With combine(s) coming up, mock drafts start to get serious

NBA executives and scouts head to Chicago next week for the NBA Pre-Draft Combine. There are measurements and interview and 5-on-5 play. At at the end of the combine, teams will make adjustments to their own, internal (and secret) mocks. Also on tap in early June, the adidas Euro-Camp, the international combine.

So in the run-up to the combines, some of the biggest draft sites have updated their rankings. For some, it’s a bit of guesswork, but for the big ones, like Draft Express and ESPN, the mocks are often based on inside information. And as the Draft gets closer, that information gets better ... although last year, no one but no one had Caris LeVert even going in the first round.

There’s still no consensus on who the Nets will pick, but there is a consensus on what the Nets will pick: an international big man. Isaiah Hartenstein of Germany, Rodions Kurucs of Latvia, Viny Okouo of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mathias Lessort of France all get votes from the draftniks. Others moving into the mocks at one of the Nets spots include Bam Adebayo of Kentucky, Justin Patton of Creighton and Andrew Jones of Texas.

Okouo’s inclusion on the DX mock is interesting. We speculated that Gregg Polinsky and Danko Cvjeticanin watched a Unicaja practice in Spain last weekend to get a look at him. The barely 20 year old big, who’s Serge Ibaka’s cousin, barely plays. So watching a practice may have been the next best thing.

Here’s the latest, at Nos. 22, 27 and 57.

Draft Express

Rodions Kurucs F.C. Barcelona, 6’9” SF

Harry Giles, Duke, freshman, 6’11” C

Viny Okouo, 20, Unicaga Malaga, 7’2” C

ESPN

Ivan Rabb, California, junior, 6’11” PF

Andrew Jones, Texas, freshman, 6’5” PG

NBADraft.net

Tyler Lydon, Syracuse, sophomore, 6’9” PF

Johnathan Motley, Baylor junior, 6’9” PF

Chris Boucher, Oregon, 6’10” PF

Tankathon

Ivan Rabb, California, junior, 6’11” PF

Hamidou Diallo, Kentucky, freshman, 6’5” SG

Dwayne Bacon, Florida State, sophomore, 6’7” SG

Sports Illustrated

Caleb Swanigan, Purdue, sophomore, 6’9” PF

Bam Adebayo, Kentucky, freshman, 6’10” PF/C

SBNation

Justin Patton, Creighton, freshman, 7’0” C

Juwan Evans, Oklahoma State, sophomore, 6’1” PG

Bleacher Report

Isaiah Hartenstein, 18, Zalgiris Kaunas, 7’0” C

Mathias Lessort, 21, Nanterre, 6’9” PF

Basketball Insiders

Justin Patton, Creighton, freshman, 7’0” C

Juwan Evans, Oklahoma State, sophomore, 6’1” PG

Keita Bates-Diop, Ohio State, 6’7” PF

MyDraft.net

Bam Adebayo, Kentucky, freshman, 6’10” PF/C

Andrew Jones, Texas, freshman, 6’5” PG

Sporting News

John Collins, Wake Forest, sophomore, 6’9” PF/C

Johnathan Motley, Baylor, junior, 6’9” PF

FanSided

Isaiah Hartenstein, 18, Zalgiris Kaunas, 7’0” C

Tyler Lydon, Syracuse, 6’10” PF

Newark Star-Ledger

Ivan Rabb, California, junior, 6’11” PF

Josh Hart, Villanova, senior, 6’5” SG

Also, on May 16 is the dreaded NBA Draft lottery. That will help settle the top of the draft, but that’s of no interest to Nets fans. None at all. Nope, Nada, Zip, Nothing. May not even watch. Not us.