Back in September, members of the Hoops Prospects staff (Lee Branscome, TJ Brown, Riley Millett, and myself) plus two friends of the site (Dustin Barnes and Coleman Klein) got together for the first-ever HP Collaborative NBA Mock Draft. Each participant represented multiple teams in the draft (see below), and each started with 10 picks. Unfortunately, Lee had to leave the draft at the end of the first round, and Dustin kindly made his selections in the second round.
You can watch the mock draft video, which also includes highlights and analysis of the 60 players selected, below. I want to thank everyone who participated in the draft. Special thanks goes to Connor Ullathorne and Eric Kerr, both of whom edited and produced the mock draft video.
Mock Team Owners
- Dustin Barnes (@BuzzDraft): Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons, New Orleans Pelicans Miami Heat, and Oklahoma City Thunder.
- Lee Bransome (@WhichCarolina): Charlotte Hornets, Washington Wizards, San Antonio Spurs, Orlando Magic, and Utah Jazz
- TJ Brown (@TJ3rd_): Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets, Memphis Grizzlies, and Los Angeles Clippers
- Rich Harris (@HoopsProspects): Chicago Bulls, Phoenix Suns, Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers, and the Houston Rockets, who currently have no picks
- Coleman Klein (@903coleman): Golden State Warriors, Portland Trail Blazers, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, and Toronto Raptors
- Riley Millett (@riley_millette): Cleveland Cavaliers, Sacramento Kings, Boston Celtics, and Indiana Pacers
Draft Video
Trades Completed
Trades were permissible in this mock draft, but had to be completed before the draft began. All trades had to work under the current NBA salary cap, and had to be approved by the majority of the team owners. In total, three trades were completed, and I was involved in all of them.
Trade 1: The Golden State Warriors sent pick 2, Andrew Wiggins, Kevon Looney, and Alen Smailagic to the Chicago Bulls for pick 4, Zach LaVine, Wendell Carter, and Tomas Satoransky. For the Bulls, this trade was sought mainly due to the Bulls’ desire to land LaMelo Ball, and it also filled a long-standing need for a small forward. On the other side, the Warriors, being uncertain about the fit of any of their options at No. 2 (Ball, Anthony Edwards, and James Wiseman), selected a prospect who fits into their system, and Golden State also received two starting-level veteran players.
Trade 2: The Philadelphia 76ers sent pick 21, Josh Richardson, and Al Horford to the Sacramento Kings for pick 35, Buddy Hield, and Cory Joseph. The Sixers need shooting and don’t want Horford’s contract that has two years remaining. At the same time, Hield is unhappy with the Kings, who get two serviceable veterans and another first-round pick in return.
Trade 3: The Sixers sent picks 34 and 36 to the Lakers for pick 29. After the trade with the Kings, the 76ers had three consecutive picks in the second round (34-36). I had my eye on a particular player, and it didn’t make sense to have a total of five picks in one draft. Unfortunately for me, the player that I had targeted, Malachi Flynn, was taken at pick 27. Meanwhile, the Lakers are a team that lack young talent, and they have a heap of veteran free agents. According to NBA draft trade charts, this swap was roughly equal, but as it worked out in this mock, the Lakers benefitted the most.
