2016 NBA Mock Draft: Prospects Facing Major Fall Down Draft Boards

Fifteen NBA teams are currently in full offseason mode. They're planning their free-agency strategies, booking rooms for the draft combine and, heck, sometimes even looking for the decision-makers who will be handling all that fun stuff.

The draft process in particular takes on a more interesting tack this season. College players are now able to enter their names in the draft an unlimited amount of times and can choose to return to school any time between now and 10 days after May's combine—provided they don't hire representation. That means the player pool is going to be bigger than ever.

That, for all of us, means hours and hours of extra research. Luckily, I am the type of person who is 100 percent willing to spend my Saturday nights watching Synergy film rather than, like, talking to other humans in a social setting. 

With that in mind, here's a look at the latest outlook for June's draft.

Mock Draft

Pick	Team	Player	Position	School
1	Philadelphia 76ers	Ben Simmons	F	LSU
2	Los Angeles Lakers	Brandon Ingram	SF	Duke
3	Boston Celtics	Dragan Bender	PF	Croatia
4	Phoenix Suns	Henry Ellenson	PF/C	Marquette
5	Minnesota Timberwolves	Jamal Murray	PG	Kentucky
6	New Orleans Pelicans	Buddy Hield	SG	Oklahoma
7	Denver Nuggets	Jaylen Brown	SG/SF	California
8	Sacramento Kings	Kris Dunn	PG	Providence
9	Toronto Raptors	Skal Labissiere	PF/C	Kentucky
10	Milwaukee Bucks	Jakob Poeltl	C	Utah
11	Orlando Magic	Denzel Valentine	SG	Michigan State
12	Utah Jazz	Furkan Korkmaz	SG	Turkey
13	Phoenix Suns	Timothe Luwawu	SG	France
14	Chicago Bulls	Wade Baldwin IV	PG	Vanderbilt
15	Denver Nuggets	Marquese Chriss	F	Washington
16	Boston Celtics	Domantas Sabonis	PF/C	Gonzaga
17	Memphis Grizzlies	Diamond Stone	C	Maryland
18	Detroit Pistons	Tyler Ulis	PG	Kentucky
19	Denver Nuggets	Jonathan Jeanne	PF/C	France
20	Indiana Pacers	Demetrius Jackson	PG	Notre Dame
21	Atlanta Hawks	Deyonta Davis	PF	Michigan State
22	Charlotte Hornets	DeAndre' Bembry	SG/SF	Saint Joseph's
23	Boston Celtics	Thon Maker	PF/C	Australia
24	Philadelphia 76ers	Caris LeVert	SG	Michigan
25	Los Angeles Clippers	Dejounte Murray	SG	Washington
26	Philadelphia 76ers	Cheick Diallo	PF	Kansas
27	Toronto Raptors	Taurean Prince	SF	Baylor
28	Phoenix Suns	Malik Beasley	SG	Florida State
29	San Antonio Spurs	Josh Hart	SG	Villanova
30	Golden State Warriors	Stephen Zimmerman	PF/C	UNLV

Big Board

Ranking	Player	Position	School
1	Ben Simmons	F	LSU
2	Brandon Ingram	SF	Duke
3	Dragan Bender	PF	Croatia
4	Jamal Murray	PG	Kentucky
5	Kris Dunn	PG	Providence
6	Jaylen Brown	SF	Cal
7	Buddy Hield	SG	Oklahoma
8	Henry Ellenson	PF	Marquette
9	Denzel Valentine	SG/SF	Michigan State
10	Skal Labissiere	C	Kentucky
11	Jakob Poeltl	C	Utah
12	Domantas Sabonis	PF	Gonzaga
13	Furkan Korkmaz	SG	Turkey
14	Marquese Chriss	PF	Washington
15	Demetrius Jackson	PG	Notre Dame
16	Tyler Ulis	PG	Kentucky
17	Deyonta Davis	PF	Michigan State
18	Diamond Stone	C	Maryland
19	Timothe Luwawu	SF	France
20	Wade Baldwin IV	PG	Vanderbilt
21	DeAndre' Bembry	SG/SF	Saint Joseph's
22	Dejounte Murray	PG	Washington
23	Caris LeVert	SG	Michigan
24	Thon Maker	PF/C	Australia
25	Jonathan Jeanne	PF/C	France
26	Stephen Zimmerman	C	UNLV
27	Taurean Prince	SF	Baylor
28	Josh Hart	SG	Villanova
29	Ante Zizic	C	Croatia
30	Malik Beasley	SG	Florida State

Top-Five Analysis

1. Philadelphia 76ers: SF/PF Ben Simmons, LSU

The debate about who should go No. 1 is silly. The answer has been Simmons since jump street and remains Simmons. Brandon Ingram closed the gap with a stellar freshman season at Duke, but this shouldn't be a debate.

Simmons has the potential of a transformational superstar. He's an elite athlete who fills up the stat sheet unlike many players we've ever seen at the collegiate level. While his decision to attend LSU proved ill-fated and his jumper is borderline nonexistent, Simmons was as advertised. If he can even become an average shooter at the next level, Simmons is going to be an All-Star Weekend mainstay.

This is exactly the type of player the Sixers spent the last three years punting victories for. Finishing second in the lottery would be a fine consolation, but Simmons should re-establish himself as the true prize of this class in the coming months.

