Mock Draft Has Wizards Landing Multiple First Round Studs

All we have to go by in the weeks leading up to the NBA Draft are mock drafts and the rumors that form our guesses on which prospects will land with the Washington Wizards and elsewhere around the league.

Kevin O'Connor of Yahoo Sports attempts to contextualize the current ebbs and flows of how NBA executives view this upcoming crop of talent, with narratives and recent performances at the draft combine and private meetings dictating whose stock is rising and which players are succumbing to unpleasant narratives.

His order starts with the obvious, with Duke's Cooper Flagg and the Rutgers boys coming off the board with the first three picks, but it doesn't take long until he offers some unique perspective on how the top half of the lottery will go.

O'Connor predicts that the Washington Wizards will take Oklahoma point guard Jeremiah Fears with the sixth pick in the draft, the first prospect in his mock draft who's seen a noticeable rise since before the combine.

O'Connor sees Fears potentially developing as the lead playmaker the Wizards otherwise lack. He even gives him a familiar NBA comparison in Jordan Poole, except while the Wizards' current floor general is a trigger-happy gunner from the perimeter, Fears is much more deft as a slasher.

Some prospects' heightening draft buzz ultimately means that others will have to sink, though. O'Connor has the Wizards' back, though, handing them Maryland's Derik Queen now that he's no longer viewed as a guaranteed pick in the top-10.

According to Yahoo, he's scared some teams off with his slow development as a shooter and conditioned athlete despite the star upside he brings to the table as a fundamental big man with some guard-like ball-handling and self-creation tools thrown in. He's been linked to Washington for some time between his college excellence and his Baltimore roots, and the Wizards potentially nabbing him at No. 18 after already passing on him once before would make for a wild story.

O'Connor completes Washington's "hell of a haul" with Florida State wing Jamir Watkins at No. 40, their third and final rookie they'd be bringing aboard. He profiles as a positive two-way player who brings defensive versatility and driving juice despite not having a reliable jumper.

At 23-years-old, he'd be a rare older swing for a team that's been known to favor youth and upside, but this would still make for a unique perspective on what this talented draft has in stock for the Wizards as they attempt to consolidate their unlucky finish in the lottery.