Morehead State team played against powerhouse Kentucky earlier in his career and he held his own. He believes he can do the same when he gets to camp with Joel Embiid and the 76ers.
“I’m excited for the first day I get in Philly,” Broome said.
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