NBA Draft 2027
GrayGhost77
- Centennial, CO
I'm surprised Vaaks is not featuring more heavily in these early mock drafts.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
I’m not mad at it. Gives the program more credit when he goes in the first round next year.
Age matters a lot. It’s the biggest factor we always overlook.
Sure there’s minorities of old guys going lottery (Yaxel), but a guy like Coleman has a way more advantageous starting point.
Would love to know if Keaton was on any summer NBA mock drafts prior to his freshman season. IIRC I think he was still only showing up on 2nd round mocks early in the season. But I could 100% be totally wrong. I just don't remember.
And judging by these preseason mocks up above, it's again looking VERY likely that we might have another 1 and done on our hands, with QC.
Month of November, he was very fringe first round but mostly second round.
December onward, he was very consistently seen as a 1st round pick. (December 1st against Tennessee was his first game as the primary lead guard)
Mackey is what elevated him to top 5 status.
…..
As much as folks love the “no one saw it coming” narrative, truth is that the buzz he generated in those summer workouts was very real. All the Clippers executives talked about it.
Staff was very confident he’d play in the NBA (whether that meant one and done or not).
Last edited:
Oh I agree, but it's interesting that there are mocks llisted here that include other, even older, players like Stoj, Tomi, and Z and don't include Vaaks.
Wait, so it was always expected he'd be a top 5 pick all along? Unsure how he got ranked 261st if that's the case.
I think the "no one saw it coming" isn't a narrative, but just a truth. Its about as much a diamond-in-the-rough story as you'll ever see.
It was not expected he'd be a top 5 pick all along, but it was eminent that he'd play a major role and was way better than his ranking projection. Everyone who went to Ubben practice began to take notice, including NBA scouts:
(also, his 261st ranking was prior to him ever stepping foot on campus. Obviously no one thought he'd be a top 5 pick, but from the time he got to Illinois, it was apparent he'd outplay that ranking)
Last edited:
Yep, it was the talk of the entire summer how good he had looked.
And none of that dispels a 'no one saw it coming' narrative.
You said yourself:
The second half of that post directly contradicts the first half. If he came into campus just hoping for a role, and then in November he was fringe first round, mostly second round, and then December onward began being seen in the first round, and ultimately rises even further to top 5, that fundamentally describes a 'no one saw it coming' situation. Keaton never saw it coming himself... he had two whole high major offers (one of them being Minnesota).
So you described the very situation yourself, and then claimed it never happened in the very next sentence you wrote.
I was really sort of confused by the lengths you went to in the Morez discussion, and now we want to poo-poo the Keaton story? Why? Just seems like you are just trying too hard to be different or something...
skyIdub
"I can't tell you. Secret."
This is as good a time and place to remind everyone....... f#$k ESPN.
ESPN is so bitter....I love it.
Indeed it was
He was not considered a top 5 pick or anywhere close to it in the summer though, which is the whole point
You just have to recognize what ESPN is these days is regard to college sports... They are the owner/operators of both the SEC Network and the ACC Network, and produce most of the Big 12 content. (They have no standalone channel anymore)
They will always favor the product that earns for them. They have a vested rooting interest, and produce content accordingly. B1G will always be treated like little bro by them, because we cut them out of the vast majority of our media rights.
Yeah, I think there is a wide gap between an NBA GM saying we should know this guy, and saying we HAVE TO DRAFT this guy, ASAP.
Interesting ESPN thought experiment - non-freshmen in mock draft by conference (based on my counting, sorry if I'm off on any of these):
SEC - 10 total (5 first round)
Seniors - 4
Juniors - 3
Sophomores - 3
Big 12 - 4 total (2 first round)
Seniors - 2
Juniors - 0
Sophomores - 2
ACC - 7 total (3 first round)
Seniors - 2
Juniors - 1
Sophomores - 5
Big East - 3 total (1 first round)
Seniors - 1
Juniors - 0
Sophomores - 2
Big 10 - 6 total (0 first round)
Seniors - 2
Juniors - 2
Sophomores - 4
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Not to put more work on your plate, but that’s essentially saying the SEC and the ACC are more talented than the B1G. I’d be curious how The Athletic or another publication mocks it.
Keaton had the summer talk, and was on NBA scouts radar heading into the year. Everyone "saw it coming," we just didn't know to what extent.
The true "no one saw it coming" of this draft was Ebuka Okorie of Standfort. Literally no one knew of his name. Sucks he was on such a bad team though. I think he ends up having a Dennis Schroder type career.
The true "no one saw it coming" of this draft was Ebuka Okorie of Standfort. Literally no one knew of his name. Sucks he was on such a bad team though. I think he ends up having a Dennis Schroder type career.
Last edited: