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I made a mock draft here, I realize that there are a lot of similarities to the most recent ESPN mock draft, alas I noticed that it was posted after I made mine.
But I suppose that isn't a bad thing, I'd prefer to agree with Mr. Givony more often than not, especially just as a non-professional observer myself.

https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/draft/draft_simulator/view/913946/

I'm higher on Kennedy Chandler and David Roddy than most and I do think the mock reflects that. Kennedy Chandler just kind of reminds me of Chris Paul with the control of the game that he has with the ball in his hands; I don't think he'll achieve quite the same legacy or anything, but I think the concerns about his size are also overblown, he was a great defender in his lone college season.

As far as David Roddy, it does seem that he is a bit divisive as a prospect and that there are a few others in his camp, so I don't know if I need to explain that so much, but I'll gladly do so.

I think E.J. Liddell is a lottery pick (or at least in contention for it), I don't know about #9, but I can see the Spurs finding him especially valuable, so I don't think it's too much of a stretch.

I don't think Patrick Baldwin Jr. or Peyton Watson are draft locks, and I feel like if I was in charge of making such decisions, I'd be VERY wary of drafting them without seeing any really definitively successful skill at even the college level.

There are projects like Bryce McGowens, Max Christie, and Caleb Houstan that need a lot of rounding out, but at least have some skills that have worked from which to further hone.

Baldwin and Watson have PLENTY of skills, extremely intriguing skills nonetheless, but until some of them prove useful in game action I don't know how much I'd be willing to buy into it. But I suppose pro organizations are better at rolling the dice with 2nd round picks, or at least are more eager to.

I think Kenneth Lofton Jr. finds his chance this year, even if there are still concerns about him. He's really dynamic with the ball in his hands, and his moves are just clean-- I heard comments from the G League Elite Camp that he likes to break down tape of himself, and I think it's evident that was not an empty statement. I don't think he's the defensive issue some fear he might be, but I absolutely understand why questions may remain.

The combine did change my sentiments about David Roddy a bit.

But here is an updated version of my Mock Draft!

https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/draft/draft_simulator/view/922219/

No way do pistons take AJ Griffin

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mattyj wrote:No way do pistons take AJ Griffin

You're almost certainly right but I stand by it as an option.
I don't think this draft has a ton of absolute locks at certain tiers and I'm just taking guesses at who pulls a Scottie Barnes and slides up or down a bit.
I doubt Mathurin is actually gonna drop all the way to #22 or that Bryce McGowens won't get drafted either.
But some interesting things are going to eventually happen and this was just a run I thought was cool and at least made some sense.

I do think Ivey is the better overall prospect but I don't think it is such a stark difference that a schematic fit alongside Cade (and Killian? Is he a factor at all in the blueprint?) might be a deciding factor.

Who do you have them taking? I guess Ivey or Sharpe? Or Murray (the Kings probably won't take him either lol but I'd think that by now they'd want to take a safer bet given their history of lottery picks)

JazzP wrote:

mattyj wrote:No way do pistons take AJ Griffin

You're almost certainly right but I stand by it as an option.
I don't think this draft has a ton of absolute locks at certain tiers and I'm just taking guesses at who pulls a Scottie Barnes and slides up or down a bit.
I doubt Mathurin is actually gonna drop all the way to #22 or that Bryce McGowens won't get drafted either.
But some interesting things are going to eventually happen and this was just a run I thought was cool and at least made some sense.

I do think Ivey is the better overall prospect but I don't think it is such a stark difference that a schematic fit alongside Cade (and Killian? Is he a factor at all in the blueprint?) might be a deciding factor.

Who do you have them taking? I guess Ivey or Sharpe? Or Murray (the Kings probably won't take him either lol but I'd think that by now they'd want to take a safer bet given their history of lottery picks)

I think they'll take Murray. I don't know how I feel about it at the moment lol

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Final Mock!!

https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/draft/draft_simulator/view/924573/

I'm still not sure I feel great about it, a lot feels pretty up in the air even now. I feel weird having guys like Jean Montero, Hugo Besson, and Moussa Diabate missing out, but we'll see who the snubs end up being.

(EDIT: I didn't realize until later that Brooklyn deferred their pick until next year so Philly will get it this year, I updated the team-by-team but I didn't change the draft.)

