DRAFT WATCH #5 - Positions set, but will Nets use all three picks?

After Friday’s drawing at NBA headquarters, the NBA Draft order is set. Brooklyn will pick 17th using their own pick, 27th with the pick they acquired from Denver in the Faried-Arthur trade last year and 31st via Knicks with the pick they acquired from Philadelphia in the Booker for Okafor-Stauskas swap in 2017.

Overall, those three picks —two firsts and the top pick in the second— should give the Nets the ninth best draft in the NBA, according to Tankathon’s Draft Power Rankings. Among playoff teams, the Nets rank behind only the Celtics who, as usual, have a stockpile of picks, including three in the first round!

Will the Nets use all three picks? As GNYR, who follows all things Draft for us, notes, cap space is going to be very valuable this summer. The No. 17th pick will require a commitment of $2.2 million next season, while the 27th pick would add another $1.5 million to the payroll. The 31st pick’s salary is negotiable.

One possibility is that the Nets use one (or more) of their picks to sweeten a salary dump of Allen Crabbe’s remaining year in hopes of adding $18.5 million to their cap space this summer.

All that said, the latest mocks are out and so we are duty bound to report on them. Who are the consensus picks? Not a lot of agreement, but Nassir Little, the North Carolina shooting guard who had been top 5 at the beginning of the season, is now linked to the Nets in three mocks. His Tarheel teammate Cameron Johnson, a 6’8” small forward; Bol Bol, the injured 7’2” Oregon center; Dylan Windler, another 6’8” forward out of Belmont; Luguentz Dort, a 6’5” shooting guard out of Arizona State; and Mfiondu Kabengele, a 6’9” power forward out of Florida State, are all linked to the Nets on two mocks.

Enjoy!

ESPN (April 12)

17. Nassir Little, 6’6” SF, North Carolina, freshman

27. Mfiondu Kabengele, 6’9” PF, Florida State, sophomore

31. Dylan Windler 6’8” F, Belmont, senior

NBADraft.net (April 4)

16. Romeo Langford, 6’6” SG, Indiana, freshman

27. Jordan Nwora, 6’7” SF, Louisville, sophomore

31. Dylan Windler, 6’8” F, Belmont, senior

The Athletic (March 18)

17. Nassir Little, 6’6” SF, North Carolina, freshman

27. Daniel Gafford, 6’11” C, Arkansas, Sophomore

31. Jalen McDaniels, 6’10” PF, San Diego State, Sophomore

Sports Illustrated (April 9)

17. Goga Bitadze, 6’11” C, Georgia, 19 years old

27. Luguentz Dort, 6’4” SG, Arizona State, freshman

31. Isaiah Roby, 6’8” PF, Nebraska, junior

Tankathon (April 3)

17. Grant Williams, 6’7” PF, Tennessee, junior

27. Cameron Johnson, 6’8” SF, North Carolina, senior

31. Luguentz Dort, 6’4” SG, Arizona State, freshman

Basketball Insiders (April 9)

16. Sekou Doumbouya, 6’9” PF, France, 18 years old

27. Matisse Thybulle, 6’5” SG, Washington, senior

31. Mfiondu Kabengele, 6’9” PF, Florida State, sophomore

Bleacher Report (April 13)

17. Bol Bol, 7’2” C, Oregon, Freshman

27. KZ Okpala, 6’9” SF, Stanford, sophomore

FanSided (April 10)

17. Bol Bol, 7’2” C, Oregon, Freshman

27. Matisse Thybulle, 6’5” SG, Washington, senior

SB Nation (April 16)

17. Nassir Little, 6’6” SF, North Carolina, freshman

27. Cameron Johnson, 6’8” SF, North Carolina, senior

Bleacher Report (April 9)

16. Brandon Clarke, 6’8” PF, Gonzaga, junior

27. KZ Okpala, 6’9” SF, Stanford, sophomore

The NBA Draft will be held June 20 at Barclays Center. It’s the ninth straight time the Nets have hosted the Draft, seven times in Brooklyn and before that twice in Newark.