France’s Alex Sarr leads Gary Parrish’s latest mock draft
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The 2024 NBA Draft is now less than three weeks away. At this point, it remains unclear which player the Atlanta Hawks will select with the first pick — or even if the Atlanta Hawks will keep the first pick.
It’s just that kind of year.
Between this day and the moment commissioner Adam Silver is handed a card in advance of him announcing the first pick inside the Barclays Center in New York on June 26, we’ll likely get some clarity. But, for now at least, I’m keeping Alex Sarr at the top of my 2024 NBA Mock Draft, primarily because he’s still the person most NBA evaluators tell me they believe is the best prospect available in a weaker-than-normal draft.
Is he perfect? No. Is he a sure-thing big like Anthony Davis was considered a sure-thing big after winning a national championship and securing national player of the year honors at Kentucky in 2012? No. But Sarr is a 7-foot 19 year-old who projects as an elite defensive player cut from the same cloth as Memphis Grizzlies star Jaren Jackson Jr. and Cleveland Cavaliers standout Evan Mobley.
The questions are on the other end of the court, where Sarr seems comfortable shooting from the perimeter but has never really made a high percentage from the 3-point line. If the shot comes around, Sarr could develop into a multi-time All-Star and centerpiece of a franchise. If not, though, it will be difficult for the French sensation to exceed or even meet the expectations that go hand-in-hand with being the first player selected in any draft.
