NEW YORK — Johni Broome began dreaming of being selected in the NBA draft while he was still just a kid, and then he followed through by working hard enough to make it possible.
So the fact that it didn’t happen until the second round and on the second night of action wasn’t going to dampen his enthusiasm.
The 6-foot-9, 249-pound All-American from Auburn University was taken by the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday with the No. 35 overall selection of this year’s event, 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 night at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, though in a much smaller portion of the venue than was used Wednesday for the first round. A trade got things started, and the deals kept coming throughout the second and final round.
The Phoenix Suns opened it by taking Rasheer Fleming after agreeing to acquire the pick from the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Timberwolves still made the No. 31 selection, but they had worked out the swap with the Suns a few hours earlier. Fleming became aware of the situation shortly before he was selected on his second trip to the Barclays Center in two nights after attending the first round 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 Conference in rebounds and blocks.
Among the familiar names going early in the second round were Broome and Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner, the four-time Big East defensive player of year who was selected one pick earlier by the Charlotte Hornets at No. 34.
The Dallas Mavericks, who selected Duke’s Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 pick Wednesday, did not have a selection when the second round began. They had the option to try to trade in, but a number of other teams moved around as the draft went on.
The Los Angeles Lakers were one of them, agreeing to acquire the rights to Arkansas forward Adou Thiero, the 36th pick. They will be required to send out cash in the deal to stay below the second apron next season.
The NBA began with the two-night format last year, with league officials 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 breath and evaluate after the first round. The view from the other side is that players don’t seem to like the potential lengthy wait for prospects who are on the fringe of the first round, but then have to wait another night if they tumble into the second.
The Hornets took Sion James at No. 33 and the Cleveland Cavaliers 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 past picks such as Brunson, who became an All-NBA selection in New York, and three-time league MVP Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets when touting the types of difference-making players who could come out of the second round.
And maybe Broome, who spent the past three seasons at Southeastern Conference power Auburn after two at Morehead State, could be one of those players. The runner-up to Flagg for AP men’s college basketball national player of the year was banged up late in the season after leading the Tigers to the NCAA tournament’s Final Four, and that may have led to some poor testing at the NBA scouting combine.
Still, Broome has felt he was a future NBA player ever since early in his college career, when Ohio Valley Confernce member Morehead State played against SEC giant Kentucky and he held his own.
Now he believes he can do the same when he gets to camp with the 76ers, whose roster already has center Joel Embiid, the 2023 NBA MVP.
Said Broome: “I’m excited for the first day I get in Philly.”