Coming up with player comparisons for 2024 NBA draft prospects can be a useful exercise, if done responsibly. It's easy to make hyperbolic claims about ceiling and potential, or harp on a player's downside, but the eventual outcome for a career tends to be somewhere in the middle. Few players reach the high end of their perceived upside, and those who bust might wind up well below what modest expectations can be set.
The real utility in this exercise ahead of the two-day draft June 26-27 is understanding what a prospect's role might look like down the line, what level of growth it might take for him to reach a great outcome, and how much risk there is if things don't pan out the way one hopes. There are few true one-to-one comparisons that wind up being accurate, but this type of thought process can help in player evaluation from a conceptual standpoint, and in envisioning how a prospect's profile might fit a certain team.
With that goal in mind, ESPN draft analyst Jeremy Woo chose high- and low-end comparisons for each prospect who is projected in the lottery in our most recent Top 100.
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Zaccharie Risacher, SF, Bourg (France)
Top 100 rank: No. 1 | Mock draft projection: No. 1 to Atlanta Hawks
High end: Khris Middleton with more defense
Low end: Trey Murphy III