The First Round of the NBA Draft gets underway on Wednesday night. Betting odds have been on the board at DraftKings Sportsbook for a while now, and DraftKings Network has you covered with NBA Draft bets and content that you can find here.
Let’s project the first round of the draft by mocking the top-30 picks below.
1. Dallas Mavericks: Cooper Flagg (Duke, Freshman) – One of the elite prospects in recent memory falls into Dallas’ lap after fumbling Luka Doncic away. Flagg’s versatility is a fit anywhere, but he enters a rare situation on a veteran team with All-Star talent that has won championships before.
2. San Antonio Spurs: Dylan Harper (Rutgers, Freshman) – Harper is the clear second prospect in this draft. The fit with San Antonio’s depth of guards isn’t ideal, but take the talent alongside Victor Wembanyama and figure the rest out later.
3. Philadelphia 76ers: V.J. Edgecombe (Baylor, Freshman) – Scrappy and versatile wing that will buy-in on starting his career as a role player that can help a healthy and talented 76ers’ roster get back on track.
4. Charlotte Hornets: Tre Johnson (Texas, Freshman) – Johnson seems to be getting underrated in this draft. Terrific shooter that can score in many ways and creates a scary three-headed monster on the perimeter alongside Brandon Miller and LaMelo Ball.
5. Utah Jazz: Ace Bailey (Rutgers, Freshman) – Bailey is probably the third-best talent in the draft, but not the most ideal fit in Philly or Charlotte. We’ll see if a team trades up for Bailey, but if not, Danny Ainge has never been one to let the most talented player on the board slip past him.
6. Washington Wizards: Jeremiah Fears (Oklahoma, Freshman) – The Wizards are clearly taking on veteran contracts while stockpiling assets to build for the future. Their prospects have some promise, and the vets could really help build a culture here if they do this right. Fears would fit right in and create an extremely versatile backcourt with Bub Carrington (mentored by C.J. McCollum).
7. New Orleans Pelicans: Khaman Maluach (Duke, Freshman) – New Orleans went big last summer in the draft with Yves Missi, but still can use some size. Zion Williamson remains a question mark, and there are still plenty of wing prospects that need to be figured out. Maluach is an intriguing and efficient big that is rising up draft boards.
8. Brooklyn Nets: Kon Knueppel (Duke, Freshman) – Knueppel, who has been steamed to go in the top-five picks of the draft on DK Sportsbook, is the odd man out in this scenario. The Nets, who own FIVE picks on Wednesday night, get off to a good start with an elite shooter that has great feel for the game.
9. Toronto Raptors: Derik Queen (Maryland, Freshman) – With Maluach off the board here, the Raptors settle for another talented big to fill a need around their now versatile perimeter.
10. Phoenix Suns: Collin Murray-Boyles (South Carolina, Sophomore) – Anything but a shooting guard feels like a positional need for the Suns at this point, but the loudest rumors indicate the Suns are most hungry to add a center.
11. Portland Trail Blazers: Noa Essengue (France) – Super talented and athletic 6-foot-10 big from France comes with a lot of upside. As you’d imagine, he’s also raw and comes with a lot of risk. Feels like a prospect the Blazers can work with.
12. Chicago Bulls: Carter Bryant (Arizona, Freshman) – The Bulls feel set in the backcourt, but Bryant adds polished size and shooting for his age, which Chicago needs.
13. Atlanta Hawks: Kasparas Jakucionis (Illinois, Freshman) – The Hawks just added some size in the Kristaps Porzingis trade, and have done a good job acquiring wing talent in recent drafts. Jakucionis gives Trae Young another point guard in the backcourt with some size.
14. San Antonio Spurs: Thomas Sorber (Georgetown, Freshman) – Sorber is often mentioned as undervalued in this draft, potentially due to the foot injury that cut his freshman season short. He’s an extremely talented big on both ends of the floor, and would fit perfectly next to Wembanyama. Already with an embarrassment of riches in the backcourt, the Spurs can go big with their second lottery pick of the evening.
15. Oklahoma City Thunder: Cedric Coward (Washington State, Senior) – OKC can obviously do whatever the heck it wants here. Let’s not forget they used a lottery pick on Nikola Topic last season and he sat out the year with a partially torn ACL. If they don’t trade some picks, they’ll have to stash some, but in this scenario the Thunder can use the pick on an NBA-ready talent. Coward is a wing with tons of length and is making a Jalen Williams-esque rise up boards.
16. Memphis Grizzlies: Liam McNeeley (UConn, Freshman) – McNeeley really showed high upside at times for the Huskies last season. He can replace some scoring and shooting that Memphis lost in Desmond Bane.
17. Minnesota Timberwolves: Egor Demin (BYU, Freshman) – Demin slides a bit here due to his poor shooting, but at 6-foot-9 with point guard skills, he brings something that the Wolves lack.
18. Washington Wizards: Asa Newell (Georgia, Freshman) – After adding to the backcourt with a top-10 pick, Washington goes for youth and size with another first rounder. Newell has plenty of talent, and would fit well with the core the Wizards are starting to build.
19. Brooklyn Nets: Will Riley (Illinois, Freshman) – Riley flashed some elite potential at times for a very good Illinois team last season. He’s raw and can also disappear at times, but again, the Nets have so many picks they can afford to throw some darts if they keep the majority of them.
20. Miami Heat: Walter Clayton (Florida, Senior) – One of the most commonly mocked picks outside of the top-three. It sure seems like the local Heat are a strong landing spot for the star of March Madness.
21. Utah Jazz: Nique Clifford (Colorado State, Senior) – Until adding Bailey at No. 5, Utah’s roster was pretty much guards and bigs. Ainge loves wing talent (see his drafts in Boston), and adds a more polished player in Clifford. Clifford came on strong as a late bloomer, and we saw just how tremendous he can be in March.
22. Brooklyn Nets: Danny Wolf (Michigan, Junior) – A big man that looks like he can play all five positions if he wanted to. The Nets can continue to add assets that compliment eachother.
23. New Orleans Pelicans: Nolan Traore (France) – Traore slides down the board a bit here, and after selecting a center with their first pick, the Pelicans land a steal here.
24. Oklahoma City Thunder: Joan Beringer (France) – OKC has to use some of these picks on developmental players if it isn’t making trades. Beringer is a legit center with high upside. Most have him off the board by now, but good landing spot if he slides.
25. Orlando Magic: Jase Richardson (Michigan State, Freshman) – Richardson should fall in this draft class, but he can help the Magic replace some of that guard scoring off the bench that Cole Anthony used to provide.
26. Brooklyn Nets: Drake Powell (North Carolina, Freshman) – Nets take a swing on a prospect that was once considered a much higher rated prospect. With this many picks, you can gamble.
27. Brooklyn Nets: Hugo Gonzalez (Spain) – I mean, come on. How are the Nets on the clock again? This time they go for an international player that has upside and athleticism. Of course, he will take some time to develop.
28. Boston Celtics: Maxime Raynaud (Stanford, Senior) – The Celtics are in desperate need of young bigs, preferably that are ready to play in the NBA. Raynaud is all of those things.
29. Phoenix Suns: Chaz Lanier (Tennessee, Senior) – After adding some size with their new top-10 pick, the Suns add elite perimeter shooting here.
30. Los Angeles Clippers: Koby Brea (Kentucky, Senior) – The Clippers go with the same idea, adding one of the nation’s best shooters from the SEC.
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