Gonna try and drop a Dala-bigboard here:
1) Embiid (with the knowledge that injury problems aren't serious, or career-impacting)
2) Wiggins
3) Parker
4) Vonleh
5) Exum
6) Smart
7) Gordon
8) Saric
9) McDermott
10) Randle
A few comments explaining the reasoning behind some of my picks:
- Vonleh, to me, is probably the only potentially-elite two-way draftees that can be had at 5, with Marcus Smart to a lesser extent (IMO).
- Exum at five is a very hard pick for me to make, as I hate judging players that I really have minimal intel on. I'm going off of what some posters here, along with international analysts have said. Personally, I find the Smart vs. Exum debate fascinating. The reason I slot Exum ahead of Smart, is because I think Exum's potential as an elite 1st option on offense > that of Smart's. His defense and athleticism are definitely not up to par with Smart's, but personally I'm looking for an elite offensive weapon with our 5th pick-- as priority number one.
- I won't be that devastated if we end up with Smart at the 5. I just don't find him as much of a franchise-changer offensively, or defensively. I think he has one of the lowest bust-potentials of any player in this draft, and I'm confident that he'll probably have a long, successful career. However, the fact of the matter is that we have a chance to really snag a franchise player here, and I have my doubts that Marcus Smart will be a top 3 player from this draft moving forward. Smart is maybe the safest pick we could make at 5, but probably not the best.
- I like Gordon a little, mostly because I have always loved Marion, and I'd love to have a player like him on this team. I think Gordon as the 5th pick is a complete and total reach, and I'd be extremely shocked with us drafting him, mostly because he could be had at a lower pick, and it would make much more sense for us to trade down to snag him. Still, my priority with pick number 5 is offense, but I think Gordon at the 7 spot provides some skills in elite quantities that the subsequent draftees do not have.
- In any other draft, I'd be way bigger on Saric. As it stands, the Jazz are in shambles, and we really need to hit a home-run here. Saric has among the higher bust-potentials, and unfortunately we are not in the position to take a huge risk in terms of who we pick. With that said, it would not shock me if Saric became a top 5 player from this draft 5 years from now.
- I like McBuckets, and the meltdown that would ensue would make me giggle
I think he's gonna be a pretty solid player
- I really really don't like Julius Randle.