Who passed and who failed miserably? 2024 NBA Draft grades for each team

It’s often said that NBA Draft’s can’t be deemed successful or not for at least a few years. While that practically might be true, we’ll take a first glance pass at which teams seemed to bring in helpful talent, and the organizations that may have set themselves back.

Atlanta seemed to draft based on need rather than for the best player available, as their roster is currently set with guards and centers. Zaccharie Risacher has the potential to be a useful wing player in the league, with three point shot-making ability and defensive capabilities. Some outlets viewed him as a safe pick, but Bill Simmons of The Ringer is worried he might be a bust.

USA Today and others wrote about the defensive player Alexandre Sarr might blossom into, which would help bolster the Wizards’ prospects significantly in coming years. However, Washington also made a questionable trade. They sent Deni Avdija (on an affordable contract) to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for the 14^th pick. They took Bub Carrington in that spot, who may need a little time to develop.

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The Rockets only came away with one player during the 2024 NBA Draft, but it’s the highly regarded Reed Sheppard. The former Kentucky guard’s offensive ability and efficiency from three point range should help any team, including Houston. However, the Rockets may have been better off trading the pick for a veteran who can help them win now.

San Antonio has a legitimate chance to be one of the best defensive teams as soon as next season. Pairing Stephon Castle on the perimeter with Victor Wembanyama in the paint will make it awfully difficult for opponents to score on the Spurs. However, it’s a little bizarre that the Spurs decided to trade Rob Dillingham away for a 2031 Minnesota T’Wolves draft pick.

Yahoo Sports wrote about the shock Pistons fans felt when they saw their team select Ron Holland. Holland’s skill set involves taking the ball to the basket and finishing well, but has a suspect outside shot. The last concern doesn’t help franchise cornerstone Cade Cunningham at all, as he also likes to get downhill.

Instead of going with a guard as insurance for LaMelo Ball, or taking a more proven commodity in Donovan Clingan, Charlotte went for the unknown roll of the dice in Tidjane Salaun. The NBA’s website believes the French prospect has huge upside and potential, but Hornets fans might not want to be patient in their road back to respectability.

The Blazers came away with arguably the surest thing in the entire draft. Donovan Clingan should be able to impact NBA games defensively with his shot-blocking presence and winning pedigree. However, his fit in Portland is somewhat curious, as the team already has Deandre Ayton and Robert Williams at center. Athlon Sports believes that Blazers fans thought the move made no sense for that reason.

The Timberwolves weren’t expected to be a major story coming into the NBA Draft, but they made a surprise move by trading for Rob Dillingham at pick eight. Minnesota made the Western Conference Finals last year, and figured this was the best way to improve their team in the near and long term. Sports Illustrated believes Dillingham is a perfect fit with the Wolves.

The Grizzlies made one of the most intriguing picks in the entire draft, by taking Purdue’s mammoth center Zach Edey. Questions about his ability to keep pace in an increasingly fast NBA will continue to be asked, but Memphis clearly wanted to come away with a player to pair with Jaren Jackson Jr. Yahoo Sports analyst Krysten Peek slammed the selection, calling it one of the worst picks in draft history.

The Jazz had a pretty impressive two-day stretch, bringing in players with high upside who fit the timeline of their franchise. It started with the selection of Cody Williams, who has the potential to be one of the best players in the draft. Utah also added Isaiah Collier at 29, and Kyle Filipowski at 32, both of whom have respected NBA potential.

In perhaps one of the best stories of the NBA Draft, the Bulls selected Matas Buzelis, who grew up in Chicago. The local kid will have a lot of fans pulling for him in The Windy City, and he was also projected to go a bit higher than 11. The NBA’s website says that Buzelis brings size, athleticism and versatility to Chicago.

The Thunder were a bit of a mystery team heading into the draft, as they could have decided to add talent to help them make a title push, or players who would sustain their excellence for many years. They chose to go the latter route, by taking Serbia’s Nikola Topic. He’s currently dealing with a partially torn ACL, but has great vision as a passer at 6’6”.

The Indianapolis Star reported that the Heat viewed Kel’el Ware as a “three and D center”, which is not a label you often here attributed to centers. Bam Adebayo will be in Miami for a while, but Ware’s unique ability might give the Heat an interesting chess piece to work with. In the second round, Miami took Arizona’s Pelle Larsson, who’s a versatile forward.

The 76ers have gutted their roster in order to remake it in their vision, and adding Jared McCain to the fold is a nice way to get things started. Philadelphia general manager Daryl Morey told NBC Sports Philadelphia that they believed McCain was a top-10 prospect in this draft. McCain showed the ability at Duke to get hot from three-point range.

