Most draft sites have finalized their draft board for all of the top prospects in the draft, and for the fourth consecutive year, Hoops Prospects has combined most of the major draft sites to gain a consensus understanding of the value of the 2023 NBA Draft prospects. This is to help evaluate where each player will go and also to analyze which Media source is the most accurate this year.
The scoring/ranking system for these rankings is rather simple. For each pick, a prospect receives points equal to 201 minus the prospect’s ranking. So, for example, if someone ranked Cason Wallace tenth, he’d receive 191 points from that source. If someone ranked Wallace at No. 100, he’d receive 101 points. If a player was unranked by a particular source, the player would receive zero points from that source.
The sources are as follows:
How Prospects were Ranked by each Site
Explanation on how data was sorted:
I gathered information on all the prospects that were ranked among these eight media companies, and evaluated how they ranked each player. After confirming patterns and researching the reasons for their rankings, we provided a rough estimate of how each media company conduct their rankings by splitting it into five categories to evaluate each prospect:
- Positional Versatility
- Win-now Contributions
- Upside and Home-run potential
- Frame and Athleticism
- Polished Skill
The percentages reflect what I believe was the weight of influence regarding each company’s draft prospect rankings.
Hoops Prospects:
- Positional Versatility — 30%
- Win-now Contributions — 25%
- Upside and Home-run potential — 10%
- Frame and Athleticism — 20%
- Polished Skill — 15%
Athletic:
- Positional Versatility — 40%
- Win-now Contributions — 15%
- Upside and Home-run potential — 15%
- Frame and Athleticism — 25%
- Polished Skill — 5%
Bleacher Report:
- Positional Versatility — 40%
- Win-now Contributions — 10%
- Upside and Home-run potential — 25%
- Frame and Athleticism — 20%
- Polished Skill — 5%
CBS:
- Positional Versatility — 20%
- Win-now Contributions — 10%
- Upside and Home-run potential — 35%
- Frame and Athleticism — 30%
- Polished Skill — 5%
ESPN:
- Positional Versatility — 20%
- Win-now Contributions — 15%
- Upside and Home-run potential — 30%
- Frame and Athleticism — 30%
- Polished Skill — 5%
NBA Draft.NET:
- Positional Versatility — 30%
- Win-now Contributions — 15%
- Upside and Home-run potential — 20%
- Frame and Athleticism — 15%
- Polished Skill — 20%
Ringer:
- Positional Versatility — 15%
- Win-now Contributions — 20%
- Upside and Home-run potential — 30%
- Frame and Athleticism — 25%
- Polished Skill — 10%
Sports Illustrated:
- Positional Versatility — 25%
- Win-now Contributions — 5%
- Upside and Home-run potential — 40%
- Frame and Athleticism — 25%
- Polished Skill — 5%
Polarizing Picks
Leonard Miller
- Highest Ranking: 15
- Lowest Ranking: 31
- Swing Factors: Shooting, Instincts, Ball Handling
Leonard Miller remains as one of the more polarizing players in this draft. It’s clear that he has many intriguing traits, but there are still many questions about how high his ceiling truly is. One of Leonard’s best attributes is his incredible frame. He is 6’9” with a 7’2” wingspan, and is an above — average athlete. He has shown flashes of becoming a versatile big man on both ends of the court.
He has shown abilities to attack closeouts, attack in transition, and at times, be a serviceable shooter. Miller also has shown impressive lateral movement, in indicating that he may be a promising big guarding the pick-and-roll and switching on to smaller guards. According to our NBA Draft Combine data that dates back to 2016, Miller grades in the 75th percentile in lateral agility, a very promising sign. However, he does have some questions with his basketball instincts and shooting consistency. These will be swing factors for Miller to truly become a high-ceiling level player.
Dariq Whitehead
- Highest Ranking: 16
- Lowest Ranking: 32
- Swing Factors: Health, Ball Handling, Defensive Impact
Whitehead is one of the mystery players of the draft, as out of high school he was regarded as one of the top prospects for this draft. However due to a foot fracture in early August, he never truly was able to display his elite athleticism and was a shell of himself as he was out of rhythm most of his freshman year. As a result, Whitehead had an extremely underwhelming freshman season at Duke. Some scouts are willing to bypass this year and blame his injury for his underperformance, while others are afraid of future injury concerns.
Whitehead has displayed that he can be a gifted scorer, as he has shown flashes of being able to attack off the dribble and create his own shot at each level. He also has the athleticism to be an above-the-rim finisher. Whitehead has an intriguing frame at 6’5” while having a 6’10” wingspan, and has displayed some defensive versatility. Let’s just hope that Whitehead will be able to display himself while he is fully healthy and in rhythm at the NBA level.
Maxwell Lewis
- Highest Ranking: 19
- Lowest Ranking: 45
- Swing Factors: Defensive Impact, Creating Separation, Ball Security
Maxwell Lewis is another polarizing player in this draft. He has shown many flashes as a scorer in his second year at Pepperdine University. However, there are many concerns due to a relatively weak strength of schedule, and if he will be able to make that extra-long step-up in competition.
Lewis has shown a creativity to his handle, and has fluid movement patterns that suggest that he can become an elite shotmaker in the NBA. He also has proven to be a capable shooter, making 34.8 percent from three on high volume this season. He also has an NBA frame, at 6’7” while having a 7-foot wingspan. There are many concerns with Lewis’ ability to defend at the highest level, as he has had consistent lapses and lacks ideal lateral agility. From an NBA team’s perspective, the hope is that he will at least be willing to compete at the defensive end.
James Nnaji
- Highest Ranking: 24
- Lowest Ranking: 42
- Swing Factors: Offensive Polish, Defensive IQ, Foul Shooting
James Nnaji of FC Barcelona is a raw rim-running and shot-blocking center. He has impressive measurables as he is listed at 7 feet with a 7′ 7” wingspan, and has already faced high-level competition. His frame and agility on defense are what makes him intriguing, while everything else about his game is extremely unpolished. He hasn’t shown much in the post, as he isn’t someone you would want to give in isolation down low. He also shows little aptitude as a shooter, making just one jump shot this season while shooting 51 percent from the foul line. Instead, Nnaji projects to be a finisher, as he is an outstanding athlete and has shown ability to finish through contact and be a dangerous lob threat.
Nnaji also projects to be a versatile rim protector. He has impressive movement patterns and agility to guard the pick-and-roll and defend guards in space. Nnaji’s game is immensely unpolished, and is likely a three- to four-year project player, but it put in the right situation, he may be able to become one of the better starting centers in the NBA.
