Atlanta opened things up by nabbing the promising Zaccaharie Risacher, as its front office considered him the best possible fit (for now) alongside star point guard Trae Young in a Draft that the majority of analyst had tabbed as one of the worsts ever, devoid of elite talent.

“That’s amazing. We try to represent our country and so, glad to be a part of it. You know there is more players coming in,” the 19-year-old forward said. "For three years, what I have been through, and my family is here -- I'm so happy. This is amazing."

While American colleges didn’t produce the top pick for the second consecutive year after the San Antonio Spurs’ selection of the uber talented Victor Wembanyama last year, this was also the first time France delivered back-to-back overall number one picks and that most non-US players from one nation were taken in the top 10, including four in the opening round. Not a bad showing for the country that is scheduled to host the upcoming Summer Olympics, with its national team hoping to make a splash in the basketball tournament in Paris.

Risacher, who stands 6-foot-9 (2.06m), helped JL Bourg reach this year's EuroCup final despite losing to Paris Basketball, became the second-youngest player to be named the EuroCup Rising Star and last month and was also voted the French league's 2023-24 Best Young Player after averaging 10.1 points and 3.8 rebounds in 22 minutes a game for his club.

19-year-old, 7-foot (2.13m) center Alexandre Sarr, whose older brother plays for Oklahoma City, became the second Frenchman selected: second overall by the struggling Washington Wizards. He spent two seasons with Real Madrid's youth team, then two US youth seasons and the 2023-24 campaign with Perth, averaging 9.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 17 minutes a game.  "Everywhere I played, it just built me for this moment. It's so special. Shows the amount of talent we have in France,” Sarr said. “Really excited for Zach. I think our national team is going to be really good.”

With just a 3% chance of winning the lottery to earn the No. 1 pick after a season in which international stars like Nicola Jokic and Luka Doncic, to name a few, have established themselves as future first-ballot NBA Hall of Fame candidates, the Hawks went for Risacher. On such an uncertain Draft, with experts long debating between him, Sarr, and UConn center Donovan Clingan for the top spot, it was still a relative surprise.

Another one-and-done American product, Kentucky freshman Reed Sheppard, went number three to the Rockets, marking  2024 as only the third time in NBA history that the top two picks in the Draft have not had previous US college experience.

The Hawks, who finished 10th in the Eastern Conference last season at 36-46 and lost to Chicago in a play-in game, hope to rebuild their roster around Risacher and probably Young, but still need t decipher what to do with their backcourt, as the 2018 fifth overall pick failed to mesh with DeJounte Murray last season.

The Rockets experienced quite the resurrection under head coach Ime Udoka and  went for Sheppard, who turned 20 on Monday and averaged 12.5 points, 4.5 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 2.5 steals a game for Kentucky, while shooting 52.1% from 3-point range.

After hitting the jackpot with Wembanyama a year ago, the Spurs selected another 19-year-old to bolster their backcourt: guard Stephon Castle of US national college champion Connecticut. He had 11.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists a game. "To have a teammate like (Wembanyama) next to you, I feel like it opens up the floor so much for you to go and expand your game," Castle considered. "I was just playing for the best coach in college basketball and now flipping to the NBA and going to play for a legendary coach like Coach (Greg) Popovich, it’s a blessing. I can't wait to get out there."

San Antonio dealt the rights to Kentucky guard Rob Dillingham to Minnesota at number 8 while the Detroit Pistons, the worst team in basketball last season and that had the best chance at winning the Draft Lottery, took Ron Holland of the G League Ignite with the fifth pick.

The next Frenchman to jump in was 18-year-old forward Tidjane Salaun, going sixth to the Hornets. He played for Cholet last season and averaged 9.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.0 steals. "It's crazy. That's amazing. To be here, it's too much for me," he said.

Forward Pacome Dadiet, also 18, capped off this Draft’s ‘French revolution’ by going 25th to the Knicks after playing for Germany's Ratiopharm Ulm.

Canada's Zach Edey, a 7-foot-4 (2.24m) center who many projected to be picked higher after being voted US College Player of the Year twice, went ninth to Memphis while Oklahoma City took Serbian guard Nikola Topic at 12.

The crop of International NBA imports kept growing with German-Brazilian forward Tristan da Silva going 18th to Orlando, Swiss forward Kyshawn George 24th to New York and the Pelicans’ selection of 20-year-old Cameroonian center Yves Missi at 21.

Now the attention shifts to the son of Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James: Bronny James. The 19-year-old guard for nearby Southern California is expected to be selected in the second round after averaging 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists in 25 College games last season. The stated plan for the 39-year-old four-time NBA champion is to play alongside his son next season. For the time being, the Lakers took guard Dalton Knecht from Tennessee with the 17th pick in round one.