Now that the NBA Lottery and Draft Combine have concluded, the landscape for the 2015 draft began to come into focus a little more this week.
We know that Minnesota, the Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia won the rights to picks 1, 2 and 3, but we also now have the exact order for the entire first round. That information is more important to one-and-done Kansas wing Kelly Oubre Jr., than his KU teammate, big man Cliff Alexander, of course.
Since Oubre officially declared for the draft, his name has been thrown out as an option in the later half of the lottery, most often in the 10 to 14 range.
Here’s a look at the order for the first 14 picks, keeping in mind it’s difficult to come up with a scenario in which Oubre would go much higher than No. 8 overall:
#NBADraft prospect @KellyOubreJr smiling & styling for tonight's #NBADraftLottery! pic.twitter.com/0JEuGVZjQp
— NBA Draft (@NBADraft) May 19, 2015
**1. Minnesota**
**2. L.A. Lakers**
**3. Philadelphia**
**4. New York**
**5. Orlando**
**6. Sacramento**
**7. Denver**
**8. Detroit**
**9. Charlotte**
**10. Miami**
**11. Indiana**
**12. Utah**
**13. Phoenix**
**14. Oklahoma City**
Who knows which NBA front-office types and/or coaches will become enamored with Oubre’s skill set in the weeks to come, but [he said at the combine he wants to prove he is one of the top talents in this rookie class][1].
Alexander, meanwhile, has much more work to do, just to validate himself as a player who is worth a late first-round pick. Last week [he claimed there is more to his game than some may realize][2].
Many websites posted updated mock drafts with the lottery order in place. Check out where the following sites predicted Oubre and Alexander will end up (some sites don’t include second-round projections).
MOCK DRAFTS |
Kelly Oubre Jr. projections |
Cliff Alexander projections |
---|---|---|
NBADraft.net | 15th | 39th |
MyNBADraft.com | 15th | 38th |
DraftExpress.com | 10th | 41st |
DraftSite.com | 20th | 41st |
Chad Ford, ESPN.com | 17th | N/A |
SheridanHoops.com | 11th | N/A |
BleacherReport.com | 15th | N/A |
Sam Vecenie, CBSSports.com | 12th | 37th |
Gary Parrish, CBSSports.com | 11th | 35th |
Zach Harper, CBSSports.com | 10th | 29th |
Kelly Oubre Jr.
—————
*– SF, 6-foot-7, 204 pounds, 19 years old, from Richmond, Texas –*
**Average mock draft position:** 14th
**Current high:** 10th *([DraftExpress.com][3] and [Zach Harper, CBSSports.com][4])*
**Current low:** 20th *([DraftSite.com][5])*
**Stock assessment:** *Slightly slipping.* Oubre hasn’t dropped too far [since we last checked in on the mock drafts, two weeks ago][6]. His average position then was 13th, and at 14 he’d still end up in the lottery — and become the 14th player from Kansas [to get picked in that range in a span of 16 seasons][7].
Five of the 10 prognosticators listed above think Oubre will go that early, with Miami and Indiana standing out as popular destinations for the long, lean small forward. Three different mocks sent Oubre to Atlanta, the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed this season.
Toronto, Milwaukee and Utah also could land Oubre, according to some forecasts.
If Miami, which owns the 10th pick, indeed is interested in Oubre, it sounds like he’d be ecstatic to join the organization. [As detailed by the Palm Beach Post’s Jason Lieser][8], Oubre sat down for an interview with Heat president Pat Riley at the combine.
> “It was great,” Oubre said. “He’s a
> legend who has coached greats in the
> past, and seeing what he knows about
> the game of basketball is something I
> would never take for granted. I
> listened to every single thing he
> said. I asked him a couple questions,
> also, to see if I could pick his brain
> for things I need to know about my
> future.
>
> “One of the things that stuck out to
> me was he said, ‘If you want to play
> for us, you’ve gotta be in the best
> shape of your life.’ I like to run and
> gun. If I’m running, I’m scoring in
> transition, and that’s what I do
> best.”
Cliff Alexander
—————
*– PF/C, 6-foot-9, 254 pounds, 19 years old, from Chicago –*
**Average mock draft position:** 37th
**Current high:** 29th *([Zach Harper, CBSSports.com][9])*
**Current low:** 41st *([DraftExpress.com][10] and [DraftSite.com)*][11]
**Stock assessment:** *Falling.* More mocks listed Alexander as a first-round pick last time around, and his average spot has dropped six spots since then.
Only one of the seven above projections that included the second round had Alexander going in the first, and it was 29th overall — the next-to-last pick in Round 1 — to Brooklyn.
Potential second-round suitors for the project power forward included Charlotte, Detroit, Philadelphia and (again) Brooklyn.
The good news for Alexander is it sounds like he’s entering this pre-draft process with realistic expectations. At the combine, [he told zagsblog.com he kind of expected his stock to take a hit][12] because of the way his one season at KU turned out.
One un-named scout told zagsblog.com, though, teams are less interested in Alexander because he has “limited upside” and he would be undersized in the NBA as a center.
> “It is a shame that the NCAA ruled him
> ineligible at the end of his freshman
> year,” the scout said, “because he
> really needed at least one more year
> of college. He is a D-League guy no
> matter where he gets drafted.”
—
*– Keep up with the production of all the ‘Hawks in the NBA [daily at KUsports.com][13].*
—
*– [Follow @BentonASmith on Twitter][14].*
[1]: http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/hawks_nba/2015/may/13/kelly-oubre-jr-reveals-lofty-nba-goals-a/
[2]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2015/may/17/cliff-alexander-hopes-make-lost-time/?mens_basketball
[3]: http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2015/
[4]: http://www.cbssports.com/nba/draft/mock-draft
[5]: http://www.draftsite.com/nba/mock-draft/2015/
[6]: http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/hawks_nba/2015/may/6/stock-watch-early-draft-projections-vary/
[7]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2015/may/20/kansas-leads-country-lottery-picks/
[8]: http://heatzone.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2015/05/18/nba-draft-heat-meet-with-kelly-oubre/
[9]: http://www.cbssports.com/nba/draft/mock-draft
[10]: http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2015/
[11]: http://www.draftsite.com/nba/mock-draft/2015/
[12]: http://zagsblog.com/articles/after-draft-stock-plummets-cliff-alexander-motivated-to-impress/
[13]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/mens_basketball/hawks_nba/
[14]: https://twitter.com/BentonASmith