The Atlanta Hawks — with just a 3% chance — won the 2024 NBA Draft Lottery on Sunday, leaving the first-round order finally set in stone ahead of the June 26 start date, with the Phoenix Suns on track to select at No. 22 (which we already knew), for now at least.
The Washington Wizards (No. 2), Houston Rockets (No. 3) and San Antonio Spurs (No. 4) won the remaining lottery slots.
The Detroit Pistons (No. 5) lost out in the lottery again. The Monty Williams-led squad entered the lottery with the best odds to win the top pick for the third time in the last four lotteries, but they’ve only once come away with a top-three pick (Cade Cunningham, No. 1 in 2021).
So with the order fully known, I wanted to take a chance to play matchmaker, mocking the first round exclusively based on what I would do and without any trades (sorry, all you Suns realists) along with write-ups for each lottery pick and the Suns’ pick.
2024 NBA Draft: First Round Mock Draft
1. Atlanta Hawks select Alexandre Sarr, 7’1” center from the Perth Wildcats, France
I was stoked to see a team that was a good fit for Sarr land the top pick, because I was coming around on him being my overall top player, but I didn’t want to force the pick if it wasn’t a good match.
Sarr is a master defensively, mobile on both ends and versatile to fit into actions across the floor. If Atlanta keeps Trae Young, Sarr would make a good pick-and-roll partner that can create for others out of the short roll, finish at the rim and eventually pop out of picks if the shot develops.
2. Washington Wizards select Zaccharie Risacher, 6’10” wing from JL Bourg, France
Washington landed in a good spot because No. 2 likely gives them their pick of the offensive-minded frontcourt players, and I paired them with the most surefire bet to shoot from deep, shooting 42.4% on more than 160 3-point attempts across nearly 50 games between French league play and EuroCup play.
It’s April 4th, 2006. We’re in Boston for the 2006 NCAA final between a school with a powerhouse reputation that you might be surprised to hear has never won a championship, and a school you might not be surprised to hear has never won a championship. The first one’s Duke, and the latter is Maryland in case I’m being too opaque. Terps have the ball, down three, with 12 seconds left. To understand just how surprising it is that Maryland is this close to winning the title, and how annoying that must be for Duke, we gotta rewind.
3. Houston Rockets select Ron Holland, 6’8” forward from G League Ignite, USA
The offensive-minded frontcourt player I feel best about in this class if we’re not taking the shot into consideration lands here, due to Houston already having a good amount of shooting and Holland can feast off that spacing with his creative, physical brand of driving.
4. San Antonio Spurs select Nikola Topic, 6’6” point guard from Red Star, Serbia
One of the only things that went wrong with Victor Wembanyama’s rookie season was the lack of a true point guard to set him up; sound familiar? Topic would give San Antonio one with size, who projects as a good shooter and is already experienced as a professional pick-and-roll maestro.
5. Detroit Pistons select Stephon Castle, 6’6” wing from Connecticut
It’s a huge upset seeing Castle go before Clingan off my board, but the opportunity for Detroit to pick up a point of attack stopper could be hard to pass up, given their likely long-term backcourt of Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey. And if Castle’s shot develops, this could look like a steal.
6. Charlotte Hornets select Reed Sheppard, 6’3” guard from Kentucky
The Hornets get a stabilizing guard who’s a sure bet to do a little bit, but maybe won’t develop into someone who can do a lot. That’s perfect for a Charlotte squad that already has some top-tier talent in LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller, but could use some support around those players.
7. Portland Trail Blazers select Cody Williams, 6-foot-8 wing from Colorado, Perry High in Gilbert
This strikes me as one of the picks that might get moved, but for now they get one of our own local products who won multiple state championships in Arizona before moving onto an underwhelming freshman season where he still showed flashes of the having the highest upside in the class.
8. San Antonio Spurs select Dalton Knecht, 6’6” wing from Tennessee
This feels like the right path for a Spurs team that may end up trading these two top-10 picks. Knecht offers high-level scoring from day one, and would be a difference maker feasting off Wembanyama’s gravity.
