Which Draft Prospect Should Go No. 1 Overall?

As we relayed in our primer, the 2024 NBA draft lottery takes place this afternoon at 2:00pm Central time. While this year’s lottery isn’t nearly as highly anticipated as last year’s, each team would still love the opportunity to land the No. 1 overall pick.

Unlike the 2023 lottery, in which every team was hoping to select French phenom Victor Wembanyama, who went on to win Rookie of the Year with the Spurs, the 2024 draft has no real consensus at the top.

For example, French wing Zaccharie Risacher is ranked No. 1 overall on ESPN’s top-100 list, but he’s No. 8 on Sam Vecenie of The Athletic’s big board, No. 9 on Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report’s board, and all the way down at No. 12 on Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer’s board.

Another French player, big man Alexandre Sarr, might be the closest thing to a lock to be selected in the top three. He’s ranked No. 2 by ESPN, No. 1 by Vecenie, No. 4 by Wasserman and No. 1 by O’Connor.

Serbian guard Nikola Topic is another prospect who appears in the top five of each list. He’s No. 5 at ESPN, No. 2 at The Athletic, No. 3 at Bleacher Report and No. 2 at The Ringer.

There’s significant variance on several other prospects. G League Ignite wing Ron Holland is ranked No. 10 by ESPN, No. 7 by Vecenie, and No. 6 by O’Connor, but he’s the top overall prospect on Wasserman’s board. UConn’s Stephon Castle is ranked No. 3 on Vecenie and O’Connor’s boards, but No. 9 on Wasserman’s and No. 10 on ESPN’s.

We want to know what you think. Which prospect do you think should be selected No. 1 overall in next month’s draft? Is it one of the players mentioned here, or someone else? Head to the comments to share your thoughts.

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