While a French star is at the top of many draft boards, the similarities between the 2024 NBA Draft and 2023 edition end there. Victor Wembanyama, as Rick Pitino once put it, ain’t walking through that door for the Atlanta Hawks this season, as the club has the first pick for the first time since 1975. They picked Hall of Famer David Thompson then, but he didn’t pick them, choosing instead to sign with the ABA’s Denver Nuggets.
This year there isn’t any worry about which league the top players will choose, but it also isn’t certain how the top picks will shake out. International prospects Zaccharie Risacher (France) and Alex Sarr (France), along with college players Reed Sheppard (Kentucky) and Stephon Castle (UConn), are among the top players in a draft that doesn’t have a no-doubt No. 1 prospect.
For the first time, the NBA Draft will be spread over two days, with the first round Wednesday night and the second round Thursday, June 27, at 4 p.m. ET.
Spurs add Stephon Castle to Victor Wembanyama and young core
The Big East freshman of the year led freshman in the conference in scoring and assists on his way to helping UConn to a second-straight national title.
Yahoo Sports Commentary
Draft Grade: A
Pre-Draft Rank: 3
School: Connecticut
Height: 6′ 6″
Weight: 215
Castle was one the best defending guards in college hoops during his one year at UConn and showed a much improved 3-point shot during the pre-draft process. He has upside as an elite two-way player in the NBA and can help anchor the defense alongside Victor Wembanyama.
Rockets go backcourt with Kentucky sharpshooter Reed Sheppard
Sheppard brings elite college (blue) bloodlines to Houston after starring at Kentucky in the footsteps of his dad Jeff Sheppard, the Most Outstanding Player of the 1998 NCAA Tournament, on the Wildcats’ way to a national title that yeas.
Yahoo Sports Commentary
Draft Grade: A
Pre-Draft Rank: 4
School: Kentucky
Height: 6′ 3″
Weight: 187
Sheppard shot over 52% from 3-point range on 3.5 attempts per game and will be more of a combo guard at the NBA level. He’s a little undersized at 6-foot-2 but has a high IQ and a solid floor when it comes to a young, skilled guard coming into the NBA.
France goes 1-2 as Alex Sarr heads to Washington with the No. 2 pick
Yahoo Sports Commentary
Draft Grade: A
Pre-Draft Rank: 2
School: France
Height: 7′ 0″
Weight: 224
This was Sarr’s preferred landing spot and he can come in right away and add some relief defensively with how well he protects the rim. Offensively, he has a fluid jumper in the pick-and-pop with the potential to spread past the 3-point line.
Risacher heads to Atlanta as 4th international No. 1 pick in the 21st century
Risacher’s combination of length and defensive versatility on the wing makes him a player who can come into any situation and contribute right away. He is more than just a catch-and-shoot threat and has shown improvement as a facilitator when his shot isn’t falling.
Bronny James might be be the biggest name in the draft, but where will he get picked?
Zaccharie Risacher, the projected No. 1 pick, is living in the moment
Victor Wembanyama was still the name on the tip of everyone’s tongue at Tuesday’s NBA Draft availability, even though he’s no longer the star of this particular show. Such is life when Wednesday’s first round of the draft lacks spice and recognizable names.
But it’s also the case when players in the running for the first pick — Alexandre Sarr and Zaccharie Risacher — hail from France as well, thus following in Wembanyama’s footsteps.
Sarr has repeatedly declined invitations to work out for the top-pick-holding Atlanta Hawks, which was confirmed by Hawks general manager Landry Fields on the radio earlier in the day.
That leaves Risacher. But in drafts where there’s no clear-cut first pick, anything can happen.
Risacher has long been on the professional radar. He and Sarr go back, playing against each other when they were in their early teens, but Risacher has made a jump over the last year. He’s a 6-foot-9 forward who turned into a lockdown shooter after seemingly struggling at the Nike Hoop Summit a year ago.
Knicks’ OG Anunoby to return on five-year, $212.5 million deal: Report
The New York Knicks are having a very good week.
Knicks star OG Anunoby intends to re-sign with the team on a five-year, $212.5 million contract, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Anunoby reached unrestricted free agency by declining the player option for the final season of the four-year, $72 million contract he signed with the Raptors in December 2020. Three years after inking that agreement — a period that saw Anunoby average 16.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, shooting 38.2% from 3-point range and emerging as one of the league’s most versatile defensive stoppers — Toronto traded him to the Knicks in exchange for forward RJ Barrett and guard Immanuel Quickley.
The Washington Wizards are trading F Deni Avdija to the Portland Trail Blazers for Malcolm Brogdon and the 14th pick tonight and 2029 pick, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/inF8ezNZtL
Big pre-Draft trade sends Mikal Bridges across town
The New York Knicks have acquired Mikal Bridges from the crosstown and division rival Brooklyn Nets. The Knicks are sending five unprotected picks to the Nets for Bridges (2025, 2027, 2029, 2031) in addition to a protected pick New York had acquired from Milwaukee, in addition to multiple second round picks and pick swaps.
Bridges, who Brooklyn acquired in the trade that sent Kevin Durant to Phoenix, just finished his 6th NBA season in which he averaged 19.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game on 43.6% from the floor and 37.2% from 3-point range.
The Knicks go deeper into the Villanova national championship roster — bringing Mikal Bridges to join his old teammates and close friends Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVencenzo. pic.twitter.com/G544CT02zI
The 30 NBA Teams will look to the future over the next two days in the 2024 NBA Draft which looks much different form previous years as in addition to there not being a runaway No. 1 pick, the draft has also been split across two nights. Teams will have five minutes to make their selections in the first round and four minutes per pick in the second round. That is a change from two minutes in previous years.
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