2018 NBA Mock Draft 3.0

FORT WORTH, TX - DECEMBER 30: Oklahoma Sooners guard Trae Young (#11) dribbles the ball during the Big 12 college basketball game between the TCU Horned Frogs and the Oklahoma Sooners on December 30, 2017, at the Ed & Rae Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, TX. Oklahoma won the game 90-89. (Photo by Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images).
FORT WORTH, TX - DECEMBER 30: Oklahoma Sooners guard Trae Young (#11) dribbles the ball during the Big 12 college basketball game between the TCU Horned Frogs and the Oklahoma Sooners on December 30, 2017, at the Ed & Rae Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, TX. Oklahoma won the game 90-89. (Photo by Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images). /
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2018 NBA Draft
(Photo by Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images). /

Conference play is heating up and so is the 2018 NBA Draft conversation.

This has bee an interesting year in college basketball. From the Trae Young takeover to Kentucky’s historic struggles, there have been plenty of unique storylines that nobody could have predicated entering the season.

We also had the FBI investigations, which cost Rick Pitino his job and will keep players like De’Anthony Melton, Austin Wiley and Brian Bowen sidelined all season. It doesn’t have the same vibes as your typical year in the NCAA.

The 2018 NBA Draft reflects that. This might be the most top-heavy class since 2003, featuring seven or eight different players with clear-cut star upside. The end of the first round is also wide open, with minimal depth and plenty of players whose stock will fluctuate drastically between now and June.

That’s what makes covering the draft so fun. Every projection culminates in an interesting basketball conversation that goes on all season. There isn’t anything else like it.

So, without holding you up any longer, let’s dive into our latest mock draft. As always, these are projections based on team needs and certain trends, not necessarily what I would do as general manager.