Here's your first 2015 NBA Draft Top 100 Big Board of the calendar year from CBSSports.com, and Jahlil Okafor is still the No. 1 prospect in all of the land.
However, it's the depth below him that seems to be worth discussing more than who the top picks are.
While the top-end talent of this year's class is likely a bit lesser than that of the 2014 iteration, the 2015 draft does seem to have a bit more depth than drafts in years past. Of course, some of that is dependent on the underclassmen who declare and the underclassmen who decide to stay in school. Even so, it still looks like there is still quite a bit of potential for there to be impact players that fall to the second round.
Some other notes on this class:
- The freshman class is the biggest component of why the depth of the 2015 draft has been upgraded. Beyond the top-flight guys like Okafor, Karl Towns, and Stanley Johnson, players like Jakob Poeltl, James Blackmon Jr., and Domantas Sabonis (among others) have stepped up and also become potential first-round picks. It's really impressive how many young players have earned their way onto this board.
- While the freshman class is exceedingly strong this season, I would say that the international class is a bit weaker. Discounting Emmanuel Mudiay -- who was trained in America -- I currently only have two international players ranked in my top-40. Both Kristaps Porzingis and Mario Hezonja are featured as lottery picks, but the pickings begin to get a little bit slimmer after that. Could be a pretty college-heavy first-round.
- Only three seniors are currently in my top-45. Over the course of the past four drafts, 18 seniors have been selected in the first round (an average of 4.5), so that would suggest this is a slightly weaker class of seniors.
- Four Kentucky players in the top-20, five in the top-30, and seven in the top-45. Big Blue Nation should be very pleased with how this season's crop of talent is performing. There's a strong chance that the Wildcats will tie the 2010 Kentucky team's record for most first-rounders in one draft, and with some luck they could even exceed it.
With that, here is the top-100:
| 2015 NBA Draft Prospect Rankings | ||||||
| Rank | Player | School | Year | POS | HGT | WGT |
| 1 | Jahlil Okafor | Duke | Fr. | C | 6-11 | 270 |
| 2 | Karl-Anthony Towns | Kentucky | Fr. | PF | 6-11 | 255 |
| 3 | Emmanuel Mudiay | China | - | PG | 6-5 | 200 |
| 4 | Stanley Johnson | Arizona | Fr. | SF | 6-7 | 245 |
| 5 | Willie Cauley-Stein | Kentucky | Jr. | C | 7-0 | 242 |
| 6 | D'Angelo Russell | Ohio State | Fr. | SG | 6-5 | 180 |
| 7 | Justise Winslow | Duke | Fr. | SF | 6-6 | 225 |
| 8 | Kristaps Porzingis | Latvia | - | PF | 6-11 | 220 |
| 9 | Kevon Looney | UCLA | Fr. | PF | 6-9 | 220 |
| 10 | Myles Turner | Texas | Fr. | C | 6-11 | 240 |
| 11 | Kelly Oubre Jr. | Kansas | Fr. | SF | 6-7 | 200 |
| 12 | Frank Kaminsky | Wisconsin | Sr. | C | 7-0 | 242 |
| 13 | Montrezl Harrell | Louisville | Jr. | PF-C | 6-8 | 240 |
| 14 | Mario Hezonja | Croatia | - | SG | 6-7 | 195 |
| 15 | Caris LeVert | Michigan | Jr. | SG | 6-6 | 185 |
| 16 | Cliff Alexander | Kansas | Fr. | PF | 6-8 | 240 |
| 17 | Delon Wright | Utah | Sr. | PG | 6-5 | 190 |
| 18 | Bobby Portis | ARK | Soph. | PF | 6-11 | 242 |
| 19 | Trey Lyles | Kentucky | Fr. | PF | 6-10 | 235 |
| 20 | Devin Booker | Kentucky | Fr. | SG | 6-6 | 206 |
| 21 | Jakob Poeltl | Utah | Fr. | C | 7-0 | 235 |
| 22 | R.J. Hunter | Georgia State | Jr. | SG | 6-6 | 190 |
| 23 | Christian Wood | UNLV | Soph. | PF | 6-11 | 220 |
| 24 | Sam Dekker | Wisconsin | Jr. | SF | 6-9 | 230 |
| 25 | Jerian Grant | ND | Sr. | PG | 6-5 | 204 |
| 26 | Tyus Jones | Duke | Fr. | PG | 6-1 | 190 |
| 27 | Dakari Johnson | Kentucky | Soph. | C | 7-0 | 255 |
| 28 | Rondae Hollis-Jefferson | Arizona | Soph. | SF | 6-7 | 220 |
| 29 | Robert Upshaw | Washington | Jr. | C | 7-0 | 250 |
| 30 | James Blackmon Jr. | Indiana | Fr. | SG | 6-4 | 195 |
| 31 | Rashad Vaughn | UNLV | Fr. | SG | 6-6 | 210 |
