The NBA Draft is scheduled to take place on Thursday, July 29th and the Denver Nuggets currently own the 26th overall pick. Up to this point in the draft process, Denver have almost exclusively been mocked taking combo guards and wings. According to spotrac, Will Barton’s deadline to decide on wether he will be opting-in to one more year on his current contract with Denver for just under 14,670,000 dollars is this Saturday, July 17th. If Thrill does opt-out, look for this mock draft trend to continue and perhaps rightfully so.
Since our last big board at the beginning of July, the NBA Draft Combine has conclude and the team workout and interview process is now in full swing. Additionally, four players that were prominent top-60 ranked prospects decided to withdraw from the draft. These aforementioned players are Terrence Shannon Jr., Johnny Juzang, Marcus Bagley, and Max Abmas. Losing these prospects and some others from the draft pool, along with hype beginning to build for previously more under-the-radar players, has resulted in a handful of hoopers making significant jumps or falls in the majority of big boards across the internet.
| Current Rank | Previous Rank | Diff. | Player | Draft Age | School/Team | Position | Ht. | Wt. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Cade Cunningham | 19.8 | Oklahoma State | Guard/Forward | 6'8" | 220 | |
| 2 | 2 | Evan Mobley | 20.1 | USC | Big | 7'0" | 215 | |
| 3 | 3 | Jalen Suggs | 20.2 | Gonzaga | Combo Guard | 6'4" | 205 | |
| 4 | 4 | Jalen Green | 19.5 | G League Ignite | Wing | 6'5" | 178 | |
| 5 | 6 | 1 | Scottie Barnes | 20 | Florida State | Forward | 6'8" | 227 |
| 6 | 5 | -1 | Jonathan Kuminga | 18.8 | G League Ignite | Forward | 6'7" | 223 |
| 7 | 7 | Davion Mitchell | 22.9 | Baylor | Combo Guard | 6'2" | 205 | |
| 8 | 8 | Josh Giddey | 19 | Adelaide 36ers | Guard/Forward | 6'8" | 216 | |
| 9 | 9 | Franz Wagner | 19.9 | Michigan | Forward | 6'9" | 220 | |
| 10 | 10 | Moses Moody | 19.2 | Arkansas | Wing | 6'6" | 205 | |
| 11 | 11 | Alperen Şengün | 19 | Beşiktaş J.K. | Big | 6'10" | 243 | |
| 12 | 12 | Corey Kispert | 22.4 | Gonzaga | Wing | 6'7" | 220 | |
| 13 | 14 | 1 | James Bouknight | 20.9 | UConn | Wing | 6'5" | 190 |
| 14 | 13 | -1 | Keon Johnson | 19.4 | Tennessee | Wing | 6'5" | 186 |
| 15 | 15 | Jalen Johnson | 19.6 | Duke | Forward | 6'9" | 215 | |
| 16 | 16 | Chris Duarte | 24.1 | Oregon | Wing | 6'6" | 190 | |
| 17 | 21 | 4 | Jared Butler | 21.9 | Baylor | Combo Guard | 6'3" | 190 |
| 18 | 17 | -1 | Usman Garuba | 19.4 | Real Madrid | Forward | 6'8" | 229 |
| 19 | 19 | Kai Jones | 20.5 | Texas | Big/Forward | 6'11" | 218 | |
| 20 | 18 | -2 | Jaden Springer | 18.8 | Tennessee | Combo Guard | 6'4" | 204 |
| 21 | 24 | 3 | Trey Murphy III | 21.1 | Virginia | Wing | 6'9" | 199 |
| 22 | 22 | Miles McBride | 20.9 | West Virginia | Combo Guard | 6'2" | 200 | |
| 23 | 20 | -3 | Isaiah Jackson | 19.5 | Kentucky | Big | 6'11" | 206 |
| 24 | 23 | -1 | Ayo Dosunmu | 21.5 | Illinois | Combo Guard | 6'5" | 200 |
| 25 | 25 | Sharife Cooper | 20.1 | Auburn | Lead Guard | 6'1" | 180 | |
| 26 | 26 | Tre Mann | 20.5 | Florida | Combo Guard | 6'5" | 190 | |
| 27 | 27 | Ziaire Williams | 19.9 | Stanford | Wing | 6'9" | 188 | |
| 28 | 28 | Quentin Grimes | 21.2 | Houston | Guard/Wing | 6'5" | 205 | |
| 29 | 31 | 2 | Josh Christopher | 19.6 | Arizona State | Wing | 6'5" | 215 |
| 30 | 29 | -1 | Cam Thomas | 19.8 | LSU | Wing | 6'4" | 210 |
| 31 | 32 | 1 | Joel Ayayi | 21.4 | Gonzaga | Guard/Wing | 6'5" | 180 |
| 32 | 30 | -2 | JT Thor | 18.9 | Auburn | Forward | 6'10" | 205 |
| 33 | 33 | Josh Primo | 18.6 | Alabama | Combo Guard | 6'5" | 189 | |
| 34 | 41 | 7 | Bones Hyland | 20.9 | VCU | Combo Guard | 6'3" | 169 |
| 35 | 37 | 2 | Kessler Edwards | 22 | Pepperdine | Forward | 6'8" | 200 |
| 36 | 36 | Day'Ron Sharpe | 19.7 | UNC | Big | 6'11" | 265 | |
| 37 | 39 | 2 | Jeremiah Robinson-Earl | 20.7 | Villanova | Forward | 6'9" | 231 |
| 38 | 43 | 5 | Herb Jones | 22.8 | Alabama | Wing/Forward | 6'8" | 210 |
| 39 | 42 | 3 | Aaron Henry | 21.9 | Michigan State | Wing | 6'6" | 210 |
| 40 | 40 | Neemias Queta | 22 | Utah State | Big | 7'0.5" | 248 | |
| 41 | 38 | -3 | Filip Petrušev | 21.3 | KK Mega Soccerbet | Big | 6'11" | 225 |
| 42 | 35 | -7 | Charles Bassey | 20.8 | Western Kentucky | Big | 6'10" | 239 |
| 43 | 48 | 5 | B.J. Boston | 19.7 | Kentucky | Wing | 6'7" | 185 |
| 44 | 50 | 6 | Isaiah Todd | 19.8 | G League Ignite | Forward | 6'10" | 199 |
| 45 | 52 | 7 | Rokas Jokubaitis | 20.7 | BC Žalgiris | Lead Guard | 6'4" | 194 |
