Post-Combine NBA Mock Draft 2.0

The measurements are in. The player list is set. The draft is under two weeks away. Who will hear their name called first?

AND JUST LIKE THAT, WE ARE ONE WIN AWAY FROM THE END OF THE NBA SEASON. And not a moment too soon, since the 2019 NBA Draft is already less than two weeks away. The Draft Lottery seems long ago, and the Combine is ancient history. All of the key prospects have been measured and tested, and all that’s left now is lots of private team interviews and workouts, plus an endless buffet of delicious, delectable rumors.

Unlike ESPN or The Athletic, I don’t get scuttlebutt from agents feeding me information they want out on their clients. I rely on my own scouting instead, after watching 5 to 20 games on most of these guys below. This mock draft isn’t what I think will happen — it’s what I think should happen, if I were in charge of each pick. If you missed it, here’s what Mock Draft 1.0 looked like a month ago. Off we go…

Again — these are MY picks, the guy *I* would take for each team right now. Questions welcome in the comments.

1. New Orleans — Zion Williamson (last mock draft: 1)

Zion is the pick and the Pelicans will keep him. And for the record, I’d keep Anthony Davis too. Are you really going to get that much less in February than you would right now? I’d like to see if he changes his mind after 40 games with Zion. Williamson is already a top-10 NBA asset right now.

2. Memphis — Ja Morant (2)

Again, we’ll stick with the obvious pick. These two seem locked in. I’ve moved Brandon Clarke ahead of Morant on my board but don’t love the fit next to Jaren Jackson Jr., and the Grizz need Ja’s star upside. I wrote this week about why Ja Morant is worth this #2 pick, even if he isn’t in most drafts.

3. New York — Brandon Clarke (6)

I’m assuming the Knicks are signing some marquee free agent this summer, which means they’re trying to win now. I’ve grown more and more sour on R.J. Barrett, and I definitely don’t want an inefficient high-usage poor defender on a win-now team. Clarke is the ultimate role player, ready to make an impact right now, and he and Mitchell Robinson would give the Knicks an absolutely filthy defensive duo that could clean up everything on one end and let Kyrie and Durant do all the scoring on the other side of things. I wrote this week about why Clarke has moved into the #2 pick on my draft board.

4. Los Angeles Lakers — Jarrett Culver (4)

Picks 3 and 4 are the real pivot points in the draft because they belong to two teams that at least think they’re in position to win now, unlike most teams with high draft picks. I’d argue that this is the perfect draft for teams like that since the best players in this draft are high-floor upperclassmen anyway, but those sort of guys don’t typically go this early as teams instead opt for players with untapped potential like Barrett, Garland, KPJ, Reddish, and Sekou. But I’m picking what I think helps teams best, and the Lakers get their top non-Zion fit in this scenario. Culver is the exact sort of defender and secondary handler the Lakers lack, built to play playoff minutes with LeBron the next few years. I’ve cooled on Culver’s star upside a bit but wrote this week why he’s still worthy of a high draft pick.

5. Cleveland — R.J. Barrett (3)

As the top of my draft board comes into focus, it no longer includes Barrett. He’s slid to #5 or worse, and he’s also outside my top two tiers. Barrett doesn’t defend. He makes poor decisions. And he can’t shoot. The last one can be fixed but I’m not confident it will, and the other two seem like defining traits. So why take him here at all? Because Cleveland has zero pieces I would want to build around — Kevin Love is a trade chip and I’m not in on Collin Sexton — so you have to just take the highest upside here and hope you like what you find.

6. Phoenix — De’Andre Hunter (5)

A lot of mocks will pick a point guard to Phoenix here, but I don’t like it. The Suns are going to have to keep the ball in Devin Booker’s hands a lot the next few years, so I want the other guard next to him to be an elite-defending low-usage player with a great shot. Really, with so much invested in Booker and Deandre Ayton already — two high-usage players that don’t defend well, to put it kindly — that’s the only sort of player I’d be interested in surrounding them with. And to that end, De’Andre Hunter could not be a better fit. Give me a 2019 lineup with De’Anthony Melton, Booker, Mikal Bridges, Hunter, and Ayton and let’s see how much the team improves.

