Mock Draft 3.0: NBA Draft comes into focus with lottery set

Last week was a busy time in the NBA Draft world. First, the NBA G League Combine took place in Chicago, IL with a number of prospects projected to be on the fringe of draftability. Then Tuesday night the NBA Draft Lottery set in stone the order of the top 14 teams in the league.

Then came the NBA Draft Combine, where the vast majority of prospects did some combination of interviews, measurements, workouts and scrimmages. No since the middle of March did draft analysts gain as much information in one week as we did last week between the three Chicago events.

The 2022 NBA Draft Lottery last week set the final draft order. With things coming into focus, how might the lottery play out in this week’s mock draft?

With the Draft Lottery now set, from the Orlando Magic at pick No. 1 to the Cleveland Cavaliers at pick No. 14, the entire draft order is laid out. Now we can start to pair players to teams with some level of confidence in who will be available. Teams are still gathering information on prospects and on potential trades, but the view is coming into focus on how this draft might go.

Here is one such possibility, with a marriage of the draft order and team needs with my personal big board and a dash of team preferences. We’ll go through the Top 14 today; look for a full first-round mock next Monday.

On the clock: The Orlando Magic.