The Selections
| Pick | Team | Selection |
| 1 | Minnesota Timberwolves | Anthony Edwards |
| 2 | Chicago Bulls (via Warriors) * | LaMelo Ball |
| 3 | Charlotte Hornets | Onyeka Okongwu |
| 4 | Golden State Warriors (via Bulls) * | Isaac Okoro |
| 5 | Cleveland Cavaliers | James Wiseman |
| 6 | Atlanta Hawks | Deni Avdija |
| 7 | Detroit Pistons | Killian Hayes |
| 8 | New York Knicks | Kira Lewis |
| 9 | Washington Wizards | Tyrese Haliburton |
| 10 | Phoenix Suns | Devin Vassell |
| 11 | San Antonio Spurs | Patrick Williams |
| 12 | Sacramento Kings | Aaron Nesmith |
| 13 | New Orleans Pelicans | Grant Riller |
| 14 | Boston Celtics (via Grizzlies) | Precious Achiuwa |
| 15 | Orlando Magic | Saddiq Bey |
| 16 | Portland Trail Blazers | Josh Green |
| 17 | Minnesota Timberwolves (via Nets) | Obi Toppin |
| 18 | Dallas Mavericks | Tyrese Maxey |
| 19 | Brooklyn Nets (via Sixers) | Aleksej Pokusevski |
| 20 | Miami Heat | Cole Anthony |
| 21 | Sacramento Kings (via Thunder) * | Jalen Smith |
| 22 | Denver Nuggets (via Rockets) | Desmond Bane |
| 23 | Utah Jazz | Theo Maledon |
| 24 | Milwaukee Bucks (via Pacers) | Tyrell Terry |
| 25 | OKC Thunder (via Nuggets) | Jahmi’us Ramsey |
| 26 | Boston Celtics | R.J. Hampton |
| 27 | New York Knicks (via Clippers) | Malachi Flynn |
| 28 | Toronto Raptors | Leandro Bolmaro |
| 29 | Philadelphia 76ers (via Lakers) * | Immanuel Quickley |
| 30 | Boston Celtics (via Bucks) | Nico Mannion |
| ROUND 2 | ||
| 31 | Dallas Mavericks (via Warriors) | Isaiah Stewart |
| 32 | Charlotte Hornets (via Cavaliers) | Xavier Tillman |
| 33 | Minnesota Timberwolves | Devon Dotson |
| 34 | Los Angeles Lakers (via Hawks) * | Tre Jones |
| 35 | Philadelphia 76ers (via Pistons) * | Jaden McDaniels |
| 36 | Los Angeles Lakers (via Knicks) * | Daniel Oturu |
| 37 | Washington Wizards (via Bulls) | Zeke Nnaji |
| 38 | New York Knicks (via Hornets) | Sam Merrill |
| 39 | New Orleans Pelicans (via Wizards) | Elijah Hughes |
| 40 | Memphis Grizzlies (via Suns) | Cassius Stanley |
| 41 | San Antonio Spurs | Paul Reed |
| 42 | New Orleans Pelicans | Tyler Bey |
| 43 | Sacramento Kings | Vernon Carey |
| 44 | Chicago Bulls (via Grizzlies) | Isaiah Joe |
| 45 | Orlando Magic | Jordan Nwora |
| 46 | Portland Trail Blazers | Killian Tillie |
| 47 | Boston Celtics (via Nets) | Robert Woodard |
| 48 | Golden State Warriors (via Mavericks) | Ty-Shon Alexander |
| 49 | Philadelphia 76ers | Payton Pritchard |
| 50 | Atlanta Hawks (via Heat) | Skylar Mays |
| 51 | Golden State Warriors (via Jazz) | Naji Marshall |
| 52 | Sacramento Kings (via Rockets) | Cassius Winston |
| 53 | Oklahoma City Thunder | Filip Petrusev |
| 54 | Indiana Pacers | Reggie Perry |
| 55 | Brooklyn Nets (via Nuggets) | Myles Powell |
| 56 | Charlotte Hornets (via Celtics) | C.J. Elleby |
| 57 | Los Angeles Clippers | Mason Jones |
| 58 | Philadelphia 76ers (via Lakers) | Abdoulaye N’doye |
| 59 | Toronto Raptors | Udoka Azubuike |
| 60 | New Orleans Pelicans (via Bucks) | Jay Scrubb |
Best Available
The Draft Board (Big Board, if you like) that was used for this mock draft was based on a collective ranking survey from seven draft sites, including Hoops Prospects. The top-ranked players that went undrafted are listed below.
| Best Available | Rank |
| Markus Howard | 52 |
| Ashton Hagans | 53 |
| Nick Richards | 56 |
| Nate Hinton | 57 |
| Kaleb Wesson | 60 |
| Jalen Harris | 61 |
| Malik Fitts | 62 |
| Nathan Knight | 63 |
| Lamine Diane | 65 |
| Lamar Stevens | 67 |
| Paul Eboua | 69 |
| Josh Hall | 70 |
| Saben Lee | 71 |
| Karim Mane | 72 |
| Yam Madar | 73 |
The Biggest Winners
I’m not going into great detail about who did the best in this mock draft because I am biased and have very strong feelings on certain prospects. I would give “A” grades to the Celtics, though I think Orturu should have been taken over Mannion, the Hornets, who greatly improved their defense, the Bulls, the Timberwolves, the Kings, and the Spurs. I would give “B” grades to the Hawks, the Mavericks, the Warriors, the Lakers (two first-round types for the price of one), the Knicks, the 76ers, though I should have taken Reed over McDaniels, and the Wizards. Of course, the teams with more than two picks had an advantage, especially over the clubs that had just one selection.