7. Chicago — Coby White (7)

Much of what I just wrote about Phoenix is true in Chicago, except that the Bulls are less invested in Zach LaVine and since I don’t think he’s a positive team piece, I’m not really building around him per se. Lauri Markkanen and Wendell Carter Jr. are the building blocks. Unfortunately, a lot of the next guys in this range I like are big men that don’t fit well. That means either gambling on an upside wing to develop behind Otto Porter or investing in a poor defensive point guard to give the team one of the worst-defending back courts in the league with LaVine. I’m confident Coby White is an NBA contributor, though I’m less confident he’s a point guard, let alone a starter. His ability to contribute off ball makes him a better fit than Garland, and he takes less off the table defensively long term.

8. Atlanta — Grant Williams (8)

I gave Atlanta Grant Williams in my last mock too because I love the fit with Grant being used in the Draymond role on offense on the short role and in 4-on-3 downhill decision-making situations off a pick-and-roll with Trae Young. But I don’t think Atlanta keeps this pick. The Hawks now have picks 8, 10, 17, 35, 41, and 44. Atlanta can’t get Zion, but they should be able to trade up for the #2 player on their draft board now. That obviously isn’t Morant since he’s a point guard, and Barrett would have never fit on this team. It would have been too rich to package 8 and 10 to move up to 4 or 5, but 8 and 17 is perfectly fine, or even something like 8/35/44 for 6 if they only need to slide a couple spots. Atlanta is in position to leave the draft with their #2 target — whether that’s Culver, Clarke, Hunter, Reddish, etc — after taking the #1 guy on their board last year. This is how you build a team.

9. Washington — P.J. Washington (11)

The Wizards are one of the least interesting teams in the league to me. They’re staring down the barrel of a lost season with John Wall out and eating so much cap, and “season” is probably going to be plural. I’d trade Bradley Beal and start over. Since I can’t do that, I’m giving them a guy ready to contribute now at a position of need.

10. Atlanta — Cam Reddish (18)

I’ve been farther and farther out on Reddish as the season’s gone on, but my dislike for Barrett has made me feel I should give Cam another chance on a team that fits better, and hoo boy is that team Atlanta. I could watch Reddish shoot open jumpers all day, and he’ll get them with Trae Young’s gravity. I would be unbelievably excited to see what a team with Trae, Kevin Huerter, Reddish, John Collins, and Grant Williams looks like.

11. Minnesota — Chuma Okeke (14)

I’m starting to get cautiously optimistic about the Wolves. We Minnesota fans are slow to talk ourselves into good things, but the Rosas era is real, and the coaching staff looks legit too. The team’s biggest need right now is a better four, and that just happens to be the best position available in this draft. I still have 12 more days to dream about Brandon Clarke next to KAT, but even if he’s off the board, players like Grant, P.J. and Okeke are still tantalizing fits. And I’m starting to believe front office is smart enough to figure that out.

12. Charlotte — Jontay Porter (12)

Jontay remains my favorite big man in the draft, though obviously I have no way to know just how serious his injury situation is. I can buy Kemba and Jontay as sort of a knockoff version of Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic, with Porter’s passing filling out the Hornets offense.

13. Miami — Nickeil Alexander-Walker (13)

NAW is a guy I’m pretty confident in as a likely starter — he just also plays the position I care the least about. With Dwyade Wade retiring, that’s a need in Miami now, and they’ll value Alexander-Walker’s defense and versatility too.

14. Boston — Darius Garland (9)

I have no reason to believe Darius Garland actually falls to #14 on draft day, but this is closer to where he’ll likely end up on my draft board. That said, this is a dream scenario for Boston, where Garland steps into the Kyrie / IT4 heat check jump shot role on offense if the jumper and handle are real.

15. Detroit — Talen Horton-Tucker (16)

The Pistons are another uninteresting team whose roster makes little sense to me. And if there are no real building blocks I’m planning around, I’m usually gambling on upside. THT is a wildcard that could turn into anything from a 3&D wing to a lead handler or wash out entirely.

16. Orlando — Kevin Porter Jr. (15)

Orlando has a similar roster construction to Detroit in that they shouldn’t really draft big men but have little to offer at the wing or guard positions. This is another swing on upside and lead handling. I think KPJ has one of the highest bust rates in the draft, but he might also have a top-5 ceiling in the low likelihood that he hits. This pick is the baseball equivalent of having a .240 hitter that will hit 40 home runs but strike out 200 times.

17. Atlanta — Jaxson Hayes (10)

This would be a dream of a draft for the Hawks, adding Reddish, Grant, and now Hayes. Everyone has Atlanta using one of their two top-10 picks on a big man, but there are no top-10 bigs in this draft. I’m good with them rolling the dice on a big here. Hayes would give Atlanta a second lob threat with John Collins and act as JaVale McGee in this Warriors East construction.

