With the lottery now in the books, the NBA playoffs winding down, and the NBA draft combine wrapping up, it is officially rumor season. Players are seeing their stock rise like crazy, but we’ve also seen some pretty dramatic dips from this past week or so. Now, let’s get into some of the biggest rumors out there in the NBA draft world.
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Is Cade Cunningham the Sure-Fire No. 1 Pick?
This is all but a done deal at this point. After winning the lottery, lots of quotes from the Detroit Pistons front office basically gave away that Cunningham was the pick. Now, there are some rumblings that Detroit is very high on Jalen Green but this just has all the makings of a classic smokescreen. The Pistons are just gauging interest for a potential trade of this pick, in hopes of getting a lot more value than what they should get. At the end of the day, the pick will be Cunningham, and he will join a very young core of players that will excite Piston fans.
Highest Riser from the Combine?
Josh Christopher would almost have to be the name here. After a disappointing freshman campaign at Arizona State, Christopher showed off his raw talent at the combine. In two games and 49 combined minutes, he posted 28 points with 14 rebounds, eight assists, and four steals. This line is obviously super impressive and to top it off, his game shows up much more than just the box score. His motor is extremely high, and his defense showed up very nicely in key moments. Christopher’s performance should solidify himself as a first-round pick now, after formerly being considered a second-rounder.
Top-Five Already Filling Out?
We already know Cunningham will go first overall, so that leads to Green almost certainly going second. After that, the rumors coming out of Cleveland’s camp is that they will be selecting Evan Mobley. Obviously, this pick will come after they got rid of Andre Drummond. The next rumor to address is the fourth spot, where it’s looking more and more like Jalen Suggs will be the guy heading to the Toronto Raptors, especially if they lose Kyle Lowry in free agency.
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Finally, the fifth pick will almost undoubtedly be Jonathan Kuminga going to the Orlando Magic to add to their young core of athletic, defensive, forwards. While the top five seems set, there could be a wrench thrown into it. A team could take a shot on Scottie Barnes in the top-five, but that doesn’t seem likely at the moment.
How Truly Deep is this Draft Class?
One word, very. With the high-profile prospects sitting out of the combine, we got to see a lot of the stay-or-go prospects rise up the ranks. We’ve now seen the true potential of a very high amount of new players who have put themselves into the first-round conversation, or just the chance to be drafted overall. This class brings a thrilling group of players to the table, and it doesn’t just rest on the top five like we once suspected.
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