2018 NBA Mock Draft: Time for the Final Four

Bagley’s tournament run is over, but his 60 combined points and 26 rebounds were tremendous, and a big reason why Duke was able to survive against tough defensive teams in Rhode Island and Syracuse when other lottery talents at Michigan State and Oklahoma could not.

His defense was also not quite so bad in the Elite Eight against Kansas as it has been throughout the year, though scouts may remember Malik Newman raining triples over him in the corner more than anything else he did all season on defense. Bagley’s short wingspan, occasionally slow feet and rough instincts will be issues all the way through training camp in September. He was a monster as a freshman, but his game includes too many NBA question marks, as I’ve documented in this space all year.

Fans are understandably enamored with Bagley, because of his reputation coming from a Blue Blood college and destroying defenses all season. There will be many whose teams are picking in the top four or five that are frustrated when their team passes on Bagley in favor of a more raw prospect. He could make them look silly.

Sacramento needs a sure thing with so many young, unproven players already on their roster. They cut a 2016 first-rounder, Georgios Papagiannis, this season because they didn’t have room for someone who had shown so little. They do not own their 2019 first-rounder, so nabbing Bagley here could shore up their frontcourt.