Old North Banter NBA Mock Draft: Zion goes first, Culver goes fourth

Let this be a lesson to all NBA teams rebuilding: Just because you decide to tank your season doesn’t mean you will automatically get one of the top-three draft picks that year. The Suns, however, will get lucky and have a projected top-five pick slip to them at six. Garland played just five games this season after having season-ending surgery to repair his meniscus. That said, he looked explosive in his five games, contributing 16 points per game and nearly hitting 50-percent of his shots from three. The Suns only have Jawun Evans, De’Anthony Melton and Jimmer Fredette (yes he’s still in the league, we checked), so this will be the play and will have someone to pair with Devin Booker in the backcourt.

With Wendell Carter Jr., Lauri Markannen and Otto Porter Jr. on the roster, the Bulls can focus on repairing the backcourt on their team. The Goldsboro native can pair well nicely with either Kris Dunn or Zach Levine, but White is similar to Levine in that the greatest asset is the way he attacks the basket, which is perfect for the Bulls, who don’t have anyone to create their own shot. The only concern the Bulls should have is that physically, he doesn’t necessarily have the length they would like and is streaky as a shooter, but with the right coaching, Coby could be a vital piece of the backcourt.

Here at eight, we are taking the last of Duke’s three prolific freshmen to add to the Cavs’ roster post-Lebron James. Reddish struggled to play third fiddle behind RJ Barrett and Zion Williamson, but he has an elite size and has solid long-term projections that track towards All-Star productivity. He may be a streaky shooter and didn’t have the opportunity to flourish, but on a roster that needs star power, he looks ready to take over and lead that team with second-year point guard Colin Sexton at the helm.

It really wasn’t that long ago that the Wizards were a perennial playoff team, but now with John Wall sidelined for another year and Bradley Beal potentially leaving for a better team in a few seasons, it may be time to blow the whole thing up and start fresh. As I mentioned in my draft profile of Little,  He has explosiveness and from what scouts are saying, his game translates more to the NBA than it ever did to the college game. Little will have plenty of opportunities to show off what he can do on the NBA stage and with starting small forward Trevor Ariza turning 34 later this month, its time the Wizards found their next small forward of the future.

The Hawks use the last of their two top-10 picks to round out their frontcourt, having taken Hunter with the fifth overall pick. Hayes is an efficient scorer and can be a monster on the defensive side with his blocking ability, and would be the only center on the roster under the age of 20. While he is great on the offensive side, he will need to more aggressive on the defensive side of rebounding and will have to stay out of foul trouble, as he averaged three fouls per game over 20 minutes per game. With the frontcourt taken care of for the Hawks, they can focus on finding shooters to pair with Young during free agency.

Still with us? good. Let keep this NBA Mock Draft rolling.