2017 NBA Draft Betting: Pre-Combine Preview and Analysis

With the 2017 NFL Draft firmly in the rearview mirror, sports fans can turn their attention to another league wide event going down in the NBA on June 22nd – the 2017 NBA Draft.카지노사이트

While not as long or nearly as hyped, the NBA Draft still offers loads of excitement for losing franchises and also signals the unofficial start of a new basketball season. That is still nearly two full months from happening, but we still want to stay up to date with the draft process due to the profit that can be obtained in NBA Draft betting.

The NFL finally introduced draft prop bets in Vegas and online sportsbooks in April and we’ve been seeing NBA Draft prop bets for a while. Last year a slew of fun NBA Draft prop bets were available at your favorite NBA betting sites and that should again be the case this year. Those prop bets aren’t out just yet, but it’s always wise to scout the entire first round and start gauging where the top prospects could go, or if there are a few sleeper prospects that could rise up draft boards.

Let’s start prepping for the 2017 NBA Draft by taking a look at how things could shake out:

Who Goes #1?

Again, official NBA Draft prop betting isn’t open for business yet on the top NBA betting sites, but we can start gauging some of the more popular bets. Who goes #1 is always a big, heated discussion and that’s no different going into the 2017 NBA Draft.

The actual 2017 NBA Draft Lottery will be held on May 16th, which will clear things up a lot more. From there, we should start getting a pretty good idea as to which prospect will go first in the draft and how things can unfold from there.

Without knowing for sure who will pick at the top spot, we can safely assume the team picking first will be choosing between one of three players:

• Lonzo Ball, G, UCLA
• Josh Jackson, G/F, Kansas
• Markelle Fultz, G, Washington

If we’re going strictly based on who is the best overall prospect, it’s hard not to prop up Jackson, who has the best combination of size, athleticism and two-way ability, arguably in the entire draft.

Unfortunately for Jackson, that does not make him a lock to go first in the 2017 NBA Draft. The big reason why is the team at the top spot might see point guard as a greater need, while they could also dangle that pick in trade talks.

This is probably going to be the case if the Boston Celtics land the 1st overall pick. Already stacked with a deep playoff contender, the Celtics would probably prefer landing a star small forward like Jimmy Butler, Carmelo Anthony or Paul George, rather than continue building with a young prospect.

That doesn’t mean Boston wouldn’t use this pick on the player they like the most, but it doesn’t look like the direction they’d be headed in.

We can expect teams like the Lakers, 76ers, Magic, Knicks and others to target one of the top point guards if they’re at that top spot, while L.A. is specifically tied to Ball given his college time with UCLA.

Currently, the most likely players at the top of the draft based on NBA Draft Lottery odds seem to be the Celtics (25%), Suns (19%) and Lakers (15%). If Boston gets that pick, they will be threats to trade it. If the Suns get that pick, they would likely target more size with Ball or Jackson (Devin Booker seems to be their point guard of the future), while the Lakers seem like a borderline lock to take Ball.

As things stand, the Celtics hold the odds to get the top pick. That could have them taking top prospect Markelle Fultz if everything stays as it is, but we see them trading out of that spot to land a huge veteran upgrade.

Top 5 Threats

Beyond that top spot, NBA bettors may be in line to target a few big names that will find themselves selected inside the top 5 picks. Ball, Fultz and Jackson feel like the top three players going into this draft and it’s not all that close.

So, who rounds out the top five with those final two spots? Early indications are that Duke’s Jayson Tatum and Kentucky’s De’Aaron Fox are the first two guys inside that top five ranking.

Just like it’s not close after the top three, this probably isn’t that close, either. Truth be told, Tatum is, in a lot of ways, the most complete prospect in this draft, but due to merely adequate athleticism he might be downgraded a bit. Fox also showed up Lonzo Ball in the 2017 March Madness tournament, but for whatever reason hasn’t garnered nearly the same level of hype.

