NBA Mock Draft Roundup: Consensus is coming at the top
By Ian Levy
The NBA Draft is less than two weeks away but it still feels like an unusually large number of possibilities are in play. A half-dozen players could still be the top pick. Multiple picks in the top 10 could be traded. The result of a draft class without a clear No. 1 pick is that it can be harder to assess star potential without that one massive measuring stick.
Still, NBA Draft experts are diligently doing the work, sifting through rumors, scouting draft prospects and projecting how they think it will all work out.
To try and find some patterns, I've collected four mock drafts — from our own Chris Kline, The Ringer, Sam Vecenie at The Athletic and Tankathon — and placed them side-by-side. Kline also recently posted a new NBA Mock Draft for his recommendations for what each team should do, and you can check that out here. But for this exercise, I used his mock of what he thinks is likely to happen.
Team | FanSided | The Ringer | The Athletic | Tankathon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Hawks | Zaccharie Risacher, F | Alex Sarr, C | Alex Sarr, C | |
2. Wizards | Alex Sarr, C | Zaccharie Risacher, F | Zaccharie Risacher, F | |
3. Rockets | Donovan Clingan, C | Reed Sheppard, G | Reed Sheppard, G | |
4. Spurs | Matas Buzelis, F | Stephon Castle, G | Nikola Topic, G | |
5. Pistons | Reed Sheppard, G | Matas Buzelis, F | Matas Buzelis, F | |
6. Hornets | Stephon Castle, G | Dalton Knecht, F | Stephen Castle, G | |
7. Trail Blazers | Tidjane Salaun, F | Donovan Clingan, C | Donovan Clingan, C | |
8. Spurs | Tidjane Salaun, F | Nikola Topic, G | Nikola Topic, G | Dalton Knecht, F |
9. Grizzlies | Kel'el Ware, C | Rob Dillingham, G | Ron Holland, F | |
10. Jazz | Cody Williams, F | Cody Williams, F | Rob Dillingham, G | |
11. Bulls | Devin Carter, G | Ron Holland, F | Devin Carter, G | |
12. Thunder | Zach Edey, C | Tidjane Salaun, F | Cody Williams, F | |
13. Kings | Dalton Knecht, F | Devin Carter, G | Tidjane Salaun, F | |
14. Trail Blazers | Ron Holland, F | Jared McCain, G | Tristan Da Silva, F | |
15. Heat | Ja'Kobe Walter, G | Rob Dillingham, G | Kyle Filipowski, C | Jared McCain, G |
16. 76ers | Carlton Carrington, G | Isaiah Collier, G | Ja'Kobe Walter, G | |
17. Lakers | Tristan Da Silva, F | Jared McCain, G | Tristan Da Silva, F | Isaiah Collier, G |
18. Magic | Carlton Carrington, G | Tyler Kolek, G | Johnny Furphy, F | Johnny Furphy, F |
19. Raptors | Ja'Kobe Walter, G | Yves Missi, C | Kyle Filipowski, C | |
20. Cavs | Johnny Furphy, F | Tristan Da Silva, F | Carlton Carrington, G | Tyler Smith, F |
21. Pelicans | Kel'el Ware, C | Yves Missi, C | Zach Edey, C | Kel'el Ware, C |
22. Suns | Yves Missi, C | Isaiah Collier, G | Ja'Kobe Walter, G | Zach Edey, C |
23. Bucks | DaRon Holmes II, C | Bobi Klintman, F | Tyler Smith, F | Yves Missi, C |
24. Knicks | Ryan Dunn, F | Johnn Furphy, F | Tyler Kolek, G | Kyshawn George, F |
25. Knicks | Kevin McCullar Jr., F | Tyler Smith, F | DaRon Holmes II, C | Justin Edwards, F |
26. Wizards | Kyshawn George, F | Pacome Dadiet, F | Baylor Scheierman, G | Terrence Shannon Jr., G |
27. Timberwolves | Tyler Kolek, G | KJ Simpson, G | AJ Johnson, G | Tyler Kolek, G |
28. Nuggets | DaRon Holmes II, C | Jaylon Tyson, G | DaRon Holmes II, C | |
29. Jazz | Nikola Djurisic, F | Kyshawn George, F | Bobi Klintman, F | Jaylon Tyson, G |
30. Celtics | Cam Christie, F | AJ Johnson, G | Cam Christie, F | Carlton Carrington, G |
The last time we rounded up these four mock drafts there wasn't a single pick where all four were in agreement. That is still the case but we do have some growing consensus around the top two picks — all four mocks had either Alex Sarr and Zaccharie Risacher in the top two, FanSided and The Ringer has Risacher at No. 1, Tankathon and The Athletic had Sarr at No. 1.
A month ago, there were four picks in which at least three of the mock drafts were in agreement. That was the same this time around — Reed Sheppard at No. 3 to the Rockets, Matas Buzelis at No. 5 to the Pistons, Donovan Clingan at No. 7 to the Trail Blazers and Devin Carter at No. 11 to the Bulls. Interestingly, Buzelis to the Pistons is also the only pick three mocks agreed on in both roundups.
Although they went with different players, the mocks were in rough agreement on team needs with a few slots — all four had the 76ers drafting a microwave scoring guard at No. 16 and all four had the Pelicans taking a traditional center at No. 21. In another sign of how little consensus there is at this point, for 13 of the 30 picks in the first round, all four mock drafts listed a different player.
As the NBA Finals wrap-up this week all eyes are going to be on the draft so there could be a lot more movement over the next few days.
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