There is now less than a week until the 2024 NBA Draft gets underway with the first round on June 26. That means we have reached the final position group in our deep dive into the prospects that may be interesting or available for the Milwaukee Bucks with the No. 23 and No. 33 picks in this year’s draft.
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Two weeks ago, we took a closer look at the guards potentially in this area and then moved on to the wings. Now, it is time to look at the big men who might be able to make an impact for the Bucks next season.
As a refresher, we tend to start these breakdowns with the players who mightfall out of the lottery and end with players near the start of the second round to cover the Bucks’ range in the draft with both selections.
(Note: There can be disagreements about range/position for various players. If you feel we missed somebody, drop it in the comments.)
Yves Missi| 6-11 big | 20 years old |Baylor
As always, this positional exercise starts with a couple of players who will most likely not make it down to No. 23, but because one of them might fall, we’ll cover them in this space anyway. Missi was born in Belgium but grew up in Cameroon, where he primarily played soccer. When he moved to the United States at 16, he had never played an organized game of basketball. He is still relatively new to the game, but his draft stock will largely be based on his possibly massive potential.
SO THAT’S HOW IT’S GONNA GO! MISSI!🔥
BU 2, KU 0 | 19:39 1H
📺ABC@Yves_Missi#SicEm | #CultureOfJOY pic.twitter.com/VdC2l4MwQ2— Baylor Men’s Basketball (@BaylorMBB) March 2, 2024
In his lone season at Baylor, Missi put up 10.7 points and 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in just 22.1 minutes per game. He made an impact in limited minutes, showing off his 38.5-inch vertical with massive dunks as a rim runner and big blocks as a rim protector, but there were still moments where the game moved too quickly for him. Missi could get baited into fouls by pump fakes and sometimes turned the ball over as he tried to make moves off the dribble as he rolled to the basket in the middle of the floor.
One interesting number: 206 of his 228 field goal attempts (90.4 percent) were either layups, dunks or tip attempts at the rim.
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Zach Edey| 7-4 center | 22 years old | Purdue
Along with Bill Walton and Ralph Sampson, who both won the award three times,Edey is one of three men in history to win the Naismith Player of the Year more than once. In short, he is one of the greatest college basketball players of all-time. This past season, Edey led Purdue to the national championship game against Connecticut and averaged 25.2 points, 12.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game.
EDEY IS FEELING IT 🔥#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/Y0WceLB5Uy
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While his size is staggering and difficult to contain, his skill may stand out even more as he showed the ability to use good footwork and touch to create even more looks at the basket than just dunks and lay-ups. On top of dominating at the rim, Edey also knocked down 45.4 percent of 229 hook shots, per Synergy. The questions for Edey at the next level are all about his quickness and his ability to stay on the floor in the game’s most important situations away from the basket.
One interesting number: Per Synergy, 63.9 percent of Edey’s offensive possessions came in post-up situations, which was the third-highest rate of post-ups in Division 1 NCAA men’s basketball last season.
Tyler Smith | 6-9 big | 19 years old | G League Ignite
While the other two prospects listed above him find themselves potentially in the top 20 of this draft because of their size and ability to dominate around the rim, Smith has put himself in that same conversation because of his ability on the perimeter. Last season, as a member of the G League Ignite, Smith shot 36.4 percent from 3 on four attempts per game, largely on pick-and-pop looks.
Tyler Smith (@tksmith1104) doing it all… rebound + monster slam 😤 pic.twitter.com/1wq2lFop6E
— NBA G League Ignite (@gleagueignite) December 30, 2023
Smith flashed a 38-inch vertical and a 7-foot-1 wingspan at the NBA Draft combine and completed the lane agility drill in 10.74 seconds, which was the seventh-fastest time of any player. His athleticism is not in question, but that has not yet translated to a serious impact on the defensive end of the floor, but it could allow Smith to be an impactful defender if he ever puts it all together.
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One interesting number: Per NBA stats, Smith made 36.9 percent of his 84 attempts on above-the-break 3s last season.
DaRon Holmes | 6-9 big | 21 years old | Dayton
Holmes put up monster numbers in his three seasons at Dayton and he took home both Atlantic 10 Player of the Year and Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year this past season behind 20.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.1 blocks and 0.9 steals per game. There just wasn’t much mid-major NCAA competition could do with Holmes by his junior season.
DaRon. Holmes. II. ✌️ pic.twitter.com/4vb3cUtFOS
— Dayton Basketball (@DaytonMBB) February 14, 2024
Any team drafting Holmes will have to grapple with what he will be at the next level. At 6-foot-9, he’s slightly undersized to be a center in the NBA, but he also isn’t quick enough to be a switch defender. Finding a position for him in the NBA might not be a simple task. Holmes has a versatile skillset though, so he may just end up be talented enough to carve out a place for himself in the league, even if it is obvious what that place might be at the moment.
One interesting number: After taking 26 total 3-pointers in his first two collegiate seasons, Holmes tried 83 3-pointers this season and made 38.6 percent from behind the 3-point line.
Kel’el Ware | 7-0 big | 20 years old | Indiana
After an underwhelming freshman season at Oregon, Ware transferred to Indiana and put together huge numbers in sophom*ore season with 15.9 points, 9.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game for the Hoosiers. Similarly to Holmes, Ware showed off a little bit of everything on offense as he scored efficiently as both a post-up threat and a roll man and also knocked down 42.5 percent from 3 (albeit on a small sample size of only 40 3-point attempts), but he did it against higher level competition in the Big Ten.
