A historic French revolution inside the top 10 selections, an Aussie youngster left hanging and a brilliant night for the NBL.
Here are five quick hits from the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft.
In another major win for the NBL, French big man Alexandre Sarr was taken by the Washington Wizards with the No.2 pick in the draft.
Sarr joins the Wizards after spending the last season with the Perth Wildcats as part of the NBL’s Next Stars player development program.
The 19-year-old is the highest-selected player to come straight out of the NBL, surpassing LaMelo Ball, who was taken third overall in the 2020 draft after spending a season with the Illawarra Hawks. Sarr is the third player to go from the NBL to being picked inside the top 10 of the NBA Draft, joining Ball and Josh Giddey, who was taken sixth overall in the 2021 draft.
Sarr was one of two players to play in the NBL who were selected in the first round of the draft, with Illawarra Hawks guard AJ Johnson taken 23rd overall by the Milwaukee Bucks.
Standing at 7’1″, Sarr should bolster Washington’s defence immediately — and was described as “the type of unicorn big man every team covets in the modern NBA” by ESPN draft expert Jonathan Givony.
Sarr has taken arguably the most unique route to the NBA, having also spent two seasons in Spain playing for Real Madrid’s youth team, then another two seasons in Atlanta in the newly established Overtime Elite league in Atlanta.
The Frenchman finished his NBL season with the Wildcats having posted averages of 9.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game in 17 minutes per contest.
Sarr was widely tipped to go to the Wizards at No.2 after refusing to work out for the Atlanta Hawks, who had the No.1 pick in the draft. He should get minutes right away for head coach Brian Keefe next season on a roster that is largely bereft of elite defensive big men.
The 2024 draft marked the first time since 2003 in which the top two players selected did not play college basketball in the United States in their draft year.
That year, LeBron James went straight from high school to the Cleveland Cavaliers, while Darko Milicic was taken second by the Detroit Pistons after playing for Serbia’s KK Vrsac (then called Hemofarm).
After having the top pick in last year’s draft, Victor Wembanyama, France had the top two selections in this year’s class as Atlanta took versatile forward Zaccharie Risacher first overall.
France wasn’t done after the first two picks, either, as the Charlotte Hornets selected Tidjane Salaun with the sixth pick just minutes later to make it three Frenchmen taken inside the top 10. France is the only country outside of the United States to have three players selected inside the top 10 of a single draft.
“There is a French explosion coming here, and I don’t see it stopping any time soon,” former NBA star Richard Jefferson said on ESPN’s draft coverage.
Risacher, Sarr and Salaun join Wembanyama, Bilal Coulibaly (the No.7 pick in the 2023 draft) and Killian Hayes (No.7, 2020) as French players taken inside the top 10 in recent years.
Wembanyama will represent France at the Olympics next month alongside four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, and judging by the young talent coming through the pipeline, France is set to be a force at the international level for years to come.
One of the most heartwarming moments of the first round came when Chicago native Matas Buzelis was taken by the Bulls with the 11th pick.
Buzelis, who is of Lithuanian descent, was overcome with emotion as he discussed his selection while wearing a Chicago Bulls cap immediately after being drafted.
“I’m blessed, man, this is what I wanted, I wanted to be here,” he said.
“Thank you to the Bulls organisation. I’m ready to work, man. I was born for this.”
Then something magical happened. As cameras panned to the rest of his family, Buzelis’s brother was shown uncontrollably crying tears of joy, in scenes that will be replayed for years to come.
“Understand if you are one of the 30 that are selected … there are players that had to leave their families and go to other countries,” Jefferson said on ESPN’s coverage.
“The amount of commitment that is needed for you to get here, and the amount of support — how many players have you seen drafted that had family members, brothers and others involved? It takes a community to make these things happen.”
Australia’s Johnny Furphy was one of the players invited to sit in the NBA’s green room — but he will have to wait until the second night of the draft to find out who he will play for.
Furphy was widely expected to be selected around pick 20, with many mock drafts tying him to the Cleveland Cavaliers at that spot. But once the Cavs selected Jaylon Tyson, the 19-year-old did not hear his name called out.
Furphy was one of two players invited to the green room who were not selected in the first round, with the other being Duke big man Kyle Filipowski, who was also tipped by many experts to go inside the top 20 selections.
Furphy himself admitted pre-draft in an interview with ESPN that he expected to be selected somewhere around the 15th pick.
“I think from around [pick] 15, that’s when I’ll start getting a bit more tense and paying more attention. But I guess we’ll just wait and see,” he said.
Dropping to the second round is a major blow to both Furphy and Filipowski’s earning potential at the start of their NBA careers.
While both players should be selected early in the second round of the draft, they may not receive guaranteed rookie deals, as first-rounders usually are.
The news isn’t all bad for Furphy. Plenty of players have fallen to the second round and carved out terrific NBA careers, namely three-time league MVP Nikola Jokic and four-time NBA champion Draymond Green.
Draft night is always more exciting when trades take place, and fans did not have to wait too long for the wheeling and dealing this year.
After picking guard Stephon Castle with the No.4 pick, the San Antonio Spurs looked to be doubling up on guards when NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced Rob Dillingham as the Spurs’ pick at No.8.
However, virtually as soon as Dillingham had put the Spurs cap on while being congratulated by his loved ones, it was announced that he would be traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The NBA world was shaken up minutes later, when it was announced that the Spurs had acquired an unprotected first-round pick in the 2031 draft and a protected pick swap in the 2030 draft in exchange for the Kentucky guard.
Dillingham is one of the more exciting players in this year’s top 10, and pairing him with Victor Wembanyama would have been given heavy consideration by the Spurs.
However, in choosing to add draft capital in the next decade instead of Dillingham, the Spurs have done two things — they’ve preserved cap space for this season and have added some valuable picks that could be flipped down the line in a win-now move when Wembanyama is closer to his prime.
The move also makes sense for Minnesota, a franchise that is definitely in win-now mode. The Timberwolves have an aging Mike Conley at the point guard spot, and will hope Dillingham can eventually take over in that spot.
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