What you’re about to read is the first rankings of a special draft class.
What you’re about to read is the first rankings of a special draft class.
There is a reason why several teams have shown a sudden willingness to enter a rebuilding phase. If there is a chance for your team to land one of the first picks in the 2023 NBA Draft, the reward could pay out handsomely.
Typically, when you read mock drafts published eleven months before the actual event, they’ll get called “way-too-early” in the headline. But for me, it’s not too early at all. By publishing this now, as things change, we can track all of the movement the players have once the season begins.
This mock draft is going to have flaws. It’s hard to predict what roles each incoming freshman will play for their new squad. When I published the first mock draft of the 2022 cycle, it wasn’t perfect. But more than 40 percent of the first round was correctly identified, and nearly 60 percent of the players predicted in either round are now on an NBA roster.
Some of these players aren’t going to pan out, and some of them will prove me wrong and warrant higher consideration once the season begins. Others will emerge from nowhere and plant themselves firmly on the radar for first-round consideration. When it comes to the draft, expect the unexpected.
Fortunately, we have some help from our friends at Cerebro Sports to help provide stats on the top high school and international prospects. Let those numbers guide the insights about each player.
Our order was determined based on reversed odds to win the 2023 NBA Finals. The teams outside the top 8 in each conference were considered lottery squads. Trades were pulled from this database at RealGM.
With all that in mind, here is how I’d project the 2023 NBA Draft:
