The 2024 NBA Draft is officially in the books.
In total, 58 selections were made over two days. Zaccharie Risacher was the first player picked. Ariel Hukporti was the last player picked. Needless to say, I didn’t agree with everything that was done — most notably the Bucks using the No. 23 pick on a 19 year-old who just averaged 2.9 points per game as a professional in Australia despite Milwaukee being in win-now mode with a not-getting-any-younger core of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez, who may be on the trade block.
How is AJ Johnson going to help next season?
Odds are, he won’t.
That’s why what the Bucks did with the 23rd pick felt like a missed opportunity — especially in an Eastern Conference where the Celtics just won their 18th NBA championship and added a plug-and-play scorer (Baylor Scheierman) with the 30th pick, and where the Sixers just used the 16th pick to add a proven shooter (Jared McCain) to help Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, and, of course, where New York just added Member No. 4 of the Villanova Knicks.
If I were the Greek Freak, I would not be pleased.
But whatever. That’s not my problem. And I don’t want to focus on the negative any more with so many franchises making picks that I actually understood and approved. So let’s focus on those, shall we?
Here are five of my favorite picks from the 2024 NBA Draft.
1. Reed Sheppard to the Rockets with the 3rd pick
I’ve been on record for a while that I believe Reed Sheppard will be the best player to emerge from this class. So I’m a fan of Houston getting him three picks into this draft. Could the Rockets have moved the pick for a veteran role player? Yeah, probably. But why? With a lead guard who is an elite shooter on the board, I could not have turned in my pick fast enough if I were Houston. I love what the Rockets did and would happily invest in Sheppard’s future. He’s a future All-Star, I…
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