“Ware is everywhere❗” 🗣️@KelelWare x @IndianaMBB
💻: Peaco*ck pic.twitter.com/F7k33KgZBI
— Big Ten Men’s Basketball (@B1GMBBall) February 28, 2024
Ware has not been able to shake the concerns over his motor that developed during his freshman season at Oregon when head coach Dana Altman publicly questioned his work ethic, but his effort was far more consistent in Indiana and his diverse skill set makes him a tantalizing prospect, especially if he manages to drop out of the top 20.
One interesting number: Despite spending over two times as many possessions on post-ups, Ware scored 1.16 points per possession as a roll man on pick-and-rolls, per Synergy.
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Adem Bona| 6-8 big | 21 years old |UCLA
Bona was born in Lagos, Nigeria before moving to Turkey with his family at the age of 13, where he started to play basketball. He played a few years of high school basketball in California before going to UCLA as a 19-year-old freshman. Bona has been an impactful defensive player from the moment he stepped on campus in Westwood and earned All-Defense and All-Freshman honors before securing Pac 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors in his second season. With a 7-foot-4 wingspan and a 40-inch vertical, Bona put up impressive defensive numbers (1.8 blocks and 1.1 steals per game) and his talent shined brightest as a shot blocker.
😲😲😲
📺: FS1#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/rPHzhHjkD5
— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) February 19, 2024
After just being an energy player and defender in his first season at UCLA, Bona took on a larger offensive role this past season and averaged 12.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists, showing an ability to score on the block, even though his offensive role in the NBA will likely call for him to only be a screen setter and roll man.
One interesting number: Per Basketball Reference’s Stathead tool, Bona was one of 23 players in Division 1 men’s college basketball to post at least one steal and 1.5 blocks per game this past season.
P.J. Hall | 6-8 big | 22 years old | Clemson
As a big man, Hall served as Clemson’s offensive hub and leading scorer for his final three seasons at Clemson, including this past season where he averaged 18.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists and led the Tigers to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament. While not a complete three-level scorer, Hall showed the ability to score in both post-up and spot-up situations on the perimeter with elite touch as a scorer. He isn’t a perfect attacker off the dribble, but as he increased his 3-point volume (2.5 3-point attempts per game as a junior to 4.5 as a senior), he also showed an increase willingness to attack closeouts off the bounce.
What a move from PJ Hall 😮💨#MarchMadness @ClemsonMBB pic.twitter.com/XFoeGO1bQs
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 31, 2024
Hall’s offensive versatility is impressive, but he falls to the second round in many mock drafts because there is some question whether he can handle traditional big man responsibilities such as rebounding and rim protection at the next level.
One interesting number: Per Synergy, Hall scored 1.05 points per possession on post-up possessions.
Jonathan Mogbo| 6-6 big | 22 years old |San Francisco
Mogbo has taken a fascinating trip to becoming an NBA prospect. He spent his first two college basketball seasons at Independence (KS) Community College and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, respectively, before playing one season at Missouri State in the Missouri Valley Conference. After his first season of Division 1 basketball, Mogbo transferred to San Francisco, where he burst on the scene as a prospect this season by averaging 14.2 points, 10.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.
Unreal 😳 @j_mogbo
Cincinnati 57, USF 50 | 6:20 – 2nd Half
📺: @ESPNPlus #USFDons | #WCChoops | #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/xC4fXcxkVf
— San Francisco Men’s Basketball (@USFDonsMBB) March 21, 2024
At the start of his college basketball journey, he was a 6-foot-4 guard. Now, he is 6-foot-6 with a 7-foot-2 wingspan and spent the last season living at the rim in the West Coast Conference. Because of his on-ball skill and passing ability, there might be some potential for Mogbo to be a big wing, but he may slot in easier as a big man at the start of his career.
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One interesting number: While most players fit into neat offensive profiles, Mogbo pulled off the rare feat of having most of his offense come from off-ball cuts. Mogbo was a cutter on 19.2 percent of his offensive usage possessions and scored 1.42 points per possession on those cuts.
Oso Ighodaro| 6-10 big | 21 years old |Marquette
Milwaukee natives will be familiar with Ighodaro’s game after he spent four years at Marquette, but for those uninitiated readers, Ighoradro is an unusual prospect, but still averaged 13.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 1.1 steals per game. He was one of Marquette’s biggest players, but did not operate like a traditional big man. While he is an explosive athlete and spent plenty of time throwing down dunks as a roll man with All-American point guard Tyler Kolek, Marquette also asked Ighodaro to initiate the offense from the elbows, which allowed him to show off his skills as a distributor and average 2.9 assists per game.
Oso with the dime! #MUBB | #WeAreMarquette pic.twitter.com/D3c5s0ZdaE
— Marquette Basketball (@MarquetteMBB) March 7, 2024
As he operated from the high post, Ighodaro would also sometimes keep the ball and fire off a unique variety of floaters from 5-10 feet from the rim. Per Synergy, Ighodaro made 54.5 percent of the 88 floaters he attempted off last season. At the next level, Ighodaro will have to figure out how to play with a little bit more force and consistently dominate the glass to solidify his future in the NBA.
One interesting number: Ighodaro’s 2.9 assists per game were the 10th highest average for any player 6-foot-8 or taller in Division 1 men’s basketball, per Basketball Reference’s Stathead tool.
Required reading
• NBA mock draft 2024: Why No. 1 pick is still up for grabs
• Exploring Milwaukee’s draft options with Sam Vecenie
(Photo of Zach Edey and Kal’el Ware: Andy Lyons / Getty Images)
Eric Nehm is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Milwaukee Bucks. Previously, he covered the Bucks at ESPN Milwaukee and wrote the book "100 Things Bucks Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die." Nehm was named NSMA's 2022 Wisconsin Sports Writer of the Year. Follow Eric on Twitter @eric_nehm
