LOS ANGELES—The consensus among many NBA executives is that the players who’ll be taken with the top five picks in Thursday’s NBA draft are a foregone conclusion.
LOS ANGELES—The consensus among many NBA executives is that the players who’ll be taken with the top five picks in Thursday’s NBA draft are a foregone conclusion.
The order in which these one-and-done collegiate players will be selected, however, remains less than certain.
One thing that executives who spoke to the Los Angeles Times agree on: The Lakers are expected to use the No. 2 pick on UCLA’s Lonzo Ball. The executives spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the draft.
With conviction, the executives view the top five, in no particular order, as Ball, Washington’s Markelle Fultz, Kentucky’s De’Aaron Fox, Kansas’ Josh Jackson and Duke’s Jayson Tatum.
“It’s going to be those five guys,” an NBA executive whose team has a mid-first-round pick said Friday. “But the order they are going to be in, nobody knows. Some teams are sending out smoke signals. And then there are these trade rumors that could have an effect on the draft order.”
The hottest of those rumors reportedly came to fruition Saturday night, introducing some clarity to the situation. Multiple outlets reported that Boston had traded the No. 1 overall pick to Philadelphia for the 76ers’ third overall choice plus additional picks. The deal was to be finalized Monday.
The 76ers are expected to take Fultz, who worked out for the team on Saturday. The Celtics presumably would take Jackson third, if the Lakers took Ball at No. 2.
One executive explained why Ball, Fultz, Fox, Jackson and Tatum are at the head of the 2017 draft class.
“Those five guys have everything,” said the executive, whose team has a late lottery pick. “They have the skill level, the athleticism. They have the upside and they got the production right now. I think they have the whole deal.”
Some executives believe that Florida State forward Jonathan Isaac might have a small chance of moving into the top five. He’s 6 feet 11 with a 7-1 wingspan but weighs only 205 pounds. He averaged 12 points and 7.8 rebounds during his lone season with the Seminoles.
“Jonathan Isaac would be in that group if he was a little more developed and stronger,” one executive said. “He might have the best upside of all of them. So the draft is really good. It’s solid.”
The Lakers worked out Ball twice, and saw Jackson work out in Sacramento and at the team’s practice facility in El Segundo.
According to the executives, the Lakers were split over the two players.