Winners, Losers and Fallout from 2024 NBA Draft Round 1

The 2024 NBA draft is in the books.

After plenty of surprises, a handful of trades and dozens of handshakes with commissioner Adam Silver, it’s time to break down the entire night with a tried-and-true exercise.

Below, you’ll find the biggest winners and losers from one of the NBA’s biggest nights of the year.

One year after Victor Wembanyama went first in the 2023 draft, France sent three more prospects to the league in the first six picks of 2024.

Zaccharie Risacher went first overall to the Atlanta Hawks, followed by Alexandre Sarr at No. 2 to the Washington Wizards and Tidjane Salaün at No. 6 to the Charlotte Hornets. On ESPN’s broadcast, we learned that that run made France the only country other than the United States to have three different players taken in the top 10.

And then, as if that wasn’t enough, Pacôme Dadiet went at No. 25 to the New York Knicks.

Now, given the reported quality of this draft, there’s no way to know for sure if any of the above will turn into stars. Risacher could be a high-end three-and-D-plus forward, Sarr has the potential to be a dynamic big and Salaün could become a versatile combo forward, but none of those outcomes are guaranteed.

What we do know now, thanks in part to the opening of this draft, is that the international reach of the NBA is still growing.

The world is filled with basketball talent, and the approach to developing that talent is obviously working in countries like France, Serbia (which had Nikola Topić drafted in the first round), Germany and elsewhere.

With the new collective bargaining agreement and its penalties for big-spending teams, this draft felt like one that could see some older players drafted earlier than usual. Getting someone who might have a little less long-term upside might be OK if he’s ready to help now and is on a cost-controlled rookie deal for four years.

In the past, being 23 years old was typically a death knell for a prospect’s draft stock, but that new development may have been part of why Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht and Colorado’s Tristan da Silva had both spent time in the lottery of mock drafts all over the internet throughout the season.

On draft night, though, those elder prospects, both 23, just kept slipping (a better description for Knecht, but there were teams in the lottery that could’ve used da Silva, too).

The Oklahoma City Thunder, Sacramento Kings, Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers all could’ve justified picking more experienced players, but they all passed on both. Finally, at picks 17 and 18, Knecht and da Silva were selected by the Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic, respectively.

Now, the designation of “loser” applies here just because there’s some status that comes from being a lottery pick, but that’s where it ends. Both of these teams feel like great fits for their incoming wings. And while there was surely some pain in having to wait around two hours to hear your name called, that pain could quickly be erased by winning.

Both of these players have the potential to be this season’s Jaime Jaquez Jr.

Without many (if any) surefire stars in this draft, big boards have been in almost constant flux throughout this season. But over the last couple weeks, players started to settle into certain ranges.

It looked like Stephon Castle might go around 10th. Ron Holland, despite being first on plenty of boards at the start of 2023-24, was typically penciled in even later than that. And two-time National Player of the Year Zach Edey seemed like a risky pick to be in the lottery.

But after months of hemming and hawing from fans and analysts all over the internet, three teams fell back on traditional views of draft picks and took these prospects a little higher than expected.

The San Antonio Spurs leaned into the defensive upside that Wembanyama gives them by drafting Stephon Castle at No. 4. Castle’s tenacity as a backcourt defender could give San Antonio a ferocious outside-inside combo within a couple years.

The Detroit Pistons added more size, athleticism and potential versatility to Cade Cunningham, Ausar Thompson and Jaden Ivey by drafting Holland at No. 5. The amount of playmaking and switchability there could make Detroit unpredictable on both ends.

Finally, after Jaren Jackson Jr. spent a year playing out of position (thanks to an injury and eventual trade of Steven Adams), the Memphis Grizzlies took Edey at No. 9. And given JJJ’s range as a free safety on the defensive end, that might be the perfect spot for the less mobile Edey.

This has to be prefaced by saying it’s always cool to get the No. 1 pick, especially when you jump nine spots in the lottery to get it.

There’s also no reason to be out on the potential of Risacher. He has the potential to be a rangy, 6’8″ shooter going to a team that could compete for a playoff spot as early as this season.

But reporting on this entire class has been thoroughly pessimistic for months. Getting the top pick in this draft, when last season had Wembanyama and next season has Cooper Flagg and Ace Bailey, feels like bad luck.

Those three could be perennial All-NBA players, while Risacher’s upside (as nebulous as that concept is) appears to be more limited.

Every summer, we look to the draft as sort of the unofficial start of trade season (though it started a little earlier in 2024, thanks to the league allowing teams to negotiate with their own free agents immediately after the Finals).

We got some fireworks earlier in the week, with the Oklahoma City Thunder landing Alex Caruso and the New York Knicks acquiring Mikal Bridges, and draft day itself gave us more.

Hours before the event started, Deni Avdija was sent to the Portland Trail Blazers for Wednesday’s No. 14 pick (the Washington Wizards picked Bub Carrington there), another future first, two future second-round picks and Malcolm Brogdon.

Then, during the draft, the Minnesota Timberwolves sent a 2031 first-round pick and a future first-round pick swap for Rob Dillingham. That trade is pretty fascinating. Minnesota might be a “second apron” team and needs contributors on small contracts, so it might be expecting Dillingham to play.

Toward the end of the first round, the Denver Nuggets then sent the No. 28 pick, No. 56 pick and two future seconds for the No. 22 pick, where they took DaRon Holmes, who they’ve seemingly been locked in on as a potential backup big for weeks.

After sending a whopping five firsts to the Brooklyn Nets for Bridges, the Knicks kept wheeling and dealing on draft night, sending the 24th pick to Washington Wizards (who took Kyshawn George) for the 26th and 51st picks. Then, they turned around and sent No. 26 to the Oklahoma City Thunder for five second-round picks.

Keeping up with everything toward the end of the first round must’ve had plenty of fans feeling like Charlie on Always Sunny.

Despite pretty consistent disparagement of this draft class from analysts over the last 12 months, it’s impossible to know how good any of these players will ultimately be. There very well could be multiple stars here. There will almost certainly be multiple role players.

And finding a good fit early goes a long way toward helping a player reach his ultimate potential.

As we wrap the first night of the 2024 draft and look forward to the second, here are some players heading to what should be good situations.

Risacher to the Hawks: Yes, we just talked about Atlanta being a “loser,” but the fit is actually pretty good for Risacher. He and Jalen Johnson could combine to make a pretty fun, versatile and sweet-shooting forward combo at the 3 and the 4.

Sheppard to the Houston Rockets: Houston smashed expectations in 2023-24 thanks in large part to its defense and a corps of young talent that could have the Rockets back in the playoffs soon, but they need shooting. And Reed Sheppard is probably the best shooter in this draft.

Topić to the Oklahoma City Thunder: Coming off a torn ACL, Nikola Topić may not play at all in 2024-25, but he’s going to a Thunder team that doesn’t need him to. Topić will be able to patiently recover and develop and then could quickly assume the role just vacated by Josh Giddey (who went to the Chicago Bulls in the Caruso trade).

Holmes to the Nuggets: Finding the right backup center for Nikola Jokić has been a years-long pursuit for the Nuggets, and Holmes might be the guy to end it. As a junior at Dayton, he was a dominant scorer, good three-point shooter and developing passer. His wide-ranging skills could boost the offense of that second unit.