2024 NBA Draft Thread

[FarBeyondDriven]

literally been doing this for months. It's arguably the strongest international class in NBA history and it's an extremely deep class with role players that will contribute thru the end of the 2nd round. And it's possible the OAD is being underrated due to how things played out with their choices of teams, their teammates, and injuries.

I agree, the lack of those supposed elite guys at the top, not that I necessarily agree they aren't in the same tier as some of the guys you mentioned (Mobley, Smith, Green) has made these scouts with their lazy analysis who get it wrong almost every season, lose their collective minds. I just don't need to see 18 y/o Yang, Risacher, Sarr, Topic and Salaun dominate in college to know they're really good NBA prospects but apparently everyone else does.

Concerning the OAD college class. I've spoken in length about why this APPEARS to be one of if not the weakest ever. Two of the best prospects, Holland and Buzelis, went to the train wreck that was G-League Ignite. Collier went to the train wreck that was USC. Castle went to a team with National Championship aspirations where he'd be the 4th option. Williams was injured all season and the veterans on that team were playing to improve their draft stock taken away his touches/shine. Furphy was a backup for the first month of the season and the 5th option behind vets. George was a backup for the first month and a half, played out of position and behind vets desperate to establish their own draft stock.

Basically all of these things combined with and maybe due to NIL has made evaluating these prospects more difficult than any draft class ever. You're basically left having to emphasize diagnosing whether prospects have NBA translatable size, length and athleticism suggesting upside and chances at development and focusing on the sporadic flashes showing they have translatable skills. You cannot rely on statistics and reading box scores which seems the most important things to scouts.

If I was a Pistons fan I'd be excited because Risacher, Salaun, McCain and Knecht are exactly what you need and depending on the lottery results and where you pick you are guaranteed to be getting at least one of them. They'd all compliment your current roster and provide the shooting and spacing you desperately need.

Thanks for the detailed response.

I think a lot of what goes into judging the strength of a draft going into the predraft process is high end talent, the top of the draft. There are good players in this draft but, ultimately, a draft gets judged on who the best players in the draft project to be (franchise talents) and this draft lacks that big time at least right now.

In terms of from my biased point of view, none of those names excite me as a fan of a 13 win team that suffered all season hoping for some kind of payoff. As a longtime member of the high draft pick club now, there was excitement about the possibility of Cade, Mobley, Green or Suggs, there was excitement about the possibility of Paolo, Chet, Jabari or Ivey, there was excitement about the possibility of Wembanyama, Scoot, Miller or a Thompson twin. Risacher, Sarr, Salaun, Knecht (who I like more than most but not in the top 5), McCain don't hold nearly that much appeal. It's depressing actually haha.
Out of that group, Risacher or Sarr seem to have the most projectable upside but I'm also a fan of a team that drafted fellow Frenchies Sekou and Killian so even those guys make me apprehensive so that's why I see this as an abnormally weak draft. I actually think it's a better draft for a team in the mid teens than at the top. I bet this will be like the Giannis draft where the best players are outside of the top 10 which would be par for the course for this Pistons fan.

yeah, I don't know what to tell you if you had sophomore Ivey, very limited athletically Smith, high floor low ceiling combo guard Suggs, small Green who is atrocious on defense, or the 20 y/o Miller and 20 y/o Thompson twins (who couldn't shoot) held to such high regard that you were excited for them so much that none of the guys at the top of this draft compare. I mean, what am I supposed to counter with? All of those guys had glaring weaknesses. I didn't even mention Scoot who had plenty of detractors for valid reasons and that Mobley was essentially the same prospect as Sarr.

Now, if you had said Wembanyama, Banchero, Cade and Chet I'd agree with you wholeheartedly. There isn't anyone that appears to compare to them. But to include all of those other dudes that should never have been considered elite is going too far.

