UK Fans of the Day want new NBA Mock Drafts

The NBA Draft is two weeks from Thursday, and we’ve got two fresh mock drafts to pass along. The first comes from Sports Illustrated’s Jeremy Woo, who released a new set of projections yesterday. Shaedon Sharpe is slated to go No. 8 to the New Orleans Pelicans, while TyTy Washington is just outside the lottery at No. 16, going to the Atlanta Hawks.

I doubt you’re interested in Woo’s comments on Sharpe, so instead, I’ll share what he said about TyTy. While Woo projects TyTy to go to the Hawks at No. 16, he says there is buzz the former Kentucky guard could come off the board with pick No. 11, which belongs to the New York Knicks. You may recall from an earlier post that TyTy worked out with the Knicks yesterday. Woo likes the fit in Atlanta better.

“Atlanta could badly use another guard to run the team and prop up lineups when Trae Young rests. Washington’s ability to function at either backcourt spot should make him an interesting candidate here. Despite an uneven freshman year, there’s enough optimism surrounding Washington’s context—he played through injury and Kentucky guards have often fared better in the NBA—that he maintains a good chance of going in the top 20. Washington isn’t a great athlete or overly tall for a combo guard, and he’s a little bit polarizing among teams considering he was quite old for a freshman. But he should benefit from the fact this is a pretty thin guard draft and profiles as a potentially solid rotation option.”

Over at ESPN, Jonathon Givony went for a different angle with his latest mock draft, comparing the best fit for each team with the best available player on the board. Givony remains high on Sharpe. He lists the former Dream City Christian star as the best available player at No. 7, which belongs to the Portland Trail Blazers while listing him as the best fit for the San Antonio Spurs, who own the No. 9 pick. He also wrote a lot of really nice things about Sharpe, which, again, you probably aren’t interested in.

As for TyTy, Givony believes he is the best fit for the Chicago Bulls at No. 18, where he would step in for injured guards Lonzo Ball and Zach LaVine.

“That could make Washington’s candidacy as both a needs pick and the best player available fairly compelling for the Bulls. Washington can play with or without the ball, excels in pick-and-roll and is a strong perimeter shooter, making him attractive at this point in the draft, especially since he has the size and length to play in many different lineup configurations with any of the Bulls’ existing players.”

Not too long until we know for certain.