Here’s hoping you got a good sweeping in, now that the dust has settled following the NBA trade deadline. We’re closer than ever to determining just which teams will get to fill needs in what order, but we know pretty definitively in all cases what those needs are now. Meanwhile, the stars of tomorrow keep on making their impressions, solidifying or defying conventional wisdom. Where do we think it will all land, as of right now? To the draft board!
(Order based on current standings and pre-existing trade agreements made as of March 1)
Howard Megdal's NBA Mock Draft 3.0
| 1 |  |
| Markelle Fultz, PG, Washington: The fact remains that Fultz is also the best two guard in this draft while he’s able to play the point as well as anyone. Whatever concerns exist about Fultz playing for a losing team in Washington are more than mitigated by the idea of putting Fultz in the hands of Brad Stevens. | |
| 2 |  |
| Josh Jackson, SF, Kansas: Hmm, the 27th-ranked defense gets an elite defensive playmaker. The 24th-ranked 3-point shooting team gets someone hitting 52.8 percent of his 3s over his past 11 games. The Suns love to run, and Jackson’s motor never stops. This one is easy. | |
| 3 |  |
| Jonathan Isaac, SF, Florida State: Yes, Lonzo Ball’s father is trying to talk his way into having his son play in a Lakers uniform. But between D’Angelo Russell’s existence and Isaac’s ability to cover virtually anyone to go along with his diverse offensive game, this is the right call for Magic Johnson’s big pick. | |
| 4 |  |
| Jayson Tatum, SF, Duke: Mercifully, the Magic can keep Aaron Gordon at the four, where he belongs, thanks to the skilled fireworks of Tatum, whose trajectory has been largely straight up this month. Watch him get to the basket regularly, smooth out that 3-point shot and defend any wings Duke faces, it is easy to imagine how he fits on a Frank Vogel team begging for more speed and athleticism. | |
| 5 |  |
| Lonzo Ball, PG, UCLA: Imagine, just imagine, what Ball’s ability to put the ball exactly where it needs to be will do to solve Joel Embiid’s turnover rate, the biggest flaw in his game. The Sixers as a whole suffer from this problem, with a turnover percentage of 15, just ahead of Brooklyn for 29th worst in the league. Ball will have ample space to shoot his unconventional but effective jumper, but it is his passing that could turn the 76ers into contenders, assuming at least some good health. | |
| 6 |  |
| Robert Williams, F, Texas A&M: The absurd wingspan will make him an instant factor defensively. And the deft passing speaks to his ability to play the stretch four or even stretch five of the future. But most notable to me is how much more aggressive he’s getting about calling for the ball and getting his shot. He reached double figures in shot attempts just six times in his first 21 games. He has now done it in six of his past seven. | |
| 7 |  |
| Lauri Markkanen, PF, Arizona: He has NBA strength, an unguardable shot from deep and a chance to alter the already-shifting paradigm of the 7-footer. Who better to mold him than the franchise that gave us Dirk Nowitzki? | |
| 8 |  |
| Dennis Smith, PG, North Carolina State: Maybe it’s just the (most recent) shattered season talking, but a point guard who doesn’t yet make great decisions and can’t even handle the N.C. State media contingent feels a lot like a Knicks draft pick, a shame because there is so much potential in Smith if he gets to the right system. | |
| 9 |  |
| Frank Ntilikina, PG, France: It says here that even though the owner wants to make Buddy Hield into the new Stephen Curry, by draft night the Kings will think better of it, keep him as the developing shooter he already is, and pair him with the long, raw point guard project from overseas, even if Ntilikina won’t be great until after Vlade Divac’s two-year self-imposed timetable ends. | |
| 10 |  |
| Justin Patton, C, Creighton: Precisely the right fit to run that high post offensively, protect the rim at the other end and run with the high-flying, ill-served backcourt duo of C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard. | |
| 11 |  |
| Malik Monk, SG, Kentucky: Maybe give Fred Hoiberg a real young scorer to build around? Just a thought. | |
| 12 |  |
| Allonzo Trier, SG, Arizona: Keeps on scoring in bunches, regardless of the defender. Gets to the basket with ease, hitting 42 percent of his 3s, plays Sean Miller-type defense. He’ll be an instant upgrade for a Hornets offense that needs it, and defends enough to keep him on the court in a Steve Clifford system. | |
| 13 |  |