You're saying, if you get the 5th pick (like you did in 2022 and 2023) your excitement about taking sophomore Jaden Ivey (the third straight year taking a point guard a year after taking Cade and two after Hayes) or Ausar Thompson (a wing that is arguably the worst shooter in the NBA) elicits more excitement than taking wings like Risacher, Salaun or Knecht that are exactly what your team needs? You badly need off-ball wings that can shoot playing off of Cade. These guys are picture perfect. Why wouldn't that excite you?

This seems a little disingenuous...just sayin'

[RyugaFan]

Nah those guys were definitely more interesting prospects on the surface.

Jalen Green was one of the best scoring prospects in recent memory. 6'5, great shooting, elite first step and every dribble move and finish in the book(also you can't say terrible defense like the same doesn't apply to Dillingham and Topic lol)

Suggs was 6'4 great athlete in his own right, great passer, great defender, projectable shooting, got to the rim regularly. Sure handle was weak for a lead guard but he did literally everything else.

Sarr and Mobley also aren't comparable as prospects

[RyugaFan]

And Jabari was one of the safest 3 and D prospects there was, even if people overrated the creation potential, his role at Auburn wasn't going to reflect his role in the league.

[NYPiston]

yeah, I don't know what to tell you if you had sophomore Ivey, very limited athletically Smith, high floor low ceiling combo guard Suggs, small Green who is atrocious on defense, or the 20 y/o Miller and 20 y/o Thompson twins (who couldn't shoot) held to such high regard that you were excited for them so much that none of the guys at the top of this draft compare. I mean, what am I supposed to counter with? All of those guys had glaring weaknesses. I didn't even mention Scoot who had plenty of detractors for valid reasons and that Mobley was essentially the same prospect as Sarr.

Now, if you had said Wembanyama, Banchero, Cade and Chet I'd agree with you wholeheartedly. There isn't anyone that appears to compare to them. But to include all of those other dudes that should never have been considered elite is going too far.

You're saying, if you get the 5th pick (like you did in 2022 and 2023) your excitement about taking sophomore Jaden Ivey (the third straight year taking a point guard a year after taking Cade and two after Hayes) or Ausar Thompson (a wing that is arguably the worst shooter in the NBA) elicits more excitement than taking wings like Risacher, Salaun or Knecht that are exactly what your team needs? You badly need off-ball wings that can shoot playing off of Cade. These guys are picture perfect. Why wouldn't that excite you?

This seems a little disingenuous...just sayin'

All of those guys were better prospects than any in this class IMO, or at least the majority of them. They had at least one dynamic skill that looked high end coming into the draft. Ivey with his dynamic athleticism and ability to attack the rim like a Westbrook, Smith being a 6'10" switchable defender that was an elite 3 point shooter coming out of college, Green's elite athleticism and shotmaking, Miller's shotmaking/3 point shooting in a projectable frame, Thompsons with special athleticism Amen's playmaking and Ausar's defense, Scoot's explosiveness etc.

I'm just speaking from my point of view, don't know anybody else although it seems that a lot of others also seem to lack excitment for this class, but there's not one prospect in this class that I see as a guy that has a special skill or somebody I can say that I pray the Pistons land at this spot so they have a shot at this guy. I don't even care that much if they win the lottery, if they do then that's fine but I'm not going to be sweating out draft lottery night like I did the last 3 years.
Just my opinion, it's a very unappealing draft at the top. It's not disingenuous, it's my opinion. You seem more excited about this draft class than I am and that's cool, that's your opinion. Trust me, I was looking for any reason to be excited about any of these prospects to salvage something ANYTHING from this abomination of a Pistons season and I'm coming up largely empty.
Risacher would be a good fit and Sarr has some intriguing tools but these guys aren't game changers and might not make an impact for a few years so it's hard to get too excited about them.

[FarBeyondDriven]

yeah, I don't know what to tell you if you had sophomore Ivey, very limited athletically Smith, high floor low ceiling combo guard Suggs, small Green who is atrocious on defense, or the 20 y/o Miller and 20 y/o Thompson twins (who couldn't shoot) held to such high regard that you were excited for them so much that none of the guys at the top of this draft compare. I mean, what am I supposed to counter with? All of those guys had glaring weaknesses. I didn't even mention Scoot who had plenty of detractors for valid reasons and that Mobley was essentially the same prospect as Sarr.