The Lakers probably couldn’t believe that Dalton Knecht was available at pick 17, and raced to scoop him up. Knecht’s skill set as a knockdown shooter and savvy offensive player should help spacing significantly in Los Angeles. The New York Times and others called Knecht a draft steal.

The NBA’s website believes that Tristan Da Silva is one of the smartest players in this year’s class. His “jack of many trades, master of none” skill set should keep him in the NBA for a long time, but he might not see the floor much out of the gate. Orlando still has a lot of frontcourt options who are only getting better.

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The Raptors were able to land one of the best shooters in the draft in Ja’Kobe Walter with the 19^th pick. Although he won’t get as much attention, Jamal Shead might also sneakily make a difference for Toronto down the line. They took him late in the second round, and Shead was the anchor of some potent Houston Cougars teams in college.

The Cavaliers didn’t have much capital in this year’s edition of the draft, so they might have felt like they needed to reach a bit to get their man. That’s what it felt like they did, as they drafted Jaylon Tyson from the University of California. The Akron Beacon Journal reported that Tyson opened the Cavaliers’ eyes during pre-draft workouts.

Not many people are talking about it, but New Orleans really made some nice moves during the draft. The Pelicans grabbed Yves Missi at 21, who Sports Illustrated believes can be immediately dominant defensively. Although his Kentucky teammates got more attention, Antonio Reeves had a stellar career, and should be able to score in bunches at the next level with New Orleans.

Give the Suns credit for one thing: they knew they needed to address the defensive end of the floor, and that’s exactly what they did in the draft. Phoenix traded for Virginia’s Ryan Dunn at the end of the first round, who should be a hawking defender in the NBA. They also nabbed Marquette’s Oso Ighodaro in round two.

Milwaukee opted to take players who elected to play professionally in order to get ready for the NBA. A.J. Johnson played in Australia, while Tyler Smith was a part of the G-League Ignite roster. We’ll see if it pays dividends for them and for the Bucks next season. The New York Times said that the Bucks decided to prioritize youth and promise in this year’s draft.

The Knicks had the 24^th and 25^th picks heading into the draft, but decided to work the phones once they saw that centers they might have wanted would not be available for them. New York took French prospect Pacome Dadiet at pick 25, and then made a flurry of moves in the second round. They ended up with high pedigree college players Tyler Kolek and Kevin McCullar Jr.

The Nuggets knew that they needed to find a quality backup big man to spell Nikola Jokic from time to time, and traded for Dayton’s DaRon Holmes II towards that end. The Denver Post believes that this transaction will only make sense if he can contribute to a playoff team as a rookie.

The defending NBA champions picked at the very end of the first round and towards the end of the second round. Boston took Creighton’s Baylor Scheierman in round one, who has good size and a notable shooting touch from the outside. However, given the Celtics’ current roster, it’s unlikely the rookie makes an impact in year one.

Without a first-round pick, Indiana was left to do all of their work in round two. The Pacers scooped up Johnny Furphy, Tristen Newton and Enrique Freeman. Furphy is a raw prospect originally from Australia, while Newton was a key contributor to UConn’s title teams. If anyone from this group became a rotation player for Indiana, it would be a massive win.

The Kings took guard Devin Carter with the 13^th overall pick, who NBC Sports Bay Area believes was a huge acquisition for Sacramento. He should have an impact on the defensive end of the floor, but Carter feels a bit redundant with the likes of Davion Mitchell, who was supposed to play this exact same role coming out of Baylor.

The Clippers only made one pick in the back half of the second round. Ironically, they selected Cam Christie, the brother of Los Angeles Lakers guard Max Christie. The Lakers are high on Max, and we’ll see if Cam can work his way into the good graces of the Clippers’ coach staff.

The Mavericks only came away with one player in the second round, France’s Melvin Ajinca. With that said, Ajinca profiles as the type of player who Dallas could easily fit in their scheme. The Dallas News said that they believe he has huge upside, as the swingman got hot from three point land in some tournaments overseas.

As conveyed by the Mikal Bridges trade and their separate deal with the Houston Rockets, Brooklyn appears to be punting on the 2024-2025 season. The Nets did not make any selections in this draft, as they look to bottom out and start rebuilding in earnest with the 2025 NBA draft.

In what was a bit of a wild sequence at the end of the draft, the Warriors ended up with Boston College’s Quinten Post after a series of trades. The Mercury News calls Post a stretch five, but it would be difficult to envision him getting minutes over Kevon Looney or Trayce Jackson-Davis next season.

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