Just a few days remain until the start of the 2024 NBA Draft, and the top of the board is slowly beginning to take shape as Zaccharie Risacher — once considered likely to slip to No. 2 — has overtaken Frenchman Alex Sarr as the betting favorite to be selected No. 1 overall on draft night.
Risacher’s rise has been fueled by a strong finish to his season in the Pro A and a diligent pre-draft done by the Atlanta Hawks, who won the lottery last month in a surprise after having just a 3% chance of doing so. Atlanta sent several key decision-makers over to France to watch Risacher in person last month, including GM Landry Fields, assistant GM Kyle Korver and head coach Quin Snyder.
Throughout recent years at this point in the pre-draft process, the No. 1 pick has seemingly been locked in only for it to change in the final days. That happened in 2022 when Paolo Banchero emerged late as the No. 1 pick. But, for now, things look to be crystalizing barring late changes. So our latest, and my penultimate, NBA mock draft is below as we count down the days until next Wednesday …
