Sports Business Classroom

On June 22, the NBA will hold its annual draft, pulling from an impressive domestic and global talent pool. As prospects continue to play, how do they rank as potential draft prospects? Six Sports Business Classroom alumni (Elias Eldridge, Ron Gutterman, Gabriel Mendez, Aaron Pearlstein, Max Rosenberg and Jordan Silbert) have mocked both rounds, plus two bonus picks, based on the early information available through the end of May. While Mock 1.0 and Mock 2.0 were ranked on an average of each SBC scout’s individual selections, Mock 3.0 was a collaborative effort to build out the best draft board through the top 60 (though only 58 will be made on draft night with the Chicago Bulls and Philadelphia 76ers forfeiting their second-round selections). This mock now considers the final draft order, set by the NBA draft lottery on May 16, with team needs and available intel to try and mock what’s to come. Additionally, an AI-generated (pre-lottery) first-round mock was also generated as a control.