2024 NBA draft notebook: Why this class is deep after all and Kentucky's trio of underwhelming freshmen

With last week's NBA trade deadline in the rearview mirror, league front offices can turn their attention to June's 2024 draft.

By mid-February, trends and narratives have emerged in college, on G League Ignite and around the globe. With enough tape on the 2024 NBA prospects recorded, the reputation of this year's draft class could use a boost as no player has cemented himself as the true No. 1 overall pick. However, we make the argument that this is shaping up to be a relatively deep draft class after all.

Who are the prospects who could still make an impact with an impressive spring showing?

ESPN NBA draft insiders Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo tackle these questions along with what to make of Kentucky's inconsistent freshman class in the latest draft notebook.

Is this shaping up to be a relatively deep draft after all?

One year ago, I went on "The Lowe Post" podcast and said "this is the worst high school [senior] class we've seen in 20 years," referencing the group of now freshman prospects expected to be the backbone of this year's draft class, adding that "I wouldn't want to be picking at the top of next year's [2024] draft."

A year later, I feel similarly. Unlike when the San Antonio Spurs landed Victor Wembanyama last season, it's not worth going through the misery of the seasons the Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards or Spurs are currently having to end up with the best odds on lottery night this year.

We are far from the type of star power atop the 2024 NBA draft we've come to expect over the past decade, in terms of prospects you can reasonably hope will develop into franchise-caliber or All-Star-type players.

The lack of talent in the 2024 draft is no longer a controversial opinion to have among NBA executives, where it is a frequent topic.

Some have taken that several steps further, universally panning the 2024 draft as a bad class -- not just at the top -- but as a whole for the entire first and second rounds. However, that does not appear to be accurate based on what we've seen thus far and what is certain to come between now and June.

I would argue that this is shaping up to be a relatively deep draft, not that different from years prior in terms of the number of players likely to have productive NBA careers.