Drawing up player comparisons for 2024 NBA draft prospects can be a useful exercise, if done responsibly. It's easy to make hyperbolic statements about a player's ceiling and potential, or harp on a player's disadvantages, but the end result of a career tends to be somewhere in the middle. Few players reach the high end of what they perceive as positive potential, and those who fail could end up well below the modest expectations that can be set.
The real value of this exercise ahead of the two-day draft on June 26-27 is understanding what a prospect's role might look like in the future, what level of growth he might need to achieve a big result, and how much risk there is. It's if things don't go as you expect. There are few real one-to-one comparisons that end up being accurate, but this type of thought process can help in evaluating players from a conceptual standpoint and visualizing how a prospect's profile might fit on a given team.
With that goal in mind, ESPN draft analyst Jeremy Woo chose high- and low-level comparisons for each projected lottery prospect in our most recent Top 100.
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Top 100 Ranking: No. 1 | Mock draft projection: No. 1 to Atlanta Hawks
High-end: Khris Middleton with more defense
Low-end: Trey Murphy III
