Ford-Pelton | Mock Draft 2.0 | Top 100
Editor's note: This Big Board been updated with the announcement that Florida's Chris Walker has been cleared by the NCAA to begin playing games this season.
The top five players on our 2014 NBA draft Big Board have remained steady, give or take. But the challengers are coming.
Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart continues to have big fans in the NBA. Kevin Pelton and I recently discussed the growing debate among NBA scouts and GMs about the best power forward prospect -- Kentucky's Julius Randle or Indiana's Noah Vonleh? Now there's growing buzz among NBA scouts about another freshman, Syracuse's Tyler Ennis. Ennis has been so good and so steady for the second-best team in the country that some scouts are saying he -- not Smart or Australia's Dante Exum -- might be the best point guard prospect in the draft.
With so much scouting buzz about the draft over the past few weeks, it's time to make some more adjustments to the Big Board.
Here is our sixth Big Board for the 2014 NBA draft.
1
Joel Embiid
SCHOOL: Kansas
AGE: 19
HT/WT: 7-0, 240
POS: C
11.2 PPG
7.4 RPG
2.8 BPG
A few weeks ago, when we put Embiid atop our Big Board, it still seemed like a risky thing to do. Two weeks later, it's conventional wisdom. Within hours of putting out our last Big Board, more and more scouts and GMs began texting me with what I already expected to hear: Embiid is now the presumptive favorite to be the No. 1 pick. Long, athletic, 7-foot shot-blockers who score in multiple ways can be tough to find.
Previous rank: No. 1 | PLAYER CARD
2
Andrew Wiggins
SCHOOL: Kansas
AGE: 18
HT/WT: 6-8, 200
POS: SG
15.8 PPG
6.0 RPG
1.6 APG
Wiggins continues to be a little up and down. When he's on, he's one of the smoothest scorers in the country. He dropped 27 points on TCU on Saturday and made everything look easy. But he had just three points against Oklahoma State the week before and looked like a ghost. Despite the lack of consistency, there are few players in the college game who have his physical tools. As he grows into his game, he has the chance to be a lethal NBA player.
Previous rank: No. 2 | PLAYER CARD
3
Jabari Parker
SCHOOL: Duke
AGE: 18
HT/WT: 6-8, 241
POS: SF
18.8 PPG
8.1 RPG
1.3 APG
Parker's shooting woes in the NCAA continue (he went just 3-for-13 against Miami and 7-for-19 against Pittsburgh), but he's made up for some of it with some huge rebounding numbers. He pulled down 15 boards against Miami, 14 against Florida State and 11 against Pittsburgh. For someone who takes the rap as one-dimensional, it really helps to add numbers to other parts of the box score.
Previous rank: No. 3 | PLAYER CARD