What will winning the NBA draft lottery mean? Perhaps the chance to grab the most coveted freshman in college basketball.
Duke’s Jabari Parker is favored to be the No. 1 overall pick in June’s draft, according to a poll of 30 NBA executives by ESPN’s Jeff Goodman. Parker received 17 votes, while Kansas’ Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins finished second and third, respectively, with eight and five votes apiece.
This comes as a bit of an upset, as most scouts projected Wiggins to be the consensus top pick, though he, Embiid and Parker were all considered locks to come off the board in the top three.
According to Goodman, despite Parker being considered the league-wide favorite to be the No. 1 pick, it does not preclude Wiggins — or Embiid for that matter — from taking that honor, depending on which team is on the clock first.
Obviously, it will depend on the team and the general manager who winds up getting the No. 1 pick. Wiggins could still go with the top selection due to his high ceiling and athleticism, but many NBA folks are worried about his lack of consistency, whether he possesses a killer instinct and also whether he can get by defenders in the half court.
Most NBA guys gush at Embiid due to his size and potential — but there’s a huge lingering concern with the recent back issues. Right now many NBA executives would go with Parker because he’s the safe selection, the known commodity. Sure, they might not feel he has quite the upside of Wiggins or Embiid — but they do also see Parker as a potential perennial NBA All-Star.
In short, they trust Parker
The Milwaukee Bucks have the most ping-pong balls in May 20’s draft lottery, followed by the Philadelphia 76ers, Orlando Magic, Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics — in other words, the “tankers” as we’ve come to known them. All five of those teams are most likely to take the best player available instead of trying to fill a specific need, per the report, and one NBA general manager believes the competition to be the best player is as close as any draft in recent memory.
“This is about as close of a top three as I’ve seen in a long, long time,” one general manager told ESPN. “It really does depend on who gets the top pick and whether they are willing to take a risk or not.”
“I think one GM would go with Parker, another would go with Embiid and another with Wiggins,” added another. “No one knows who will go first right now.”
Early on, it seems as if Parker is leading the race as arguably the “sure bet.” Wiggins may have the highest ceiling of the three, while Embiid could be the much-coveted big man.
