2024 NBA Draft continues French takeover, plus the end of the Alex Morgan era?

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Good morning! This is really me typing this.

Read Sam Vecenie’s winners and losers of NBA Draft Round 1.

Bon Matin: Vive la draft

Forget the rep of this NBA Draft class for the moment, because frankly it doesn’t matter anymore. Maybe some players surprise us and develop into stars. Maybe they’re all busts. They’re all NBA players now, though.

This class made France’s 2020s invasion of the NBA official. We’ve seen plenty of Frenchmen come through the league over the last two decades, but not with this quantity — or consistent quality.

Consider:

Last year’s draft unicorn, Victor Wembanyama, is already a superstar. He won Rookie of the Year and will probably be a top-15 NBA player — if not higher — by the end of next season.
The Hawks picked Zaccharie Risacher, a 19-year-old from Lyon, France, last night at No. 1. Countryman Alex Sarr, who many thought would go No. 1, went No. 2 to the Wizards, while another French teenager, Tidjane Salaun, went No. 6 to Charlotte.
All of these players are extremely raw but talented (and big). Risacher has the potential to develop into an elite 6-foot-8 wing. Sarr, also 19, is a ready-made 7-foot NBA defender right now. Salaun is the biggest project of this group, a 6-foot-9 tweener who’s shown flashes of doing everything well.
And if you listened to our NBA Draft podcast preview yesterday, you know this influx isn’t slowing down. The Frenchmen are coming.

See analysis of every pick from last night here. Two other picks I loved: UConn’s Stephon Castle to San Antonio at No. 4 and the G League’s Ron Holland to the Pistons at No. 5. Oh, and Purdue’s Zach Edey went to Memphis in the top 10 (!).

We also had some eye-popping contract news from elsewhere in the league:

Jimmy Butler will play out the last year of his contract before an opt-out in 2025, clearing up any rumors he will be traded this offseason. The Heat and Bam Adebayo are close to a big three-year, $166 million extension, too.
The Knicks are even more all-in after agreeing to a five-year, $212.5 million contract with OG Anunoby, whom they acquired at the trade deadline last season. That probably means center Isaiah Hartenstein signs elsewhere, though.

The draft continues today at 4 p.m. ET (yeah, it’s two days now), and Bronny James will likely be selected. Free agency officially begins Sunday night.

News to Know

Morgan left off Olympic roster
USWNT legend Alex Morgan was not part of the Olympic soccer roster announced yesterday, an update that’s shocking on its face. Morgan, who turns 35 on Tuesday, has 224 caps for the USWNT, including three Olympics and four World Cup appearances. In reality, it’s unsurprising for new coach Emma Hayes to omit Morgan, who has disappointed for the NWSL’s San Diego Wave this season. See our full explainer on the decision here. It’s the end of an era.

Venezuela, Georgia score massive wins
Venezuela is through to the quarterfinals of Copa America after a stirring victory over Mexico, who somehow could get bounced in the group stage after the loss. Across the ocean, lowly Georgia registered the largest upset in Euros history by knocking off titan Portugal 2-0 thanks to lone superstar Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Georgia’s story is so cool (and it’s very funny to type “Georgia” and “underdog” in a sport that most of the world calls football). We are close to fully moving on in both international tournaments:

See the full round of 16 Euros matchups here.
Here’s where we stand at Copa America. The U.S. plays today. More on that in a sec.

More news

Lionel Messi said he’ll “see how it goes” after suffering a hamstring injury against Chile on Tuesday. Fingers crossed.
An agent is suing Klutch Sports and Rich Paul for $4.9 million over an alleged breach of contract.
A Texas judge dismissed a sexual assault lawsuit against Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.

Pulse Polls: Hello, this is ‘Al Michaels’

Tom Hauck / Getty Images

NBC announced yesterday it will use an A.I.-generated version of broadcaster Al Michaels’ voice to create custom Olympic recap videos this summer. I don’t know how to feel about it.

Two things:

The technology itself sounds impressive. Michaels said in a statement he was “skeptical” about the idea but signed off on it once he heard a demonstration. Our Richard Deitsch confirmed the voice sounds spot-on.
This is not the space to break down the pros and cons of artificial intelligence, but this news just feels a little icky. One of my first thoughts when I saw the headline was: “Wait, isn’t Michaels still alive?” He very much is. So why are we using a fake voice again?

I’m curious what you think, so here’s our next Pulse Poll. Is this:

Pretty sweet. Get with the times, Branch.
Pointless and harmful. No robots, please.

Make your voice heard here. We’ll report the results tomorrow.

Watch This Game

Copa America: Panama vs. USMNT
6 p.m. ET on FOX
The Americans are once again favored here, and I’m most curious if they can build on the momentum from their opening 2-0 win against Bolivia, which probably should’ve been 4-0.

WNBA: Aces at Sky
7 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime
Two-time defending champ Las Vegas is foundering at 8-6, while the Sky have won two in a row. Tickets are going for $100-plus on the secondary market for this one. I expect a fun Chicago atmosphere.

Get tickets to games like these here.

Pulse Picks

The NHL Draft is this weekend, but our focus remains on the league-rattling trades that can happen before then.

Bruce Feldman chimed in on what he thinks are the 10 toughest college football stadiums to play in. I, ahem, enjoyed his list.

Yesterday, Cody Stavenhagen went the other way in our latest story in the Missing Bats series, highlighting the “Galileos” who espoused the trend well before it took root.

That San Diego bench brawl from Tuesday? It could provide a template for a Padres turnaround, as they deal with another massive injury.

I loved this about a bakery in New Jersey and their scramble to bake Lionel Messi a birthday cake.

Texas swiping Texas A&M’s coach proves the rivalry is so back, according to Sam Khan Jr.

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Mikal Bridges trade grades for the Knicks, Nets and Rockets. Still quite relevant today.

Most-read on the website yesterday: Our report on the Antonio Pierce bankruptcy situation.

(Photo: Mike Lawrence / NBAE via Getty Images)