NBA Central – 2016 NBA Draft Prospect Rankings

We’re not even done reveling at the Cleveland Cavaliers’ historic championship-winning run the past weekend just yet, but the world’s premiere professional basketball league will continue to deliver compelling programming this Thursday with the much-awaited 2016 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

There are plenty of talented, aspiring hoopsters in this year’s installment of the draft coming from all corners of the globe, and we’ve listed the top 10 names likely to fly off the board the fastest below. And to make some cash off the upcoming thrills on Thursday, check out our very own prop bets and exclusive mock draft results right after this.

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NBA Central: The Top 10 Prospects at the 2016 NBA Draft

Whether he likes it or not, LSU’s Ben Simmons remains the hottest prospect of the 2016 NBA Draft. Simmons had previously expressed his desire to play for the Los Angeles Lakers, but the decorated franchise from the City of Angels does not own the first-overall pick at the draft. The top priority belongs to the Philadelphia 76ers, who are in desperate need of a true playmaker like Simmons after finishing with the worst record in the league last season.

A bit further down our pecking order, Croatian sensation Dragan Bender is still the leading European entry looking to make a huge splash in the NBA like Latvia’s Kristaps Porzingis last year, who had a breakout rookie season for the New York Knicks with his multi-faceted skill set often found in European forwards. Although Bender’s ripe age of 18 years is quite a concern, many NBA scouts could not get enough of the standout from Maccabi Tel Aviv’s ability to spread out any offensive scheme with his terrific range; so much so that we also currently have him decently priced at +220 at actually becoming the first-overall pick of the draft.

Be on the lookout for Domantas Sabonis and Skal Labissiere’s respective stocks to still rise leading up to Thursday’s festivities as well. These two big men are the most viable options from a thin crop of eligible centers in a league that’s always in search of untapped potential at that particular position.

Rank	Player	School	Position	Height	Weight
1	Ben Simmons	LSU	SF	6-10	240 lb.
2	Brandon Ingram	Duke	SF	6-9	190 lb.
3	Jamal Murray	Kentucky	SG	6-4	207 lb.
4	Kris Dunn	Providence	PG	6-4	220 lb.
5	Buddy Hield	Oklahoma	SG	6-4	214 lb.
6	Dragan Bender	Israel	PF	7-1	216 lb.
7	Jaylen Brown	California	SG	6-7	225 lb.
8	Marquese Chriss	Washington	PF	6-9	225 lb.
9	Domantas Sabonis	Gonzaga	PF/C	6-11	240 lb.
10	Skal Labissiere	Kentucky	PF/C	6-11	225 lb.