The NBA draft 2014 is coming and that means it's mock draft time as the NBA combine heats up in Chicago and while names like Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid are not working out, they are the top names in this class along with Julius Randle, Doug McDermott and Dante Exum and those names could be picked over the first 5 or 6 selections with teams like the Boston Celtics, LA Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks and Utah Jazz in the mix to win the lottery this year.
Wiggins and Parker were seen as the two best names in this class coming into the college basketball season and now they both have decided to declare for the draft. Wiggins was talked about more as the number one overall pick and after his season at Kansas, some have looked at Parker as the more polished product and that could mean the Duke star jumps ahead in the draft. The lottery this year will be very dramatic, as the top five players all are better than what was in the top 10 last season and compared to last year, there is no way Anthony Bennett would be the number one pick if he was in this class and he might not even be in the top 15.
Parker has been compared to LeBron James by some scouts coming out of the draft due to his size and skills with Duke and this past season he was impressive while leading the team in scoring and rebounding. Parker, Wiggins and Embiid likely can't raise their draft stocks any more than they already have, so there isn't much of a point of going to the combine. Doug McDermott has great shooting skills, but he needs more polish and he will be getting measurements at the combine, but he likely will not work out either after winning player of the year in college basketball this season. The Lakers are thrilled to have a chance at the lottery, as this year has a much deeper draft than last season and this is their first year with a top pick in quite a while.
Parker is following in the footsteps of other Duke players, including Kyrie Irving and he is guaranteed to be a top three pick this year. Parker helped Duke get into the NCAA tournament and now he will move on to the NBA along with teammate Rodney Hood. If Parker is number one that could follow what Irving did as well, but there is a good chance that Embiid and Wiggins will challenge for that pick and Randle is a wild card as well after how good he was at Kentucky this year.
The lottery is coming next week and should be very interesting this year, as the Milwaukee Bucks have the best chance at winning it after winning just 15 games this season, but in recent years the worst team in the league has not won the lottery. Philly is next in the standings ahead of Orlando and Utah, while the classic teams like the Boston Celtics and LA Lakers are next and they are hoping to land in the top three from where they are in the standings.
Check here for more on the NBA draft and the mock draft for 2014.
http://www.sportsworldreport.com/articles/30111/20140512/nba-mock-draft-2014-jabari-parker-andrew-wiggins-joel-embiid-julius-randle-top-picks-as-boston-celtics-lakers-sixers-winning-lottery.htm
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