The day has arrived. It’s the start of the 2024 NBA Draft. The first round of this year’s draft takes place tonight at 8pm ET, with the second round taking place tomorrow night.
Syracuse basketball hasn’t seen a player drafted since Elijah Hughes was selected 39th overall in the second round in 2020. SU hasn’t had a player go in the first round since the 24th overall pick in 2017, when Tyler Lydon was drafted by the Utah Jazz.
In fact, the Orange saw one of their players get drafted in the first round every year between 2012 and 2017.
Could tonight break the drought? Probably not.
SU guard Judah Mintz has entered the NBA Draft after returning to Syracuse for another season.
However, after staying another year in Central New York, Mintz didn’t see his draft stock much in year two after averaging 18.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 4.4 assists. He previously averaged 16.3 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 4.6 assists in his freshman season.
Bleacher Report recently placed Mintz at 34th overall, while John Hollinger from The Athletic ranked him at 65th overall.
Obviously, there is a wide variety of opinions on where Mintz may end up in the next couple of days, if he gets drafted at all. Let’s say Mintz goes undrafted. It’s not uncommon in his day and age for a player to progress through the ranks even if that happens.
Oshae Brissett just won an NBA championship with the Boston Celtics after going undrafted from Syracuse following the 2019 season. Fred VanVleet and Austin Reaves are the latest NBA stars to emerge from going undrafted.
If Mintz doesn’t get drafted, there are other routes for the guard to pursue. We’ll see what happens with SU’s leading point guard of the past couple of years.
