Round 1, No. 25: New York Knicks draft Pacǒme Dadiet (2024)

NEW YORK — Years of speculation have finally ended. Bronny James, the eldest son of Lakers star LeBron James, indeed has a home in the NBA, on his father’s team.

Bronny James, one of the most highly scrutinized amateur basketball players of the last decade, was taken 55th overall Thursday night in the NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. The selection capped 12 long months of guessing about James’ place in the game, which included questions about whether he could compete professionally following a cardiac arrest.

“My dream has always just been to put my name out, make a name for myself, and, of course, get to the NBA,” James said at the NBA Draft Combine in May.

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Full second-round results

Full first-round results

The New York Knicks selected Pacǒme Dadiet with the No. 25 pick.

The Athletic NBA Draft analyst Sam Vecenie on Dadiet:

Pacǒme Dadiet has fans around the NBA, and his stock is a bit higher than it seems publicly before this draft. There are evaluators who loved the fact that he is an 18-year-old who didn’t hit a wall as a European player. In fact, he seemed to get better every month, which typically indicates a capacity for a positive long-term trajectory. Tobias Harris is a name that has come up a couple of times in my conversation with NBA personnel who are fans of Dadiet. However, I thought Harris was way ahead of Dadiet in his lone season in college, showing much more well-rounded shot-creation skills and a better floor game. I buy Dadiet as a scorer; he’ll shoot it at a good clip, and I love his off-ball movement. He understands how to create offense. The problem for me is that he doesn’t do anything else right now. One could excuse that by noting he’s a teenager, which is viable.

But typically, the prospects like Dadiet who develop into successful all-around players tend to show many more flashes in those areas than Dadiet has. His lack of rebounding given his frame is concerning. Even playing in an overmatched second division last year, he averaged under four defensive rebounds per game, which ranked outside the top 60 in a league where the imports are not particularly strong compared to other second divisions worldwide. Throw in his below-average passing and poor defensive tape, and I’m lower on Dadiet than many members of NBA teams I talk to. Still, his legitimate off-ball scoring ability at this age makes him a worthwhile second-round pick.

Wizards are wheeling and dealing left and right! Washington surrendered the 51st pick to move up two spots from 26 and take my Swiss brother Kyshawn George.

I had him rated a bit lower even though he’s been getting consistent first-round buzz; he has size and can shoot it but is slow-footed and didn’t make a big impact on an awful Miami team this year. He likely has a role player ceiling, although if he hits it his positional value is enough to justify this selection.

The Washington Wizards selected 20-year-old Miami guard Kyshawn George with the No. 24 pick after acquiring this selection in a trade with the Knicks for the No. 26 and 51 selections.

The Athletic NBA Draft analyst Sam Vecenie on George:

I wanted to like Kyshawn George, but I couldn’t get there given his athletic profile. I worry about him being unable to create separation off the dribble. I buy his shooting and I like that he can pass, but I don’t know if the threat of his shot is enough to unlock the rest of his offensive game. He was a solid defender in college, but he’s not long enough by NBA standards to compensate with his length in the way someone like Kyle Anderson has. It’s worth noting that Miami lost 13 of its last 14 games when it gave George significantly more on-ball chances over the back half of the season.

Even as a 20-year-old, he wasn’t impacting winning in college when operating regularly on the ball. On top of that, he averaged under three points per game playing in the French second division last season. It’s just not anywhere near the production profile of a first-round selection given that he turns 21 in December. I see his upside and I’d be willing to draft him, but I view him as more of a second-round flyer than a first-round prospect.

During his exit interview following the Bucks' first-round defeat this season, Doc Rivers told reporters Milwaukee needed to find a way to get more athletic. Those athletes could be young or they could be veterans, but the Bucks needed more athletes.

And while A.J. Johnson played just 239 minutes this past season for the Illawarra Hawks as a part of the NBL Next Stars program, there is no doubting his athleticism. Johnson, 19, is the 13th youngest draft-eligible player in the 2024 NBA Draft.

At the 2024 Combine, he posted the eighth-fastest time (10.76 seconds) in the lane agility drill, the seventh-fastest time (2.87 seconds) in the shuttle run and a 38-inch vertical (19th). Along with strong numbers in drills, Johnson also performed well at the five-on-five sessions at the combine.

For Milwaukee, this is a pick based on upside because Johnson averaged only 2.8 points in 8.3 minutes per game across 29 games in Australia last season. He is undoubtedly a quick and explosive athlete, but he will need to add strength to his 6-foot-4 frame (6-foot-8 wingspan) as he only weighed 167 pounds at the combine.