Team-by-team summary:

Boston- Yannick Nzosa
Brooklyn- (no picks)
New York- Ochai Agbaji, Kenny Lofton Jr.
Philly- E.J. Liddell
Toronto- Khalifa Diop
Chicago- Walker Kessler
Cleveland- Johnny Davis, Max Christie, Isaiah Mobley
Detroit- Bennedict Mathurin, Michael Foster Jr.
Indiana- Jaden Ivey, Jake LaRavia, Christian Braun
Milwaukee- Kennedy Chandler
Atlanta- Jeremy Sochan, Jamaree Bouyea
Charlotte- Mark Williams, MarJon Beauchamp, Ismael Kamagate
Miami- Dominick Barlow
Orlando- Jabari Smith II, John Butler, Wendell Moore Jr.
Washington- A.J. Griffin Jr., Ziga Samar
Denver- Tari Eason, Dalen Terry
Minnesota- Jalen Williams, Christian Koloko, Julian Champagnie, Trevor Keels
OKC- Chet Holmgren, Malaki Branham, Jaden Hardy
Portland- Dyson Daniels, Justin Lewis, Orlando Robinson
Utah- (no picks)
Golden St.- Caleb Houstan, Gabriele Procida, Matteo Spagnolo
LAC- Ibou Dianko Badji
LAL- (no picks)
Phoenix- (no picks)
Sacramento- Keegan Murray, Karlo Matkovic, Dereon Seabron
Dallas- (no picks)
Houston- Paolo Banchero, TyTy Washington Jr., Nikola Jovic
Memphis- Jaylin Williams, Bryce McGowens
New Orleans- Shaedon Sharpe, Andrew Nembhard, J.D. Davison, Patrick Baldwin Jr.
San Antonio- Jalen Duren, Ousmane Dieng, Kendall Brown, Blake Wesley

It seems like Portland has decided to use their pick at 7 and will take one of Sharpe/Mathurin/Daniels
with a preference for Sharpe subject to who is taken at six by Indiana. Ivey won't get past Detroit at 5.

Norm2953 wrote:It seems like Portland has decided to use their pick at 7 and will take one of Sharpe/Mathurin/Daniels
with a preference for Sharpe subject to who is taken at six by Indiana. Ivey won't get past Detroit at 5.

Huh, as a Portland fan (well, a Josh Hart fan) I'd kinda rather see them trade the pick, but if there's nothing they see as worthwhile in the pipeline, then so be it. That's really only one piece in the offseason puzzle either way, I think.

I still don't feel as sold that Ivey best complements Cunningham, but I'm not Detroit, and I won't deny Ivey's ability as probably the best player remaining at that point (if he even is still remaining). If that's the intel, then I buy it and I'm just wrong, such is the life of an armchair "scout".

https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/draft/draft_simulator/view/928509/

Ok I said the last one was my final but I had to make one more lol.
I do feel much better about this one.
I'm sticking to Mathurin at 5, however wrong that may turn out to be. I looked at a lot of other mocks on professional sports media outlets, and found a few adjustments to make (mostly including Montero, Minott, and Rollins). I'm still not as sold on Peyton Watson as a surefire pick-- I did sort of eventually come around to the fact that Patrick Baldwin will likely be drafted (and probably should be), but I'm still low on him too.

I might be missing the boat on Jabari Walker here, too. I think he's good enough no doubt, but it's a deep class. Maybe I'm just asleep.
As high as I was to begin with on Roddy, I feel bad to keep him out so consistently after the combine. I'd like to see what happens with him, I imagine teams are still pretty split, even if a bit more hesitant now.

I fully understand why Cockburn has been left as mostly an afterthought. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't get drafted, I think that's more likely than not. But I also wouldn't be surprised if a team did decide they want a bit more of a paint bully element in their game-- it's outdated as all heck and there's problems within Cockburn's limited game (and lack of rim protection), but he's so clearly the leader of the class in strength and post presence should anybody want a bit more of that playstyle that I don't write off the possibility.

I fully DO NOT understand why Kenny Lofton Jr. has been left as mostly an afterthought. I understand that there are plenty of questions left about him- perhaps mostly in his defensive fit and stamina-- but there is just too much skill he has developed and has promise with at his age for him to be so left out of even the *conversation* of being drafted. Even if his college season was unremarkable, it wasn't bad, and even though his shooting and passing weren't great he showed a strong progression and hints at what those areas of his game could be. His FIBA performance last year was great. His draft combine performance was AMAZING- I know it's a small sample size, but am I the only one who thought that *for that sample size* Lofton looked like the best player to take the floor in those scrimmages, out of anybody?
His offensive game was tight. Idk, I get why he probably wouldn't be anything more than a 2nd round prospect, but I don't get how he isn't even that, that just feels like an oversight and a mistake, but that's just one amateur's opinion. But I keep him on my draft because I assume (hope?) there's a franchise that feels the same way.