Tyran Stokes leads Jeremy Woo’s ESPN 2027 draft board as the No. 1 prospect. The Kansas forward‑guard offers a do‑it‑all perimeter skill set, yet scouts flag questions about his efficiency, consistency and maturity.
Woo rates the 2027 class as a step down from the previous two, noting few will make an immediate college impact.
Most top‑100 names may head back to school in 2028, drawn by lucrative NIL deals, Woo says. New NCAA eligibility rules and NBA lottery reforms will further cloud evaluations.
The No. 2 slot belongs to Stefan Joksimovic, a 6‑foot‑8 Slovenian point guard playing in Spain’s Liga ACB and the EuroLeague with Saski Baskonia, not a college player.
Bruce Branch III of BYU, Arkansas’s Jordan Smith Jr. and Arizona’s Caleb Holt complete Woo’s top five.
Here are a few more odds and ends from the basketball world:
- In my view, the league’s next blockbuster trade will involve a superstar center. After a summer of blockbuster moves—Giannis, Brown, George, Morant, Ball and Leonard changing teams—The Ringer’s Howard Beck asks who’s next. NBA executives are eyeing Nuggets star Nikola Jokic, Heat big man Bam Adebayo and Suns guard Devin Booker. While an in‑season Jokic deal seems “highly unlikely,” the offseason could tell a different story. An anonymous exec warned, “They’ve struggled to build around him since the championship because of financial constraints. Do they finally say: he’s 31, his extension looms, and we must pull the trigger?”
- Before Saturday’s Pacers‑Nuggets showdown in Mexico City, Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette chatted with former NBA veteran Eduardo Najera. The 12‑year pro, the first Mexican‑born draftee (38th overall in 2000), noted, “When I was drafted, basketball was just another sport. Now it’s the No. 2 sport behind soccer.” He praised the NBA’s social‑media push and the league’s role in connecting Mexico to the game.