There are scads of sites offering mock drafts. Is there a quantifyable 'best' site, or sites, historically? Are there sites who can reasonably be trusted to know of what they speak? Or contrarily, know nada?
I really like draftexpress.com, they update news on workouts and prospects almost everyday and they offer good analysis on players IMO. I like their 2006 mock, the picks make a lot of sense to me. But like all mocks, it is still pure speculation.
I used to help out NBADraft.net back in the day, and they have some brilliant scouts. Yeah, their player comparisons are sometimes off but in terms of evaluating talent, keeping in touch with NBA Scouts, and being the first to check out international players, they are superior. Rivals (mainly use that for HS hoops), DraftExpress are right after them. DraftExpress has done a good job building a foundation this year by attending numerous draft workouts, but their mocks still look off to me.
I like to use 3 of them. NBADRAFT.net, DraftExpress.com, and ESPN.com. between the 3 of them (and they are all different) you can get a good idea of the players and what the teams want. CNNsi.com usually has a decent mock draft and overall draft coverage but they are usually the last one (of the credible sites) to even start talking draft.
Personally, I have found that no one ever has a reliable mock draft outside of the top 5. I usually try and get a consensus from all of them and keep close tabs on what local beat writers are saying about their teams. In the end though, Draft night is always going to go crazy somewhere, which makes it so much fun. Evan
draftexpress.com provides the best coverage in terms of indepth interviews and workouts. nbadraft.net used to be the best but i think draftexpress is better now
http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/Draft/2005mockdraftsuccess.htm This site trys to rate the mock drafts from last year. It is kind of interesting, but fairly inconclusive.
The best site is the one where your team gets the pick you want. Like the reliable people at fanball who have us taking Adam Morrison. Fanball Mock Draft
Stay away from collegehoops and elitedraft. Absolute trash, IMO. Other than that, the usual suspects that have been mentioned are fairly good.
I saw this in a Celtics blog: June 02, 2006 Mock roundup By Jesse Nunes The June 28 NBA draft is a little less than a month away, and even though Danny Ainge says he doesn't start paying attention to mock drafts until "sometime around June 17," we here at the Green Room are a little more impatient than that. Sure, a lot of things can change between now and draft day. With tryouts in full swing players can work themselves up and down the draft board in a hurry. However, it's still fun to see where players are projected to go, even this early. I took a sampling of various mock drafts a found on the Web, and chopped them down to the top 10. So, although they may be able to predict general trends in terms of players' values around the league, you still have to take them with a grain of salt. Without further ado: NBAdraft.net: 1. Raptors -- LaMarcus Aldridge 2. Bulls -- Andrea Bargnani 3. Bobcats -- Adam Morrison 4. Trailblazers -- Tyrus Thomas 5. Hawks -- Randy Foye 6. Timberwolves -- Rudy Gay 7. Celtics -- Brandon Roy 8. Rockets -- Marcus Williams 9. Warriors -- Rodney Carney 10. Sonics -- Patrick O'Bryant CBSSportsLine.com: 1. Raptors -- LaMarcus Aldridge 2. Bulls -- Tyrus Thomas 3. Bobcats -- Adam Morrison 4. Trailblazers -- Brandon Roy 5. Hawks -- Marcus Williams 6. Timberwolves -- Rudy Gay 7. Celtics -- Andrea Bargnani 8. Rockets -- Cedrick Simmons 9. Warriors -- Patrick O'Bryant 10. Sonics -- Randy Foye Chad Ford's Big Board (ESPN.com): 1. Raptors -- Tyrus Thomas 2. Bulls -- LaMarcus Aldridge 3. Bobcats -- Andrea Bargnani 4. Trailblazers -- Brandon Roy 5. Hawks -- Rudy Gay 6. Timberwolves -- Adam Morrison 7. Celtics -- Randy Foye 8. Rockets -- Patrick O'Bryant 9. Warriors -- Rajon Rondo 10. Sonics -- Ronnie Brewer SI.com: 1. Raptors -- Andrea Bargnani 2. Bulls -- LaMarcus Aldridge 3. Bobcats -- Tyrus Thomas 4. Trailblazers -- Brandon Roy 5. Hawks -- Rudy Gay 6. Timberwolves -- Rodney Carney 7. Celtics -- Marcus Williams 8. Rockets -- Adam Morrison 9. Warriors -- Patrick O'Bryant 10. Sonics -- J.J. Redick CollegeHoops.net: 1. Raptors -- Andrea Bargnani 2. Bulls -- LaMarcus Aldridge 3. Bobcats -- Adam Morrison 4. Trailblazers -- Tyrus Thomas 5. Hawks -- Randy Foye 6. Timberwolves -- Rudy Gay 7. Celtics -- Brandon Roy 8. Rockets -- Marcus Williams 9. Warriors -- Patrick O'Bryant 10. Sonics -- Shelden Williams InsideHoops.com: 1. Raptors -- LaMarcus Aldridge 2. Bulls -- Tyrus Thomas 3. Bobcats -- Adam Morrison 4. Trailblazers -- Brandon Roy 5. Hawks -- Andrea Bargnani 6. Timberwolves -- Rudy Gay 7. Celtics -- Randy Foye 8. Rockets -- Rodney Carney 9. Warriors -- Shelden Williams 10. Sonics -- Patrick O'Bryant HoopsHype.com: 1. Raptors -- Andrea Bargnani 2. Bulls -- LaMarcus Aldridge 3. Bobcats -- Adam Morrison 4. Trailblazers -- Brandon Roy 5. Hawks -- Marcus Williams 6. Timberwolves -- Rudy Gay 7. Celtics -- Tyrus Thomas 8. Rockets -- Shelden Williams 9. Warriors -- Patrick O'Bryant 10. Sonics -- Ronnie Brewer Probasketball.about.com: 1. Raptors -- Andrea Bargnani 2. Bulls -- LaMarcus Aldridge 3. Bobcats -- Adam Morrison 4. Trailblazers -- Brandon Roy 5. Hawks -- Tyrus Thomas 6. Timberwolves -- Marcus Williams 7. Celtics -- Randy Foye 8. Rockets -- Rudy Gay 9. Warriors -- Patrick O'Bryant 10. Sonics -- Shelden Williams
True, and that's before draft day trades. However, I'll happily accept either SI.com or Probasketball.about.com's mock.
