On June 22, the NBA will hold its annual draft, pulling from an incredible domestic and global talent pool. As prospects continue to play, how do they rank as potential draft prospects?

While six Sports Business Classroom alumni used their collective scouting insight to build out an initial pre-lottery Mock Draft 3.0, Antonio Suman took a different approach via machine learning.

Per Suman, his AI-generated NBA mock uses an ANN (Artificial Neural Network) to parse through the stats of college players from the last five drafts. “The code learns, from those stats, how teams drafted over the last five years.”

Based on the stats of the players in the draft pool, it generates the results for a first-round mock:

The NBA Draft Lottery will be held on May 16, but the following is the AI-generated list based on pre-lottery order:

  Team Player Position Age* Frame Pre-NBA
1 Detroit Pistons Victor Wembanyama Center 19 7’4″, 210 lbs Metropolitans 92
2 Houston Rockets Scoot Henderson Guard 19 6’2″, 195 lbs G League Ignite
3 San Antonio Spurs Brandon Miller Forward 20 6’9″, 200 lbs Alabama
4 Charlotte Hornets Jarace Walker Forward 19 6’8″, 235 lbs Houston
5 Portland Trail Blazers Amen Thompson Guard 20 6’7″, 200 lbs Overtime Elite
6 Orlando Magic Cam Whitmore Forward 18 6’8″, 230 lbs Villanova
7 Indiana Pacers Ausar Thompson Wing 20 6’7″, 205 lbs Overtime Elite
8 Washington Wizards Taylor Hendricks Forward 19 6’9″, 210 lbs Central Florida
9 Utah Jazz Cason Wallace Guard 19 6’4″, 195 lbs Kentucky
10 Dallas Mavericks Leonard Miller Forward 19 6’10”, 211 lbs G League Ignite
11 Orlando Magic Jordan Hawkins Guard 20 6’5″, 195 lbs Connecticut
12 Oklahoma City Thunder Keyonte George Guard 19 6’4″, 185 lbs Baylor
13 Toronto Raptors Nick Smith Jr. Guard 18 6’5″, 185 lbs Arkansas
14 New Orleans Pelicans Dariq Whitehead Forward 18 6’7″, 220 lbs Duke
15 Atlanta Hawks Jett Howard Wing 19 6’8″, 215 lbs Michigan
16 Utah Jazz Dereck Lively II Center 19 7’1″, 230 lbs Duke
17 Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bufkin Guard 19 6’4″, 175 lbs Michigan
18 Miami Heat Maxwell Lewis Forward 20 6’7″, 195 lbs Pepperdine
19 Golden State Warriors Gradey Dick Wing 19 6’8″, 205 lbs Kansas
20 Houston Rockets Marcus Sasser Guard 22 6’1″, 190 lbs Houston
21 Brooklyn Nets Trayce Jackson-Davis Forward 23 6’9″, 245 lbs Indiana
22 Brooklyn Nets Kris Murray Forward 22 6’8″, 220 lbs Iowa
23 Portland Trail Blazers Terquavion Smith Guard 20 6’4″, 165 lbs North Carolina State
24 Sacramento Kings Gregory “GG” Jackson II Forward 18 6’9″, 210 lbs South Carolina
25 Memphis Grizzlies Jalen Wilson Forward 22 6’8″, 225 lbs Kansas
26 Indiana Pacers Rayan Rupert Wing 18 6’6″, 190 lbs Breakers (NBL)
27 Charlotte Hornets Anthony Black Guard 19 6’7″, 200 lbs Arkansas
28 Utah Jazz Terrence Shannon Jr. Wing 22 6’6″, 215 lbs Illinois
29 Indiana Pacers Sidy Cissoko Forward 18 6’7″, 200 lbs G League Ignite
30 LA Clippers Colby Jones Guard 20 6’6″, 205 lbs Xavier

* Age as of the draft.

(Updated on 6/19/23)