Ball does boast a considerable height advantage and is looked at as the more complete prospect, but Fox is a very interesting point guard prospect and appeared to be the better player when the two faced off in a high pressure situation. Needless to say, Tatum and Fox aren’t likely to slide into the top three picks, but they seem like top five locks.

Beyond those five, we can start looking at interesting talents like Malik Monk, Dennis Smith and Jonathan Isaac, but as talented as these prospects are, they haven’t garnered the same high level reputations. They are all arguably top 10 locks, but they’re unlikely to leap frog Tatum or Fox to get inside the top five.

Sneaky Sleepers
The draft order, team needs, and prospect value is going to change a lot over the next two months, but there are still some interesting prospects you’ll want to track that could slide up to the first round or move from round two into round one.

Some of the bigger names in round two, at the moment, to keep an eye on are Sindarius Thornwell, Josh Hart, Dillon Brooks and Frank Mason III.

These guys were all stellar college basketball players, but scouts are probably wondering right now exactly how they’ll translate to the next level. Thornwell wasn’t necessarily on anyone’s radar ahead of the tourney, but he carried South Carolina deep into March Madness and was a bit of a monster. Because of that, he turned heads and he’ll get a longer look than he would have.바카라사이트

Hart is an elite spot-up shooter that will get a hard look as a guy who can space the floor and score in general. Playing at a high level program like Villanova is one reason to give him a glance, but the NBA always needs productive shooters and he fits the bill.

Dillon Brooks was a beast at Oregon and helped formulate some very good teams for the Ducks thanks to his outside shooting and athleticism. His exact position is open for debate, but he’s a proven winner that could be a nice offensive addition at the next level.

Mason is still being overlooked due to his small stature, but he’s built in the mold of Chris Paul and is a fiery leader that has never wavered during crunch time. Size limitations could limit his draft range, but he is a first round talent on paper and is going to work as hard as anyone.

For guys that are already projected to be in the first round, we will want to track the likes of Justin Jackson, Luke Kennard and Zach Collins. Jackson has the length, athleticism and scoring mentality to be a terrific two-way player at the next level and after helping lead North Carolina to a college basketball championship, he’ll understandably be rising up draft boards.

Kennard is another guy like Josh Hart that can space floors with his elite shooting. Kennard has a lot of work to do as a shot creator and scorer, but his long stroke alone could land him in the lottery. There is also big man Zach Collins (not to be confused with Wake Forest’s John Collins), who is a raw product but showed his immense two-way upside during Gonzaga’s run to the national title game.

Potential Sliders
We also want to pay mind to a few big names that could slide out of the first round or dip below their lottery status. UCLA’s T.J. Leaf might be the big lottery level pick to be leary of, as he really only brings shooting to the table and at this point won’t be strong enough defensively to make an early impact. That could scare away some teams, which could send him sliding to the bottom of the first round or even into round two.

Closer to the bottom of round one we might want to be careful with how we project Donovan Mitchell and Tyler Lydon, as well. Lydon is comparable to Leaf and if Leaf’s stock slides, Lydon could experience a similar negative impact.

Mitchell is a totally different player and actually brings a lot of upside as an athletic scorer who may also develop into a point guard at the next level. Unfortunately, he’s currently a two guard prospect that lacks ideal size for the NBA shooting guard position. Some scouts don’t like his chances of turning into a point guard or even a viable combo guard in the NBA, either, so his stock could take a hit and send him into round two.

A lot of the sliding and rising can be dictated by the 2017 NBA Combine, which kicks off on May 11th and runs until May 12th. De’Aaron Fox is one of the bigger names that will hope to see his draft stock spike by taking part in drills, while numerous prospects we haven’t even touched on will try to improve their draft status as well.

Again, it’s pretty early in the process, so we’ll want to keep tabs on how the NBA Draft process is going ahead of any 2017 NBA Draft betting. Keep an eye open on your favorite NBA betting sites for the early prop bets too, as it will be good to find and place bets as early as you can to ensure playable/profitable odds.온라인카지노