Even though we are now only one day away, it’s incredibly challenging to predict the NBA Draft. We have mock drafts, but they’re only so accurate.
My favorite Lil Wayne lyric is about Italian food. He said that real g’s move in silence like lasagna. When it comes to the NBA Draft, front offices are the same way. Scouts and executives love to chat about what they expect rivals to do, but they aren’t going to tip their hands about their own moves.
However, oftentimes, where there is smoke there is fire. Eventually, when draft experts start predicting the same thing over and over again, we can read the tealeaves and expect that this could mean something.
Maybe it’s a case of groupthink and we’re just creating echo chambers. The trends we’re noticing are patterns put out just to throw people off the scent. This could all mean nothing!
However, it could mean everything. If a bunch of insiders all believe that a player is a fit in the same place, we should at least factor that into our NBA Draft predictions.
So without further ado, based on 17 mock drafts from industry thought leaders who are well-connected and well-sourced around the league, here is the data: