Final 2017 Draft Rankings

Draft day is finally here, which means all of the rankers we know and love so much have finalized a final top-60 or top-100, and we can look at those rankings to once again recalibrate heading into the big night. The reason to rely on the rankings of experts, at least as a baseline, is that they’re, well, experts. The people whose work I’ll cite below focus on college ball and the draft as their primary gig, and while I personally love to watch the NCAA and spend hours once the playoffs end trying to catch up with video, they’ve all spent far more time, tracked the prospects for years in some cases, and will have the benefit of more in-person viewings, meetings, and impressions from within the NBA. There’s nothing wrong with knowing what you don’t know and letting the expertise of intelligent people guide your own research. (Or so I tell myself.)

The big takeaway from tracking these rankings over the last few weeks is that there remains a ton of volatility and a wide range of opinions on most prospects. Considering how wide open the draft is, that stands to make whomever the Raptors wind up with at No. 23 a win in the books of some and a loss in the books of others – there’s a good chance the pick looks like a steal or a reach, and of course, we won’t know the reality for years. That doesn’t mean we don’t dive in like hell to try to figure it out the moment the pick is announced.

By the way, if anyone was wondering about the history of the No. 23 pick: According to DraftExpress, the No. 23 pick has become an All-Star twice, a starter nine times, a backup 21 times, an end-of-the-bench guy 13 times, and never reached the NBA 11 times in the last 56 drafts. The No. 23 pick has averaged 1.62 Estimated Wins Added, averaging 5.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.1 assists with a 9.2 player efficiency rating. This means little as a group-wide snapshot, but I thought I’d pass it along to help set a baseline expectation for player quality.

To help give an idea of who the Raptors looked at, here’s a refresher on the 52 names they brought in to BioSteel Centre. It’s just a small part of the process and doesn’t at all mean this is the list they’re drawing from (a few players had to drop out, guys projected in the lottery are tough to get in, logistical issues come up, and so on). Here you go:

Player	Date	Note	Average	High	Low
OG Anunoby	N/A	Interview only	13.4	11	18
Ike Anigbogu	7-Jun	Interview only	23.1	15	36
Semi Ojeleye	22-May		28.6	19	38
Tyler Lydon	17-May		32.3	22	50
T.J. Leaf	18-May		34.2	22	44
Caleb Swanigan	30-May		35.5	27	48
Johnathan Motley	23-May		45.9	36	47
Tyler Dorsey	22-May		47.1	39	61
Dillon Brooks	22-May		47.4	38	50
Kyle Kuzma	7-Jun		48.1	41	47
Devin Robinson	6-Jun		50.0	37	52
Wesley Iwundu	6-Jun		50.1	29	53
Sindarius Thornwell	13-Jun		51.3	31	62
P.J. Dozier	5-Jun		54.8	46	52
Dwayne Bacon	13-Jun		60.6	45	74
Damyean Dotson	30-May		60.8	54	68
Kobi Simmons	22-May		66.7	51	76
Nigel Hayes	7-Jun		72.3	60	83
Jonathan Jeanne	7-Jun	Medical condition	76.1	42	105
Isaiah Briscoe	23-May		79.9	67	98
Kennedy Meeks	5-Jun		85.6	65	105
Isaac Humphries	13-Jun		87.2	81	105
Antonius Cleveland	30-May		95.2	85	105
T.J. Williams	17-May		97.9	89	105
Troy Caupain	7-Jun		98.2	105	105
Austin Nichols	30-May		98.9	93	105
Chance Comanche	13-Jun		101.2	88	105
Xavier Rathan-Mayes	23-May		102.6	94	105
Dylan Ennis	17-May		#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
Jeremy Hollowell	17-May		#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
Rashawn Thomas	17-May		#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
Rawle Alkins	17-May	Withdraw	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
Tyler Cavanaugh	18-May		#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
Jonathan Williams	22-May	Withdraw	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
Markis McDuffie	22-May	Withdraw	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
Justin Jackson (Mld)	23-May	Withdraw	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
MiKyle McIntosh	23-May	Withdraw	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
Sebastian Saiz	23-May		#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
Nate Britt	30-May		#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
Scoochie Smith	30-May		#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
Matt Jones	5-Jun		#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
Jordan Matthews	5-Jun		#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
Matt Thomas	5-Jun		#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
Justin Tuoyo	5-Jun		#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
J.J. Frazier	6-Jun		#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
Quinton Hooker	6-Jun		#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
Hassan Martin	6-Jun		#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
Paul Watson	6-Jun		#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
Kasey Hill	7-Jun		#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
Luke Fischer	7-Jun		#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
Seth Allen	13-Jun		#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
Naz Mitrou-Long	13-Jun		#N/A	#N/A	#N/A

As a look back, here are our workout notes from each session. (As a side-note, no player came in for a second workout this year, but OG Anunoby did come in for an interview without media availability at one point.)

May 17: Dylan Ennis, T.J. Williams, Rawle Alkins, Jeremy Hollowell, Rashawn Thomas, Tyler Lydon
May 18: T.J. Leaf, Tyler Cavanaugh
May 22: Tyler Dorsey, Kobi Simmons, Dillon Brooks, Semi Ojeleye, Markis McDuffie, Jonathan Williams
May 23: Isaiah Briscoe, Xavier Rathan-Mayes, Justin Jackson, MiKyle McIntosh, Sebastian Saiz, Jonathan Motley
May 30: Nate Britt, Scoochie Smith, Damyean Dotson, Antonius Cleveland, Caleb Swanigan, Austin Nichols
June 5: Matt Jones, Jordan Matthews, Matt Thomas, P.J. Dozier, Justin Tuoyo, Kennedy Meeks
June 6: Wesley Iwundu, Devin Robinson, J.J. Frazier, Quinton Hooker, Hassan Martin, Paul Watson
June 7: Kasey Hill, Troy Caupain, Nigel Hayes, Kyle Kuzma, Ike Anigbogu, Jonathan Jeanne, Luke Fischer
June 13: Sindarius Thornwell, Seth Allen, Naz Mitrou-Long, Dwayne Bacon, Chance Comanche, Isaac Humphries

And here’s an updated look at the rankings from Chad Ford of ESPN, DraftExpress, The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor, and Joshua Riddell, plus Kevin Pelton‘s statistical rankings. If a player was not ranked by Ford, DX, or Riddell, they received a 105 (O’Connor’s rankings only go to 60). Pelton’s rankings were weighted less in the average, and some players did not have sufficient statistical data for him to give a ranking to. Each of these rankings were updated at some point this week except DX, who last updated theirs last week.

