The NBA Draft's New Trend

As I am sure you know, last week was the 2024 NBA draft and there are a ton of topics to discuss. This year’s draft was one of the more interesting ones in the past few years in the sense that the draft class received a ton of criticism leading up to the actual event. It starts with the number one pick in the draft, Zaccharie Risacher out of France.

Risacher is a 6’9 wing who will be a prospect to say the least. His lengthy and strong frame will give him an early advantage in the league along with his spectacular shooting ability however I will say it was a surprise to see him go number one in the draft. Transitioning from Europe to the league is never an easy thing to do and we have seen that a lot in recent years. For example, for every Luka Doncic or Victor Wembanyama who are foreign players that went off the board early and excelled, there are guys like Josh Giddey and Killian Hayes who went early in the draft but still have not turned out as they were expected. With that being said, I think Risacher is a guy that could go either way. He will probably never be a star in the league, but he does have the potential to have a lengthy career as a 3 and D player as he shot around 39% from 3 overseas. However if he does not improve his ability to create his own shot rather than just knock down stand still shots, his career could quickly move in the other direction. Risacher is just one of four players drafted in the lottery which is not common to say the least. With the number 2 pick in the draft, the Washington Wizards selected Alex Sarr, a 7’1 forward from France. Sarr is another guy who’s career can go either way down the road. He has great size for a power forward, but has a slim frame and lacks both playmaking and shooting which are both things even a 7 footer needs to have in today’s NBA. I would label him a project due to the fact that he can have an immediate impact for a team as an interior presence, but he will never truly take off until he develops those two skills. The next European was Tidjane Salaun at pick 6 by Charlotte, an awful pick in my opinion for the simple fact that he isn’t actually exceptional at anything. With Risacher you know you are getting a sharpshooter and with Sarr you are guaranteed an interior force, but Salaun’s best attribute is his athleticism. He finished last season with more turnovers than assists and shot just 32% from three which is tolerable, but not good enough. I can very easily see his career ending up similar to Killian Hayes who has no job at the moment. The final European lottery pick was Nikola Topic to the Thunder at pick 12. Now I can't lie, prior to draft night I did not know who this was, but from the research I’ve done he looks like a Josh Giddey clone. He stands at 6 '6 and is a great floor general who operates well in pick and roll action and when finishing inside the paint, however he is not yet a capable shooter. What separates him from a guy like Giddey is he is an above average defender. That alone increases his potential especially when you consider the fact that he is only 19 and there is still time to work on his shot.

This sudden increase in teams investing in European players is likely a result of the recent success foreign players have been having in the NBA. However I do not think it is good for the league, most of these kids have not shown what they can do and teams are left with very small sample sizes to work with. The common reason is because they played professionally instead of against college kids, but as we have seen recently that does not always pan out. Regardless of where they played, I can assure you there were players in college this year who will be more productive than all of the guys I named when their careers are all said and done. I am glad to see teams take chances on these players, but I just don’t know if it will work out in the long run.