Three Most Shocking Picks of the First Round of the 2024 NBA Draft

In a draft that had a lot of question marks, here are three of the most perplexing picks.

Jun 26, 2024; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Ron Holland II shakes hands with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected in the first round by the Detroit Pistons in the 2024 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports / Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The 2024 NBA Draft's first round came and went. In a draft that had a lot of question marks, here are three of the most perplexing picks:

Pick No. 5 | Detroit Pistons | Ronald Holland II, Combo Forward, NBA G League Ignite

The reason for this pick's inclusion in this piece is not that Ron Holland was a reach in this situation – taking him anywhere in the top five would have been acceptable due to his tremendous upside, athleticism, motor, and defensive impact.

But of every team in the lottery, there may not be a team that makes less sense for Holland than the Detroit Pistons, who are comprised mostly of athletic players that can't shoot the ball efficiently. If one were to describe Holland's play style, his strengths and weaknesses, it would likely be along the lines of Detroit's – high-impact athletes with shooting issues.

Holland shot just 24% from beyond the arc in his lone season with G League Ignite, and more than anything, Detroit needs floor spacing, as they finished 27th in the league last season in points per game, 27th in three-point percentage (34.8%), and 27th in offensive rating (109 points per 100 possessions).

Ideally for them, Detroit would have picked a player that can spread the floor a little bit, a skill that Holland lacks at the present moment.

Unless there has been a significant shooting jump from one of these players in the offseason, it's a bit of a headscratcher. Detroit is betting on talent here.

Pick No. 23 | Milwaukee Bucks | AJ Johnson, Combo Guard, Illawara Hawks

In what was without a doubt the biggest surprise of the night, the Milwaukee Bucks made a shocking reach for combo guard AJ Johnson, who played for the NBL's Illawarra Hawks last season.

Johnson, who was initially committed to the University of Texas (with Ron Holland, in fact), pulled his commitment and flipped to play overseas in Australia's/New Zealand's NBL, where he struggled to find playing time or consistency.

This is probably the most head-scratching pick of the First Round. Johnson was projected by many in the 50s and by most in the 40s range.

To take a player in this stage of his career in the Round 1 is at best a questionable decision, but given Milwaukee's track record with gambling on First-Round picks, it's not entirely surprising that the team to make this particular move would be the Bucks.

Pick No. 26 | Oklahoma City Thunder: Dillon Jones, Wing, Weber State

Another confusing pick by Oklahoma City after taking Nikola Topic at 12, Dillon Jones is a risk, as he is a college player that had trouble with his jumpshot and made most of his bones with the ball in his hand.

The question at the NBA level is whether or not he'll be able to scale down his role and still be effective. With a usage rate of nearly 30%, Jones is going to have to figure out how to score without having the ball in his hands constantly.

His jump shot is not there, either. He shot 32.4% from beyond the arc last season, which doesn't quite inspire confidence that he can become a knockdown jump shooter (though he did shoot 85% from the free-throw line).

A bit of a perplexing pick, but then again, this draft had no easy answers.

Round 2 is this afternoon.

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