A league source told The Athletic that Johnson impressed Bucks officials at a workout before this year's combine as well.

With limited draft assets moving forward, it appears as though Milwaukee is taking a big swing on a player with potential to set themselves up for the future instead of focusing on a player they can plug and play to help them out this upcoming season.

The Bucks have been big fans of taking reaches like this in their recent draft history even though the hit rate has been … actually have they hit on any of these guys since Giannis? It’s always tougher when you’re making late picks, and obviously Giannis was a pretty massive hit.

A.J. Johnson has some athletic pop but is rail thin, can’t shoot and is very much a developmental player who is highly unlikely to contribute this year. Milwaukee is in need of more immediate help, so I’m a little surprised they didn’t either trade down or trade out if this was the top player on their board.

The Milwaukee Bucks selected 19-year-old Illawarra Hawks guard/wing A.J. Johnson with the No. 23 pick.

The Athletic NBA Draft analyst Sam Vecenie on Johnson:

A.J. Johnson will be the ultimate test of stats and film versus projection this season. If you have an undraftable grade on Johnson, I understand it. The stats are rough. He played in a league that he wasn’t ready for. The tape isn’t great, although I think there is something positive to take away on his defensive growth throughout the season. Offensively, he struggled. He wasn’t efficient and looked extremely sped up throughout the year. But much like with G.G. Jackson last season, should you rely on the tape when it’s abundantly clear Johnson moved up levels too quickly and wasn’t ready to play in a physical league when he was under 170 pounds?

Athletically, there are flashes of upside in terms of his ability to generate paint touches and his ability to separate backwards that are serious. In this draft, where everyone is looking for any remote chance of upside, I wonder if Johnson represents a marginal inefficiency in the same way Jackson did last season.

Or, maybe I’m overcompensating for being low on Jackson last season by ranking Johnson highly as my upside bet in this class. I’d take a flier on him in the top 40 at this point if I had a strong, developmentally conscious organization that I believed would be able to get his frame up to speed within the next two years. There is a legitimate high-upside offensive starter here with defensive tools. But it’s going to take time and a lot of work by whatever organization ends up with him.

An Eastern Conference executive expressed some skepticism about Nuggets' No. 22 pick DaRon Holmes during the predraft process:

A month ago, he was probably a 50-to-undrafted guy. All of a sudden, at least publicly and media-wise, it was like, ‘Does he have a promise in the first round?’ He’s an athletic kid. He’s started to shoot the ball well at his size. He’s never been a real physical player. Shied away from physicality. But he has tools. He’ll probably be able to switch and defend multiple positions, because he’s athletic enough. His offense has kind of blossomed. A little undersized, but versatile. If he can play more of a four than five, he becomes a little more intriguing. Maybe that’s what it is, if it’s real. The last couple of years, he’s toyed with coming out, and the feedback hasn’t been great. It’s interesting to see how all of a sudden he’s skyrocketed up. I guess he got it up to eight rebounds this year, which is pretty decent, and two blocks. He’s done it all, to me, with athleticism, which maybe you can do (more) nowadays than you used to be able to do. He’s strong, but not super-strong.

The Nuggets traded up to secure their guy, after rumors persisted for weeks that Denver had promised the Dayton big man. The Nuggets don’t have much draft capital lying around, but decided their guy wasn’t going to make it to 28 and so sent the 56th pick and two future seconds to the Suns to move up six spots.

DaRon Holmes II fills a clear need for Denver for a backup center who can stretch the floor and contribute offensively, while also shining a glaring light on the decision to give Zeke Nnaji a four-year, $32 million extension a year ago.

Hemmed in by the tax apron, the Nuggets are highly unlikely to fill this slot in free agency.

Denver's second-round picks in 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 can't be traded, so the second-round picks going to Phoenix would be in two of 2025, 2026 and 2031.

With eight picks to go in the first round, the best players available, according to Sam Vecenie's top 100:

1. Kyle Filipowski, Duke F/C
2. Isaiah Collier, USC G
3. Tyler Kolek, Marquette G
4. Baylor Scheierman, Creighton W
5. Tyler Smith, G League Ignite F/C

The Denver Nuggets selected 21-year-old Dayton center DaRon Holmes with the No. 22 pick after trading with the Phoenix Suns.

The Athletic NBA Draft analyst Sam Vecenie on Holmes: Holmes has several of the skills teams love to see in a modern big. Many are looking for bigs who can dribble, pass and shoot to help space the court and make decisions for their guards and perimeter stars, and Holmes can certainly do all those things. However, at his size, he faces questions about whether he can adequately perform the “big” parts of being an NBA big man.

