NBA Mock Draft 2016: 1st-Round Projections and Top Sleeper Prospects

With the 2016 NFL draft behind us, all eyes can turn to the NBA’s edition. While much will be decided in the lottery and many projections will change based on workouts and the NBA Draft Combine starting May 11, a general sense of how the board will fall is starting to materialize.

Let’s take a look at my latest mock draft, along with a few sleepers who should be available late in the first round on June 23.

Cheick Diallo, PF, Kansas

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What a weird season Cheick Diallo just had at Kansas. Let’s recap:

He was considered the No. 5 recruit in the class of 2015, per 247Sports’ composite rankings. The NCAA originally ruled he wasn’t eligible to play after receiving impermissible benefits, though it changed the ruling in late November 2015, giving him just a five-game suspension and clearing him to return to the Jayhawks. He promptly found himself buried on the bench given Kansas’ deep roster, averaging just 3.0 points and 2.5 rebounds in 7.5 minutes per game.

So it was a disappointing freshman campaign without question. But his head coach at Kansas, Bill Self, feels there are big things in his future.

“Cheick will get the last laugh on everybody, and I think he knows that,” Self told C.L. Brown of ESPN.com in March. “He …

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