As we discussed recently and as you’ve probably heard a lot by now, the anticipated Top Three picks in next June’s NBA Draft are BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Kansas’ Darryn Peterson and Duke’s Carlos Boozer.
In this article, CBS’s Adam Finkelstein still has it Peterson, Dybantsa and Boozer, but unless there is a clear standout that everyone wants, it always depends on who is drafting and what they need. And there’s no way to know this far out.
However, he mentions Boozer’s teammate Pat Ngongba for the first
time that we’ve seen. He mentions concerns about his lateral quickness but the thing about Ngongba that blows us away is his smarts. He’s a tremendous passer, which is immensely helpful and will be more so with greater spacing in the NBA. He’s also emerging as a shot blocker, as Finkelstein notes. Maybe it’s just us, but his athleticism is much more refined this year.
He also has UNC’s Caleb Wilson at #4 and Louisville’s Mikel Brown #5.
If NBADraft.net is correct, the OKC Thunder will have a high pick next June. While we’ll have to see the results of the lottery and then the actual order where everyone ends up, this preview has OKC at #3. And as we saw last summer with the Dallas Mavericks and Cooper Flagg, things can happen. For that matter, according to that scenario, Dallas will have a lottery pick as will San Antonio (Dallas’s lottery odds may decrease if the team wins more, of course). And the thought of any of those teams adding Boozer is pretty imposing.