| 46 | 45 | -1 | Jason Preston | 22 | Ohio | Combo Guard | 6'4" | 181 |
| 47 | 46 | -1 | Joe Wieskamp | 21.9 | Iowa | Wing | 6'7" | 205 |
| 48 | 51 | 3 | David Johnson | 20.4 | Louisville | Combo Guard | 6'5" | 210 |
| 49 | 47 | -2 | Greg Brown III | 19.9 | Texas | Forward | 6'9" | 205 |
| 50 | 49 | -1 | Isaiah Livers | 23.4 | Michigan | Forward | 6'7" | 230 |
| 51 | 44 | -7 | Daishen Nix | 19.5 | G League Ignite | Lead Guard | 6'5" | 227 |
| 52 | 56 | 4 | Juhann Bégarin | 19 | Paris Basketball | Wing | 6'5" | 192 |
| 53 | N/A | Vrenz Bleijenbergh | 20.8 | Port of Antwerp Giants | Wing/Forward | 6'10" | 200 | |
| 54 | 54 | McKinley Wright IV | 22.8 | Colorado | Lead Guard | 6'0" | 192 | |
| 55 | 55 | Sam Hauser | 23.6 | Virginia | Forward | 6'8" | 217 | |
| 56 | N/A | Jericho Sims | 18.7 | Texas | Big | 6'9" | 210 | |
| 57 | 57 | Matthew Hurt | 21.3 | Duke | Forward | 6'9" | 235 | |
| 58 | 58 | Trendon Watford | 20.7 | LSU | Forward | 6'9" | 237 | |
| 59 | 59 | David Duke Jr. | 21.8 | Providence | Guard/Wing | 6'5.5" | 204 | |
| 60 | N/A | Aaron Wiggins | 22.6 | Maryland | Wing | 6'5" | 190 |
As you can see, there was very little movement in the initial quarter of the rankings (1-15) and some activity in the second quarter (16-30). Where it really got interesting is the back half, where the only two players that stayed in the same slot as the first board were Jeremiah Robinson-Earl at 39 and E.J. Onu in the very last spot.
With so many different factors driving prospects’ stock, most of them have only seen slight variation from board to board. There are some players, however, that have been fairly consistently climbing or dropping on most website’s rankings. While this doesn’t directly indicate NBA front offices’ big boards are reflecting these same ranking changes, it’s also true that reporters with inside sources sometimes help the rest of us get a pulse on how front offices feel about certain prospects. Let’s take a look at the three most significant jumps from our first and second boards.
Three biggest risers
59 – 46 | Joe Wieskamp, Wing, Iowa | +13
Wieskamp’s 46.2% three point shooting in his junior season at Iowa is an eye-catching number that has drawn the attention of most scouts. He wasn’t just a one year wonder either, he finished with a very respectable 41.2% on 4.6 attempts per game throughout his collegiate career. Combine that three point stroke with good rebounding, sneaky good athleticism and defense, and you have a potential role player at the next level. While plenty of others have also pushed Wieskamp higher on their boards in the last few weeks, I was clearly sleeping on Joe’s game when I initially ranked him 59th overall. At the very least, he should have a ready made role as an end of bench, three point specialist option.
47 – 40 | Neemias Queta, Big, Utah State | +7
While I wanted to rank Neemias in the top 40 of my initial board, I saw too many other rankings that had him in the 60’s to feel comfortable with placing him much higher than 50. Well, it seems other scouts are starting to come around on Queta’s skillset. The athletic big from Utah State is a rim runner and rim protecter with potential as a passer, scorer, and defender. Oh and It also probably didn’t hurt his stock when he measured in at 7’0.5” in shoes with a 7’4” wingspan at the combine. At 22 years old, Neemias is a bit less polished than you’d hope an upperclassmen would be and this is the likely the primary reason he’s not seen as a first round pick by many. I’m not convinced his stock will continue to rise, but Neemias Queta does now feel like a lock to be drafted on July 29th.
Not Ranked – 45 | Jason Preston, Combo Guard, Ohio | +16?
I’m honestly ashamed for not including Jason Preston in my first big board. He was a player I was considering, but barely didn’t make the cut. The do-it-all guard out of Ohio filled up the box score with 15.7/7.3/7.3 splits in his Junior season. Preston has potential to be a three level scorer with lead guard playmaking ability. He’s much stronger than he looks as well, bullying guards in the paints for boards and buckets. The slightly lower level of competition in the MAC conference is surely playing a factor in Jason’s draft stock, but he currently seems to be headed towards being selected in the early second, potentially even the end of the first. The Nuggets did recently have Preston in for a pre-draft workout and if he really impressed the right people, I wouldn’t be overly surprised if Jason were to be Denver’s pick at 26th overall.
