NBA mock draft: Pick predictions after withdrawal deadline

With less than a month before the 2024 NBA draft begins, players are making big-time decisions that will impact their futures.

With the NCAA’s early-entry withdrawal deadline passing on Wednesday, several prospects withdrew their names from the draft process in order to return to their prior college program or transfer to a new one. Take former BYU 6-foot-7 wing Jaxson Robinson, who told ESPN on Thursday that he is out of the draft and has committed to play for the Kentucky Wildcats. Robinson joins other high-profile players, such as Alabama’s Mark Sears, UConn’s Alex Karaban and Arizona’s Caleb Love, who withdrew their names and are returning for another year of collegiate eligibility.

The top prospects who are staying in the draft and hope to hear their names called in the new two-day event (June 26-27 in New York) include Johnny Furphy (a 6-9 guard out of Kansas who ranks No. 18 in ESPN’s Top 100), Bronny James (a 6-3 guard out of USC) and David Jones (a 6-5 forward out of Memphis).

Now, NBA teams are jumping into individual workouts that will help them narrow down their boards and get a handle on whom they might draft. The Atlanta Hawks secured the No. 1 pick, and then the draft turns to the Washington Wizards and Houston Rockets at Nos. 2 and 3.

Draft experts Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo considered the draft board and the likely players available at each spot to update the ESPN 2024 NBA mock draft accordingly. Their latest mock, which reflects a long period of exhaustive evaluation of the 2024 draft class and considers intel gathered from conversations with scouts and front office personnel, also accounts for picks owed and owned by all 30 teams.

NBA draft coverage:
UConn three-peat? Bronny’s choice? Top questions following deadline
Play GM with our NBA mock draft simulator: Make your picks!
Big Board rankings | Draft order | More

ROUND 1

1. Atlanta Hawks

Zaccharie Risacher, SF, Bourg (France) | Age: 19.1

The intel out of the Hawks continues to indicate that their front office is at an early stage in its decision-making process and there likely won’t be clarity on which way the team is leaning with this pick until closer to draft night. It’s unclear how much of an appetite ownership has for entering a rebuilding mode, and that might be difficult to avoid depending on what the team does in regard to the futures of stars Trae Young and Dejounte Murray,

Trading this pick for more immediate contributors or moving down to take multiple swings in this relatively flat lottery class are options. Take for example a scenario in which San Antonio would trade the No. 4 and No. 8 selections for the right to move up and draft Risacher.

Should Atlanta stand pat at No. 1, Risacher is looking like an increasingly attractive option. His season came to a close with Bourg’s semifinal loss to No. 1 seed Monaco, capping off a playoff run in which he averaged 15.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, shooting 67% from the field and 38% on 3-pointers; all outstanding numbers for a 19-year-old at this level of competition. His next stop is the NBA Global Camp in Treviso, Italy, where he’ll have a medical examination and undergo draft combine activity including interviews with interested teams.

Every team in the top five has significant interest in Risacher, and it is looking highly unlikely, barring a major surprise, that he’ll drop out of the top two. — Givony

2. Washington Wizards

Washington Wizards (via Houston Rockets (via San Antonio Spurs (via Detroit Pistons (via Memphis Grizzlies (via Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns forfeited a 2024 second-round draft pick.