Five reasons why Tyrese Proctor could be the #1 pick in the 2024 NBA draft

Tyrese Proctor will be the face of the 2024 NBA draft for Aussie fans, and is projected to crack the lottery. Could his name be called first on draft night?

Originally the poster boy of the 2023 Australian recruiting class, Tyrese Proctor shocked many observers when he reclassified to the 2022 class. In doing so, he joined the famed Duke University at the age of just eighteen, one year earlier than expected. Proctor endured a slow start to the 2022-23 NCAA Division I season but by the end, he was a key starter in Duke’s Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) tournament victory. The Blue Devils subsequently fell to Tennessee in just the second round of March Madness, but Proctor walked away with a 16-point, six-assist performance to close out his season. Overall, Proctor averaged 9.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists in a rookie campaign that showed plenty of promise for the future.

At the close of the 2022-23 season, Proctor had the option of being a “one and done” NBA draft candidate, like Ben Simmons before him, but chose to stay in school.

“There was definitely talk about leaving. I wanted to make my decision early,” he told teammate Ryan Young on The Brotherhood Pod. “I got all the feedback from all the NBA teams obviously. It was good feedback; it just wasn’t sort of what I wanted. It put me in a position where I didn’t want to go.”

Proctor was projected as a late first rounder at the time, but in returning to Duke, saw an opportunity to crack the lottery. He is currently projected to go 12th by ESPN, seventh by Yahoo Sports and sixth by CBS sports on their most recent mock drafts - all within lottery range.

“I could’ve gone through the whole draft process and tried to go late first round but, yet again, reclassifying gave me a year. I should be a freshman going into this year.”

But could he go number one? Andrew Bogut faced a similar decision during the 2004 offseason, but chose to stay for a second year at the University of Utah, and ultimately went first overall in the 2005 NBA draft. It’s a big leap for Proctor to make, but the #1 pick may not be as farfetched as it seems. Here are five reasons why the Duke point guard could join Bogut, Simmons and Kyrie Irving as Aussie-born players picked first overall.

1. A wide open draft class

The 2024 NBA draft class doesn’t have a commanding figure like Victor Wembanyama perched at the top. It also lacks a #1 contender like Scoot Henderson, who matched up against Wembanyama in a series of exhibition games. Most mock drafts currently have Matas Buzelis —a 6’10 forward from the G League’s Ignite team— going first overall. He certainly doesn’t have a stranglehold over this position though, as Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN ranked Ignite teammate Ron Holland over him. Collegiate prospects like Isaiah Collier, Cody Williams, DJ Wagner and Justin Edwards are jostling to be next up, in addition to Frenchman Zaccharie Risacher, with Tyrese Proctor currently sniffing around for a top five spot.

Waiting one year may have been the smartest decision of Proctor’s young career. He avoided a talent-laden 2023 draft class, led by international phenom Wembanyama, G League prodigy Henderson and Alabama’s Brandon Miller, who made the All-American Second Team as a freshman. That’s not to say we won’t see a standout player emerge in the 2024 class, as the upcoming season plays out, but right now Proctor is well-positioned to make a move up the draft boards. He chose to tackle an unknown quantity in the 2024 draft, rather than face a known obstacle led by the aforementioned three names.