NBA Draft 2015: Order, 1st-Round Expert Mock Draft and News on Top Prospects
Forget the NBA Finals. Who cares about the best team in the league taking on one of the all-time great players?
OK, you’re not going to forget, and rightfully so. But after this legendary series, the 2015 NBA Draft will move to the forefront of all things basketball.
The projected top three selections are…well…nobody knows. The list has become a game of musical chairs, with Kristaps Porzingis hopping into the fray, D’Angelo Russell skyrocketing up boards and Jahlil Okafor becoming oddly undervalued.
Below is the latest buzz along and the full order along with a mock belonging to B/R’s draft guru, Jonathan Wasserman.
Draft Order
What’s the Word?
New York Knicks Getting Moody
Nope, that’s not a typo. The New York Knicks are getting moody—on Emmanuel Mudiay.
The explosive point guard raved about coach Derek Fisher after a workout last week, calling the former champion floor general “a real good person” and “a winner. A proven winner,” per Marc Raimondi of the New York Post.
Could Mudiay have been more impressed with the Knicks than the Knicks were with him? According to a recent report from ESPN’s Chad Ford, the ‘Bockers might look to trade down three players in particular are gone. And Mudiay isn't one of them:
Fellow ESPNer Ian Begley relays more from Ford’s report on why president Phil Jackson might try to move the No. 4 pick:
"It sounds as if they remain on the fence about both Emmanuel Mudiay and [Kristaps] Porzingis. That's why they've been looking at players such as ... Frank Kaminsky in recent workouts. If the Knicks can get a valuable veteran and still land somewhere in the back end of the lottery, it might make more sense for them than taking a player they aren't sold on at No. 4. We know several teams, including the Nuggets and Pacers, are trying to move up in the draft.
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Interesting. Wouldn’t it be just be so Knicks-esque to trade the selection to the Denver Nuggets for, say, Danilo Gallinari (the return!) and the No. 7 pick…only to watch No. 4 become a perennial All-Star?
It just feels weird for the ‘Bockers, who tanked super hard for this moment, to trade it away for the "safe" play.
Weird, and very unwise.
New York isn't going to get back to relevance by laying low and shying away from the big moment. It's time to to step up and take a chance on a player like Mudiay (or another lottery player) who has franchise-changing abilities,
The Rise of the Zinger
Porzingis, a 7’1” Latvian forward who has lived just 19 years, is flying up draft boards like the pterodactyl he is.
After an impressive workout last week, the lanky big man is now being projected as high as No. 2 to the Los Angeles Lakers, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein:
Ford passed along a similar sentiment, as well as some footage of the workout that set the world ablaze:
What was the big deal? Well, a 7’1” athletic forward who’s a legitimate shooter is a big deal. Keith Pompey of Philly.com reported perhaps the biggest deal of ‘em all:
He'd be a perfect fit with the Knicks, who are insistent on running the triangle (or any other team, really). The Zinger can move smoothly, shoot and put the ball on the floor. Oh, and he's also enormous.
With the way Porzingis continues to climb, though, would it be that surprising if he soon usurped the No. 1 spot from Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns?
At this point, not really. And that’s saying something.
