FanSided Network 2018 NBA Mock Draft

The FanSided NBA Network lends their expertise to this combined mock draft, with team site experts picking for every team.

The NBA Draft is loaded with skill and talent of all sorts this season. We kind of feel the same way about our FanSided NBA Network, with 30 team sites (not to mention two general NBA sites and one devoted to covering women’s hoops).

With the NBA Draft fast approaching out pool of experts teamed up for a mock draft with site experts representing and making selections for each team. Check out how they’d pick for each team and make sure to follow the links at the bottom of each selection to get more great analysis for your favorite teams.

The second-straight steal in this draft for the Atlanta Hawks, Anfernee Simons is a high school prospect who eschewed college in order to declare for the draft as soon as his eligibility arose.

A fluid, natural athlete, Simons is expected to go in the mid-first round in the 2018 NBA Draft, so seeing him slide all the way to the final pick in the first round would be a tremendous boon for a Hawks franchise looking for as much upside as possible with their four selections in the first 34 picks of this draft.

Simons has a tremendous upside, though he decided not to pursue a collegiate basketball career, instead opting to play one year at IMG Academy in Florida, which is a private boarding school for players looking to pursue careers in professional sports. At the NBA Draft Combine as well as various pre-draft workouts, Simons has shown quick-twitch athleticism as well as latent scoring ability that should play up in the modern NBA.

Though he still has plenty of room for growth and added muscle on his 6-foot-3, 183-pound frame, Simons would fill a need for the Atlanta Hawks if (or when) current starting point guard Dennis Schröder departs the team. There were rumblings earlier this offseason about Schröder’s future with the team, and it’s never too early to find a future replacement for him.

Simons could simultaneously develop his body and game while serving as the future focal point of Atlanta’s offense.
Right now, however, it is unlikely that Simons would be able to come in and immediately take the keys to the offense, as he has been labeled as more of a 2-guard or combo guard in this class, as his playmaking and passing ability still needs work.

Still though, nabbing a mid-first round talent with the #30 overall pick would be a godsend for the Hawks, who, again, are looking for talent first and foremost – with little thought given to fit.

— Chris Guest

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