So I have a 2023-24 Best Players List that I had to ditch to do a Gilas Pilipinas blog.
Then I had a big-ass PBA Draft blog that I had to ditch to do another Gilas Pilipinas blog.
Anyway, if you check out my "extremely early" PBA mock draft, I had guys like Kobe Paras, Will Gozum, Juan Gomez de Liano, and Ljay Gonzales in the first round.
Not Jason Brickman though.
And Taylor Statham.
I think they have been in other people's mock drafts for almost a decade now.
That said, I made a quick read list of my draft predictions. The 2024 edition has 70 hopefuls from the college ranks, semi-pro leagues, Fil-Am leagues, and even East Asia leagues. There are basically two sure players and four interchangeable selections. Unlike last year's draft, this batch is incredibly shallow, especially in the power forward and center spots.
UAAP has at least 50 percent of the first two rounds, with DLSU nine applicants, Ateneo's six, UP's four, and FEU, NU, UE, and Adamson finishing it with two apiece. Meanwhile, the best NCAA talents are either redshirted or are just coming out of a one-year sabbatical. The JRU Heavy Bombers have four applicants, with Arellano's three, and Letran, Benilde, and Perpetual with two.
Rain or Shine is one whammy spot that applicants need to stay away from because they have two picks in the first round and three in the second round. If you check out Rain or Shine's roster, most of them can qualify in a Rookies-Sophomore-Juniors game and this is to accentuate the point that Luis Villegas has yet to play for the team. This makes the ROS second-round spot a potential career death knell for applicants. Even Converge, a team that gave opportunity to late-round picks Kamron Vigan-Fleming and Andre Flores, has five picks in the first three rounds. This is also a team loaded with incoming sophomores.
And let's not forget, Ginebra, a team that normally has one pick in the first two rounds, has three in the coming draft. Ralph Cu may be a revelation, but there's a chance that this is a whammy spot as well.
And of course, Magnolia and San Miguel are bad rookie spots because these teams get their acquisitions via farm teams.
Anyway, here is my mock draft.