| 32 | Domantas Sabonis | Gonzaga | Fr. | PF | 6-10 | 231 |
| 33 | Amida Brimah | Connecticut | Soph. | C | 7-0 | 230 |
| 34 | Justin Jackson | North Carolina | Fr. | SF | 6-8 | 193 |
| 35 | Justin Anderson | Virginia | Jr. | SF | 6-6 | 228 |
| 36 | Troy Williams | Indiana | Soph. | SF | 6-7 | 215 |
| 37 | Demetrius Jackson | Notre Dame | Soph. | PG | 6-1 | 198 |
| 38 | Tyrone Wallace | California | Jr. | PG | 6-5 | 200 |
| 39 | Damian Jones | Vanderbilt | Soph. | PF | 6-10 | 248 |
| 40 | Ron Baker | WICHST | Jr. | PG | 6-4 | 220 |
| 41 | Buddy Hield | Oklahoma | Jr. | SG | 6-4 | 212 |
| 42 | Melo Trimble | Maryland | Fr. | PG | 6-3 | 190 |
| 43 | Aaron Harrison | Kentucky | Soph. | SG | 6-6 | 212 |
| 44 | Brice Johnson | North Carolina | Jr. | PF | 6-9 | 228 |
| 45 | Tyler Ulis | Kentucky | Fr. | PG | 5-9 | 155 |
| 46 | Aleksandar Vezenkov | Bulgaria | Fr. | SF | 6-8 | 210 |
| 47 | Shannon Scott | Ohio State | Sr. | PG | 6-1 | 185 |
| 48 | Jordan Mickey | LSU | Soph. | PF | 6-8 | 235 |
| 49 | Mouhammadou Jaiteh | France | - | C | 6-11 | 249 |
| 50 | Chris Walker | Florida | - | PF | 6-11 | 230 |
| 51 | Nigel Williams-Goss | Washington | Soph. | PG | 6-3 | 190 |
| 52 | J.P. Tokoto | North Carolina | Jr. | SF | 6-6 | 200 |
| 53 | Terry Rozier | Louisville | Soph. | PG | 6-1 | 190 |
| 54 | Egemen Guven | Turkey | - | PF | 6-9 | 210 |
| 55 | Norman Powell | UCLA | Sr. | SG | 6-4 | 215 |
| 56 | Shawn Long | UL Lafayette | Jr. | PF | 6-9 | 245 |
| 57 | Guillermo Hernangomez | Spain | - | C | 6-11 | 255 |
| 58 | Jake Layman | Maryland | Jr. | SF | 6-9 | 205 |
| 59 | Wayne Selden Jr. | Kansas | Soph. | SF | 6-5 | 230 |
| 60 | Anthony Brown | Stanford | Sr. | SF | 6-6 | 215 |
| 61 | Chris McCullough | Syracuse | Fr. | PF | 6-10 | 220 |
| 62 | Marcus Paige | North Carolina | Jr. | PG | 6-1 | 175 |
| 63 | Michael Frazier II | Florida | Jr. | SG | 6-4 | 194 |
| 64 | Nikola Milutinov | Serbia | - | C | 6-11 | 220 |
| 65 | E.C. Matthews | Rhode Island | Soph. | SG | 6-5 | 190 |
| 66 | Kennedy Meeks | North Carolina | Soph. | C | 6-9 | 270 |
| 67 | Michael Qualls | Arkansas | Jr. | SG | 6-6 | 205 |
| 68 | Jarell Martin | LSU | Soph. | PF | 6-10 | 235 |
| 69 | Branden Dawson | Michigan State | Sr. | SF | 6-6 | 225 |
| 70 | Chris Obekpa | St. Johns | Jr. | C | 6-10 | 236 |
| 71 | Isaac Haas | Purdue | Fr. | C | 7-2 | 297 |
| 72 | Brandon Ashley | Arizona | Jr. | PF | 6-9 | 230 |
| 73 | Yogi Ferrell | Indiana | Jr. | PG | 6-0 | 178 |
| 74 | Rakeem Christmas | Syracuse | Sr. | C | 6-9 | 250 |
| 75 | Jonathan Holmes | Texas | Sr. | SF | 6-8 | 240 |
| 76 | Alex Poythress | Kentucky | Jr. | PF | 6-8 | 235 |
| 77 | A.J. Hammons | Purdue | Jr. | C | 7-0 | 261 |
| 78 | Kenan Sipahi | Kosovo | - | G | 6-6 | 195 |
| 79 | Kris Dunn | Providence | Soph. | PG | 6-3 | 205 |
| 80 | Josh Scott | Colorado | Jr. | PF | 6-10 | 245 |
| 81 | Andzejs Pasecniks | Latvia | - | C | 7-1 | 220 |
| 82 | Marcus Lee | Kentucky | Soph. | PF | 6-9 | 220 |
| 83 | Briante Weber | VCU | Sr. | PG | 6-2 | 165 |
| 84 | Malcolm Brogdon | Virginia | Jr. | SG | 6-5 | 215 |
| 85 | Georges Niang | Iowa State | Jr. | SF | 6-8 | 230 |
| 86 | Kenneth Smith | Louisiana Tech | Sr. | PG | 6-3 | 180 |
| 87 | Isaiah Taylor | Texas | Soph. | PG | 6-1 | 170 |
| 88 | Marc Garcia | Spain | - | SG | 6-6 | 180 |
| 89 | Cedi Osman | Turkey | - | PG | 6-6 | 190 |
| 90 | Keifer Sykes | Green Bay | Sr. | PG | 6-0 | 180 |
| 91 | Andrew Harrison | Kentucky | Soph. | PG | 6-6 | 210 |
| 92 | Malcolm Hill | Illinois | Soph. | SF | 6-6 | 230 |
| 93 | Alan Williams | Santa Barbara | Sr. | C | 6-8 | 265 |
| 94 | Moussa Diagne | Senegal | - | C | 6-11 | 230 |
| 95 | Perry Ellis | Kansas | Jr. | SF | 6-8 | 225 |
| 96 | Aaron White | Iowa | Sr. | PF | 6-9 | 228 |
| 97 | Isaiah Whitehead | Seton Hall | Fr. | SG | 6-4 | 210 |
| 98 | Luka Mitrovic | Serbia | - | PF | 6-8 | 200 |
| 99 | Joseph Young | Oregon | Sr. | SG | 6-2 | 185 |
| 100 | Jarrod Uthoff | Iowa | Jr. | SF | 6-9 | 210 |