Rank	Player	Ford	Express	O’Connor	Riddell	Vecenie	Pelton	Average	High	Low
1	Markelle Fultz	1	1	1	1	1	4	1.3	1	1
2	Lonzo Ball	2	2	3	2	4	1	2.5	2	4
3	Jonathan Isaac	5	9	5	3	5	2	5.1	3	9
4	Jayson Tatum	4	4	2	4	2	28	5.5	2	4
5	Dennis Smith	7	7	7	5	6	6	6.4	5	7
6	Josh Jackson	3	3	6	6	3	34	6.9	3	6
7	De’Aaron Fox	6	5	4	7	7	38	8.7	4	7
8	Malik Monk	8	6	8	8	8	32	9.8	6	8
9	Lauri Markkanen	10	8	13	9	10	13	10.3	8	13
10	Frank Ntilikina	11	10	9	10	9	23	11.0	9	11
11	Zach Collins	9	17	14	12	11	5	11.9	9	17
12	Donovan Mitchell	14	11	10	11	13	25	13.0	10	14
13	OG Anunoby	13	14	11	14	18	7	13.4	11	18
14	John Collins	16	12	16	18	14	12	14.9	12	18
15	Luke Kennard	15	13	12	24	12	31	16.6	12	24
16	Jarrett Allen	20	18	18	16	21	35	20.1	16	21
17	Ike Anigbogu	17	15	23	36	25	22	23.1	15	36
18	Terrance Ferguson	23	24	25	27	20		23.8	20	27
19	Justin Patton	19	28	19	29	26	21	23.9	19	29
20	Jawun Evans	33	29	26	13	17	37	24.8	13	33
21	Harry Giles	12	26	32	26	23	42	25.5	12	32
22	Anzejs Pasecniks	24	21	15	33	33	33	25.9	15	33
23	D.J. Wilson	28	23	21	21	27	47	26.1	21	28
24	Bam Adebayo	18	34	22	23	22	50	26.2	18	34
25	Justin Jackson	26	16	31	20	15	78	26.7	15	31
26	Derrick White	36	25	27	22	16	43	26.8	16	36
27	Semi Ojeleye	38	20	20	25	19	71	28.6	19	38
28	Jordan Bell	31	35	24	15	24	69	29.7	15	35
29	Josh Hart	30	51	35	19	32	8	31.1	19	51
30	Tyler Lydon	29	22	50	39	29	17	32.3	22	50
31	Isaiah Hartenstein	32	19	43	38	30		32.4	19	43
32	Tony Bradley	21	40	30	42	43	9	32.8	21	43
33	Frank Jackson	27	33	34	32	40	39	33.7	27	40
34	T.J. Leaf	22	36	42	44	31	26	34.2	22	44
35	Caleb Swanigan	37	27	33	48	28	45	35.5	27	48
36	Jonah Bolden	25	44	17	34	51	68	37.3	17	51
37	Monte Morris	39	61	58	17	34	3	38.3	17	61
38	Mathias Lessort	48	32	40	35	37	40	38.5	32	48
39	Ivan Rabb	34	30	36	54	42	48	40.0	30	54
40	Sterling Brown	44	45	28	28	56	58	41.8	28	56
41	Alec Peters	35	31	59	52	49	16	42.5	31	59
42	Cameron Oliver	46	55	38	30	48	41	43.2	30	55
43	Thomas Bryant	49	37	45	57	41	18	43.3	37	57
44	Johnathan Motley	40	39	41	47	36	99	45.9	36	47
45	Frank Mason	41	41	51	49	35	83	47.0	35	51
46	Tyler Dorsey	42	47	44	61	39	52	47.1	39	61
47	Dillon Brooks	47	38		40	50	77	47.4	38	50
48	Kyle Kuzma	43	43	47	41	46	89	48.1	41	47
49	Devin Robinson	45	49	37	45	52	94	50.0	37	52
50	Wesley Iwundu	53	53	29	50	38	105	50.1	29	53
51	Sindarius Thornwell	62	57	48	31	44	80	51.3	31	62
52	Aleksandar Vezenkov	60	65		55	59	11	54.3	55	65
53	Edmond Sumner	55	54	57	43	54	73	54.5	43	57
54	P.J. Dozier	52	52	52	46	47	105	54.8	46	52
55	Davon Reed	57	62	39	72	62	53	57.9	39	72
56	L.J. Peak	86	46	49	37	53	105	58.8	37	86
57	Alpha Kaba	61	66		62	65	30	59.8	61	66
58	Dwayne Bacon	50	74	53	59	45	105	60.6	45	74
59	Damyean Dotson	54	59	56	67	68	61	60.8	54	68
60	Jaron Blossomgame	64	50	60	65	57	100	62.9	50	65
61	Derrick Walton Jr.	59	73		77	70	14	63.6	59	77
62	Andrew White	69	68	54	68	60	85	65.7	54	69
63	V.J. Beachem	66	67	55	76	67	64	66.0	55	76
64	Vlatko Cancar	105	56		51	58	56	66.2	51	105
65	Kobi Simmons	51	76		58	74	82	66.7	51	76
66	Nigel Williams-Goss	76	58		64	64	88	68.0	58	76
67	Alberto Abalde	105	48		66	63	55	68.8	48	105
68	Jeremy Morgan	68	105		78	55	10	69.1	55	105
