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

The second of the Gonzaga power forwards will come off the board here at 16. While the Magic already have plenty of power forwards on the roster, but they can easily transfer one of them to small forward to make room for Hachimura. Hachimura was a three-year starter for the Bulldogs and provided a huge lift to the offense. Hachimura knew how to score when he got the ball, averaging nearly 20 points per game and 50-percent shooting from the field and over 40 percent from beyond the arc. This will make the Magic more than willing to take a flyer on Hachimura.

Herro was a one year prospect out of Kentucky, but not the type of prospect that is synonymous with the Jon Calipari recruiting model. He did have a solid stat line with the Wildcats, generating 14 points per game and with JR Smith turning 34 this coming year, it will be prudent of the Cavs to find a suitable replacement who is capable of hitting the shots he is given. With a 46 percent shooter from the field and 35 percent from beyond the arc, the Cavs will set a solid young backcourt with Colin Sexton.

It’s going to be back-to-back picks for the Wildcats and back-to-back freshmen off the board as the Pacers will take Johnson at the 18th pick. He’s capable of playing at power forward when teams go to smaller lineups but he needs to work on becoming a more consistent shooter from beyond the arc. This is an ideal fit for Johnson, who would be splitting time with Bojan Bogdanovic and Doug McDermott while he gets a feel for the NBA and can develop into a consistent starter for the Pacers.

Current Spurs center LaMarcus Aldridge has had a problem fitting into Gregg Popovich offense from the moment he arrived in San Antonio and I think the main reason the Spurs will take the Florida State big man here. Kabengele has the potential to be a defensive powerhouse much in the same way Rudy Gobert has become for the Utah Jazz. He improved his stats from during his two years with the Seminoles and could be one of those mid-to-late first round gems Popovich seems to find during this stage of the draft.

This will probably be the biggest reach of the draft, as the Celtics, who will be desperate to find a way to replace Kyrie Irving, will take Edwards with the 20th pick of the draft. Don’t get me wrong, I think Edwards is a fine prospect, but not worthy of being in the first round. He put forth his best effort during the NCAA Tournament and he improved his scoring every season but the likelihood that he will be able to keep his electric scoring up on a nightly basis where the majority of players are bigger than him seems improbable.

Last 10 picks, time to finish this NBA Mock Draft.