| Johnathan Motley, PF, Baylor: No, he won’t be Chris Bosh right away, but it isn’t a terrible stretch as a potential outcome, with skills that complement those of Hassan Whiteside nicely. | |
| 14 |  |
| De’Aaron Fox, PG, Kentucky: His lack of perimeter jumper will hurt less, given his supporting cast, here in Milwaukee, allowing the Bucks to luxuriate in Fox’s ability to shut down opposing ones and facilitate. | |
| 15 |  |
| Tyler Lydon, SF/PF, Syracuse: Look, Denver has the shooters. Lydon won’t be out of place. But when the Nuggets are down at the other end of the floor, his teammates might look at him strangely -- waving his arms, getting into passing lanes, blocking shots -- and ask Lydon what he’s doing. What does he call that strange dance? “Defense,” Lydon will say, and the Nuggets will realize why he is the pick here. | |
| 16 |  |
| TJ Leaf, PF, UCLA: Here’s hoping Stan Van Gundy gives up on trying to make Andre Drummond what he’s not (a post player with diversified moves), allows him instead concentrate what he can do, and allows Leaf to come in and fill in the blanks from a stretch-four position. Leaf is excellent out of the post and a strong pick-and-roll option, too, a reason to keep Reggie Jackson around. | |
| 17 | |
| Donovan Mitchell, SG, Louisville: He doesn’t necessarily fit on this team, but he’ll make a fine starting point when the Bulls get around to building their next team. He shoots well enough to play the two, with the leaping ability to finish like this, and he’s not out of place running an offense, either. He’s also maybe the best perimeter defender in America. | |
| 18 |  |
| Justin Jackson, SF, North Carolina: The most Paul George-like player in this draft is Josh Jackson, but the guy who does the most Paul George things is Justin Jackson. Should the Pacers decide to get started with the post-George era early, Jackson makes too much sense as a replacement to pass up here. | |
| 19 |  |
| Mikal Bridges, SF,Villanova: Here’s the easiest shorthand for Bridges: All the reasons you would play Andre Roberson, and none of the reasons you wouldn’t. | |
| 20 |  |
| Miles Bridges, SF, Michigan State: A prototype Mike Budenholzer player who will come in and provide necessary shooting for the Hawks, a rim-runner to pair with Dwight Howard, someone to take some of the defensive load off of Paul Millsap, who the Hawks swear they want to bring back (he can also replace Millsap if necessary). | |
| 21 |  |
| Frank Mason, PG, Kansas: As if we needed another reminder of how completely the Raptors depend on Kyle Lowry, the wrist injury provided it. Mason is some Lowry insurance, and can run the up-tempo Toronto attack while draining 3-pointers. | |
| 22 | |
| Ivan Rabb, PF, California: A power forward with elite rebounding skills and surprising ability to pass sounds an awful lot like a Terry Stotts player to me. | |
| 23 |  |
| Isaiah Hartenstein, C, Germany: Expect the Jazz, in position to draft-and-stash, to do precisely that with this raw young shooter who looms as a towering Rudy Gobert counter. | |
| 24 |  |
| Caleb Swanigan, PF, Purdue: Elite rebounding paired with a deft post game and deceptively solid 3-point range (46.2 percent) makes him the kind of big the Nets clearly crave. | |
| 25 | |
| Josh Hart, SG, Villanova: A solid defender and capable scorer in both transition and half-court sets, and knows how to play basketball, something Frank Vogel recently asserted is in short supply on his current roster. | |
| 26 | |
| John Collins, PF, Wake Forest: Another young big to complement the backcourt of the future in Jeremy Lin and Caris LeVert, an attractively efficient player for an organization that relentlessly tracks such things. | |
| 27 | |
| Tacko Fall, C, Central Florida: I’m going to guess Magic Johnson has the imagination to see what Fall can and should be, which is a rebounder nonpareil, an unguardable efficient scorer around the rim and a capable rim protector who needs more polish to become a complete defender. | |
| 28 | |
| Zach Collins, C, Gonzaga: Possessing many of the skills that the Blazers have tried to imbue into Noah Vonleh, Collins will allow them to stop forcing that issue and let Vonleh return to his potential Reggie Evans role while Collins stretches the floor and rim protects. | |
| 29 |  |
| Dillon Brooks, SF, Oregon: He has looked every bit like the star it was expected he would be at the start of the season, and no one is better at keeping players healthy than San Antonio. | |
| 30 | |
| Harry Giles, PF, Duke: At this point, why not draft him and see whether this season is merely a detour on his path to becoming the new Chris Webber? The chances of drafting a star at 30 are criminally low. | |