69	Luke Kornet	71	69		87	78	27	70.8	69	87
70	Nigel Hayes	73	80		60	83	59	72.3	60	83
71	Kadeem Allen	74	64		69	75	105	74.3	64	75
72	Eric Mika	63	82		81	84	57	75.2	63	84
73	Jonathan Jeanne	83	42		105	105	15	76.1	42	105
74	James Blackmon Jr.	84	83		86	76	29	76.3	76	86
75	Chris Boucher	56	86		93	97	24	76.4	56	97
76	Jake Wiley	105	63		71	69	87	78.1	63	105
77	Melo Trimble	77	84		83	81	54	78.2	77	84
78	Ognjen Jaramaz	105	75		63	66	95	79.2	63	105
79	Isaiah Briscoe	67	71		98	71	105	79.9	67	98
80	George de Paula	105	72		56	94		81.8	56	105
81	Peter Jok	75	87		82	72	105	81.9	72	87
82	Isaiah Hicks	58	60		95	105	105	82.3	58	105
83	Marko Guduric	105	105		70	61	75	84.1	61	105
84	Rolands Smits	105	77		74	79	92	84.7	74	105
85	Malcolm Hill	85	105		84	82	51	84.8	82	105
86	Amile Jefferson	70	105		79	77	105	85.2	70	105
87	Antonio Blakeney	82	96		90	73	86	85.3	73	96
88	Kennedy Meeks	65	92		105	105	36	85.6	65	105
89	London Perrantes	105	105		53	93	63	86.1	53	105
90	Deonte Burton	105	78		73	80	105	86.3	73	105
91	Ben Moore	99	105	46	88	98	79	86.5	46	105
92	Jamel Artis	78	91		85	85	105	87.0	78	91
93	Isaac Humphries	81	90		105	92	49	87.2	81	105
94	Marcus Keene	80	105		89	99	60	89.6	80	105
95	Wesley Alves Da Silva	88	94		75	105		90.5	75	105
96	Malcolm Hill	105	79		105	105	51	93.2	79	105
97	Simon Birgander	94	105		80	95		93.5	80	105
98	Paris Bass	72	105		105	105	70	93.8	72	105
99	Kris Jenkins	79	105		105	105	62	94.4	79	105
100	Charles Cooke	105	105		91	88	72	94.4	88	105
101	Antonius Cleveland	96	85		105	90	105	95.2	85	105
102	Justin Robinson	105	105		105	105	19	95.4	105	105
103	Derek Willis	105	105		105	105	20	95.6	105	105
104	Amida Brimah	105	70		105	105	95	96.1	70	105
105	Youssoupha Fall	91	105		100	105	66	96.4	91	105
106	Michael Young	105	81		105	105	83	97.2	81	105
107	T.J. Williams	105	98		96	89	105	97.9	89	105
108	Moses Kingsley	90	105		105	105	72	98.0	90	105
109	Troy Caupain	105	105		105	105	44	98.2	105	105
110	Kenan Sipahi	89	105		105	105	76	98.2	89	105
111	Antonio Campbell	105	105		105	105	46	98.4	105	105
112	Ismael Bako	105	99		105	86		98.8	86	105
113	Austin Nichols	93	105		105	105	74	98.9	93	105
114	Zak Irvin	87	105		105	105	96	100.0	87	105
115	JaJuan Johnson	105	93		105	105	85	100.1	93	105
116	Przemek Karnowski	100	97		105	100	105	101.0	97	105
117	Eric McCree	105	105		105	87	105	101.0	87	105
118	Tidjan Keita	105	89		105	105		101.0	89	105
119	Chance Comanche	105	88		105	105	105	101.2	88	105
120	Jeremy Senglin	105	105		105	91	105	101.9	91	105
121	Jabari Bird	92	105		105	105	105	102.1	92	105
122	Ilimane Diop	105	105		97	105	97	102.3	97	105
123	Xavier Rathan-Mayes	105	105		94	105	105	102.6	94	105
124	Sidy Dijtte	105	95		105	105	105	102.8	95	105
125	Robert Hubbs	95	105		105	105	105	102.8	95	105
126	Bronson Koenig	105	105		105	96	105	103.0	96	105
127	James Birsen	97	105		105	105	105	103.2	97	105
128	Nedim Buza	98	105		105	105		103.3	98	105
129	Michael Fusek	105	105		99	105		103.5	99	105
130	Trevor Thompson	105	100		105	105	105	103.9	100	105

A live thread will go up shortly, and we’ll track any major rumors, mocks, or changes in perception there throughout the day (these rankings won’t be updated).