The Rockets may be more interested in moving their pick than keeping it, Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer reports. Offers for the selection are expected to be entertained until Houston is on the clock at No. 3 in Wednesday’s draft. If Houston does stand pat at No. 3, Reed Sheppard appears to be the heavy favorite for that spot. The Trail Blazers have called the Rockets about moving up to No. 3 in the draft.
According to Fischer, the Wizards have the league convinced they’re honing in on Perth’s Alexandre Sarr. As reported, Sarr hasn’t conducted a private workout for the Hawks, holders of the No. 1 selection, and Fischer reports Sarr’s preferred destination is in fact Washington. Beyond their plans at pick No. 2, the Wizards are simultaneously trying to move up from the No. 26 pick as well as acquire a third first-round pick in Wednesday’s draft.
Further down the draft, the Suns are a strong candidate to trade down from No. 22. The goal for the Suns, Fischer reports, would be to accumulate future second round picks while moving down in the first in order to restock their draft capital for trade flexibility. Additionally, adding several rookie contracts onto an expensive roster holds appeal for Phoenix.
We have more from around the draft:
- A flood of talent is following 2023 No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama from France, Yahoo Sports’ Krysten Peek writes. His teammate Bilal Coulibaly was selected No. 7 overall in last year’s draft and another teammate, Armel Traore, could be in play in the second round of this year’s draft. Additionally, Zaccharie Risacher and Sarr are both seen as the favorites for the top two draft selections in this class while Tidjane Salaun, Melvin Ajinca and Pacome Dadiet are all likely to be selected this year. Down the line, Nolan Traore and Nathan Soliman are picking up steam for future draft classes.
- Risacher, Sarr and UConn’s Donovan Clingan, in that order, round out ESPN’s top three players on Jonathan Givony’s final big board update before the draft. Givony and Jeremy Woo provide their picks for the top 100 players in the class, with Sheppard, G League Ignite’s Matas Buzelis, UConn’s Stephon Castle, Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht, Kentucky’s Rob Dillingham, Salaun and Serbia’s Nikola Topic filling in the rest of their top 10 (in order).
- Risacher is lower on Sam Vecenie’s draft board via The Athletic, with the French wing coming in at No. 5 on Vecenie’s board. Salaun, Buzelis, Dillingham and Topic all sit outside the top 10 of Vecenie’s annual draft guide, while he ranks Colorado’s Cody Williams (No. 6), Providence’s Devin Carter (No. 7), Pitt’s Bub Carrington (No. 8) and Ron Holland of the G League Ignite (No. 10) among the draft’s best. I highly recommend both Givony and Vecenie’s draft guides if you have a subscription to either platform, as this is some of the top draft content to come out annually.
- Clingan is the name most linked to the Hawks over the past week, Vecenie writes in a recent mock draft. While Atlanta has openly stated it is content with standing pat at No. 1, Vecenie hears there’s an impression the club is open to making a move if the right deal presents itself. However, Atlanta hasn’t finalized its decision yet and even if it wanted to trade down to select him later, Chicago and Memphis have expressed interest in taking Clingan themselves if they can trade up. Vecenie indeed has Washington landing Sarr and Houston getting Sheppard, but has Risacher falling to San Antonio at No. 4, Buzelis going No. 5 to Detroit and Castle landing in Charlotte at No. 6.