With Keaton Wagler’s workout canceled and his stock sliding, Brooklyn shifts focus to frontcourt depth or trade scenarios as the front office reconfigures its draft board.
The Brooklyn Nets' prospect pool with the No. 6 pick is shrinking after Illinois guard Keaton Wagler's team cancelled his pre-draft workout with Brooklyn this week.
Mock drafts have projected the Los Angeles Clippers (No. 5), the Nets or the Sacramento Kings to select the Fighting Illini freshman. However, it seems Wagler is now out of the running for the fifth and sixth selections.
Louisville guard Mikel Brown Jr. cancelled pre-draft workouts with various teams. He narrowed down his meetings to the Atlanta Hawks and Clippers, removing another prospect from the Nets' draft board.
Yahoo! Sports' Kevin O'Connor moved Wagler down to the seventh pick, where the Kings are selecting. He wrote that social media was shocked by his new mock, but new intel shakes up the draft.
"Inevitably, someone will slip on draft night," O'Connor wrote. "And it could be Wagler, since league sources say the Clippers aren’t head over heels in love with him for the fifth pick."
Wagler removed himself from the running for the Nets, and O'Connor's league intel suggests uncertainty for Brooklyn. The team could stay put at No. 6 or trade down with other lottery teams.
Arkansas Darius Acuff Jr. is O'Connor's selection for the sixth pick, but there are other prospects in the running. Tennessee forward Nate Ament and New Zealand Breakers forward Karim López, who worked out together for the Nets, have gained steam as potential selections.
O'Connor wrote that Acuff Jr. would fit Brooklyn because of its need for a franchise face. López is an overseas prospect that general manager Sean Marks has kept an eye on for a few years.
He also highlighted trade possibilities with other lottery teams. For example, swapping picks with Sacramento because the front office values Acuff Jr. or trading back with the Hawks.
Trading down for Brooklyn may not be ideal, depending on the packages offered. The team still has options to choose from with their pick, and unlike the Kings, they aren't eyeing a prospect to risk trading assets for.
Wagler's team removing him from the Nets' draft board isn't too detrimental. Brooklyn has a slew of guards on the roster, and adding another would force them to depart wth one of them.
They are also attempting to make a maximum offer to Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves, further underscoring the need not to draft a guard. Selecting Ament or López would add height, depth and versatility to the front court.
Brooklyn still has other prospects on its draft board that could be available with the sixth pick in 11 days.
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