Justin Edwards

The 2024 NBA Draft class has already been hailed as one of the weakest crops of talent in the modern era. Following the tremendous amount of top-tier blue-chip prospects that came out in the previous 2023 NBA Draft, it’s easy to see why analysts and draft experts are a little underwhelmed with this incoming group of players.

While there’s a pretty fair chance that any of the top four ballers selected in this past draft would have went number one overall in the upcoming year, there’s still a decent amount of high-end talent to monitor.

Two of the best prospects will not be playing in the NCAA this season, similar to last year’s situation with Victor Wembenyama coming out of the French professional league and Scoot Henderson coming out of the G-League. The 2024 class is currently headed by two more G-League Ignite future alumnus in Matas Buzelis and Ron Holland.

Click the image for live odds

These two have claimed the early consensus spots as the top two prospects in their class, but there are a few other players who could overtake them by draft night. Between Isaiah Collier, Stephon Castle, and D.J. Wagner, there are a handful of candidates who could prove themselves worthy of a top-two selection by dominating the NCAA with their respective blue-blood programs.

The best bet for a collegiate athlete to go top two, though, has to be the University of Kentucky’s Justin Edwards. At 6’7 with advanced ball skills, Edwards projects to be a high-level contributor on both ends of the court. He doesn’t have an official listing for his wingspan yet, but it’s an easy bet that it’ll be much longer than his listed height, as his lanky arms can be spotted from the upper deck with ease.

Justin Edwards and Ron Holland top @Sam_Venecie's list of 2024 NBA Draft class players you need to know.

Both of them are athletic, bigger wings with well-rounded games.

So what gives Edwards the edge? His offense.https://t.co/Imq6q0jcnz pic.twitter.com/A0wKotWSYV

— The Athletic NBA (@TheAthleticNBA) August 7, 2023

He’ll also enter the college season with a silky smooth jumpshot that should make him a plug-and-play weapon on any NBA offense. What could take him over the top as a prospect, though, is his budding shot creation and playmaking abilities.

At 6’7, if Edwards can prove that his ball-handling will translate to the next two levels, he’ll be a nightmare matchup for any individual player to try to slow down and entire opposing defenses.

He’s already proven to have a reliable midrange pull-up. If he can get a bit deeper into the paint consistently, he’ll be able to use his length and athleticism to become a legitimate three-level scoring threat. If he can also improve as a passer, he’ll have very few holes in his game that’ll prevent him from shooting up draft boards.

NBA DRAFT SCOUTING REPORT

Justin Edwards coming through 💥💥💥 pic.twitter.com/D7QJB8Jwox

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) July 15, 2023

The Handicapperchic.com simulation model, which simulates every NBA game thousands of times, up over 150 units over the last three years. A $100 bettor of our NBA would have netted a profit of $15,000+ and, a $1,000 bettor would have won $150,000+. We offer picks on NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, XFL, PGA Golf and NCAA Basketball and Football. Now is the time to sign-up, get all the picks, and start winning.

Click here to open a package and get access to all of our simulations for as little as $99.99 per month!

| Title: Why Justin Edwards could go top-two in the 2024 NBA Draft
| Author: Andy Quach
| Date: August 16th, 2023