9. Memphis Grizzlies select Donovan Clingan, 7’2” center from Connecticut
The no-doubt choice here as he’s the best player available on my board (No. 5, has been as high as No. 3) and fills a position of need for Memphis as well. Clingan can occupy the paint offensively without interfering with Jaren Jackson Jr.’s style of play while covering up any of the rim protection and rebounding that Jackson doesn’t already control.
10. Utah Jazz select Matas Buzelis, 6-foot-10 forward from G League Ignite, USA
The Jazz have a lot of perimeter creation already, but they’re missing the right connectors around those pieces. Buzelis would give them a pretty sure bet that’s needed after their top-10 pick from a year ago in Taylor Hendricks showed limited flashes as a rookie.
11. Chicago Bulls select Rob Dillingham, 6’2” guard from Kentucky
Although there’s likely no chance Dillingham is available this late, he would inject some more perimeter creation alongside Coby White as the DeMar DeRozan / Zach LaVine pairing appears to be crumbling.
12. Oklahoma City Thunder select Isaiah Collier, 6’4” point guard from USC
This is one of my favorite fits in the lottery because Collier’s style of play fits what OKC likes to do so beautifully. Collier has to be in a drive-and-kick offense as a pro, and there’s never been a better one than Mark Daigneault’s with the Thunder. Also there are backup ball-handling reps available to take the pressure off Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams.
13. Sacramento Kings select Ja’Kobe Walter, 6’4” guard from Baylor
The perfect fit to replace Malik Monk, who will hit free agency this summer, Walter was more helpful to winning basketball in the Big 12 than people gave him credit for. He can hit shots for Sacramento and provide helpful defense right away, potentially blossoming into even more down the road.
14. Portland Trail Blazers select Tidjane Salaun, 6-’9” wing from Cholet, France
One of the biggest enigmas in the lottery just because of how little high-level basketball he’s played, but this season in the French league, he’s knocked down 32.9% on 3.2 3s per game (37.4% on 5.2 per game over his last 19 games) which is a great start for someone his size. He also nabs 1.2 steals per game.
15. Miami Heat select Kevin McCullar Jr., 6’7” wing from Kansas
16. Philadelphia 76ers select Kyle Filipowski, 6’11” forward from Duke
17. New Orleans Pelicans select Jared McCain, 6’3” guard from Duke
18. Orlando Magic select Devin Carter, 6’3” guard from Providence
19. Toronto Raptors select Izan Almansa, 6’10” forward from G League Ignite, Spain
20. Cleveland Cavaliers select Tristan da Silva, 6’9” forward from Colorado
21. New Orleans Pelicans select Yves Missi, 6’10” center from Baylor
22. Phoenix Suns select Terrence Shannon, Jr., 6’6” guard from Illinois
There’s a big asterisk any time we talk about Shannon, because he will stand trial for a rape charge on June 10. He pleaded not guilty when he was arraigned, after which a judge ruled there was probable cause for the trial to take place. He’s obviously not the choice here if he’s found guilty.
But if found innocent, Shannon could be the confluence of multiple important factors: paint penetration and high-octane athleticism coming from a player with over 4,000 minutes and nearly 150 games played at the high-major level for Texas Tech and Illinois, most recently leading the Illini to their first Elite 8 appearance since 2005.
Shannon was one of the most productive players in the postseason, averaging 31.2 points (41.3% on 7.7 3s) and two steals per game over six games — including Illinois’ second Big 10 Tournament title since 2005 — before losing to eventual national-champion UConn in the Elite 8.
23. Milwaukee Bucks select Tyler Kolek, 6’3” point guard from Marquette
24. New York Knicks select DaRon Holmes II, 6’10” big from Dayton, Millennium High in Gilbert
25. New York Knicks select Bobi Klintman, 6’10” forward from Cairns Taipans, Sweden
26. Washington Wizards select Zach Edey, 7’4” center from Purdue
27. Minnesota Timberwolves select Harrison Ingram, 6’7” wing from North Carolina
28. Denver Nuggets select Johnny Furphy, 6’19” wing from Kansas
29. Utah Jazz select Ryan Dunn, 6’8” forward from Virginia
30. Boston Celtics select Justin Edwards, 6’7” wing from Kentucky