It would be great if Kerrsed or someone else can provide screen shots of what the 2013 mocks look like at different points in time, so we have a record of how prospects moved up or down in projections as the year went on.
From all indications, I've heard the draft next year is going to be fairly weak overall, so picking the right prospect will likely be even more important next draft. There are a few big names at the top, but after that, who knows how it will play out over the next year....
Here is a link to the prospect draft thread on the nba draft forum, which will provide more voices (than we will see here) on the top prospects. viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1190763
Here are links to the current versions of the mocks...
http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2013/
http://nbadraft.net/2013mock_draft
Chad Ford's thoughts:
The 2012 NBA draft didn't have a lot of sizzle, but it had plenty of depth. With virtually all of the top underclassmen deciding to declare, it was stocked with talent. The 2013 draft? Ugh.
The 2013 draft is so devoid of top returning underclassmen and has such a marginal freshman class, one NBA scout said our 2013 Top 100 list may be the weakest since the dreaded 2000 NBA draft (check out our 2013 draft homepage here).
When you remember that the best prospect out of the 2000 draft was 46th pick Michael Redd, you get a picture of what we might be in for.
This draft does have a couple of interesting returning stars and several intriguing college freshmen -- but it runs out of steam pretty quickly.
We've ranked Kentucky Wildcats recruit Nerlens Noel as the No. 1 prospect in our Top 100 after talking with numerous NBA scouts and executives. Noel is very similar to this year's No. 1 pick Anthony Davis. He is a long, lanky big man who runs the floor, rebounds, blocks shots and plays above the rim. He has to get stronger, but he's a big time talent.
However, none of the scouts we spoke with think that Noel is cut out of the same cloth as Davis as a prospect. He doesn't have the same basketball IQ or motor of Davis, and most scouts believe he's even further behind than Davis was offensively. The one thing he might be better at than Davis? Most scouts say he's an even better shot-blocker.
The vote at the top isn't unanimous, however. A small number of scouts and executives have Cody Zeller as the top pick. The Indiana Hoosiers big man had a terrific freshman season in Bloomington, and scouts say he has been adding much-needed strength over the summer. With the Hoosiers poised to be one of the best teams in the country, he is going to get plenty of attention.
A third player, freshman Shabazz Muhammad, could also be in the running to become the No. 1 overall pick. The UCLA recruit has been compared to a more offensive-minded Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. He has a similar motor and athletic ability, but adds a killer scoring streak to his repertoire. Whether he can show that off in the confines of UCLA's system remains to be seen.
After Noel, Zeller and Muhammad, the consensus breaks down quite a bit.
As you get ready to dig in to our initial 2013 Top 100, here is a look at some themes for next year's draft:
1. A lack of high-quality college holdovers
A very low number of talented players decided to skip the 2012 draft and return to college. Just about everyone with a shot at the first round threw their hat into the ring. Just two returning college players -- Zeller and North Carolina Tar Heels forward James Michael McAdoo -- ended up landing in the top 5 of our rankings.
The next-best returning collegian is the North Texas Mean Green's Tony Mitchell. Memphis Tigers small forward Adonis Thomas, Arkansas Razorbacks point guard B.J. Young, Florida Gators center Patric Young and Texas Longhorns point guard Myck Kabongo all place in the top 14. For perspective, all five of those players would have struggled to crack the first round in the 2012 draft.
2. A solid freshmen class
In 2007, six freshmen -- Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, Mike Conley, Brandan Wright, Spencer Hawes and Thaddeus Young -- were drafted in the lottery. In 2008, a record seven freshmen -- Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley, O.J. Mayo, Kevin Love, Eric Gordon, Jerryd Bayless and Anthony Randolph -- went in the lottery.
In 2009, just two college freshmen -- Tyreke Evans and DeMar DeRozan -- were drafted in the lottery. That's a huge drop.
2010 was a bit of a rebound year with four college freshmen going in the lottery. Kentucky's John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, Georgia Tech's Derrick Favors and Kansas' Xavier Henry were all drafted in the lottery.
In 2011, Duke's Kyrie Irving, Kentucky's Brandon Knight, and Texas forward Tristan Thompson were the only freshmen to go in the lottery. In 2012, the draft had its fair share of stellar freshmen. Kentucky's Anthony Davis, Florida's Bradley Beal, Kentucky's Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, UConn's Andre Drummond and Duke's Austin Rivers all went in the lottery.
In 2013 we're projecting six freshmen as potential lottery picks. They include Noel, Muhammad, Kentucky's Alex Poythress, Baylor's Isaiah Austin, Pittsburgh's Steven Adams and UNLV's Anthony Bennett.
Two other freshmen, UCLA's Kyle Anderson and Kentucky's Archie Goodwin, are possible first-rounders, but most scouts think they may need at least two years on the college level.
3. A better crop of international prospects
2011 was a stellar year for international prospects. Four international players -- Enes Kanter, Jan Vesely, Jonas Valanciunas and Bismack Biyombo went in the lottery. Several others, including Donatas Motiejunas and Nikola Mirotic, went in the first round.
The 2012 crop of international prospects was the weakest in memory. Just one player, France's Evan Fournier, was selected in the first round.
It will be a little better in 2013. We have three players, France's Rudy Gobert, Croatia's Dario Saric and Spain's Alex Abrines, ranked as top-20 prospects. Several other international players, including Russia's Sergey Karasev and Dmitry Kulagin, Spain's Raul Neto and Italy's Alessandro Gentile, are in our top 60.
4. Winging it ...
The 2013 draft is heavy on wings -- a whopping 10 small forwards and seven shooting guards made our top 30. On the other end of the spectrum, we have just two point guards and four centers ranked in the top 30.
The point guard drought is especially depressing. The 2012 crop was historically weak with just one point guard going in the lottery. This year, none of the point guards are ranked in the top 10 and just two are in the lottery.
Overall, the draft class of 2013 should be considerably weaker than 2012. However, it's important to remember that some players that we're not talking about yet will rise -- they always do. Dion Waiters, Damian Lillard and Meyers Leonard weren't listed as potential lottery picks before the season, for example.
for more... http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/blog/_/n ... -nba-draft
