NBA Draft 2018: Updated 1st-Round Mock Draft as Regular Season Draws to a Close
The NBA is mere steps away from the 82-game marathon's finish line. Once play concludes Wednesday night, 16 teams will embark on hope-fueled playoff journeys while the other 14 set sail for early fishing trips.
It'll never been clearer where teams will be drafting and what they must find in the draft. Given that prospects have largely established their values ahead of the workout circuit, it's also getting easier to tell where these players fit best.
After running through a mock first round, we'll highlight three of the best prospect-team fits.
2018 NBA Mock Draft
1. Phoenix Suns: Deandre Ayton, C, Arizona
2. Memphis Grizzlies: Luka Doncic, SG/SF, Slovenia
3. Dallas Mavericks: Marvin Bagley III, PF/C, Duke
4. Atlanta Hawks: Mohamed Bamba, C, Texas
5. Orlando Magic: Michael Porter Jr., SF/PF, Missouri
6. Sacramento Kings: Jaren Jackson Jr., PF/C, Michigan State
7. Chicago Bulls: Trae Young, PG, Oklahoma
8. Cleveland Cavaliers (via Brooklyn Nets): Wendell Carter Jr., C, Duke
9. New York Knicks: Collin Sexton, PG, Alabama
10. Philadelphia 76ers (via Los Angeles Lakers): Mikal Bridges, SF, Villanova
11. Charlotte Hornets: Kevin Knox, SF, Kentucky
12. Los Angeles Clippers (via Detroit Pistons): Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, PG, Kentucky
13. Los Angeles Clippers: Robert Williams, C, Texas A&M
14. Denver Nuggets: Miles Bridges, SF/PF, Michigan State
15. Washington Wizards: Zhaire Smith, SF, Texas Tech
16. Phoenix Suns (via Miami Heat): Dzanan Musa, SG/SF, Bosnia and Herzegovina
17. Milwaukee Bucks: Daniel Gafford, C, Arkansas
18. Atlanta Hawks (via Minnesota Timberwolves): Anfernee Simons, PG/SG, IMG Academy
19. Minnesota Timberwolves (via Oklahoma City Thunder): Khyri Thomas, SG, Creighton
20. San Antonio Spurs: Jontay Porter, C, Missouri
21. Chicago Bulls (via New Orleans Pelicans): Mitchell Robinson, C, USA
22. Utah Jazz: Keita Bates-Diop, SF/PF, Ohio State
23. Indiana Pacers: Jacob Evans, SF, Cincinnati
24. Portland Trail Blazers: Bruno Fernando, C, Maryland
25. Los Angeles Lakers (via Cleveland Cavaliers): Aaron Holiday, PG, UCLA
26. Philadelphia 76ers: Lonnie Walker IV, SG, Miami
27. Boston Celtics: Troy Brown, SG/SF, Oregon
28. Golden State Warriors: Chandler Hutchison, SG/SF, Boise State
29. Brooklyn Nets (via Toronto Raptors): Hamidou Diallo, SG, Kentucky
30. Atlanta Hawks (via Houston Rockets): Tony Carr, PG, Penn State
Michael Porter Jr. Gives Magic Their Go-To Scorer
Short on stars and sitting outside the playoffs for the sixth straight season, the Orlando Magic can't afford to bypass talent to address a need. They wouldn't have to if they're able to get their hands on Michael Porter Jr.
Orlando's 20th-ranked defense has more potential than it sounds. Aaron Gordon and Jonathan Isaac offer drool-worthy combinations of length, athleticism and versatility. Porter fits a similar mold, especially if he shows a better buy-in at the defensive end.
But it's Porter's offensive ceiling that would make him such a snug fit in Disney's home team. The Magic need a No. 1 option. They have support scorers trying to carry the load right now, but Gordon lacks shooting efficiency and Evan Fournier and Nikola Vucevic don't have that type of consistency.
Porter, though, could be the answer. He's a 6'10", three-level scorer. Before a back injury effectively wiped out his freshman season, he was ranked at or near the top of this class because of his point-producing prowess.
"His ability to face up, handle, make tough jumpers and use his height is rare," Jeremy Woo wrote for Sports Illustrated in August. "He appears to be the top talent in that mold going into next year, which is really all that matters."
Sixers Keep Mikal Bridges in Philly
For the first time since The Process started, the Philadelphia 76ers will finally be forced to consider a prospect's immediate impact. Mikal Bridges, who starred just up the road for the national champion Villanova Wildcats, might be the safest pick for a day-one contributor inside the top 10.
"The 6'7" wing is making 'pro shots' more regularly than ever and doing most of the things any NBA team would want him to do at the next level," CBSSports.com's Gary Parrish wrote in March. "His ability to guard multiple positions makes him somebody who could theoretically contribute to a playoff team on opening night."
Bridges would take what the Sixers already do and make them better at it. They rank in the top half of the league in three-point makes (10.9 per game, 12th) and percentage (36.6, tied for 11th), and he made 2.6 triples at a 43.5 percent clip as a junior. They have the Association's third-best defense, and Bridges—a co-Big East Defensive Player of the Year in 2016-17—would enhance its athleticism and versatility.
As an added bonus, Bridges might offer more growth potential than the typical "safe" upperclassmen. Because the 21-year-old broke out in such a big way this past season—nearly doubling his scoring average and launching his player efficiency rating from 21.0 to 26.8—it's hard to imagine he's anywhere close to his ceiling.
Tom Thibodeau Lands a Premier Stopper
Imagine how the perfect prospect might look for Tom Thibodeau.
He'd have to be an elite defender and one who could contribute sooner than later since the Minnesota Timberwolves didn't quite achieve as much as many expected. He'd also need a trusty three ball—no one has hit fewer threes than Minnesota—and versatility to blend in with different iterations of the T-Wolves wings.
Khyri Thomas checks off all those boxes.
The Creighton junior's defense is phenomenal, and it was voted the best in the Big East—once as a shared honor, once as a standalone—each of the past two seasons. Villanova coach Jay Wright said Thomas "can guard anybody," per Jon Nyatawa of the Omaha World-Herald. That doesn't seem like an obvious strength for the 6'3" combo guard, but his long arms, athleticism and instincts allow him to defend up or down a position.
That's the primary selling point for Thomas—and probably enough to convince Thibodeau—but it's not all that he offers. Thomas made 40.6 percent of his three-pointers over three seasons with the Bluejays. That's an intoxicating number for a team with only two 37-plus-percent shooters in the rotation: Karl-Anthony Towns and Nemanja Bjelica.
As an added bonus, Thomas spent the 2016-17 season in college alongside Minnesota rookie Justin Patton, so two of the primary 'Pups would already have some chemistry together.
Statistics used courtesy of Sports Reference and NBA.com.
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