2024 NBA Draft odds: Matas Buzelis, Zaccharie Risacher, Ron Holland early favorites to go first overall next year, Bronny James massive longshot candidate

The 2023 NBA Draft is in the books. Those in the league have known for a couple of years -- barring something unforeseen -- that French sensation Victor Wembanyama was going first overall regardless of which team held the pick, and San Antonio took him first on Thursday. There is no clear-cut generational prospect to go No. 1 overall in 2024, however. SportsLine oddsmakers' early favorites to be the top pick next June are Matas Buzelis, Zaccharie Risacher and Ron Holland. None of them will be playing college hoops. 

Note that the 2024 draft class as of now is projected as rather weak. A comparable class might be 2013. when the Cavaliers made Canadian Anthony Bennett the top pick. Every draft has future stars, of course – some unknown Greek teenager named Giannis Antetokounmpo went No. 15 that year to Milwaukee.

The biggest-name player presumed to be in the 2024 draft will not be going first unless he takes another quantum leap forward in his development: Bronny James, son of LeBron James. Bronny will play at USC this coming season and was ranked as the No. 27 overall national prospect by sister site 247 Sports. James was a very good high school player, but is hardly an NBA lock. Some team may take him in Round 1 next year largely on the chance that LeBron will want to come there as well and finish his career with his son, as LeBron has said he would like to do.

Bronny isn't even the best NBA prospect on the Trojans – that would be point guard Isaiah Collier, ranked No. 2 overall in the Class of 2023 by 247Sports.

CBS Sports and 247Sports both did early forecasts for next year's draft, and neither has Bronny as a lottery pick. CBS Sports has another Frenchman, Zaccharie Risacher, going first overall to Detroit, which would be predicated on the Pistons still being bad enough to be in the lottery. 247Sports has G League Ignite guard Ron Holland as the top player (didn't speculate a team). No G League player has gone first.

Holland, a power forward from Duncanville High in Texas, is ranked as the No. 1 overall player in the Class of 2023 by 247Sports and probably would have gone to either Texas or Arkansas had he chosen to play collegiately. I have seen some experts compare Holland to Golden State's Jonathan Kuminga, who was the No. 7 pick in 2021 and has shown promise when actually given playing time.

Risacher is a 6-9 wing coming off his first season in France's LNB Pro A – the same league in which Wembanyama was recently named MVP. Risacher has been compared to young Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner and has excellent genes -- his father Stephane Risacher played professionally and won a silver medal representing France at the 2000 Summer Olympics.

If Holland doesn't go first, his soon-to-be G League Ignite teammate Matas Buzelis could, and I've seen many other mocks with him on top. The 6-foot-11 Buzelis, 18, is a Lithuanian-American who grew up in Illinois. Both of his parents played basketball professionally in Lithuania before immigrating to the USA and settling in the Chicago area. 247Sports ranked Buzelis as the No. 7 overall prospect in the Class of 2023. He's still growing.

Via SportsLine oddsmakers: Which player will go No. 1 overall in the 2024 NBA Draft?

• Matas Buzelis (G League Ignite) +300
• Ron Holland (G League Ignite) +350
• Zaccharie Risacher (France) +400
• Aaron Bradshaw (Kentucky) +500
• Isaiah Collier (USC) +700
• Tyrese Proctor (Duke) +800
• Justin Edwards (Kentucky) +900
• Aday Mara (Spain) +900
• Cody Williams (Colorado) +1000
• Bronny James (USC) +5000

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