NBA Lottery Mock Draft No. 1
With the NBA Draft fast approaching, teams are gearing up to shape their futures. In this mock draft, we break down each ottery pick, highlighting top prospects, team fits, and potential surprises that could shake up the board.
1. Dallas Mavericks: Cooper Flagg
No shocker here – the Mavericks are rewarded for trading Luka Doncic by winning the lottery at less than 2% odds and turning that into a new franchise cornerstone.
2. San Antonio Spurs: Dylan Harper
There has been a lot of speculation and rumors that the Spurs will look to trade this pick – but should they keep it they will likely take the best player available which is Harper in my opinion.
3. Philadelphia 76ers: Kon Knueppel
I’m not sure if this is a likely pick but there has been some smoke around Knueppel to Philly and I do think he will get picked higher than anticipated. He doesn’t have the flash or raw ceiling that other prospects around him do but I think he will be a key rotation player for a long time for whatever team drafts him and he would fit nicely in this lineup.
4. Charlotte Hornets: VJ Edgecombe
If VJ slips past the 76ers I do think the Hornets would love to select him here. He would fit in perfectly next to Lamelo Ball and Brandon Miller and has a ceiling while being a safer overall prospect than Ace Bailey in my opinion.
5. Utah Jazz: Derik Queen
I love Queen’s game and I think he’s going to go way higher than the 10 range that a lot of the mock drafts right now have him at.
6. Washington Wizards: Tre Johnson
Another guy that I absolutely love and I personally would even take him over VJ I think. The Wizards fans were upset about dropping in the lottery but if they’re able to get Johnson at this pick a disaster was definitely avoided.
7. New Orleans Pelicans: Ace Bailey
Ultimately the “slide” on Ace Bailey ends here and New Orleans reaches for the stars under a new GM. Bailey is unpolished and has a wide range of outcomes as a player but nobody can dismiss the raw ceiling and potential.
8. Brooklyn Nets: Jeremiah Fears
Fears is very young but I love his game and I think this is probably the bottom of where he gets drafted while he could go as high as four or five. I would be pretty surprised if he makes it past Brooklyn here should he still be on the board.
9. Toronto Raptors: Khaman Maluach
Another extremely young player, that is still raw but I have no questions that he is an NBA player and Toronto could do much worse than selecting him. Legit chance to be a long term big man for them.
10. Houston Rockets: Kasparas Jakucionis
Houston is in a spot where they can simply take the best player available on their board and I think if the draft falls this way there’s a good chance KJ is that pick.
11. Portland Trailblazer: Egor Demin
Demin progressed nicely as the season went on for BYU and had a great week at the scouting combine. Portland could go a number of different ways here, but taking Demin as the best player available would be smart in my opinion.
12. Chicago Bulls: Carter Bryant
13. Atlanta Hawks: Noa Essengue
14. San Antonio Spurs: Collin Murray-Boyles
Written by Ben Hossler