Tristan da Silva second Buffs player taken in NBA Draft’s first round

For the first time ever two Colorado Buffaloes players were selected in the first round of the NBA Draft. Cody Williams went earlier on Wednesday and now his college teammate Tristan da Silva has been taken by the Orlando Magic at No. 18.

The 6-foot-8 23-year-old averaged 16 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 34 minutes a night over his 34 games this winter as a senior. da Silva joins former Buffs forward Jamahl Mosley, who is the Magic head coach and just signed an extension after leading Orlando to a first-place finish in the Southeast this past season

The standout Buffs player not only has a coach who rocked black and gold to team up with but a young team on the rise led by Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs.

Tristan Da Silva with a big game on his senior night for Colorado vs Stanford

27 points
11 boards
2 steals
11-18 FG
5-10 3P
0 FT

Clip from his last game, but shows the versatility he has on both ends as an experienced 6’9 F who can make a push for R1 pic.twitter.com/5U7tiOABKz

— nbadraftpoint (@draftpoint2024) March 4, 2024

The Buffs won two tournament games this past season, advancing past the First Four and into the Round 32 before falling to Marquette. The Tad Boyle team set a program record with 26 wins.

da Silva is one of three Buffs players expected to be selected in the 2024 NBA Draft, teammates KJ Simpson and Williams should both go tonight or tomorrow. The Buffs have only had four first-round picks since the turn of the millennia—Harrison, Alec Burks, Andre Roberson and the last being Derrick White in 2017. Spencer Dinwiddie, George King, Tyler Bey and Jabari Walker are the only other players selected from the Tad Boyle era of hoops in Boulder. If the plan plays out, it looks like the trio of Buffs leaving Boyle’s roster are about to make history for a single draft class at CU and will leave the NBA littered with Buffs—with as many as seven active players by next NBA season’s start.