Updated NBA mock drafts ahead of Tuesday night's Lottery

The NBA’s Draft Lottery is being held on Tuesday night, where a cage filled with ping pong balls will ultimately decide whether or not a general manager gets fired in the next two to three years. The lotto is one of the most chaotic aspects of this beautiful league — the ping pong balls care not about your tanking efforts. You can win 15 games and still get knocked out of a top-three pick. You could also win 45 games and manage a top-five pick. It’s pure (entertaining) madness!

Kentucky will actually be well-represented at the Chicago-based event, which is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. EST on ESPN, with PJ Washington attending on behalf of the Charlotte Hornets and William “World Wide Wes” Wesley (close friend of John Calipari) representing the New York Knicks franchise. Those teams will be two of 14 total hoping to land a high-value pick in this year’s 2022 NBA Draft.

Below is the probability percentage that each franchise holds for the No. 1 overall pick.

Houston Rockets (20-62): 14.0%
Orlando Magic (22-60): 14.0%
Detroit Pistons (23-59): 14.0%
Oklahoma City Thunder (24-58): 12.5%
Indiana Pacers (25-57): 10.5%
Portland Trail Blazers (27-55): 9.0%
Sacramento Kings (30-52): 7.5%
Los Angeles Lakers (33-49): 6.0% (will be conveyed to either New Orleans; or to Memphis via New Orleans)
San Antonio Spurs (34-48): 4.5%
Washington Wizards (35-47): 3.0%
New York Knicks (37-45): 2.0%
LA Clippers (42-40): 1.5% (to OKC)
Charlotte Hornets (43-39): 1.0%
Cleveland Cavaliers (44-38): 0.5%

Ahead of Tuesday’s Draft Lottery, a couple of different outlets dropped their latest mocks for the first round. Both The Ringer and CBS Sports unveiled updated mocks on Monday while 247Sports released a new Big Board on Tuesday. Kentucky still expects to have two first-round selections once the June 23 draft rolls around: Shaedon Sharpe and TyTy Washington.

The Ringer

Shaedon Sharpe: No. 4, Oklahoma City Thunder
TyTy Washington: No. 23, Brooklyn Nets

CBS Sports

Shaedon Sharpe: No. 5, Indiana Pacers
TyTy Washington: No. 7, Sacramento Kings

247Sports (Big Board)

Shaedon Sharpe: No. 5 overall
TyTy Washington: No. 13 overall

According to most mocks, Sharpe’s range has been early-to-mid lottery for a while now and nothing appears to have changed with about a month until the draft. If he is indeed eligible for the draft and does ultimately stay in, it feels safe to say that he’s bound to be a top 10 pick. The 4-6 range is the most popular right now.

As for Washington, he’s been pegged as a late-lottery selection ever since his freshman season at Kentucky came to an end. The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor having him all the way down to No. 23 with the Brooklyn Nets is actually the lowest I’ve seen — even if the fit would be exciting.

Now, O’Connor does have Washington at No. 19 on his Big Board, which is a bit more reasonable, but most draft folks believe he’ll go anywhere from 10-17. That being said, CBS Sports’ Kyle Boone has Washington all the way up at No. 7, which is the highest I’ve seen him projected so far this spring. ESPN and The Athletic have Washington falling to pick No. 17 and No. 14, respectively, in their most recent updates. NBC Sports tabbed him to go at No. 13.

We’ll have a better idea of which teams will be interested in these two former ‘Cats following tonight’s lottery.