It’s early, but what the hell? The lottery is behind us, so let’s take a stab at our first consensus mock draft. I’ve pulled in the latest mocks from ESPN, DraftExpress, NBADraft.net and SI.com to come up with a consensus of the first 14 picks.

If a player is picked by two or more sites, they’re the consensus, unless there’s a tie. In that case, I’ll make the pick. The same goes for when there are four different players listed.

The first three picks seem settled already, though much can change in the next month. Wall-Turner-Favors makes a lot of sense, especially for the teams in question. John Wall seems to be a no-brainer for the Wizards. If they hold onto Arenas, he can play the two. I think they’ll eventually move Agent Zero and build around Wall.

Evan Turner duplicates what Andre Iguodala brings to the table, but the two could play together on the wing if need be. Derrick Favors is a high-upside big that should fit in well with Brook Lopez and Devin Harris, though I thought Mikhail Prokhorov’s head was going to explode when he learned that he didn’t get the top pick. Why Favors over DeMarcus Cousins? Because Cousins has a reputation for being a headcase. Plus, he’s more of a center, and the Nets already have Lopez.

At #4, the T-Wolves could go a few different directions, and it’s tough to predict what GM David Kahn will do. The best player on the board is Cousins, but the aforementioned character concerns and the presence of Al Jefferson and Kevin Love make me wonder if the T-Wolves will fill a need with Wes Johnson. He’d be a good fit there.

At #5, the Kings will draft Cousins, who might end up being the best or second-best player in this class if he can keep his head on straight. The Warriors could go any number of directions, but I went with Al-Farouq Aminu as the Warriors are going to have a tough time not falling in love with his athleticism.

The Pistons desperately need a center, so I went with Cole Aldrich, though Hassan Whiteside, Donatas Motiejunas and Daniel Orton are possibilities as well. The Clippers would love to see Johnson slip, but it’s more likely that they’ll be drafting someone like Ekpe Udoh, who will back up Blake Griffin.

There are already rumors that the Jazz are targeting Greg Monroe at #9 and plan to use him to back up Paul Millsap if Carlos Boozer leaves via free agency. Ed Davis is the consensus with the Pacers, which is interesting since they drafted Tyler Hansbrough a year ago. Indiana really needs a point guard but after Wall, this draft is awfully thin at the position.

At #11, Gordon Hayward will likely test better athletically in Chicago, and the Hornets could really use a good small forward. They could also draft a big.

At #12, I really like Patrick Patterson, though there are questions about his defense and rebounding. I don’t think rebounding will be a concern, he averaged 9.3 rebounds a year ago, which is very solid for a power forward. His numbers dipped to 7.4 this season, which is actually impressive considering he played so many minutes with Cousins, who is a rebounding machine. Patterson has the ability to eventually replace Zach Randolph. Donatas Motiejunas would also be a good fit.

The Raptors will look to replace Chris Bosh this summer, and they’d like a big body to allow Andrea Bargnani to play power forward. Daniel Orton is a project, but he fits the bill. Hassan Whiteside is another option.

At #14, the consensus is Whiteside, who will give the Rockets a backup plan in case Yao Ming gets injured again.


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