Boston holds the key to the draft at No. 3. Who is the pick?
The final hours, minutes and seconds are ticking away to Adam Silvers first stroll to the podium in Brooklyn. In what should be another cheered reception for the favorite commissioner in all of sports, Silver’s first two announcements are largely known. Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram – in a tier above the rest of the draft class – will be selected with the first and second picks, respectively, to Philadelphia and the Los Angeles Lakers.
The key to the draft, as has been projected for months, lies with Boston at No. 3 overall. ESPN’s Chad Ford has reported that each of the picks from No. 3 through No. 8 are available to the highest bidder, with Boston among the staples in the rumor mill. This is largely because of the quality of players available. Tier three (Simmons and Ingram are in tier two, there are no superstars in tier one) consists of five players on my board, and six if you look around the web: Kris Dunn, Jamal Murray, Dragan Bender, Jaylen Brown, Buddy Hield and Marquese Chriss.
Inching closer to the draft, Dunn and Chriss have emerged as the favorites around the mock-draft-o-sphere, but neither represents a perfect fit of what the Celtics need:
- They could use Dunn’s services, but they already have a host of point guards on the roster with Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier and Avery Bradley.
- Chriss could be a home run, but Boston is in ‘win-now’ mode, and won’t contribute right away
- Murray fills a need as a secondary scorer, but as is the case with drafting Dunn, it would create a deeper logjam in the backcourt
- Hield is among the most NBA-ready of the group, but his ceiling may not be as high as some of the other options.
- Bender fits a need as a stretch power forward, and would look good in Boston’s system, but his stock has been dropping just a hair.
- Jaylen Brown is an athletic, bullying option that had a great workout in Boston, but he could be too raw to make a difference right away.
This process will play out on Thursday, whether for Boston or a team that trades into the top three. Expect the eight players listed above to be picked in the top eight in some order, with at least one trade set to mix up the order.
In other tiers, 24 players have grades of ‘starter’ or better, and 65 players have a mark equal or above that of ‘contributor.’ This shows the depth of the class, in what should be a second round filled with talented options. For my full big board, click here.
The final mock draft reflects where I think prospects will go, rather than my rankings of the players. Here’s how I project it to go, sans trades.
Final Mock Draft
*Updated 5 p.m. EST.
ROUND 1
- Philadelphia– Ben Simmons | SF/PF | LSU
- LA Lakers– Brandon Ingram | SF | Duke
- Boston- Kris Dunn | PG | Providence
- Phoenix- Dragan Bender | PF | Phoenix
- Minnesota- Jamal Murray | SG | Kentucky
- New Orleans- Buddy Hield | SG | Oklahoma
- Denver- Jaylen Brown | SF | California
- Sacramento- Marquese Chriss | PF | California
- Toronto- Skal Labissiere | PF/C | Kentucky
- Milwaukee- Jakob Poeltl | C | Utah
- Orlando- Henry Ellenson | PF | Marquette
- Atlanta- Malik Beasley | SG | Florida State
- Phoenix- Malachi Richardson | SG | Syracuse
- Chicago- Wade Baldwin | PG | Vanderbilt
- Denver- Domantas Sabonis | PF/C | Gonzaga
- Boston- Deyonta Davis | PF/C | Michigan State
- Memphis- Timothe Luwawu | SG | France
- Detroit- Dejounte Murray | PG | Washington
- Denver- Furkan Korkmaz | SG | Turkey
- Indiana- Demetrius Jackson | PG | Notre Dame
- Atlanta- Ante Zizic | C | Croatia
- Charlotte- Denzel Valentine | SG | Michigan State
- Boston- Ivica Zubac | C | Croatia
- Philadelphia- Patrick McCaw | SG | UNLV
- LA Clippers- Taurean Prince | SF | Baylor
- Philadelphia- Tyler Ulis | PG | Kentucky
- Toronto- Juan Hernangomez | PF | Spain
- Phoenix- DeAndre Bembry | SF | St. Joseph’s
- San Antonio- Brice Johnson | PF | North Carolina
- Golden State- Cheick Diallo | C | Kansas
* via 3-way trade with IND, UTAH
ROUND 2
- Boston- Thon Maker | PF/C | Athlete Institute of Sport
- LA Lakers- Damian Jones | C | Vanderbilt
- LA Clippers- Caris LeVert | SG | Michigan
- Phoenix- Malcolm Brogdon | SG | Virginia
- Boston- Isaia Cordinier | SG | France
- Milwaukee- Paul Zipser | SF | Germany
- Houston- Isaiah Whitehead | PG | Seton Hall
- Milwaukee- Ben Bentil | PF | Providence
- New Orleans- AJ Hammons | C | Purdue
- New Orleans- Georgios Papagiannis | C | Greece
- Orlando- Gary Payton II | PG | Oregon State
- Utah- Kay Felder | PG | Oakland
- Houston- Stephen Zimmerman | C | UNLV
- Atlanta- Diamond Stone | C | Maryland
- Boston- Zhao Qi | C | China
- Dallas- Tyrone Wallace | PG | California
- Orlando- Guerschon Yabusele | PF | France
- Chicago- Chinanu Onuaku | C | Louisville
- Detroit- Joel Bolomboy | PF | Weber State
- Indiana- Pascal Siakim | PF | New Mexico State
- Boston- Michael Gbinije | SG | Syracuse
- Utah- Petr Cornelie | PF| France
- Denver- Rade Zagorac | SF | Serbia
- Atlanta- Jake Layman | SF | Maryland
- Brooklyn- Wayne Selden | SG | Kansas
- Denver- Gracin Bakumanya | C | Congo
- Memphis- Isaiah Cousins | PG | Oklahoma
- Boston- Oriol Pauli | SG | Spain
- Sacramento- Robert Carter | PF | Maryland
- Utah- AJ English | PG/SG | Iona
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