2024 NBA draft: Round 1 highlights, picks so far

But wait — there’s more.

The final 28 picks of this year’s NBA draft start being made Thursday at 4 p.m. EDT.

This is the first year of the draft being a two-night event. There are only 28 picks in Round 2. Two picks were forfeited because of violations of league rules.

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Kyle Filipowski of Duke and Johnny Furphy of Kansas were the only two players of the 24 invited to the NBA draft green room who weren’t picked in the first round.

They will have to head across the East River if they want to be present when their names are called. The first round of the draft was held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, while Thursday’s second round was set for ESPN’s Manhattan studios.

Bronny James’ draft night has likely arrived.

The son of all-time scoring leader LeBron James was not selected in the first round of Wednesday’s NBA draft in New York. He will wait to see if he’s picked in the second round when selections resume on Thursday.

The pick that might be most logical for Bronny James: 55th overall. That selection is held by the Los Angeles Lakers, the team that LeBron James — who is widely expected to become a free agent next week — has played for since 2018.

The NBA champion Boston Celtics made the final pick of the first round of the NBA draft, taking Creighton’s Baylor Scheierman with the 30th selection.

Scheierman was a five-year college player, starting with three seasons at South Dakota State and finishing with two at Creighton.

The Celtics are coming off a season where they made more 3-pointers than any team in NBA history when factoring in both the regular season and playoffs.

That gives Scheierman a shot. He made 110 3s last season.

Isaiah Collier was thought by some to be a lottery pick. He fell to No. 29, but not out of the first round.

The former Southern California guard is going to the Utah Jazz. He shot 49% last season, averaging 16.3 points. A year ago, he was rated as the No. 1 prospect coming out of high school by some recruiting services.

He’s physical and a finisher at the rim, getting fouled with regularity.

Ryan Dunn was the best defender at Virginia, which says plenty given how seriously the Cavaliers take defense.

And the Phoenix Suns are betting he can defend in the NBA as well.

Dunn was the No. 28 pick in the draft, routed to Phoenix by Denver in a trade. The 6-foot-6 sophomore shot 55% last season and has much work to do on his offensive game.

But his defense is NBA-ready.

The NBA may have to rethink the timing of its annual draft. Not the month, but a tweak to the hour the picks start coming off the board.

Paris is six hours ahead of New York, so French basketball fans eager to see history had to stay up into the wee hours of Thursday morning to see France join the United States as the only countries with three players drafted in the top 10 picks of an NBA draft.

And as the first round was a coming to an end, a total of four Frenchmen had been drafted: Zaccharie Risacher. Alex Sarr. Tidjane Salaun. Pacome Dadiet.

▶ Read more about the history made in tonight’s draft.

Terrence Shannon Jr. had a deep NCAA Tournament run with Illinois in his last college season. And he’s going to a Minnesota team that just made a deep NBA playoff run.

The Timberwolves made Shannon the No. 27 pick in the draft. The 6-foot-6 guard averaged 23.0 points last season.

Shannon was acquitted earlier this month of a rape charge in Douglas County, Kansas. Jurors spent less than two hours deliberating before finding Shannon not guilty. The 23-year-old was accused of committing sexual assault last September while visiting Kansas for a football game between the Illini and the Jayhawks.

Dillon Jones was the MVP of the Big Sky Conference last season at Weber State. And now he’s off to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Jones went No. 26 in the draft. Washington made the pick, routed it through New York and Jones will end up with the Thunder.

The 6-foot-6 forward barely came off the floor in his last three seasons at Weber State. He averaged 15 points and 9.6 rebounds in college.

Turns out, the New York Knicks will have some players who didn’t go to Villanova. And France’s huge night at the NBA draft continues.

French forward Pacome Dadiet was taken by the Knicks with the No. 25 selection. The 18-year-old averaged 6.8 points in Germany’s top league last season.

The Knicks added Dadiet one night after getting Mikal Bridges in a trade with Brooklyn. The Villanova alum will join a lineup that already included fellow Wildcats Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo.

