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With the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 on the horizon, March Madness is entering its final stages with just a couple more weeks for fans to watch some of the top prospects in anticipation of the 2017 NBA Draft. Top prospects like Washington’s Markelle Fultz and NC State’s Dennis Smith Jr. have not been able to use the NCAA tournament to help their draft stock with their teams missing the tournament. Duke’s Jayson Tatum and Florida State’s Jonathan Isaac both played two games in the tournament before both teams were upset. UCLA’s Lonzo Ball, Kansas’ Josh Jackson, Arizona’s Lauri Markkanen, Kentucky’s Malik Monk and De’Aaron Fox are some of the top prospects whose team made it through to the second weekend. The UCLA-Kentucky matchup features as many as six players projected to make the first round of the NBA Draft including three players in our top ten.
You will find our latest mock draft has a new prediction for the number one pick. Ball has an opportunity to continue gaining ground on Fultz with a deep run in the NCAA tournament. As it stands now, Ball has a greater body of work with fewer question marks than Fultz. UCLA was 15-17 last season without Ball, and the addition of Ball is a big reason UCLA has made a deep tournament run. Ball fits in perfectly on a team like the Celtics that already has key pieces in place. The following mock draft is based on players expected to enter the draft. The majority of top players will begin declaring at the conclusion of March Madness. The draft order is based on the NBA standings as of March 23. Click the arrow on the right side of the above image to see Heavy's latest mock draft for the top ten picks. (Getty)
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NBA Mock Draft 2017: Lonzo Ball, Josh Jackson & Top Picks