Sports Illustrated

The countdown to tonight’s draft has begun, with a flurry of possibilities and action reverberating around the NBA. There remains a good deal of uncertainty around the league as the draft draws closer, with the Magic and Thunder working to obscure their intentions atop the draft, and the potential for trades at several key junctures in the first round putting a wide range of scenarios in play. As usual, the SI mock aims to predict what the draft would look like if it took place on a given day (which, as you may have realized by now, happens to be today). These projections are heavily informed by intel from around the NBA and ongoing conversations with executives, scouts and others around the industry, in addition to my own personal evaluations of players, which in many cases date back years.