Projected lottery pick Reed Sheppard is among a handful of players whose lives will change at Wednesday’s NBA Draft.
NEW YORK – By the time you read this, we’re inside 24 hours from the 2024 NBA Draft tipping off Round 1 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Lives are about to change. For the young men set to walk the stage, and the fans who will support them for the next few seasons. In a Draft class that seems to focus on role playing floors rather than superstar ceilings, fit appears to overwhelm potential on most Draft boards. Consensus seems to be forming about which players will land in the lottery, if not necessarily where they’ll hit the hardwood.
Tuesday afternoon at the Lotte New York Palace hotel, 24 prospects shuffled through a gilded conference room in eight-man squads, facing media members hungry for soundbite morsels they could toss to the Draft-hungry hordes. With their NBA dreams close to being realized – this was a group invited to be here, after all – there was an appreciation for the moment and a confidence that they are ready for it.
Here are 3 things to know ahead of Round 1:
The French Connection
With Alex Sarr and Zaccharie Risacher looking like top 5 locks, if not top 2, this could be the second straight year a Frenchman stands atop the first-round field. And further down the board, Tidjane Salaun and Melvin Ajinca are expected to join them.
“We’re growing as a (basketball) nation,” Risacher said, drawing inspiration from the recent examples of 2023 lottery picks Victor Wembanyama (No. 1) and Bilal Coulibaly (No. 7). “I can’t wait to see other French players come into the Draft. That’s special to see.”
Salaun called it a great moment for France, one that will be only heightened when the 2024 Olympic Games open in Paris. Sarr, who trained at Real Madrid and Overtime Elite before joining Perth in Australia’s NBL, has been playing with Risacher on youth national teams – they met at 13 years old – and acknowledges they’re in competition for the No. 1 overall pick, even if they don’t talk about it much.
“If you told us last summer that we would be in that position,” he said, “we probably wouldn’t have believed it.”
Family first
This is a Draft surprisingly deep in second-generation basketball talent, from expected lottery selection Reed Sheppard (father Jeff was the 1998 NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player at Kentucky, while mother Stacey scored more than 1,400 points for the Wildcats) to potential pick Bronny James, Providence’s Devin Carter (Anthony was a 13-year NBA vet) and France’s Risacher (Stephane played two decades in Europe, winning a silver medal at the 2000 Olympics).
“I understand the love from him, first of all outside the court,” Risacher said. “Then when I started growing and basketball started to get serious, he taught me a lot of things.
“But the strength that we had as a family, the relationship that we had was basketball. We always talked about basketball. It came to us naturally. It was helpful to be serious without feeling the work, because when you’re at home you don’t want to be working.”
Sheppard says his dad kept on-court exploits out of the conversation, though he heard plenty from Kentucky fans after following in his parents’ footsteps to play for the Wildcats.
Big brothers abound: Colorado’s Cody Williams can question rising Thunder star Jalen Williams, while Sarr has Olivier (also with Oklahoma City, albeit on a two-way contract). And the traditional college powerhouses have provided multiple sets of teammates with support systems through the arduous Draft process.
“It’s amazing to have people that have been through it,” Duke guard Jared McCain said. “Coach (Jon) Scheyer has been through this process for himself. He’s been helping me a bunch, calling me a lot. And I’m grateful to have my boy Flip (Kyle Filipowski) with me as well, just to have some comfort around.”
And sometimes, found family brings the tightest bonds.
Georgia natives Stephon Castle (Covington) and Isaiah Collier (Marietta) have been battling alongside or against each other since the second grade — AAU, high school, college — and now likely at the NBA level.
“I’m proud of (Stephon),” Collier said. “I love him. That’s my brother, basically. It’s exciting, definitely, just to see where we are now. I told him ‘It’s crazy, everything’s about to happen.’ We work hard, we sweat, and it’s paying off.”
Castle, who also immediately termed Collier ‘his brother’ in a way that clearly ran deep, was glad the pair have been able to align their Draft journeys, calling it a full-circle moment. And he’s excited they’re expected to join the growing legion of Georgia players producing big results in the league.
“Maybe it’s something in the water down there in the water in Georgia that produced some dogs,” Castle said. “Shoutout to JB (Jaylen Brown), he just won an NBA Finals. Georgia produces a lot of winners, a lot of great players. I’m just excited to see what me and ’Zay will be able to do.”
Earned confidence is the key
However they got here, there’s no question work went into it, whether it’s coming out of a championship program at Connecticut (Castle, Donovan Clingan) or one going through growing pains like USC (Isaiah Collier). Matas Buzelis managed to keep grinding for G League Ignite, even as the team struggled to a 6-44 mark.
“I think the confidence comes from being in the gym all day,” he said. “I don’t think anyone works harder than me. I’m always in the gym. I’m here doing the media, but I’m still going out at night to play basketball. I’m confident, but I respect everybody who plays.”
Serbia native Nikola Topic, who suffered a partially torn ACL as the Draft process neared, has had to lean on mentality given the physical limitations in making his case. He’s tried to stay positive about the basketball and the overall journey, staying true to himself as he interviews and reviews film with interested teams.
“I’m just talking about myself,” Topic said. “I’m not making up any stories. I’m talking what I can do, and if they don’t like it, that’s it. They don’t like it. I cannot change that. And that’s me. I cannot change myself for someone.”
Clingan says the Huskies’ two-year run atop the NCAA world has been surreal, and that while his development took individual effort, he wouldn’t be here without teammates and coaches pulling him along and pushing him forward.
“It’s crazy,” Clingan said. “It’s 24 hours away from knowing where you’re living for the next four years of your life. You have no idea, so you’re kind of anxious. But I’m ready.”
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