NBA Draft 2020: Updated first-round mock with a month to go
By Trevor Marks
The NBA playoffs have come to a close, meaning it’s officially draft season. With the 2020 NBA Draft only a month away, here are our updated projections for the first round.
With the Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Miami Heat in six games to bring the franchise its 17th NBA Championship — the fourth of LeBron James’ career, becoming one of only four players to have one a title with three different teams — the 2019-20 NBA season is finally over.
And what a bizarre and unforgettable year it’s been for the NBA, a year that began with an international conflict between the NBA league office and Chinese broadcasting partners and a year that ultimately ended at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The timeline for next season is still up in the air, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The conclusion of the playoffs means that it’s officially draft season, and teams are already entrenched in the altered pre-draft process that the pandemic necessitates, including virtual interviews over Zoom, remote “Pro Days” for anthropometric measurements and athletic testing, and medical testing performed remotely by NBA-affiliated physicians.
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The 2020 NBA Draft is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, Nov. 18, and could shape up to be one of the more unpredictable and movement-heavy drafts in recent history. The top-two picks could be on the move, with Minnesota and Golden State looking to exchange draft capital for win-now players, and various teams slated to pick in the lottery are looking at moving their picks, too.
And without a consensus top prospect in this year’s class, we could be looking at a draft night with surprising reaches and unforeseen falls.
With that said, here are our updated projections for how November’s draft could unfold.