Kyshawn George had some doubters when he left Miami after one season for the NBA draft.

He proved them wrong. George is a first-rounder, just like he thought he’d be, and will end up with the Washington Wizards after being taken No. 24 overall. The pick went to the Wizards after a trade with New York.

George averaged 7.6 points for the Hurricanes last season. The 6-foot-7 wing shot 41% from 3-point range.

AJ Johnson wasn’t invited to the NBA draft green room. He showed up as a fan, sat in the crowd — and made his way to the stage anyway.

Johnson was the No. 23 pick by the Milwaukee Bucks. The 6-foot-4 guard had a great NBA Draft Combine and opened plenty of eyes.

He spent last season playing in Australia, and now his development will continue with the Bucks.

Denver might have gotten a steal at No. 22, swinging a trade with Phoenix and ending up with the rights to Dayton forward DaRon Holmes II.

He can shoot, he can pass and his best skill is defense. He was a three-time All-Defensive player at Dayton while averaging 20.4 points in his final college season.

He averaged nearly 33 minutes per game in his three college years and became a good 3-point shooter.

Stephon Castle wore a suit that matched the black-and-silver colors of the San Antonio Spurs, who drafted him at No. 4 overall.

The former UConn star said it wasn’t planned.

“It wasn’t intentional. But I guess it all really worked out. I guess I kind of manifested it to happen for me,” Castle said.

He also wore a chain with his initials and a large castle at the base to honor his last name.

Yves Missi is already a success story. He played his first high school basketball game three years ago and now is in the NBA.

The 6-foot-11 center who was raised in Cameroon was taken with the No. 21 pick by the New Orleans Pelicans.

Missi played his one college season at Baylor, shooting 61% from the field. And it’s not like he doesn’t have understanding of the game — his parents both played for Cameroon, and his brother Steve Moundou-Missi was a three-time All-Ivy League player at Harvard.

On June 26, 2003, the Cleveland Cavaliers took LeBron James with the No. 1 overall selection in the NBA draft.

On June 26, 2024, they made a pick with much less fanfare — but it was significant nonetheless.

The 21st anniversary of the James pick brought the Cavaliers Jaylon Tyson with the No. 20 selection. Tyson, a 6-foot-6 guard out of Cal, averaged 19.6 points and 6.8 rebounds for the Bears last season.

He also played for Texas and Texas Tech in his college career.

Another one-and-done college player is off the board, with Toronto taking Baylor’s Ja’Kobe Walter with the No. 19 pick.

The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 14.5 points in his lone college season.

His shooting must improve — he shot 38% from the field, 34% from the line. But his first name suggests he might understand work ethic.

Ja’Kobe is a tribute from his parents to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. And one of Walter’s favorite players is Kawhi Leonard, who led the Raptors to the 2019 NBA title.

Memo to the Orlando Magic staff: Learn more German.

A team that already has German brothers Moritz and Franz Wagner added another German forward Wednesday night, taking Colorado’s Tristan da Silva with the No. 18 pick.

Da Silva was born and raised in Germany to Brazilian parents. A four-year college player at Colorado, he made huge leaps in shooting and scoring and at 6-foot-8, 217 pounds, he already looks NBA-ready.

By the way, da Silva speaks five languages — German, Portuguese, Spanish, French and English.

Reed Sheppard threw out the ceremonial first pitch before a Mets-Yankees game on Tuesday night. But he’s a member of the Houston Rockets now.

And if the Astros are listening, he’s a fan of theirs.

“I never had a baseball team because there was no baseball team close to Kentucky,” the former Kentucky Wildcat said, “but I think I’m going to be an Astros fan now.”

First-team Associated Press All-American Dalton Knecht had to wait longer than some thought before getting his name called at the NBA draft.

The Los Angeles Lakers decided he’d waited long enough. They took the 6-foot-5 guard with the 17th pick on Wednesday night.

Knecht started college at Northern Colorado and then became a full-fledged college star after transferring to Tennessee, averaging 21.7 points on 46% shooting overall and 40% from 3-point range last season.

