NBA Draft 2015: Notable Prospects and Opening-Round Order Entering Lottery
NBA draft season kicks into gear on Tuesday night, where 14 teams will watch ping-pong balls randomly determine the future.
As four teams compete in the conference finals, clubs who missed the playoffs altogether will partake in the draft lottery. There's no grand prize waiting at the top, but a drop-off exists after the first tier of talent.
By now, most folks have heard their fair share about Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor. Once the official order is decided, the two top-pick candidates will only become more scrutinized before June 25. So let's shift focus to three other intriguing big men garnering hype.
| 1 | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| 2 | New York Knicks |
| 3 | Philadelphia 76ers |
| 4 | Los Angeles Lakers* |
| 5 | Orlando Magic |
| 6 | Sacramento Kings |
| 7 | Denver Nuggets |
| 8 | Detroit Pistons |
| 9 | Charlotte Hornets |
| 10 | Miami Heat* |
| 11 | Indiana Pacers |
| 12 | Utah Jazz |
| 13 | Phoenix Suns |
| 14 | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| 15 | Atlanta Hawks (via Brooklyn Nets) |
| 16 | Boston Celtics |
| 17 | Milwaukee Bucks |
| 18 | Houston Rockets (via New Orleans Pelicans) |
| 19 | Washington Wizards |
| 20 | Toronto Raptors |
| 21 | Dallas Mavericks |
| 22 | Chicago Bulls |
| 23 | Portland Trail Blazers |
| 24 | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| 25 | Memphis Grizzlies |
| 26 | San Antonio Spurs |
| 27 | Los Angeles Lakers (via Houston Rockets) |
| 28 | Boston Celtics (via Los Angeles Clippers) |
| 29 | Brooklyn Nets (via Atlanta Hawks) |
| 30 | Golden State Warriors |
*The Los Angeles Lakers will give the Philadelphia 76ers their pick if outside the top five. The Miami Heat will relinquish their pick to Philadelphia if outside the top 10.
Kristaps Porzingis, PF, Latvia
While pre-lottery mocks haven't reached any consensus, they all follow a typical pattern. Towns and Okafor occupy the top two spots, not necessarily in that order, and guards D'Angelo Russell and Emmanuel Mudiay switch from No. 3 and 4.
The latest buzz, however, suggests Latvia's Kristaps Porzingis could crash the party. One general manager told NBA.com's Scott Howard-Cooper that the international big man "could go two." Another team's head of basketball operations also hyped him up.
"I think he's a lock for the top five and I wouldn't be surprised to see him go as high as top three," the unnamed source said. "He's good. We all like to do our comparables. He's like Dirk Nowitzki or Pau Gasol..... I'd take him ahead of Okafor."
From the Nowitzki and Gasol mentions, one can surmise that Porzingis is a big man with a silky-smooth offensive game. The 7-footer plays like a small forward, projecting as a matchup nightmare on the perimeter.
He also showed some defensive upside, swatting 1.08 blocks per game in 21.4 minutes for his professional Spanish club, per RealGM.com. While the 19-year-old is currently lanky for his size, a lottery team will take him to score, not crash the boards.
Willie Cauley-Stein, C, Kentucky
Willie Cauley-Stein has one fan in the lottery, although they'll need to shoot up the board to snag him. According to Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star, Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird offered the Kentucky big man high praise:
Ranked No. 8 on ESPN Insider Chad Ford's big board, the 21-year-old spent his junior year hidden in Towns' shadow. At the NBA draft combine, he measured as the second-tallest prospect behind Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky.
He'll have a tough time matching Bird's appraisal years down the road. Then again, Bleacher Report's Ethan Norof pointed out the former Hall of Famer's shaky track record involving centers and max deals:
"Willie Cauley-Stein might be a $100M player as Larry Bird suggested, but the #Pacers also gave Roy Hibbert a max deal. So. There’s that.
— Ethan Norof (@Mr_Norof) May 17, 2015"
Cauley-Stein is an elite defender far more versatile than most big men. Along with protecting the rim, he can guard smaller positions a la Joakim Noah. Offensively, however, he must progress to avoid getting labeled a space-eater.
He never got a chance to prove otherwise in Kentucky, attempting 6.1 shots per game last season. Trouble could also await if the NBA doesn't address the practice of intentionally fouling poor free-throw shooters; he shot 50.8 percent from the line during his three years with the Wildcats.
Rakeem Christmas, PF, Syracuse
The holidays came early for Rakeem Christmas, who boosted his draft stock with a terrific combine display. During Thursday's five-on-five scrimmage, the Syracuse forward recorded 20 points and six rebounds,.
"I'm not sure any player has helped himself more than Rakeem Christmas in these two days,'' ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman said during Friday's broadcast, via Syracuse.com's Mike Waters.
Along with brandishing the second-longest wingspan behind Robert Upshaw, he showed off a polished mid-range jumper. Basketball Insiders' Steve Kyler recorded part of his practice shootaround:
Given a larger role during his senior year, Christmas—who averaged 5.8 points per game as a junior—generated 17.5 points per contest on 55.2 percent shooting. Always an efficient scorer, he netted a 56.0 field-goal percentage through his four years at Syracuse.
Rated No. 53 by Ford, Christmas cemented a draft selection. The strong showing should place him comfortably in the second round with a slim shot of invading Round 1.
Combine info courtesy of NBA.com.
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