Now, if you had said Wembanyama, Banchero, Cade and Chet I'd agree with you wholeheartedly. There isn't anyone that appears to compare to them. But to include all of those other dudes that should never have been considered elite is going too far.

You're saying, if you get the 5th pick (like you did in 2022 and 2023) your excitement about taking sophomore Jaden Ivey (the third straight year taking a point guard a year after taking Cade and two after Hayes) or Ausar Thompson (a wing that is arguably the worst shooter in the NBA) elicits more excitement than taking wings like Risacher, Salaun or Knecht that are exactly what your team needs? You badly need off-ball wings that can shoot playing off of Cade. These guys are picture perfect. Why wouldn't that excite you?

This seems a little disingenuous...just sayin'

All of those guys were better prospects than any in this class IMO, or at least the majority of them. They had at least one dynamic skill that looked high end coming into the draft. Ivey with his dynamic athleticism and ability to attack the rim like a Westbrook, Smith being a 6'10" switchable defender that was an elite 3 point shooter coming out of college, Green's elite athleticism and shotmaking, Miller's shotmaking/3 point shooting in a projectable frame, Thompsons with special athleticism Amen's playmaking and Ausar's defense, Scoot's explosiveness etc.

I'm just speaking from my point of view, don't know anybody else although it seems that a lot of others also seem to lack excitment for this class, but there's not one prospect in this class that I see as a guy that has a special skill or somebody I can say that I pray the Pistons land at this spot so they have a shot at this guy. I don't even care that much if they win the lottery, if they do then that's fine but I'm not going to be sweating out draft lottery night like I did the last 3 years.
Just my opinion, it's a very unappealing draft at the top. It's not disingenuous, it's my opinion. You seem more excited about this draft class than I am and that's cool, that's your opinion. Trust me, I was looking for any reason to be excited about any of these prospects to salvage something ANYTHING from this abomination of a Pistons season and I'm coming up largely empty.
Risacher would be a good fit and Sarr has some intriguing tools but these guys aren't game changers and might not make an impact for a few years so it's hard to get too excited about them.

yeah, I don't get it. But to each their own. Personally, adding another PG in Ivey or a SG that can't shoot seemed like a recipe for disaster and nothing to get excited about. But what do I know? Let's check the standings and see how that went!! Oh...no!

You already have your game changer. Most teams are lucky to have even one. What you need is to surround him with the type of talent that allows him to shine. So when he's running PnR with Duren or Wiseman, there's a shooter wide open in the corner when defenses collapse. THAT is why you should be excited. Risacher and Salaun are exactly that player. What could be more of a game changer than that?

Or, you draft Knecht and he wreaks havoc with all his movement, running around wearing out the defense and forcing breakdowns which open up driving lanes for others when he's not coming off screens and hitting threes. And that would allow you to put Ausar at the 3 where he can just concentrate on stopping scoring wings and do all the dirty work. To me, these are things to actually get excited about, but again, different strokes for different folks I guess.

[NYPiston]

yeah, I don't get it. But to each their own. Personally, adding another PG in Ivey or a SG that can't shoot seemed like a recipe for disaster and nothing to get excited about. But what do I know? Let's check the standings and see how that went!! Oh...no!

You already have your game changer. Most teams are lucky to have even one. What you need is to surround him with the type of talent that allows him to shine. So when he's running PnR with Duren or Wiseman, there's a shooter wide open in the corner when defenses collapse. THAT is why you should be excited. Risacher and Salaun are exactly that player. What could be more of a game changer than that?

Or, you draft Knecht and he wreaks havoc with all his movement, running around wearing out the defense and forcing breakdowns which open up driving lanes for others when he's not coming off screens and hitting threes. And that would allow you to put Ausar at the 3 where he can just concentrate on stopping scoring wings and do all the dirty work. To me, these are things to actually get excited about, but again, different strokes for different folks I guess.