Can he rebound consistently and end possessions? What is his exact defensive role? He might not be for everyone, but if he finds the right spot, he could have every chance to be an awesome NBA big. I consider him as a souped-up version of Oklahoma City’s Jaylin Williams. He has a tad more athletic juice and scoring skill than J-Will, but his size limitations may make it hard to consider him a full-time starter. He’ll need to be a deadly shooter and get the absolute most out of his body and movement skills to get there. Still, I think he carves out a long-time NBA role on good teams.

A college assistant coach whose team played Baylor this season said this about new Pelicans center Yves Missi:

Monster. We never even talked about his shot blocking. We didn’t want to shoot layups. Then we started missing them. He’s just a presence down there. The length, the bounce, then he’d fake a DHO (dribble handoff) and go dunk it. There’s not a lot of guys his size doing that stuff. I bet he’s got a lot of untapped potential offensively. I was really impressed with him. He impacted the game at the defensive end a ton, and on offense he was able to convert some stuff. Strong right-handed guy. They would give him touches at 15, live ball option, where he could face up, drive it. Not a lot of straight posts, because he’s not that strong. But big lob threat.

New Orleans has an obvious issue at center and in particular needs a rim protector to play next to Zion Williamson.

Yves Missi is still fairly raw and his offensive development in particular may be a few years away, but with Jonas Valančiūnas likely departing in free agency and Larry Nance, Jr. the only other viable center on the roster, the Pels’ need in the middle stood out.

The New Orleans Pelicans selected 20-year-old Baylor center Yves Missi with the No. 21 pick.

The Athletic NBA Draft analyst Sam Vecenie on Missi: Missi’s athletic tools are superb. While his 9-1 1/2 standing reach didn't stand out for a player of this skill set at the combine, it’s more than enough when accounting for how vertically he plays. In many ways, he’s one of the safer picks in the draft in terms of projecting rotation players. Players this big, athletic and hardworking rarely fail. Given his attitude, it’s hard to imagine him not at least becoming a backup center. Beyond that, he must clean up some of the technical flaws within his game and continue to grow more comfortable with the ball in his hands when the defense takes away his first option.

I believe he’ll be a starter eventually, but he has limitations. His upside is in the ballpark of Clint Capela, a player picked 25th overall who returned lottery value to Houston in 2014 before being traded to Atlanta. However, Capela significantly improved his game over the course of his first season-and-a-half in the NBA, and Missi must follow a similar trajectory to reach that level.

This is higher than expected but Jaylon Tyson fits Cleveland’s needs pretty exactly, as a wing who can offered secondary ballhandling and knock down open shots.

You’d wish that both his feet and his release were a little faster, but this is pick 20 and this is what you get most of the time.

I do not know if Dalton Knecht and Tristan da Silva will be good BUT the history of older players in the top-20 has not been good. Actually, it's been bad. The chart (in here) is not full of good picks. Taking a player 22 or older in the top 20 has been a pathway to bad outcomes.

There are exceptions of course but the odds are not in LA or Orlando's favor.

I like the pick of Ja'Kobe Walter for the Raptors, and it's not only because it might result in someone buying me a jersey with my dog's name on it.

When they traded away Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby, the Raptors lost a lot of perimeter defense. Walter is just 6-foot-4, but he has a 6-10 wingspan. Consensus is that he's a better shooting prospect than his 34.1 percent accuracy from 3 suggests.

Toronto needs talent, but specifically two-way players. Not many 20-year-olds are going to step in and fill such a void for a winning team, but the Raptors married need and upside well here.

The Cleveland Cavaliers selected 21-year-old Cal wing Jaylon Tyson with the No. 20 pick.

The Athletic NBA Draft analyst Sam Vecenie on Tyson: Tyson is one of those prospects whom I wanted to love, but I just couldn’t quite get there. I think he has a lot of athletic traits that are traditionally underrated, and I loved his game off the bounce. He’s creative as a ballhandler and has an innate sense of how to navigate bodies. I think he’ll improve some of the issues he has overdriving with time, and I buy him becoming a solid enough shooter off the catch to make shots there. It felt like he was just on the right side of a lot of skills in a way that is concerning.

He was just good enough as a decision-maker. He was just good enough as a shooter. He was just good enough as a finisher. The shot creation is there. I buy his ability as a driver and playmaker with the ball in his hands. But if any of those skills fall off, he might end up having some serious issues — especially when accounting for how rough his defense was this past season. Still, I think his upside as a shot creator is good enough that I ended up with a first-round grade on him in this class.