The 2024 Men's NCAA Tournament is just around the corner, and the final buzzer of the 2023-24 NBA season is just days away.
Hey everyone, NBA draft season is here.
Prospects have the opportunity to improve their stock at the combine and workout circuit, but their value is still crystallizing just as it was at any point throughout the process. So let's analyze his recent three expert mocks and see how analysts really feel about this class.
After many years, the top prosecutors in their class will have solidified their positions by now. This year is not that year.
There are multiple No. 1 picks, as evidenced by the fact that there was no consensus choice for the mocks of B/R's Jonathan Wasserman, Yahoo Sports' Kristen Peek, and CBS Sports' Kyle Boone. There are still candidates left. The first two mocked French 7-footer Alexandre Sarr for first place, but Boone placed French swingman Zachary Lizacher in first place. Meanwhile, Sarr fell back to third place in Boone's mock, with Lizacher replacing Peek in second place and Wasserman in fourth place.
“There's no question that Sarr's biggest appeal revolves around his potential defensive impact as a mobile shot blocker who can stay in his stance and guard ball handlers and wings around the perimeter. No,” Wasserman wrote. “But glimpses of the skills unique to the 7-foot-1 switchable rim protector, including 3-point shooting, pull-up shooting and open-floor ball-handling, make him a strong candidate to become No. 1. Ta.”
Peek described Saar as an “elite rim protector” and noted his “improved footwork off the block and when taking guys off the dribble.” Boone, meanwhile, projected Lizach to be No. 1 because of his long-term good performance, noting that the 6-foot-9 wing “can easily maneuver and get shots without sliding too far.” .
Purdue star center Zach Eadie may not have had a stellar career that ended in a national championship, but throughout this and last season he left little doubt as to his status as the best player in men's college basketball. . He paced everyone in the title game in points (37) and rebounds (10), shooting 15-of-25 overall and 7-of-10 from the stripe.
However, scouts still don't seem completely convinced by his NBA prospects. Eady, who plays an old school game in the low post, was not a top 20 pick for any of these experts and was actually eliminated in the first round by Peake, who mocked him at No. 31. Wasserman mocked Eadie for 31st place. Coach Boone, meanwhile, drafted the big man 22nd, saying the team “would be very interested in him late in the first, if not earlier.”
As for Edy's opponent in that championship game, the UConn Huskies were well represented in these mocks. The two experts who mocked both rounds had five Huskies among their selections: Stephon Castle (7th for Wasserman, 3rd for Peek), Donovan Clingan (6th) (2nd and 5th), Tristen Newton (51st and 45th), Alex Karaban (54th and 57th) and Cam Spencer (56th and 47th).
In Boone's first-round mock, Clingan placed fifth, Castle eighth and Newton 30th. Wasserman cited “Tristen Newton's athletic limitations and shooting-related deficiencies,” while Bourne felt Newton “ultimately will be taken more seriously” by the team. “As he digs deeper,” given his productivity and role on a championship team.
With such a fluid draft class, there will be more than its fair share of disagreement, but you can still spot some trends that will help determine the rankings of the top prospects.
For example, they could build a top tier that includes Sarr and Lizacher, as well as Kentucky guards Rob Dillingham and Reid Shepard. The first two were top-four picks for all three experts, but Dillingham and Shepherd were derided within that range by two of the three. And even in Expert (Peak), who was last on the Wildcats, Shepard was sixth and Dillingham seventh.
And behind them is a group of essentially five prospects, including Clingan, Castle, Serbian guard Nikola Topic, and G League Ignite wings Matas Buzelis and Ron Holland. They are the only top-10 prospect in all three mocks, with experts generally preferring Clingan (average draft size: 5.3), Castle (5.3), and Topic (average draft size) to Bouzelis (8.3) and Holland (8.7). 6.3) achieved slightly higher results. .
In the end, there were six other prospects selected for at least two expert draws. Colorado swingman Cody Williams (10) and Tennessee sharpshooter Dalton Knecht (11.7) cleared all three mock lotteries, while France forward Tijan Saraun (11.5) and Baylor winger Jacoby Walter (11.5 years), USC guard Collier (13.5 years), and Duke have improved greatly. Kyle Filipowski (13.5) made two of them.