I don't know what this has to do with predraft excitement but... ok. I was never crazy about the Ivey fit but it was hard to not get excited about the skillset. It hasn't worked out so far because, one, the GM sucks and, two, the coach sucks even more but I digress. The GM hasn't figured out how to fill out the roster and the coach has had no clue how to deploy the players most of the season.

In any event, good shooters with limited ceilings can be found fairly easy. Does Risacher/Knecht project to be much better than Fontecchio? Fontecchio is older than those guys but he's a +40% 3 point shooter who has scored 15+ PPG as a Pistons starter and is reasonably solid defensively. It's hard to get too excited about a role player that already fills that role with the Pistons. You want franchise potential with a top 3-5 pick and this draft doesn't offer that so in that sense it's very unexciting for me.
Also, it remains to be seen if Cade is a game changer. Cade is very good but it remains to be seen if he's a #1 option on a competitive team.

[HadAnEffectHere]

yeah, I don't know what to tell you if you had sophomore Ivey, very limited athletically Smith, high floor low ceiling combo guard Suggs, small Green who is atrocious on defense, or the 20 y/o Miller and 20 y/o Thompson twins (who couldn't shoot) held to such high regard that you were excited for them so much that none of the guys at the top of this draft compare. I mean, what am I supposed to counter with? All of those guys had glaring weaknesses. I didn't even mention Scoot who had plenty of detractors for valid reasons and that Mobley was essentially the same prospect as Sarr.

Now, if you had said Wembanyama, Banchero, Cade and Chet I'd agree with you wholeheartedly. There isn't anyone that appears to compare to them. But to include all of those other dudes that should never have been considered elite is going too far.

You're saying, if you get the 5th pick (like you did in 2022 and 2023) your excitement about taking sophomore Jaden Ivey (the third straight year taking a point guard a year after taking Cade and two after Hayes) or Ausar Thompson (a wing that is arguably the worst shooter in the NBA) elicits more excitement than taking wings like Risacher, Salaun or Knecht that are exactly what your team needs? You badly need off-ball wings that can shoot playing off of Cade. These guys are picture perfect. Why wouldn't that excite you?

This seems a little disingenuous...just sayin'

All of those guys were better prospects than any in this class IMO, or at least the majority of them. They had at least one dynamic skill that looked high end coming into the draft. Ivey with his dynamic athleticism and ability to attack the rim like a Westbrook, Smith being a 6'10" switchable defender that was an elite 3 point shooter coming out of college, Green's elite athleticism and shotmaking, Miller's shotmaking/3 point shooting in a projectable frame, Thompsons with special athleticism Amen's playmaking and Ausar's defense, Scoot's explosiveness etc.

I'm just speaking from my point of view, don't know anybody else although it seems that a lot of others also seem to lack excitment for this class, but there's not one prospect in this class that I see as a guy that has a special skill or somebody I can say that I pray the Pistons land at this spot so they have a shot at this guy. I don't even care that much if they win the lottery, if they do then that's fine but I'm not going to be sweating out draft lottery night like I did the last 3 years.
Just my opinion, it's a very unappealing draft at the top. It's not disingenuous, it's my opinion. You seem more excited about this draft class than I am and that's cool, that's your opinion. Trust me, I was looking for any reason to be excited about any of these prospects to salvage something ANYTHING from this abomination of a Pistons season and I'm coming up largely empty.
Risacher would be a good fit and Sarr has some intriguing tools but these guys aren't game changers and might not make an impact for a few years so it's hard to get too excited about them.

yeah, I don't get it. But to each their own. Personally, adding another PG in Ivey or a SG that can't shoot seemed like a recipe for disaster and nothing to get excited about. But what do I know? Let's check the standings and see how that went!! Oh...no!

You already have your game changer. Most teams are lucky to have even one. What you need is to surround him with the type of talent that allows him to shine. So when he's running PnR with Duren or Wiseman, there's a shooter wide open in the corner when defenses collapse. THAT is why you should be excited. Risacher and Salaun are exactly that player. What could be more of a game changer than that?

