NBA Draft 2015: Highlights of Expert Mock Drafts from Around the Web

As the 2015 NBA draft draws nearer, anticipation for the event is starting to reach a fever pitch. Unlike the NFL draft, we don't have to wait four months after the league crowns a champion to see where the newest crop of players will land.

This year's draft class has a lot of talent at the top and some intriguing prospects toward the end of the first round who can have success if they end up in the right situations. As is the case around draft time for any sport, mock drafts abound across the web from experts and novices alike.

We are here to make your mock draft perusal as easy and efficient as possible, so here are some highlights of expert mock drafts from around the Internet.

We'll start with Bleacher Report's own resident draft expert, Jonathan Wasserman. The top three in Wasserman's draft are pretty standard: Karl-Anthony Towns to Minnesota, Jahlil Okafor to the Lakers and D'Angelo Russell to the Sixers.

But Wasserman has a bit of a surprise when he gets to the New York Knicks at fourth overall. Instead of the common pick of Emmanuel Mudiay, Wasserman has the Knicks going with Willie Cauley-Stein out of Kentucky. And he makes a valid case.

Wasserman points out that Mudiay, a pick-and-roll point guard who dominates the ball, wouldn't be a great fit in the triangle system the Knicks are running. Cauley-Stein, however, gives the Knicks the rim protection and defensive versatility they desperately need. He can guard big men and switch out on guards or wing players and stay with them, and he's an athletic freak who will always be a threat in transition.

Wasserman also points out that it may make sense for the Knicks to trade down and snag Cauley-Stein later, but that requires finding someone willing to move up and still putting themselves in a position where they think Cauley-Stein will still be available. 

Carmelo Anthony is still going to dominate the offense in the Big Apple. What the Knicks need is a player to shore up their defense and give them more athleticism down low. Cauley-Stein can give them that in spades.

Next, we move to the folks at CBSSports.com, who provided us with three mocks, one each from Sam Vecenie, Gary Parrish and Zach Harper. One of the players who stands out here is Notre Dame's Jerian Grant.

Parrish and Harper have Grant going 18th overall to the Houston Rockets while Vecenie has him going one pick later to the Washington Wizards. If Grant is still on the board this late, either team would sprint to the podium to make him the pick.

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

Grant is a bit of a combo guard who can create his own shot off the dribble and set up his teammates. He would help fill a need in the backcourt for either of these teams.

If the Rockets landed Grant, he could take some of the ball-handling duties away from James Harden and give the Rockets another playmaker. With Patrick Beverley set to hit restricted free agency, the Rockets will need to find another guard to fit into their rotation.

And count Harden himself among those who thinks this team needs another playmaker. Via Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, Harden said he "definitely" wants another playmaker by his side.

Harden went on to say, "That's one of the conversations me and Daryl are going to have (and) the coaches. That's one of the pieces to add, but that's later conversations."

And if Grant ends up with the Wizards, he would create a solid three-man rotation with John Wall and Bradley Beal. Grant would come of the bench, of course, but his size (6'5") and versatility would give the Wizards some lineup flexibility. 

We move now to the guys at Basketball Insiders, who have an interesting look at the end of the first round. While you can't see it in the image itself, Joel Brigham's analysis below says he has Rakeem Christmas going 30th overall to the Warriors.

Christmas is a four-year player out of Syracuse who was a role player before becoming the team's heart and soul his senior year. He averaged 17.5 points and 9.1 rebounds a game this past season (comparable numbers to Okafor, by the way), and his performance at the combine may have helped move him into the first round.

Regarding Christmas to the Dubs, Brigham said, "Christmas is reportedly doing really well in workouts and with Draymond Green up for extension and David Lee a trade candidate, shoring up the frontcourt rotation with depth and athleticism wouldn't hurt."

The other Syracuse player in the draft, however, is the most intriguing prospect of the two. That is forward Chris McCullough, who played only 16 games for the Orange before tearing his ACL. The injury and limited playing time are concerns, but three of the four mockers at Basketball Insiders have McCullough going in the late first round, either 28th to Boston or 29th to the Nets.

There is logic behind drafting McCullough here. He's a 6'10" forward with long arms, athletic ability and a nice shooting touch from around 15 feet. He's got lottery talent written all over him, but obviously the injury will push him down draft boards.

But in the NBA draft in particular, it's essentially a crapshoot once you get past the lottery. If a team late in the first round takes a flier McCullough and lets him heal for a year, they could end up with a lottery talent next year along with whatever draft pick they get in the 2016 draft.