By COLIN MURTY/AFP via Getty Images
Talent evaluators and general managers are having to work overtime to sort through their best options in the 2024 NBA draft.
ESPN’s Zach Lowe wrote Monday the mood inside the room where the lottery balls were drawn was “borderline casual” because the stakes weren’t considered all that high. That reflects wider attitudes toward the prospects available this year.
“There is no consensus No. 1 pick, though several team officials and agents gathered in Chicago for the draft combine told ESPN that center Alex Sarr is the one player most likely to fall in the top two or three of almost every team’s draft board,” Lowe reported. “Beyond that, it’s chaos. Team officials expect several teams might investigate the return for trading down a few slots — only to have trouble finding a trade partner eager to deal meaningful assets to move up.”
Sarr was the choice for the Atlanta Hawks at No. 1 in the mock draft for Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman following the lottery results reveal.
But even the 7’1″ forward/center isn’t considered the kind of future star you build a franchise around. In his scouting report, Wasserman compared Sarr to the Memphis Grizzlies’ Jaren Jackson Jr. Jackson is a two-time All-Defensive honoree and was the Defensive Player of the Year in 2022-23, but he’s still the 1B to Ja Morant’s 1A in Memphis.
Every draft is a crap shoot with nobody sure of how the event will unfold. There’s at least typically a hierarchy at the top that makes it easy to forecast who’s likely to have the brightest futures.
That clearly isn’t the case for 2024. The general uncertainty should make for a night of compelling viewing for the first round on June 26.
