By BRIAN MAHONEY AP Basketball Writer
NEW YORK — 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 blocked shots last season, ranking in the top four in the Atlantic 10 Conference 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 on 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 Orlando Magic were one of them, acquiring the draft rights to French forward Noah Penda at No. 32 from the Boston Celtics in exchange for Nos. 46 and 57, a second-round pick in 2026 and another in 2027. Orlando still owns four first-round picks and nine second-rounders over the next seven years.
The 6-foot-8, 225-pound Penda offers inside-out versatility and defensive potential. The 20-year-old averaged 10.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 33 games last year in France’s top league.
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 might 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.
SUNS STAY AGGRESSIVE
The Suns’ revamped front office had a busy NBA draft.
First-year general manager Brian Gregory continued an aggressive rebuild on Thursday, moving up to the first pick of the second round to select Fleming, who surprisingly fell out of the first round the night before.
The 6-foot-9 Fleming figures to compete for minutes immediately, joining a core that includes four-time All-Star Devin Booker, No. 10 pick Khaman Maluach and guards Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks, who were added as part of a proposed trade that will eventually send 15-time All-Star Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets.
The Suns also had the No. 29 pick on Wednesday, but dealt that selection and a 2029 first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for center Mark Williams. The 7-foot Williams averaged 15.3 points and 10.2 rebounds last season but has struggled with a myriad of injuries during his three years in the NBA.
Finally, Phoenix used the No. 41 pick to add Kentucky’s Koby Brea after a proposed trade with the Golden State Warriors. Brea made 43.5% of his 3-point shots last season.
HORNETS ADD WINNERS
Charlotte lost 63 games last year.
The four players they took in this year’s draft – combined – lost fewer than half that last season in college.
Charlotte drafted two players from Duke, one from UConn and one from Creighton this year. That’s after the Hornets took Duke’s Sion James and Creighton’s Kalkbrenner in the second round. If nothing else, Charlotte can move forward with several young additions from winning college programs.
The Hornets and Washington Wizards were the two worst teams in the Southeast Division last year, and they had two first-round picks each, with Washington selecting Tre Johnson at No. 6 and Will Riley at No. 21, and Charlotte taking Kon Knueppel of Duke fourth and Liam McNeeley of UConn 29th.
AP sports writers David Brandt and Noah Trister contributed to this story.
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