Things are starting to heat up on the NBA Draft front specifically for those teams already eliminated or facing playoff elimination this week.
The 2019 March Madness Tournament kicks off next Tuesday with the “First Four,” and the major teams and players take the floor on March 21st and 22nd, which will ramp up draft talk and ranking speculation.
It’s important to state that while the NCAA Tournament brings a ton of visibility to players, it isn’t nearly the deciding factor some like to make it out to be. Most NBA teams have a good grasp on their top 100 players and have thoroughly scouted and investigated those players. The tournament stage often helps answer questions and assumptions, but usually, teams already have an idea of what players are going to be at the next level.
That’s not to say a bubble guy can’t push himself one way or the other with a strong or weak performance, but usually, the idea that the tournament can catapult a guy way up or way down typically is not the case. Most insiders will say a good tournament can help win over scouts and executives, but that a bad showing doesn’t necessarily hurt as much as you’d think, unless its an utter collapse. So be careful about tournament exuberance – the hype is never as real as you think, any more than the idea of draft stock declines.
There is some truth to this idea, a lot of NBA general managers – especially ones running winning teams – don’t spend as much time scouting as say teams looking at the lottery, so there is a chance for a player to catch a GM’s eye, especially players on non-major teams. The draft is littered with mid-major guys jumping into the discussion, but usually, it means more draft workouts.
Donte DiVincenzo helped himself tremendously last year, but it was his draft workouts that really sealed the deal for him. No one is drafting a guy on his tournament play. It’s way too big a decision for one weekend to make or break a player at the next level.
Here is this week’s Mock Draft:
Here are the first-round picks that are owed and how those picks landed where they are.
The Atlanta Hawks are to receive the Cleveland Cavaliers’ first-round pick as a result of the Kyle Korver trade in 2017, which is top-10 protected. But based on the standings, it will not be conveyed.
The Atlanta Hawks are to receive the Dallas Mavericks first-round pick as a result of the Luka Dončić – Trae Young swap on draft night in 2018. The pick is top-five protected and, based on the standings, would convey.
The Boston Celtics are to receive the Memphis Grizzlies first-round pick as a result of the three-team Jeff Green trade in 2015; the pick is top-eight protected and, based on the current standings, would not convey.
The Boston Celtics are to receive the more favorable of either the Sacramento Kings or Philadelphia 76ers first-round picks as part of the Markelle Fultz pre-draft trade in 2017. Based on the current standings, the Kings pick is the more favorable and would convey to Boston.
The Boston Celtics are to receive the LA Clippers first-round pick as a result of the Deyonta Davis draft day trade with Memphis in 2016. The Grizzlies got the pick in their Jeff Green/Lance Stephenson deal at the deadline in 2016. The pick is lottery protected and, based on the current standings, would not convey.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are to receive the Houston Rockets first-round pick as a result of the three-team deadline deal that sent out Brandon Knight and Marquese Chriss.
The Brooklyn Nets are to receive the Denver Nuggets first-round pick as a result of the Kenneth Faried – Darrell Arthur trade in July 2018. The pick is top-12 protected and, based on the current standings, would convey.
The San Antonio Spurs are to receive the Toronto Raptors first-round pick as a result of the Kawhi Leonard – DeMar DeRozan trade in July 2018. The pick is top-20 protected and, based on the current standings, would convey.
The Phoenix Suns are to receive the Milwaukee Bucks first-round pick as a result of the Eric Bledsoe trade in 2017. The pick has top 3 and 17-30 protections, designed to yield a lottery-level pick to Phoenix. Based on the current standings this pick would not convey. If the debt is not settled this year, the pick in 2020 would be top-7 protected.
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