Jared McCain is headed to the Philadelphia 76ers, who took the Duke guard with the 16th pick.

McCain is a shooter — 41% from 3-point range in his lone college season, nearly 89% from the foul line and 51% from inside the arc. He averaged 14.3 points and 5.0 rebounds.

And yes, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver added a little bit of extra emphasis when he announced McCain’s school. Silver is a proud Duke grad.

No. 4 pick Stephon Castle didn’t have to wait long for new San Antonio Spurs teammate Victor Wembanyama to give him a call.

Wembanyama was one of the first people to reach Castle by phone on draft night.

“Just talked to him on the phone not too long ago,” Castle said. “We were just talking about coming down to San Antonio and just can’t wait to get to work, and just excited for our future and excited for this upcoming season.”

Kel’el Ware was a double-double machine at Indiana last season, and the Miami Heat hope he becomes one in the NBA.

The Heat took the 7-footer with the No. 15 pick on Wednesday night. Ware shot 59% from the field, averaged 15.9 points and 9.9 rebounds and had good touch on 3-pointers — 43%, albeit on only 40 attempts.

Carlton “Bub” Carrington is the final pick of this year’s lottery portion, going No. 14 to Washington.

The Wizards secured the pick earlier in the evening in the trade that sent Deni Avdija to Portland. The Blazers technically made the pick since the trade hadn’t been finalized by the NBA.

And maybe big things can be expected right away in Carrington’s NBA career. He had a triple-double in his first college game at Pitt, the first Division I player to do that in more than 20 years.
He averaged 13.8 points in his lone college season, along with 5.4 rebounds — very good for his 6-foot-4 size.

UConn coach Dan Hurley spoke often about how he recruited NBA lottery picks during the Huskies’ run to back-to-back national titles.

Two UConn players went in the top seven of this year’s draft. Stephon Castle was picked No. 4 by San Antonio and Donovan Clingan went to Portland at No. 7.

“Everybody won. We won championships, they won their dream,” Hurley said on ESPN.

Those Kings-Grizzlies games will hit a lot of notes for the Carter family next season.

Sacramento took Devin Carter with the No. 13 overall pick. He’s the son of former NBA guard Anthony Carter, who’s now an assistant coach with Memphis.

Devin Carter started his college career at South Carolina and finished at Providence. He’s the the third lottery pick in Friars history, joining Austin Croshere (1997) and Kris Dunn (2016).

Carter averaged 19.7 points this past season.

Oklahoma City had to wait a year for Chet Holmgren’s rookie season and that worked out. The Thunder may have a similar scenario now.

They took Serbian forward Nikola Topic with the No. 12 pick. Topic is recovering from a knee injury and it’s not clear when he’ll be ready to play.

What’s not in question: Topic’s talent. He shot 51% in the Adriatic League, 87% from the foul line and has steadily improved his shot from distance.

The Thunder are loaded, and surely can wait as long as it takes for Topic to heal and prepare for the NBA.

Matas Buzelis did a tearful interview on ESPN after he was picked by the Chicago Bulls and got a chance to play in the city where he was born.

And he made clear how much he savored the moment.

“I’m blessed, man. This is what I wanted. I wanted to be here,” Buzelis said. “Thank you to the Bulls organization. I’m ready to work, man. I was born for this.”

Welcome home, Matas Buzelis. You are a Chicago Bull.

The Bulls took the G League Ignite forward with the 11th overall pick Wednesday night.

Buzelis was born in Chicago to Lithuanian parents. His mother Kristina and father Aidas both played pro ball in their home country.

Buzelis averaged 14.1 points for the Ignite last season.

Cody Williams, you have bragging rights now.

He was picked 10th by the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night — going two spots ahead of where his brother Jalen Williams was taken by the Oklahoma City Thunder two years ago.

Cody Williams famously said he hadn’t seen snow before his one and only college season at Colorado. Hope he kept some gloves: It gets cold in Utah, too.

