Kansas forward/defender Tyrone Stokes is the No. 1 prospect overall Jeremy Wu of the original ESPN Bigboard in the 2027 NBA draft. Stokes is considered a “do-it-all talent on the perimeter” who contributes on both ends of the floor, although Wu said there are some questions about his “efficiency, consistency and maturity.”
The class of 2027 is considered weaker than the past two classes, and few prospects are expected to make immediate college contributions, Wu notes.
There’s a good chance most of the prospects featured in the initial top-100 list will return to college in 2028 because they’ll be making more money on lucrative NIL deals, Wu wrote, and changes at the NCAA (fifth year of eligibility, more seniors) and NBA (lottery reform draft to curb tanks) will make the evaluation process even more difficult than usual.
However, the No. 2 prospect on Wu’s board of directors – Stefan Joksimovich – not studying in college. The 6’8″ Slovenian point guard currently plays in Spain’s top domestic league (Liga ACB) and the Euroleague with Saska Baskonia.
BYUT wing Bruce Ward IIIthe arkansas guard Jordan Smith the youngest and the Arizona guard Caleb Holt rounding out Wu’s top five.
Here are some more odds from around the world of basketball:
- Speaking of the 2027 draft, CJ Moore of The Athletic ( free link ) lists 10 college prospects to keep an eye on this season, including guard Stokes, Branch, Smith, Holt, Illinois Quentin Coleman (No. 6 on Woo’s board), UConn offensive lineman Braylan Mullins (No. 8) and downtown Louisville Obina Ekezie Jr (No. 12), by the way.
- After the summer in which Janice Antecumba, Jaylen Brown, Pavel George, Ja Morant, Lamela’s ball and Kawhi Leonard were traded, who will be the next star players? Howard Beck from The Ringer explores the topic, writing that NBA personnel are keeping a close eye on several big names, starting with Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Heat a great man Bam Adebayo and The sun security guard Devin Booker. While competing front offices view Jokic’s in-season trade as “highly unlikely,” next offseason could be a different story. “Obviously, after the championship, it was difficult for them to build around themselves due to financial constraints“, said the anonymous executive. “Are they finally just saying, okay, he’s 31; are we just going to pull the trigger because he has a huge extension coming up this summer and then it’s going to be even harder to build around this guy?“
- Ahead of Saturday’s game between the Pacers and the Nuggets in Mexico City, Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette spoke with a former NBA player Eduardo Najera about his home country’s efforts to develop the game. Nareja, a 12-year NBA veteran, became the first player of Mexican descent drafted into the NBA when he was selected 38th overall in 2000.Back then, when I was drafted, basketball was just another sport, but I believe now it is positioned as the #2 sport (after football)“, – said Nahera. “It has been a collective effort over the last 10 years. I have seen the changes. I could see the excitement of the fans. It all started with us being the Mavericks and being with the Denver Nuggets… I saw the growth. Obviously, now with social media, we’ve connected to the whole world, but Mexico definitely connected to the NBA because I feel like the NBA has done an incredible job and is the No. 1 professional league that has positioned itself as a leader in social media. It gave us an easier connection to the NBA than how I grew up.”