YurView has gone through ten of the most popular NBA Mock Drafts from around the web (as of June 20 except where noted), averaging out each prospect’s projected slot, or in a few cases, slotting a prospect if there was a general consensus across multiple mocks. With that disclaimer, we bring you the YurView First Round Mock Draft ahead of the 2017 NBA Draft on June 22. Check out picks #21-30 here and #11-20 here.
10. Sacramento Kings – Frank Ntilikina, PG
The Frenchmen is in the mix for the top international draft selection. Up until Draft week, he was steady holding at #9 to Dallas, but he’s now dropped out of the top 10 in two of the mock drafts we looked at. Four of them still have him going to the Mavs, but Draft Express has him going the lowest, at #14, hurting his average draft slot.
9. Dallas Mavericks – Dennis Smith Jr., PG
The athletic NC State product has also taken a slight slide during draft week, and he’s now projected to be the point guard Dallas selects at #9. Five of the mocks have him at #9, while last week he was mostly considered to be pick #7. NBADraft.net is the lone holdout keeping him at that spot.
8. New York Knicks – Lauri Markkanen, PF
The Finnish stretch four is vying for the title of top international prospect to be drafted, and six of the ten mock drafts we went through had the University of Arizona product as the #7 pick. USA Today has him at #10, while three others have him at #11. When asked in 2016, where he saw himself in 2020, he said the NBA. He’ll find himself there in 2017.
7. Minnesota Timberwolves – Malik Monk, SG
The smooth Kentucky guard comes in at #7 to Minnesota. Interestingly enough, none of the mocks have him at this spot but CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish and Bleacher Report have him the highest at #6. ESPN’s Chad Ford is the lone draftnik with him outside of the top 10.
6. Orlando Magic – Jonathan Isaac, PF
The FSU forward has consistently been just outside the top 5 seemingly all year, and the consensus is he won’t get out of the state of Florida with the Magic selecting sixth. Seven of the mock drafters have the long athlete going at this spot.
5. Sacramento Kings – De’Aaron Fox, PG
The lightning quick UK point guard will go either #4, like Fox Sports says or #5, like NBC Sports says. The mock drafters are split evenly. The Suns dominate the former Kentucky guard market, so it’s not hard to envision Fox in Phoenix at #4, but with Jayson Tatum likely making a jump into the top 5, this slides Fox down a slot.
4. Phoenix Suns – Jayson Tatum, SF
With Boston and Philadelphia swapping picks #1 and #3, the belief by five of the evaluators is that the Celtics will nab Tatum at #3, since he’s worked out for them and Josh Jackson and Lonzo Ball have not. In average draft position by the ten mock drafts, however, the Duke scorer will go #4. Nobody believes he’ll fall past #6.
3. Boston Celtics – Josh Jackson, SF
As of now, five of the mock drafts have Boston selecting Josh Jackson at #3 overall. Danny Ainge said that they’d likely be able to draft the same player at #3 than they would have at #1, but Sports Illustrated and The Ringer are among the outlets that believe that Tatum is that player, not Jackson. Still, the Kansas talent has a higher average draft position overall than Tatum.
2. Los Angeles Lakers – Lonzo Ball, PG
After all the rumors throughout the draft process, Lonzo Ball is still expected to stay home in Los Angeles, according to every mock draft. Although unlikely, the draft would become very interesting if the Lakers go somewhere else at #2.
1. Philadelphia 76ers – Markelle Fultz, PG
It doesn’t matter who has the top pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, Markelle Fultz is going #1, and he was always going #1. For Fultz, it was either that, or become an accountant.
