The Wizards had pretty good lottery luck and ended up with the 2nd pick in the draft.
The NBA Draft Lottery occurred yesterday and the Wizards came away with the 2nd pick in this June’s NBA Draft. The Atlanta Hawks were the biggest winners on the day as they landed the 1st overall pick.
The Hawks seem likely to take French center Alex Sarr, a 7’0 rim-protector who played in the Australian NBL this past season. He’s the top prospect on most draft boards right now and seems to be the player most outlets are projecting to Atlanta.
Brendan Smith of the Wizards of Gallery Place podcast and I covered many of the options who the Wizards will be choosing from during an instant reaction episode of the Bleav in Wizards podcast yesterday.
According to Monumental’s Chase Hughes, Wizards general manager Will Dawkins seems to be preaching patience which means they likely won’t be seeking instant gratification from their pick.
Wizards GM Will Dawkins on the 2024 draft class:
“This is a deeper draft… There’s probably not the same level of instant gratification that you can see in Year 1… but if you really dive down and have some patience… these players are going to be pretty good players.”
— Chase Hughes (@chasedcsports) May 12, 2024
If last season’s first pick, Bilal Coulibaly, is any indication, this front office won’t be afraid to take big wings. The question is, which players do they consider the highest upside?
That’s part of what Smith and I covered in the podcast but both of us seem higher on French wing Zaccharie Risacher than most Wizards fans. Other names like Nikola Topic, Stephon Castle, Ron Holland, and Cody Williams seem to check several boxes Dawkins and company seem to covet.
Which players are you most interested in with the 2nd pick?