Lava take Bryce Moragne first overall, June 7 SlamBall Draft

Bryce Moragne’s signature looks less like a dunk contest and more like a rehearsal. He hits the trampoline on time, not early, so the lift matches the pass window. He absorbs contact in the air without drifting off his line. Then he finishes from an angle that turns a crowded pad into two points, or slips a mid-air pass before the defense can cash in on a turnover.

That blend is why Team Lava used the first overall pick of the 2023 SlamBall Draft on Moragne on June 7, 2023. Lava coaches Josh Carlson and Dion Bailey made the call, and Carlson didn’t pretend it was complicated. “I think everybody knows Bryce is hands down above all,” Carlson said, adding that once Lava landed the No. 1 pick they had to take Moragne “no matter what.” Moragne said he “didn’t expect” to be drafted first overall and that it “caught [him] off guard,” calling it “a blessing.”

The measurable part starts with who Moragne already was before trampolines entered the job description. Florida A&M listed him at 6-5, 220 pounds, a Tampa native from Hillsborough High School, and he arrived with a college foundation built on playing within structure. SlamBall’s own player page listed his birthdate as May 4, 1999, and his weight as 225, but the more important listing was his role: a player expected to be two-way enough to stay on the floor when the game shifted from chaos to sets.

SlamBall co-founder Mason Gordon put the scouting label on it in plain language: Moragne “might be the most complete player we’ve seen in the sport.” In a 56-player draft pool where 68% had basketball backgrounds, 16% came from football, 9% from track and field, and 7% from multiple sports, Gordon’s point landed because it cut against the usual highlight bias. Completeness scales in SlamBall because the sport punishes empty hops. If you cannot read ball-screen coverages, finish through contact, or pass while airborne, you turn possessions into fast breaks the other way.

Moragne’s first season arc was not clean, but it was telling. The 2023 relaunch opened July 21 in Las Vegas at Cox Pavilion with Slashers vs. Lava on the ESPN opening-night telecast, and Moragne still produced: one early recap had him at 23 points in a tight game that Lava did not win. Later, Lava started 0-5 while dealing with an injury to Moragne, then surged to grab the final playoff spot. “We always thought we had a good team,” said Lava stopper Faysal Shafaat.

The title ended up elsewhere, with Mob beating Slashers 72-44 in the championship game on Aug. 17, 2023, but Moragne’s No. 1 pick case held: Lava drafted a focal point who could turn designed half-court possessions into efficient, shareable points, not just noise.