2018 NBA Mock Draft: Who’s moving at the top?

It’s officially draft month, meaning we know who officially is available to be drafted, what each team needs, and where their priorities lie. We try to juggle all that information in the latest edition of our 2018 NBA mock draft.

For each pick, team needs are taken into consideration, as well as fit and their reported interest in various prospects.

Allen performed off the charts in the athletic tests at the combine, moving and leaping well. Those attributes should help him in the eyes of talent evaluators who worried that he was simply a jump shooter. If he can build on his four-year college career to become more of a playmaker and defender at the NBA level, he could be a bargain with the last pick of the first round.

Ironically, Allen’s development in the NBA could follow a similar path to that of JJ Redick, ignoring the obvious similarities between the two stylistically and in their path to the league. Allen will need to add to the passing efficiency he showed running the offense for a young Duke team this season, racking up nearly five assists per game. He will also need to compete on every possession defensively in order to stand out on an Atlanta roster that figures to get younger and more crowded in the second season of a teardown.

He never fell below a .570 true shooting percentage in college — the shot will translate. What’s more, Allen managed to get to the line consistently throughout his college career, until his role and the shape of Duke’s offense restricted him as a senior. To truly become a rotation player in the NBA, Allen will need to get back to playing like he did as a sophomore, when his incredible individual season spurred Duke to a No. 5 finish in offensive rating thanks to Jabari Parker surviving at center and Luke Kennard providing some off-ball razzle dazzle.

Atlanta can provide the environment for him to play that way, with stretch and ball skills at every position.