2027 NBA Mock Draft: Tyran Stokes, Jordan Smith Jr., Stefan Joksimovic headline top picks before season starts

The last mock draft before the start of the 2026-27 NBA and college basketball season locks in the predictions before evaluations change and team needs evolve The ongoing theme of the 2027 NBA Draft is how wide open it will be. Amidst the backdrop of college basketball's NIL market, the upcoming draft, particularly at the top, is more unpredictable than previous years. With eight months still to go, nothing is a sure thing, a drastic shift from what we experienced in last year's cycle. That includes the draft order itself. The 2027 NBA Draft will mark the first year of the league's lottery reform, or what is called the "3-2-1" lottery system.

The new system is designed to discourage tanking. There will now be 16 teams in the lottery (up from 14): the 10 teams that miss the postseason entirely, the No. 9 and 10 seeds in both conferences, and the losers of the No. 7 vs. No. 8 Play-In Tournament games. There will be a new distribution of lottery balls. The teams with the three worst records would fall into the so-called "relegation" zone. They would receive only two lottery balls each. The seven remaining teams that miss the postseason entirely would receive three balls. The No. 9 and No. 10 seeds would receive two balls, and the loser