18. Indiana — Nassir Little (22)

The Pacers are just the sort of team I’d like to see Nassir Little end up on. Here he can take a low profile and spend a couple years learning from a team with a good history of player development, so the mental part of the game can catch up with his raw talent. Remember, Indiana drafted Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, and Danny Granger all in the teens and saw each one become a star.

19. San Antonio — Nic Claxton (27)

The Spurs have the opposite roster construction of Orlando and Detroit — they have guards I like but need big men for the future. Claxton has intrigued me all year. He’s a raw project but he has a lot of defensive potential and an intriguing offensive skill set.

20. Boston — Tyler Herro (21)

Herro had a great workout for the Celtics this week and fits the need for a shooter and scorer off the bench. I’m assuming both Kyrie and Rozier are gone at this point, and I like both Garland and Herro playing next to Marcus Smart, giving Boston some new back court options.

21. Oklahoma City — Isaiah Roby (17)

Until OKC trades one of Russ, PG, or Adams, they’re still just hunting for low-usage complimentary players that fit around them. Jerami Grant looks like an answer at the four, but Roby gives them another option. He’s long and springy with nice defensive upside, especially as a help defender.

22. Boston — Sekou Doumbouya (29)

I don’t know a ton about the international players in this class, but I can’t use a lottery pick on Sekou. He’s a combo forward, and that’s the one loaded position in this draft, so why take a super raw guy that doesn’t seem to have much feel for the game? Boston has done well developing such talents, and as a third pick in the round, they could stash him overseas for a year or two.

23. Utah — Ty Jerome (NR)

I don’t love using a pick this high on Ty Jerome, who feels like a quintessential high second-round pick backup, but he also feels like just a perfect plug-and-play starting point guard next to Donovan Mitchell. Jerome isn’t athletic, but otherwise he’s pretty much good at everything else. Think Malcolm Brogdon, a shooter who makes smart passes, defends well, and doesn’t need the ball.

24. Philadelphia — Keldon Johnson (NR)

Just realized I forgot to put Keldon in my first mock. Oops. I definitely think Keldon is a first round pick, though I can’t decide if he’s just Kent Bazemore or if there’s some more upside there. John Calipari tends to lock guys into roles that under utilize his players’ strength, and Keldon shows flashes.

25. Portland — Goga Bitadze (19)

The Blazers badly need forward help, but they also need a center to soak up minutes since I don’t think Jusuf Nurkic will be back for awhile. Bitadze seems well suited to do that, and I like Zach Collins better off the bench and at the four. Goga could move up my draft board as I learn more nearing draft day.

26. Cleveland — Bol Bol (30)

I am not a Bol believer at all. He’s like a more extreme version of Kevin Porter Jr. to me, with like a 2–3% chance of hitting but obviously huge upside if the package is real. There are a bunch of guys like Bol, Sekou, Romeo Langford, and KZ Okpala that fit as a nice Cavs swing on upside with this late-first pick.

27. Brooklyn — Matisse Thybulle (20)

I’m not entirely sure how Thybulle fell so far on my draft board… just sort of happened. He’s a definite first rounder for me and a potential stud defender and great complimentary player for a team targeting max guys in free agency.

28. Golden State — Dylan Windler (28)

The Warriors badly need guys ready to play right now, especially shooters. Windler looks like a great complimentary piece out of Belmont. I love him as a Ws or Bucks pick at the end of the first and prefer him to Cam Johnson.

29. San Antonio — KZ Okpala (NR)

The Spurs seem to like gambling on rangy, athletic dudes with raw, unpolished games. It worked with Dejounte Murray, and the jury’s still out on Lonnie Walker. Okpala is another lottery ticket.

30. Milwaukee — DaQuan Jeffries (NR)

The Bucks are tough since so many key players are free agents. Contenders that keep their late firsts should use them on high-floor rotation guys since they lock in at such a cheap contract. DaQuan is an elite athlete with a great feel for the game and terrific team defense. An easy plug and play. ■

Dropped out

Rui Hachimura (23) Neemias Queta (24) — removed his name from the draft Jalen McDaniels (25) Romeo Langford (26)

Thanks for reading! Be sure to follow for plenty more NBA Draft content to come. If you’ve missed anything, here are my profiles of the four best players in the 2019 draft…

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