2. Los Angeles Lakers: SF Brandon Ingram, Duke

Of the two, the Lakers would likely prefer Simmons. He not only has a higher upside overall, but he projects as a better long-term defender. The Lakers already drafted offense-first players in D'Angelo Russell and Julius Randle the last couple of years, so adding Simmons' versatility would be ideal.

Ingram is still quite the find at No. 2. He in some ways projects as a Kevin Durant lite. Listed at 6'9" by DraftExpress and with the frame of a man built of bendy straws, the 196-pound Ingram needs to work on his strength, his biggest weakness. (See what I did there?) He's going to get beat around a bit early in his career—even as the game gets smaller and smaller. 

When you get past the slight weaknesses, though, Ingram is a 20-point scorer in the making. He already has a ready-built stroke from beyond the arc and good open-court athleticism. No one will ever confuse him with an elite defender, but Ingram is willing to pick up blocks and steals with his length. There's no question he's a top-two pick.

3. Boston Celtics (via Brooklyn Nets): PF Dragan Bender, Croatia

Here's where the draft gets interesting. The Celtics are a true wild card of the lottery because they don't have many glaring needs. Their roster is deep and filled with good young players. They just don't have the superstar to make them true contenders.

That's why they'll go with the highest-upside pick here in Bender. There will be a lot of natural Kristaps Porzingis comparisons, but Bender is not yet on the same level. He'll need the time we thought Porzingis would need to transition to the NBA level. His consistency has been a major issue at Maccabi Tel Aviv, leading to a wildly fluctuating role. 

The Celtics can afford to take the gamble. They're going to be major players in free agency, and they control the rights to every major contributor on their roster not named Evan Turner. Marquette's Henry Ellenson, Kentucky's Jamal Murray and Oklahoma's Buddy Hield are all possibilities here, but Bender is the only potential cornerstone. 

4. Phoenix Suns: PF Henry Ellenson, Marquette

Ellenson was the best player in college basketball to receive zero national headlines last season. He put up 17.0 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game while stretching the floor for a middle-of-the-pack Marquette team. The Golden Eagles went 20-13, finishing seventh in the Big East.

Ellenson plays a bit like a diet version of Kevin Love. He doesn't have the otherworldly passing ability—something Love doesn't get to show a lot of with the Cleveland Cavaliers—but hits a number of "stretch 4" markers. There's also an above-average athlete hiding in there somewhere if Ellenson commits himself to an offseason workout program.

At 6'10", he's probably big enough to play center in some looks and may have to if his playmaking skills don't get better. But the Suns have a hole at the 4 after mercifully trading Markieff Morris, and Ellenson is the best fit if Bender is off the board.

5. Minnesota Timberwolves: PG Jamal Murray, Kentucky

Nati Harnik/Associated Press

The big question here is how committed the Timberwolves are to Ricky Rubio. The team nearly traded him to the Milwaukee Bucks at the February deadline, and there are legitimate concerns about whether a Rubio-helmed team can compete deep into May.

Rubio remains a superhuman passer, someone who creates shots no one this side of LeBron James can see. He's maybe the best defensive point guard in the league, offering a combination of size (6'4"), quickness and intelligence. But Rubio still can't shoot, and we're five years into the experiment without much progress.

Murray shot 42.1 percent from three during his lone season at Kentucky and might benefit from a year of learning under Rubio's wing as a passer. He had to play away from the ball with Tyler Ulis running things in Lexington, but Murray is a good passer who will become a lot better with time. There's a real chance he's the third-best player in this class, and getting him at No. 5 might be too good to pass up.

Prospects Falling Down Draft Boards

C Diamond Stone, Maryland

Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports

If this were a different era, Stone would have been a lottery pick. He might have even been a top-five selection. The Maryland product's 12.5 points and 5.4 rebounds weren't all that impressive during his lone collegiate season, but he's a low-post brute who would have benefited from more post touches.

Unfortunately, the NBA game is shifting away from the things Stone does well. NBA teams still use the post, but it's become more of a conduit for ball movement than a set offensive play. Stone is not a great passer, and the ball tends to stop a bit whenever it gets inside. He flashed improvement as the season went along; teams will have to hope it's a skill he develops over time.

Jumpers aren't Stone's specialty either, but he's shown fine form when he's stretched outside the paint. There's a real possibility he becomes a good shooter from 18 to 20 feet.

At issue is whether teams are willing to use a lottery pick on a ground-bound 7-footer who does his best work as a post brute. Defense is not a strong suit at this point, and the NBA isn't fawning over massive designated hitters anymore. Stone is a bit of a relic in a league going in a different direction.

SG/SF Caris LeVert, Michigan

Huge asterisk here. LeVert has been falling down draft boards for a while because of injury. He's undergone three foot surgeries in 22 months. While most of the historical problems with feet happen with big men, LeVert is carrying around massive red flags. Heading into his senior season, LeVert was hoping to play the Buddy Hield role and become a lottery pick; now he's hoping just to hang in the first round.

LeVert was averaging 16.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists, shooting 50.6 percent from the field and 44.6 percent from three before his injury last December. He has ideal size (6'7", 200 lbs) and excellent athleticism for a shooting guard, and it's possible he'll recover and become a strong NBA contributor.

For now, though, teams are understandably hesitant. 

Follow Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) on Twitter.