After poor performances from Andrew Wiggins of the Kansas Jayhawks and Jabari Parker of the Duke Blue Devils and an injury to Wiggins’ teammate, Joel Embiid, many believed the stock of the three players were falling.
According to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, that isn’t the case.
"In interviews with SI.com, several executives said poor tournament performances were irrelevant. Teams invest too much time and manpower studying a player all season to be disproportionately influenced by a bad game or two. They know Wiggins tends to drift, just as much as they know Parker’s defense is a glaring weakness."
That’s why Mannix has left Wiggins at the top of his draft board. Wiggins averaged 17.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocks per game this season.
Although there are some questions surrounding Embiid’s back, Mannix leaves the 7-foot, 250-pound center, who averaged 11.1 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.6 blocks and 1.4 assists per game, in the second spot.
Parker, who put up 19.1 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.2 blocks and 1.1 steals per game, is third.
Kentucky Wildcats’ power forward Julius Randle and Australian point guard Dante Exum round out the top five.