In August or September, the next NBA draft cycle is almost impossible to predict with any accuracy.
With the NBA still to begin training camp, it can be difficult to know what teams’ biggest needs are or how they’ll finish in the standings. Additionally, the college basketball season hasn’t even started yet, meaning many top prospects are still being ranked based on high school production.
While a handful of these players end up being selected in the lottery, a few will either be eliminated from the draft or return to school for another season.
In September 2023, Bleacher Report analyst Jonathan Wasserman predicted that the Houston Rockets would select the Kansas guard and former 5-star prospect Elmarko Jackson with the 6th overall pick in the 2024 draft.
In 34 games and 17 starts as a true freshman, Jackson averaged 4.3 points, 1.7 assists and 1.4 rebounds per game.
The highly touted recruit has opted to play his sophomore season with the Jayhawks and will compete for a spot in the 2025 NBA Draft next summer. Houston could still target Jackson in the upcoming draft if he can improve during his sophomore year at KU.
Similar to Wasserman’s projection, the Rockets ended up selecting a young guard with the third overall pick, taking the former Kentucky standout Reed SheppardSheppard wasn’t as highly ranked as Jackson coming out of high school, but he had a much better freshman campaign and showed skills much more suited to the NBA.
In addition to Jackson, Wasserman also placed Tyrese Proctor, DJ Wagner And Aday Marawho all ended up returning to school in last September’s draft lottery, illustrating how difficult it is to project the NBA draft at this point in the year.
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