Zach Edey is taking his 7-foot-4 frame to Memphis to start his NBA career.

Edey, the Purdue center who became the first player in more than 40 years to win The Associated Press’ college basketball player of the year award in back-to-back seasons, was taken by the Memphis Grizzlies with the ninth overall pick in the NBA draft.

Edey averaged 22.3 points and 12.9 rebounds as a junior, then 25.2 points and 12.2 rebounds during a senior season in which he led Purdue to the NCAA title game. The Boilermakers lost to UConn.

Kentucky guard Rob Dillingham is heading to Minnesota.

The Timberwolves acquired his rights from the San Antonio Spurs, who drafted Willingham No. 8 overall.

Dillingham made 44% of his 3-pointers, was the SEC’s sixth man of the year and has gold-medal experience with USA Basketball at the U16 level.

There are now two countries that have seen three of their native players taken in the top 10 spots of any NBA draft.

One is the United States.
The other is France — which had three in the top six this year. Zaccharie Risacher went No. 1, Alex Sarr was No. 2 and Tidjane Salaun was picked at No. 6.

It’s a historic event for the French, who have seen both the quality and popularity of basketball soar in recent years. France will be considered a gold medal possibility at the Paris Games this summer.

▶Read more about the French love affair with basketball

Donovan Clingan, the 7-foot-2, two-time NCAA champion center from UConn, went to the Portland Trail Blazers with the No. 7 pick.

He excelled in the postseason this past spring, leading UConn by averaging 15.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.2 blocks in its six NCAA tournament wins.

Some thought Clingan would be a candidate to go No. 1 overall to Atlanta.

The run on French stars continues, with three selected with the first six picks in the NBA draft.

Tidjane Salaun went No. 6 to Charlotte. The 6-foot-9 forward has good range from deep and good touch around the basket.

The Washington Wizards have traded forward Deni Avdija to the Portland Trail Blazers for guard Malcolm Brogdon, the 14th pick in this year’s draft and a first-round pick in 2029.

That’s according to a person familiar with the deal. The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the trade had not been announced.

The Wizards took French center Alex Sarr with the No. 2 overall pick. Now they get another first-rounder as they continue their rebuild.

Ron Holland is headed to the Detroit Pistons, taken with the No. 5 pick and going to a team that currently doesn’t have a coach.

Holland led the G League Ignite in scoring last season and is a past McDonald’s high school All-American.

The 6-foot-7 wing joins a young core in Detroit, which will continue its rebuild with a new coach. Monty Williams was fired last week.

This is where the intrigue really begins in the NBA draft.

San Antonio, a year after getting Victor Wembanyama, has taken UConn guard Stephon Castle with the fourth overall pick. The Spurs pick again at No. 8.

A tough defender, Castle averaged 11.1 points last season and had 15 points in the NCAA title game win over Purdue.

He has a family tie of sorts to San Antonio. Castle is the son of Stacey Castle, who played at Wake Forest with five-time NBA champion and Spurs legend Tim Duncan.

Have a week, Reed Sheppard.

Turn 20 on Monday, get drafted No. 3 overall on Wednesday.

Sheppard was taken by the Houston Rockets, who snapped up the one-and-done shooting guard out of Kentucky who connected on a wild 52% of his 3-pointers last season.

It’s the 17th consecutive year that Kentucky has had at least one player selected in the NBA draft.

Bonjour, and bonjour.

Alex Sarr going No. 2 overall to Washington gives France a 1-2 sweep of the top picks. Zaccharie Risacher went No. 1 to Atlanta.

Only 19, Sarr has seen the world already. The 7-footer was born in France, and he’s played for Overtime Elite, Real Madrid and the Perth Wildcats in Australia.

Another year, another French prospect goes No. 1 in the NBA draft. Last year, it was Victor Wembanyama to San Antonio and this year, it’s Zaccharie Risacher to Atlanta.

The 19-year-old, 6-foot-9 wing was a teammate of Wembanyama in France during in the 2021-22 season — though they never appeared in a league game there together.

