The Cleveland Cavaliers, sitting atop the NBA Draft board, most need a small forward (3.0) with the first pick of the NBA draft, so in the mock draft below they take Andrew Wiggins.
Doug McDermott is moving up the fastest in the draft after he blew away scouts in the combine by completing the agility in 11.1 seconds and the sprint in 3.29 seconds–figures matched by only three other players his size (6-8, 218). On the Draft Tek Big Board we project 12 of his fellow draftees to be better than McDermott once in the NBA.
In the mock draft below, which will be updated regularly at Draft Tek, each team attempts to get the best player within 0.5 of the position they most need but in some cases moves onto their second biggest need. The following is the key to the positions represented by each number, as show on the Draft Tek board of team needs.
1.0 – PG Point Guard
1.5 – CG Combo Guard (can play PG or SG)
2.0 – SG Shooting Guard
2.5 – SL Primary SF, fill in at SG
3.0 – SF Small Forward
3.5 – CF Combo Forward (can play SF or PF)
4.0 – PF Power Forward
4.5 – PP Primary PF, fill in at C
5 – C Center
Aaron Gordon (Arizona), CJ Fair (Syracuse), and TJ Warren (NC State) are the only prospects to match McDermott’s speed/agility and size (6-8, 218 pounds), and no prospects come close to his 96 three-pointers on 45% shooting.
While all of those factors give McDermott a chance to be drafted very early, the one red flag is that the ability to come up with steals in college is one of the best indicators of NBA success, and McDermott only stole the ball about once every 250 times the opposing team came down the court. McDermott also is very mediocre as a defensive rebounder (grabs 17.8 percent of opponents’ missed shots), and only TJ Warren handled the ball more than McDermott’s 32.9 percent of all plays (see www.kenpom.com). Our studies have shown the players who do not handle the ball quite as much in college make the transition more easily to the NBA.
While he may slip a couple of spots due to the shoving incident this season, Marcus Smart steals the ball about one in every 20 opponent’s trips, grabs almost as many defensive rebounds and actually handles the ball less the McDermott, despite the fact that he is a point guard and McDermott is a power forward.
The following is the mock draft:
| Pick | Team Drafting | Top Position Needed | Mock Pick | Actual Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 3.0 | Andrew Wiggins | 2.5 |
| 2 | Milwaukee Bucks | 2.0 | Jabari Parker | 3.5 |
| 3 | Philadelphia 76ers | 3.0 | Joel Embiid (filled 2nd need) | 5.0 |
| 4 | Orlando Magic | 1.0 | Marcus Smart | 1.0 |
| 5 | Utah Jazz | 4.0 | Noah Vonleh | 4.5 |
| 6 | Boston Celtics | 2.0 | Dante Exum | 1.5 |
| 7 | Los Angeles Lakers | 1.0 | Jusuf Nurkic (filled 2nd need) | 5.0 |
| 8 | Sacramento Kings | 2.0 | Julius Randle (filled 2nd need) | 4.0 |
| 9 | Charlotte Hornets | 3.5 | Doug McDermott (subjective) | 4.0 |
| 10 | Philadelphia 76ers | 3.5 | Dario Saric | 3.5 |
| 11 | Denver Nuggets | 1.5 | Tyler Ennis | 1.0 |
| 12 | Orlando Magic | 4.0 | Aaron Gordon | 4.0 |
| 13 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 3.0 | T.J. Warren | 3.5 |
| 14 | Phoenix Suns | 5.0 | Kyle Anderson (filled 2nd need) | 3.0 |
| 15 | Atlanta Hawks | 1.5 | P.J. Hairston | 2.0 |
| 16 | Chicago Bulls | 2.0 | Jordan Adams | 2.0 |
| 17 | Boston Celtics | 3.5 | Clint Capela | 4.0 |
| 18 | Phoenix Suns | 5.0 | Mitch McGary (filled 2nd need) | 5.0 |
| 19 | Chicago Bulls | 4.0 | Kristaps Porzingis | 4.0 |
| 20 | Toronto Raptors | 1.0 | Gary Harris (filled 2nd need) | 2.0 |
| 21 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 5.0 | James Young (filled 2nd need) | 2.5 |
| 22 | Memphis Grizzlies | 2.0 | Nik Stauskas | 2.0 |
| 23 | Utah Jazz | 1.0 | Vasilije Micic | 1.0 |
| 24 | Charlotte Hornets | 3.0 | K.J. McDaniels | 3.0 |
| 25 | Houston Rockets | 1.0 | Shabazz Napier | 1.0 |
| 26 | Miami Heat | 1.0 | Elfrid Payton | 1.0 |
| 27 | Phoenix Suns | 2.5 | Rodney Hood | 3.0 |
| 28 | Los Angeles Clippers | 3.0 | Glenn Robinson | 3.0 |
| 29 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 5.0 | Walter Tavares | 5.0 |
| 30 | San Antonio Spurs | 5.0 | Artem Klimenko | 5.0 |
| 31 | Milwaukee Bucks | 2.0 | Bogdan Bogdanovic | 2.0 |
| 32 | Philadelphia 76ers | best | Jarnell Stokes | 4.0 |
| 33 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 2.0 | Zach LaVine | 2.0 |
| 34 | Dallas Mavericks | 3.0 | Damien Inglis | 3.0 |
| 35 | Utah Jazz | 4.0 | Adreian Payne | 4.0 |
| 36 | Milwaukee Bucks | 3.0 | Jerami Grant | 3.0 |
| 37 | Toronto Raptors | 1.0 | Russ Smith | 1.0 |
| 38 | Detroit Pistons | 2.0 | Jabari Brown | 2.0 |
| 39 | Philadelphia 76ers | 3.0 | Thanasis Antetokounmpo | 3.0 |
| 40 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 1.5 | Spencer Dinwiddie | 2.0 |
| 41 | Denver Nuggets | 3.0 | Cleanthony Early | 3.0 |
| 42 | Houston Rockets | 2.5 | Devyn Marble | 2.0 |
| 43 | Atlanta Hawks | 1.5 | Deonte Burton | 1.0 |
| 44 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 2.5 | DeAndre Daniels | 3.0 |
| 45 | Charlotte Hornets | 1.5 | C.J. Wilcox | 2.0 |
| 46 | Washington Wizards | 5.0 | Nikola Jokic | 5.0 |
| 47 | Philadelphia 76ers | 1.0 or 2.0 | Nick Johnson | 2.0 |
| 48 | Milwaukee Bucks | 2.0 | Jordan Clarkson | 1.5 |
| 49 | Chicago Bulls | 1.5 | Jahii Carson | 1.0 |
| 50 | Phoenix Suns | 1.0 | Patric Young | 4.5 |
| 51 | Dallas Mavericks | 5.0 | Isaiah Austin | 5.0 |
| 52 | Philadelphia 76ers | 3.0 | CJ Fair | 3.5 |
| 53 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 4.5 | Dwight Powell | 4.0 |
| 54 | Philadelphia 76ers | best | Rasmus Larsen | 4.0 |
| 55 | Miami Heat | 4.0 | Cory Jefferson | 4.0 |
| 56 | Denver Nuggets | 2.0 | Semaj Christon | 2.0 |
| 57 | Indiana Pacers | 2.0 | Xavier Thames | 2.0 |
| 58 | San Antonio Spurs | 4.0 | Khem Birch | 4.0 |
| 59 | Toronto Raptors | 4.0 | Johnny O’Bryant | 4.5 |
| 60 | San Antonio Spurs | 4.5 | Moussa Diagne | 5.0 |
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