Or, you draft Knecht and he wreaks havoc with all his movement, running around wearing out the defense and forcing breakdowns which open up driving lanes for others when he's not coming off screens and hitting threes. And that would allow you to put Ausar at the 3 where he can just concentrate on stopping scoring wings and do all the dirty work. To me, these are things to actually get excited about, but again, different strokes for different folks I guess.

1. Cade is not a game changer. This will change if he improves his passing, ball handling, and shooting, but so far, Cade is a 0 in terms of helping a team.

2. Salaun cannot shoot at all currently. He plays like he's microdosing cocaine so his feet are constantly jittering before shooting, causing him to shoot 32% from three.

[Benjammin]

It's a dumpster fire but you have to pick someone.

Right now. The only reason the international guys are as high as they are is because I hope they can be better than the players below them.

1. Saar---Gotta put somebody at one. Might as well be somebody tall who's athletic.
2. Risacher--Dat called him a Euro Otto. In this draft, that's pretty darn good.
3. Topic---I keep hearing more about his long neck than the way he plays.
4. Clingan----pretty solid
5. Castle---a bigger, much more athletic Johnny Davis? If he can learn to shoot...
6. Sheppard---can he hold up on the defensive end?
7. Dillingham--Dat really likes him for his offensive game.

[clyde21]

who's Dat?

[Benjammin]

Dat2u is on the Wizards forum and also on X fwiw.

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

[Big J]

Dat2u is on the Wizards forum and also on X fwiw.

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

Sounds like Dat knows his ****.

[TheSuzerain]

It's a dumpster fire but you have to pick someone.

Right now. The only reason the international guys are as high as they are is because I hope they can be better than the players below them.

1. Saar---Gotta put somebody at one. Might as well be somebody tall who's athletic.
2. Risacher--Dat called him a Euro Otto. In this draft, that's pretty darn good.
3. Topic---I keep hearing more about his long neck than the way he plays.
4. Clingan----pretty solid
5. Castle---a bigger, much more athletic Johnny Davis? If he can learn to shoot...
6. Sheppard---can he hold up on the defensive end?
7. Dillingham--Dat really likes him for his offensive game.

Johnny Davis comparison in the top 5 is wild lmao

[RyugaFan]

Sheppard can definitely hold up on the defensive end. If not on the ball, then off the ball.

[FarBeyondDriven]

I'm really struggling over where to rank the older guys I love like Knecht, da Silva and Grant-Foster. They all seem like plug and play starters whereas the guys likely to go over them will take some time to get there, if they ever do. I think the common practice is for teams to almost always take the younger prospect with upside but maybe that's why there are so many "busts" and late surprises. Maybe these picks should be inverse. Like, maybe Grant-Foster should be the one taken in the top half of round one and Williams, who needs years to develop his game, body and change his passive personality, should be the one taken late 1st or early 2nd.

[BigGargamel]

I'm really struggling over where to rank the older guys I love like Knecht, da Silva and Grant-Foster. They all seem like plug and play starters whereas the guys likely to go over them will take some time to get there, if they ever do. I think the common practice is for teams to almost always take the younger prospect with upside but maybe that's why there are so many "busts" and late surprises. Maybe these picks should be inverse. Like, maybe Grant-Foster should be the one taken in the top half of round one and Williams, who needs years to develop his game, body and change his passive personality, should be the one taken late 1st or early 2nd.

I always mock seniors late in the first round and they sometimes end up almost falling out of the draft completely. Like, I had Trayce Jackson-Davis in the 25-30 round all last year and he was hardly drafted. And now he looks like a keeper. Teams can be dumb.

(I don't like to mention all the times I'm wrong. Just the few times I'm right)

[JMAC3]

I'm really struggling over where to rank the older guys I love like Knecht, da Silva and Grant-Foster. They all seem like plug and play starters whereas the guys likely to go over them will take some time to get there, if they ever do. I think the common practice is for teams to almost always take the younger prospect with upside but maybe that's why there are so many "busts" and late surprises. Maybe these picks should be inverse. Like, maybe Grant-Foster should be the one taken in the top half of round one and Williams, who needs years to develop his game, body and change his passive personality, should be the one taken late 1st or early 2nd.

I would say that yeah maybe the first 60 games De Silva (23) or Grant-Foster (24yrs old) might look great, but realistically those guys aren't going to improve at the same rate as guys who are 19/20 years old. You should be drafting for guys year 2-8 if you actually want to draft the best players. Knecht is clearly better than those guys now and feels very close to a starter already, I don't think he needs to really improve all that much to be a 10 year vet.

We are already seeing Jacquez start to level off late in the year whereas guys like Miller, Bilal, Amen, Hendricks, Whitmore etc are closing very strong.

[JMAC3]

Not only does the freshman class not look super strong, but the # of real sophomores that are guaranteed to get drafted is super small. I feel like only 4 sophomores are guaranteed to get drafted, which feels super low.

[FarBeyondDriven]

Not only does the freshman class not look super strong, but the # of real sophomores that are guaranteed to get drafted is super small. I feel like only 4 sophomores are guaranteed to get drafted, which feels super low.

2023 Freshmen

Miller
Black
Wallace
Lively
Walker
Hendricks
Dick
Whitmore
Howard
George
Schiffino
Clowney
Whitehead
Smith Jr.
Sensabaugh
Phillips
Walsh
Bailey
Livinston

2024

Collier
Walter
Castle
Carrington
Williams
Missi
Ivisic
Sheppard
Dillingham
Furphy
Ndongo
McCain
George
Edwards
Evans


I don't remember anybody concerned about sophomores last draft. I think it's fair to expect at least 4 and possibly 6 sophomores to be taken compared to just 4 last year.

2023

Hawkins
Bufkin
Gueye
Bates

2024

Clingan
Filipowski
Ware
Dunn
Bona
Karaban

[FarBeyondDriven]

I'm really struggling over where to rank the older guys I love like Knecht, da Silva and Grant-Foster. They all seem like plug and play starters whereas the guys likely to go over them will take some time to get there, if they ever do. I think the common practice is for teams to almost always take the younger prospect with upside but maybe that's why there are so many "busts" and late surprises. Maybe these picks should be inverse. Like, maybe Grant-Foster should be the one taken in the top half of round one and Williams, who needs years to develop his game, body and change his passive personality, should be the one taken late 1st or early 2nd.

I would say that yeah maybe the first 60 games De Silva (23) or Grant-Foster (24yrs old) might look great, but realistically those guys aren't going to improve at the same rate as guys who are 19/20 years old. You should be drafting for guys year 2-8 if you actually want to draft the best players. Knecht is clearly better than those guys now and feels very close to a starter already, I don't think he needs to really improve all that much to be a 10 year vet.

We are already seeing Jacquez start to level off late in the year whereas guys like Miller, Bilal, Amen, Hendricks, Whitmore etc are closing very strong.

But those guys NEED to improve to even reach those guys and there's no guaranteed they can or will. Let's assume Williams can pack on 20 lbs of muscle, improves his handle and becomes more aggressive and reaches his potential in 4 years. Is that Williams much better than Grant-Foster in 4 years? If so, by much? And in the meantime, you likely get more from Grant-Foster due to him having an NBA body already. It just highlights the decisions these teams have to make. It's not always so cut and dry. I'm not suggesting you take Grant-Foster ahead of Williams if you're a young rebuilding team but if you're a playoff team picking at the end of round 1 Grant-Foster might be the preferable player and you don't need a lottery pick to get him.

[Catchall]

Sheppard can definitely hold up on the defensive end. If not on the ball, then off the ball.

Not a direct comp, but I think Sheppard will do what Fred VanVleet does: deep shooting, adequate playmaking, limited driver, tough on-ball defender.