2014 NBA Mock Draft Round Up: Is Noah Vonleh A Possible Top Three Pick?

With the NBA Finals beginning last night, the 2014 NBA Draft continues to inch ever closer and mock drafts continue to ramp up their mocking. In short, everything is happening. So without further ado here is the latest round-up of NBA mock drafts, freshly typed up from air conditioned splendor.

The latest Draft Express mock draft throws a bit of a curve as they have the Sixers taking Joel Embiid. Of the top four prospects, he's probably been mocked to the Sixers the least -- with most people either sending Embiid to the Cavs or Bucks, or just assuming the Sixers would not take him due to the questionable fit with Nerlens Noel. Fantastic news: DX still has Aaron Gordon falling to the Sixers at 10. Enjoy Dougie McBuckets, Sacramento.

SI's Chris Mannix goes the more predictable route with his top 3 and has the Sixers landing on Jabari Parker third overall and settling on Gary Harris with the Pellies pick. Mannix writes in regards to the Parker pick, "The Sixers covet Andrew Wiggins, according to a source, but will take Parker, a prolific scoring forward who will immediately upgrade one of the NBA's worst offenses." This is a reminder that Sam Hinkie is one of the most tight-lipped general managers in basketball and no one actually has any idea who the Sixers do or do not covet.

Not an actual mock draft, but the following interesting nugget came from Chad Ford's Wednesday chat.

If the Cavs go Embiid or Parker ... I think the Bucks take whichever guy is left. I think of the top 4, Wiggins is the guy with the least amount of momentum in Milwaukee right now. I think Exum might go ahead of Wiggins in Milwaukee. So, if the Cavs don't take him 1, I think he's on the board at 3. That could obviously change with a great workout from Wiggins. But Philly does have a shot at him. They also have a ton of assets and could likely make a deal to swap 2 and 3 if the Cavs took Embiid or Parker first.

Despite his belief that the Bucks will not be taking Wiggins, Ford's latest mock draft has the Cavs taking him over Embiid and Parker and the Sixers with Parker (Bucks take Embiid). At ten Ford has them getting Nik Stauskas.

Meanwhile Ford's colleague at ESPN, Jeff Goodman, is a bit more bullish on the Sixers. He has the Embiid-Parker scenario playing out with Cleveland and Milwaukee and currently forecasts the Sixers taking Wiggins 3rd. Like Ford, he has the Sixers taking Stauskas 10th.

Over at CBS Sports, Matt Moore has the Sixers taking at 3rd overall......Noah Vonleh. I......uh......um.......no. Just no. I mean, I love Vonleh and will be giddy if he drops to the Sixers at 10 (though almost certainly not a realistic possibility), but I can't imagine a world in which the Sixers take him at #3. Unless Sam Hinkie does so. Then I'm all for it. But seriously, I won't believe this is a serious possibility until I see it. And then I still won't believe it. But I'll trust it a little bit more because Hinkie. But I'd rather avoid that conversation if possible. And then I will finally construct a sentence that does not begin with a conjunction. In some more interesting originality, Moore has the Sixers taking Dario Saric at 10 -- which also doesn't vibe with a Vonleh pick at 3.

Staying at CBS Sports, Gary Parrish has the Sixers taking Parker-Harris. Also at CBS, Zach Harper has Parker with their own pick but James Young with the 10 spot.

Over at Basketball Insiders, all four of their mock drafters (Alex Kennedy, Joel Brigham, Steve Kyler, Yannis Koutroupis) have the Sixers taking Jabari. There is some division with the Pelicans pick, though. Kennedy and Koutroupis have the Sixers landing Gordon while Brigham and Kyler believe the Sixers will be selecting Jusuf Nurkic with the tenth pick and drinking some juice as they exit Barclays Center later that night.

And finally wrapping up with the local mock drafts, Michael Kaskey-Blomain at Philly.com has the Sixers going Parker-Harris while John Gonzalez over at CSN Philly believes the Sixers will select Parker and Saric.

That'll do it for this week's round of mock drafts. Join us next week when we will have some more mock drafts and maybe that time someone will finally mock Blark to the Sixers at 3rd overall. Until then, remember, you never know when someone may be mocking you.