But even then, Wemby was convinced that Risacher would be a star. And now we wait to see what the Hawks do next. Trading Trae Young, trading Dejounte Murray, or blowing it up completely by trading both all seem like options.

A select group of fans paid to get a behind-the-scenes experience at the NBA draft.

They got to have their picture taken on stage with the draftees. They also received a tour that included the press conference area.

The NBA offers similar experiences at many events, including the All-Star Game, Summer League and overseas games — for the right price. The league says the packages range from $299 to $2,999.

John Calipari turned Kentucky into a factory for NBA talent, including 28 one-and-done players becoming first-round picks.

Now at Arkansas, Calipari’s last crop with the Wildcats features two headlining guards in the NBA draft next week in Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham.

They’re lottery prospects in the AP NBA Mock draft. They’re part of a top tier featuring UConn’s Stephon Castle, Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht and international prospect Nikola Topic.

▶Read more about the top guards in the NBA draft

Despite +25000 odds, Bronny James was drawing the most tickets at BetMGM online sportsbook to be the first overall pick (25.2%) as of Tuesday even though he was only pulling in 5.9% of the money.

LeBron James’ Lakers, who have the No. 17 and 55 overall picks, had the best odds to draft Bronny James at -130. They’re also the favorite among bettors.

A massive 52.2% of the money is on the Lakers to select James on 31.9% of the bets. Los Angeles opened at +140 and was +160 last week.

The Phoenix Suns (+700) are the second favorite with 14.8% of the bets and 15% of the money on the team to select James. They have the No. 22 overall pick and do not have a second-round pick.

▶Read more on NBA draft betting

Two French players are expected to be among the top picks in the NBA draft, and not just because of their potential.

NBA talent evaluators value European players because of the skills they already have. They say the fundamentals of the game are being taught better overseas.

What’s the problem in the U.S.? NBA coaches and executives say at the youth level, there’s too much focus on playing games and not enough time spent practicing the basics.

▶ Read more about the European players in this year’s draft.

France isn’t the only country producing top prospects for the NBA — it just sort of seems that way.

Victor Wembanyama was the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft a year ago and went on to win the league’s Rookie of the Year award.

Two more Frenchmen — Alex Sarr and Zaccharie Risacher — are projected top picks Wednesday night in the draft. Tidjane Salaun is another potential lottery pick from France, and Pacome Dadiet could go late in the first round.

But the international pool extends beyond France. Other prospects include Nikola Topic and Nikola Djurisic of Serbia, Bobi Klintman of Sweden, Juan Nunez of Spain and Ulrich Chomche of Cameroon.

▶Here’s a closer look at international players to watch

Victor Wembanyama was the top pick in the NBA draft a year ago and backed it up with an outstanding rookie season.

A year later, interest in basketball is soaring in his native France.

More kids are signing up for teams, courts around Paris are busy with pickup games, and teenagers are wearing NBA jerseys with a basketball tucked under their arm.

Three young Frenchmen are expected to be taken early in the first round this year.

▶Read more about Victor Wembanyama’s influence.

When Kentucky’s Reed Sheppard arrived for the NBA draft, he was asked which former Wildcat he’s most looking forward to playing against in the NBA. His answer: Devin Booker.

“I remember watching him when I was a little kid,” Sheppard, “and he’s kind of one my favorite players to watch right now so it would pretty cool playing against him.”

Booker is 27 years old. Yes, Sheppard said he watched Booker as a “little kid.” And it adds up. Booker played his lone season for Kentucky in 2014-15, and Sheppard just turned 20 on Monday.

This year’s NBA draft has plenty of promising big men — even though not all of them are known for shooting 3s.

Several of the centers and power forwards expected to be taken in the first round are valued primarily for their play closer to the basket.

That means they may not be offensive stars in the NBA right away, if ever. But teams covet big guys like UConn’s Donovan Clingan for their defensive ability and athleticism.

▶ Read more about the big men in this year’s NBA draft.