Happy Combine Week! Let the games begin.
The conclusion of the draft lottery over the weekend saw several surprises, with the Atlanta Hawks defying odds to land the No. 1 pick, the Houston Rockets flying to third and the San Antonio Spurs nabbing two top 10 selections.
Over the next few weeks leading up to the draft in late June, all 30 teams will conduct research on the incoming crop of young players. Given how wide open this draft is considered, lacking a tier-one prospect, it’s safe to assume the big boards seen today will likely look different in six weeks.
What will the Hawks do at the top of the draft? Will the Detroit Pistons, fresh off their franchise-worst regular season, turn things around at No. 5? What about the Rockets, now with another top-four pick for the fourth consecutive year? Should they hold on to their selection or look to trade?
The Athletic’s Kelly Iko, James Edwards III and Josh Robbins got together to hammer out the first five picks who could be called by commissioner Adam Silver on June 26.
Alex Sarr | 7-1 big | 19 years old | Perth Wildcats
I had a gut feeling going into the lottery that this year a team with low odds for the No. 1 pick would get it. We were overdue. The Hawks, with a three percent chance to win it, ended up doing so and I think it’s a no-brainer that they should take Sarr. The 19-year-old has the highest upside of anyone in this weak class and could be a legitimate defensive positive right away. Offensively, he’s more of a pick-and-pop big and isn’t the most physical player, but the shooting and ball-handling skills for someone his size are very, very intriguing. With Clint Capela entering the final year of his contract and questions about Onyeka Okungwu’s long-term projection, Sarr makes too much sense.
If I were the Hawks, I’d start fresh after landing the top choice. I would get as many assets as I could by trading both Trae Young and Dejounte Murray and build around Sarr, Jalen Johnson and Kobe Bufkin. That would keep the Hawks in the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes next year. At the very worst, the Hawks will land a top pick in a loaded 2025 NBA Draft even if they don’t walk away with Flagg, who is currently viewed as the class’ prized prospect — Edwards
Zaccharie Risacher | 6-8 wing/forward | 19 years old | JL Bourg
The goal here would be for Washington to find someone who can develop into a legitimate two-way player. In Europe, Risacher has shown potential to become a strong long-range shooter, and his size on the wing would make him an attractive choice because he could pair his shooting with switchable defense. People will worry that Risacher would overlap positionally with Bilal Coulibaly and even Deni Avdija, but the truth is that you can never have enough high-level wings. Positional size is a necessity in today’s NBA, and Risacher would bolster that. Which other players remaining in the draft are as strong an upside play as Risacher would be? — Robbins
Matas Buzelis | 6-10 wing/forward | 19 years old | G League Ignite
I’ll preface this by saying I think the Rockets should, and will, trade this pick. There has been enough trade smoke around this team over the last few years surrounding the draft and by all accounts, Houston is open for business.
But even if the Rockets don’t find anything on the market more enticing than keeping their pick, Buzelis to Houston intrigues me.
Given that this is a draft open to more interpretation, the “best player available” is in the eye of the beholder. If this team is being molded by head coach Ime Udoka, Buzelis’ versatility and size are both desirable.
I’m aware of the shooting fluctuations during his season with the G League Ignite. I’m aware of his lack of physicality and struggles as an on-ball defender. Still, Udoka favors players with wide-ranging skill sets, like Amen Thompson and Jabari Smith Jr. Buzelis’ shooting mechanics are fluid and give me more reason for optimism than what the splits say. An underrated ball handler with a soft touch, three-level scoring and playmaking upside, in addition to solid team defense? Yes, please. I also think Buzelis is the kind of player who will blow your socks off in an individual visit or set himself apart in a combine setting either with his measurements or in drills.
Buzelis has a good understanding of team basketball that could blend well with two high-level thinkers/passers in Alperen Şengün and Fred VanVleet. He could also line up alongside Smith when Udoka wants to go small and give Houston another floor-spacing option. Buzelis brings options for a team looking to diversify as much as possible. — Iko
Nikola Topić | 6-6 lead guard | 18 years old | Crvena zvezda
Every move the Spurs make needs to optimize Victor Wembanyama’s skill set and timeline. You could make the argument that Topić is the best guard in the draft, or at least the most dynamic one — a unique blend of size, playmaking savvy and swagger.
One draft evaluator described Topić to me as the “Serbian Josh Giddey,” which, given San Antonio’s wild forays into playmaking distribution, addresses an obvious need. We all watched as the Spurs shoehorned Jeremy Sochan into the starting point guard role last season and how much that put Wembanyama at a disservice, not to mention keeping Tre Jones glued to the bench for half a season.
There’s a reason why just about every half-decent point guard has been linked to the Spurs for months. It’s the worst-kept secret that they need a reliable floor general. Wembanyama needs smart, gifted ball handlers around him who can get him the ball in his favorite spots on the floor, all while keeping the half-court offense humming. Topić understands how to navigate screens like few others his age, all while showcasing confidence in downhill drives and quick decision making. That allows him to draw defenders despite his lack of a consistent jumper.
Can his shooting mechanics be corrected? That will determine the longevity and durability of his NBA career. At 18 years old, time is on his side. — Iko
Donovan Clingan | 7-2 center | 20 years old | Connecticut
If the Pistons have taught you anything during this period of putrid basketball, it’s that you shouldn’t rely on luck. For the third straight year, Detroit entered lottery night with the top odds at landing the No. 1 pick and fell to No. 5. For the record, I’m a fan of the NBA’s lottery modifications because I don’t believe teams should automatically be rewarded for being terrible. The majority of the time, all of the teams in the lottery are bad. They all need help.
With that out of the way, if the Pistons don’t trade this pick (I think they should), I have them selecting Clingan here. For all that is wrong with Detroit, legitimate rim protection in the frontcourt is near the top of that list. To end the season, centers Jalen Duren and James Wiseman combined for only three blocks in the final five games both played (Wiseman had all three). Blocks aren’t everything when determining good rim protection, but that is a concerning stat for two young, athletic centers at this stage in their careers. Furthermore, all of the advanced and counting stats suggest the Pistons were desperately lacking in frontcourt rim protection.
Clingan should address those issues, and I do believe he’ll be able to do so immediately. He was arguably the best rim protector in college basketball last season and played in many big games on the amateur level, which isn’t something many of the young players on Detroit’s roster can say.
On the other side of the floor, Clingan is low maintenance. He doesn’t need to post up. He sets good screens. He’s a lob threat. He knows who he is.
Of course, the Pistons could use shooting, with someone like Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht making sense here if Detroit were to prioritize that over rim protection. However, I believe Clingan will be a defensive positive early in his career and beyond.
Selecting Clingan would force the Pistons to consider moving on from Duren, who has upside in his own right but does have to improve defensively to reach his potential. Detroit could select Clingan here and try to see if it can address other needs by moving Duren via trade. — Edwards
(Top photo of Alex Sarr: Simon Sturzaker/Getty Images)
