Michigan guard Kobe Bufkin a first-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks in 2023 NBA Draft
With the No. 15 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, the Atlanta Hawks selected Michigan Wolverines basketball guard Kobe Bufkin. The Grand Rapids, Mich., native is the second U-M player off the board, with guard Jett Howard going No. 11 overall to the Orlando Magic. U-M is the only school to have multiple top-15 picks in this year’s draft.
Bufkin, Howard and their families attended the draft at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The 6-4, 186-pounder is Michigan’s 11th first-round pick and 16th overall selection since 2013, with both numbers leading the Big Ten during that span. Michigan has now had multiple first-round draftees in five different events — 2023, 2014, 2013, 1994 and 1990.
The former Michigan standout saw his draft stock surge throughout the process, including in recent weeks. ESPN.com analyst Jonathan Givony said last week that “every team” was studying Bufkin’s film and reported that there was speculation throughout the league that he had a “promise” from a team in the lottery. It turns out, he went just one pick outside the lottery.
Bufkin was a standout all of last season for Michigan, earning third-team All-Big Ten honors from the media and an honorable mention nod from the coaches, but he really came into his own beginning in February, starting with a 15-point, 12-rebound and 8-assist outing in a win at Northwestern (Feb. 2). From that game to the rest of the season, he averaged 17.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists per contest.
He had four 20-plus point outbursts in his final eight tilts. The highlight of his season was hitting a step-back three-pointer to break a 72-72 tie with 2 minutes to go and help clinch an 84-72 win over in-state rival Michigan State Feb. 18 at Crisler Center. He finished that victory with 3 made triples, 17 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists.
For the year, he registered 14 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 34 minutes per game, while shooting 54.6 percent on twos and 35.5 percent on 121 three-point attempts. He made 71.1 percent of his shots at the rim, ranking fourth in the Big Ten among those with 75-plus attempts. He also served as the Wolverines’ best defender.
Michigan missed the NCAA Tournament in 2022-23 for the first time since 2014-15. The Maize and Blue went 4-13 in games decided by two possessions or fewer, and lost two overtime games — at Illinois and at Indiana — to close out the regular season on the wrong side of the bubble. The Wolverines then lost to Rutgers in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, were relegated to the NIT and exited in the second round, dropping a game at Vanderbilt in which Bufkin didn’t play due to an ankle injury.
Bufkin made an incredible transformation from freshman to sophomore year. He stuck around last spring and summer to work with Michigan strength coach Jon Sanderson — participating in the famous “Camp Sanderson” workout cycle — was praised for his hard work and improved mightily as a result.
Bufkin put up just 3 points and 1.1 rebounds per contest in 2021-22, shuffling in and out of the rotation due to struggles on defense and with hitting open jump shots (according to Synergy, Bufkin was 2-of-18 on unguarded catch-and-shoot jump shots as a freshman).
Bufkin’s “sophomore leap” of averaging 11.4 more points per game in his second season than he did his first marks the biggest increase year over year in the Michigan program over the last 15 seasons.
