Throughout the lead-up to the NBA draft, the No. 5 spot has been where it becomes difficult to project picks. BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson of Kansas, college player of the year Cameron Boozer of Duke and North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson have been locked into the top four spots in each version of the AP’s mock draft. The Washington Wizards, Utah Jazz, Memphis Grizzlies and Chicago Bulls hold the first four selections Tuesday night in Brooklyn.Then there are a number of talented scoring guards available, such as Keaton Wagler of Illinois, Darius Acuff Jr. of Arkansas, Kingston Flemings of Houston and Mikel Brown Jr. of Louisville. But it’s tough to gauge how much the Los Angeles Clippers, at No. 5, would want another small guard after acquiring Darius Garland from Cleveland last season for James Harden. Or whether the Brooklyn Nets, at No. 6, want any guard at all after taking four when they had an NBA-record five first-round picks last season.
Maybe the players gave some hints Monday. Wagler said he worked out for the Bulls and Clippers but canceled a workout with the Nets, so perhaps he knows he’s not falling past No. 5. Brown said he met multiple times with the Nets, so their interest is assumed to be real. He moves up in the final version:
