NBA draft 2024: Debating 30 Round 1 picks, need and value

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Our usual NBA mock drafts lean heavily on intel to make projections for the players and the 30 teams. This isn't that: ESPN draft analysts Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo explored the first round from two differing perspectives: selecting for team need, versus drafting for best available.

Of course, the philosophical question of drafting for need versus value isn't clear-cut. In reality, they work together: situational factors from team to team can lead to drastically different valuations of each prospect. So when both lines of thinking lead to the same answer, it's usually a good sign.

The following mock draft isn't what we project each NBA team will do, but it's a…