The next wave of NBA talent arrives on Wednesday night as the league’s annual draft gets started at Barclays Center with the Atlanta Hawks picking No. 1 overall.
For those betting on the draft, the last few weeks have been a non-stop barrage of smoke screens, workout reports and shifting odds, but all of that comes to an end now.
We’ve done all the hard work of sorting through the latest draft intel and found our seven bets we’re most confident in before the clock officially starts and commissioner Adam Silver starts handing out hugs on stage in Brooklyn.
Let’s dig into them, starting with the most obvious question: Who will the Hawks take?
All odds via BetMGM
Zaccharie Risacher (-250) is the current favorite as of Tuesday, but I’m not buying the hype. First, because eating juice like that doesn’t seem worth it for such an unpredictable event, and second, because despite the late love for Risacher, it’s hard to overlook the earlier reports about how much the Hawks like Clingan. There’s no question he’d fit well in Atlanta’s frontcourt and give head coach Quin Snyder a dominant defender to accompany Trae Young.
I do not recommend betting -700 on anything, but there is plenty of justified smoke here with Sarr’s camp seemingly trying to force their prospect onto the Wizards. As FTW’s Mike Sykes wrote, that is certainly a choice.
I say this with absolutely zero disrespect: Bronny James is the biggest pawn the league has had in years. He may one day develop into a legit rotational player, but for now his value is directly tied to his father. And boy are there a lot of teams around this league that would love to tempt fate by drafting LeBron’s son after years of The King talking about how badly he wants to play with him in the pros. None of this is fair to Bronny, of course, but we’re looking at this strictly in betting terms. So whether its another team reaching for Bronny early or the Lakers trading up to make sure no one takes him before they can, wagering on the under here is the only move. I was all over this prop when the line was 39.5. I’m still hammering it at 45.5.
Bronny’s point guard at USC last year garnered plenty of NBA attention during the season, but that appears to have waned a bit in the run up to the draft. FTW’s Bryan Kalbrosky had Collier at No. 27 to the Timberwolves in his most recent mock draft after he measured smaller at the combine than USC listed him. Combined with some shooting issues, that’s more than enough to see Collier slide in the first round.
Topic has the talent to be a top ten pick, but a partial ACL tear may scare some teams off. Kalbrosky had Topic at No. 12 in his last mock, but he may slide further as whichever team picks him will need to feel comfortable with the possibility Topic needs a full year to get healthy.
Cody Williams’ stock is rising and he may find his way into the top ten on Wednesday night. Kalbrosky already had him ahead of Knecht as of last week and the Portland Trail Blazers reportedly have interest. He also projects as a bit more versatile than the sharp-shooting Tennessee product.
There’s been late smoke on Edey going as high as No. 7 to Portland, but I’m not buying it. In fact, I’m out on Edey in general as his game is predicated on making himself at home in the low post, which doesn’t come easy in the NBA. Edey’s upside is limited while Ware provides a bit higher of a ceiling at this level. NBA teams tend to become more attracted to potential and Ware has plenty.
